Sancha: A Spirit Animals Story

Just Some Rambling from the Author

Hey. This was originally going to be the note at the end of Ch. 41, but it got really long and eventually turned into a reflection on my including these notes, and I decided to publish it separately so as not to make Ch. 41 be half story and half author's rambling note.

And if you're wondering about when you'll be getting Ch. 41, don't worry. If all goes well it will be finished and published within the next couple days.

And now to return to the subject of my A/Ns...

If you've read a decent chunk of this work, you'll doubtless have noticed my tendency to leave little author's notes at the end of the chapters, which sometimes can get quite long and sort of feel like a mind dump. And honestly, that's kind of what it is in part at least.

Some of you probably find these parts boring or time consuming to read, and nothing in these notes is stuff you have to read for the sake of the story's events, though I sometimes will give a teeny tiny bit of insight into what's coming up in the story. But you can most likely get away with glossing over them and not have problems while reading the story.

I just enjoy sharing my thoughts on the writing process, exploration and analysis of the characters from both canon and my imagination, thoughts on themes or specific choices for story direction or smaller details I include, as well as instances where I tweak the canon a little. Admittedly, part of me feels the need to defend even little changes I make because I want to show people that I'm not trying to disrespect the source material or that I'm not putting in the work to read the books for which this story is a fanfic of. I know I don't really have to do that, especially since most of you don't take issue with it, don't notice, or are just supportive readers willing to overlook what are usually minor details (in other words, you're a great community). If I saw another author expressing this kind of anxiety, I probably would tell them not to worry too much about the opinions of other people.

Admittedly though, this is perhaps a case of 'do as I say, not as I do' from me, since I have those same anxieties when I write at times (it's gotten better the more progress I've made and the more confident I feel in my abilities and the quality of my writing, which I feel has improved since writing Ch. 1., but it's still something I deal with when writing fanfic.) But sometimes it's harder to take your own advice, even when you know you should intellectually. And I'm a pretty self-conscious person with some perfectionist tendencies regarding my own work, to the point where I'll overlook or defend short fallings in the work of other people (to a point), but will judge myself harshly when such things appear in my own work. 

And while ultimately I'm writing Sancha : A Spirit Animal's Story for myself and for fun, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want people to not only read it, but like it. And it's undeniable that seeing my chapters have been read and receiving comments from people on them, and knowing that there were readers who had read what I'd written, and enjoyed it enough to stick with it even though it wasn't finished yet and I didn't have a bibliography of prior works that might afford me what passes for credibility on platforms like this and when it comes to fanfiction. This isn't my first attempt at trying to put out works on Wattpad, but this is the first one that's progressed significantly and that I actually feel like I could possibly finish one day, though it probably will take years seeing as I do have other commitments and fixations that take up my time, and will probably have even more when I go off to college (I'm taking a gap year right now). 

Basically, I'm a rookie with a lot to prove right now, especially since I'm not writing a fic based on a massively well known property (I think the Spirit Animals fandom has become essentially a cult following by now over the years since the last book was released). Thus, it's not nothing when you start getting people who are fans of your work, especially when it's pretty early on. And I want you guys to like my work. That being said, I'm not so insecure and desperate that I'm reduced to a typist recording an amalgamation of your suggestions and calling it my own work, or seeking approval on every decision I make for the story. But I do appreciate and welcome feedback and thoughts, and have asked for and acted on suggestions on certain things I felt stuck on, notably I sought suggestions when it came to naming our favorite sea-puppy, Spes (credit to @Nightcat222 for suggesting that one).

But beyond just my need to explain myself so to speak, I enjoy sharing my thoughts on both the process of writing these chapters and my thoughts and feelings on aspects of the story, especially when it comes to characters and their complexities, arcs/development, and their relationships with other characters. I'd like to think I'm passing something useful on to those of you who are considering writing works of your own, and putting those thoughts into words can help me make sense of them and sometimes will show me flaws in or areas I could flesh out or improve on. They make good talking points too, in my opinion.

It's also, for me, a way for me to foster connections with people reading my work, as I can step out of the universe of the story I'm telling and the characters from whose perspective it's written, and talk in my own voice, sharing something of myself that I simply can't when telling a story that is about a character who is separate from myself. 

And admittedly, I like to talk/write, and share what I'm thinking. And I could perhaps work on taking breaths and not turning conversations into what might constitute a lecture. I'm working on just that along with other social shortcomings of mine at the moment.

Speaking of taking a breath, I think not only have I said all I wanted to put here, but I've definitely gone on for a while. So I'll end here. Hope you guys are all okay and I'll see you in the next chapter.