User blog comment:Bocaj910/Sorry It's Come to This, But I'm Just Out of Excuses/@comment-1621439-20101127015946/@comment-1874924-20101127034845

Well, you said yourself that you're probably not truly quitting, just taking a leave of absence.

In any case, in the 9-1/2 months I've been here, I have seen a number of writers complain about the stress of trying to stick to a regular posting schedule. While I can certainly understand the reasons for wanting to post regularly--it does seem to increase reader interest--you (and everyone else who strives to post regularly) would do well to keep in mind that you're not doing this for a living. It's supposed to be fun.

If the stress of feeling that you should be posting regularly is getting to you, there are a couple of ways around it. You could do what people like Ult do, and just write as inspiration comes to you, without worrying about adhering to a regular schedule. Another method, which is what I do, is to write the entire story before officially launching it.

Writing the entire story beforehand does have the disadvantage that you don't get the love from your readers (at least, those who comment in the first place) to encourage you to continue, but the advantages are also significant. Most notably, with the entire story in hand, it's easy to keep to a regular posting schedule.

Another advantage of writing the entire story beforehand is that it might enable you to write faster. For example, when working on LTDI during my job commutes and my lunch breaks, I typically crank out around 1,000 words every couple of days. (I rarely work on LTDI at home, else when would I be able to read and comment on anyone else's stories?) The reason I am able to write this quickly is that I have the luxury of being able to write scenes as they come to me, rather than trying to write the episodes in order. For example, on Monday, I wrote my smutty (jk) Duncan/Sunshine scene for episode #12; on Tuesday, I wrote part of the elimination ceremony for episode #20; and on Wednesday, I wrote a scene for episode #4.

In any case, you have to do what's best for your mental health. Nobody--least of all, you--gains if you burn yourself out.