Afterword

July 1st of 2020 was when I posted my first chapter for Origin Seeker.

Now, October 27th of 2022 marks the publication of the last chapter.

Over two years… Thousands of hours of thought and work…

All of it has come to a close.

This was never a perfect story, or even an amazing one.

One day, I decided that I would write a story, one that satisfied all of my tastes and built the grand vision that I had for my best story. I wanted it to contain all of the cool things that I never found in anything else I’ve read.

So I simply started writing. With no prior knowledge of how to write and only the stories I had read to go off of, I just slapped down the words that came to my head, letting my desires and fantasies take hold.

And it was rough. A hundred chapters pass and I looked back only to realize that I didn’t want to read anything I had written. My writing style had changed and developed, so everything back then was the ramblings of a child.

And another hundred chapters later, I continued to think that.

300 chapters later…

I’ve learned too many things during my time writing this story. I’ve learned just how much of a novice I am, but also just how far I’ve come, and how deep the art of the written word is.

Truly, I’ve never dedicated so much time and effort into anything else in my life. This story is the first true commitment I’ve ever made, and while I’m still young (20), it remains that this journey has changed my life’s trajectory for the better.

I’ve shown myself that I can stick with something, and that while I may not be the most creative guy out there, I still have it in me to make something. For good or bad, those of you who have read my story have consumed the universe that I’ve created.

That means something to me.

It wasn’t the most popular. I wasn’t topping pages. It had plotholes that I practically put there on purpose, and my characters had the depth of a kiddie pool.

There are so many things wrong with the story, but in the end, I found that to be okay.

It was my story. It was my template to make mistakes with. It was my place to explore the most bombastic and stupid ideas I had.

I always reminded myself that I started all this because I wanted to see a story I liked. And to some extent, I succeeded. Through my time writing I got to write down everything I wanted, no matter how inconsistent.

I didn’t do it for the views or the popularity. I did it because I wanted to. In fact, I finished the story almost purely on principle, because I told myself that I wasn’t going to start something only to drop it halfway through.

And, I also didn’t want to do that to my readers.

Sure this story was for me, but there were people who shared in the enjoyment with me. They were there in the comments, giving cookies and thanks. They were the ones I looked toward when I was having a horrible day, tired as hell at 3am with the screen hurting my eyes.

You all were the ones who made this process mean more than just my enjoyment. I wrote because I wanted to give you guys more. I wrote because I wanted to see someone enjoy themselves with my work. Those thoughts were what stayed with me in the end.

I’m only sorry that I have my own limits. After two years I’ve also discovered how difficult it is to keep writing. To push through self doubt, to keep telling myself that it’s okay to be an unskilled writer. To keep hoping that it’ll get better, that hopefully I’ll learn and finally be truly satisfied with my work. Someday…

It’s taxing on the mind. How Chinese xianxia authors manage to write that crap for thousands of chapters on end is beyond me. Or hell, maybe I need to learn some of that robotic motivation.

Anyway…

It’s been a wild ride, everyone. The story has come to a close as my first ever completed work. I can at least say that I’ve written a full blown serial novel of 900 thousand words.

And I plan to come back in an official capacity, but until I do, I’ll be releasing my other works that have been on the backburner.

And so for now, I go to rest.

To all my readers and my patrons, I thank you from the depths of my soul. Thank you for being there with me on this journey. You are the reason I’ve come this far.

And even to those who might see this long after the series has finished, the thought of you all who would come in the future has inspired me all the same.

To those who have been and will be…

I raise one final toast under the title of Origin Seeker.

Cheers,

-Your friendly neighborhood Autho