I got Quote of the Week, and it means so much to me.

[Kat]

We can’t take back the time in which our wells of inspiration were dried out, or when we didn’t do a lot of writing. But what we have is the now, within our grasp. Chin up, and remember that the Neopian Times is waiting for you to rise up again, quill in hand, and ready to write your next glorious masterpiece.

When I saw that I got QotW, I wanted to break down and cry. The happiness that welled up inside of me is so indescribable, so great, that I have to say something.

You all know that I have my regrets, disappearing from the Neopian Times and the NTWF years ago. I regretted not saying a proper goodbye or officially announcing my retirement, at least, before I shipped myself to law school (save that time I showed up briefly during my internship) and the legal profession. When I found my way back here and began writing for the NT again, I wrote "Coming Back to the Neopian Times", inspired by my long absence and the new spark of inspiration I found when I returned. I was determined to fulfill the NT goals I had left hanging in favor of my real life pursuits - and finally put into writing the story ideas I had left to rot (or so I thought) in the back of my mind when I thought I had finally lost all inspiration.

It's also funny because I stopped writing articles a long, long time ago, and yet, when I came back, I wrote three in quick succession, this being the first. The second article is, unfortunately, going to be even sappier than this, assuming it gets accepted. 

Anyway, I poured out my feelings about leaving and coming back into this article. I opened my heart, I felt like I was giving myself advice on how to move forward, and I wanted to reach out to the other authors who, for some reason or other, have struggled to remain inspired, have lost the groove, or have simply up and left just as I have but want to come back. I submitted the article, and instantly got an acceptance letter for it. When I saw it published, mentioned on the front page of the NT and even getting Quote of the Week, it felt like all those feelings came crashing back onto me in full force. Double, even.

I successfully came out of retirement.

I don't have to hold these regrets forever. I don't have to hold them at all.

I can look to the present, to the future, to the spark of inspiration that I now hold in my hand, which I once thought elusive shortly before I left. Maybe few people will remember my characters or my previous stories, but what's important is that I do remember them and I want to write about them again.

It turns out, I wrote this article not only for other struggling writers, but also...for myself. To remind myself that what I have and hold now are more important than anything that has happened before. And reading it from the Neopian Times gives me a strange yet overflowing kind of reassurance that my time with the NT doesn't have to be over yet, especially when the regrets return. When I read it, it feels like a reminder that there's more in store for me now that I've returned. I just took a detour in my life that brought me back here, and I am glad that I'm back. 

Anyway, sorry for the rather selfish sap. I just feel so honored that this article, into which I poured my heart and my emotions and my thoughts and regrets and pains, was deemed worthy of Quote of the Week. 

I'm not sure how else to word my thoughts and the rest of my emotions without dissolving into a blubbering wreck, but I'll leave it at that for now. 

(Side note: Gonna ruin my own moment and say that my inspiration has swelled to the point where I'm considering writing my own NQI and NQII walkthroughs, complete with snarky commentary - or rather, Katmmentary. Please slap me.)

[Ian Wolf-Park]

You know, Kat, we write because we want to. It's not about the trophies, the two avatars , the trophy count, or the special issues when it comes to prizes. For some, it may also not be about the glory or the recognition. As long as someone's reading, that is all that matters to us, even if it's just us that's reading for various reasons, as this will summarize so well, from the same issue as your Quote of the Week

Last week's April Fools edition of the Neopian Times was wonderful, thanks to each of the editors and contributors who made it happen, along with a big thank you for putting this whole thing together most weeks!

It may have taken you a (Hero's) Journey for you to rekindle and recapture that spark, but I'm glad that you were able to find it. It really never gets old, does it?

[Kat]

Apr 11, 2020 9:06:03 GMT -5 Ian Wolf-Park said:

You know, Kat, we write because we want to. It's not about the trophies, the two avatars , the trophy count, or the special issues when it comes to prizes. For some, it may also not be about the glory or the recognition. As long as someone's reading, that is all that matters to us, even if it's just us that's reading for various reasons, as this will summarize so well, from the same issue as your Quote of the Week

Last week's April Fools edition of the Neopian Times was wonderful, thanks to each of the editors and contributors who made it happen, along with a big thank you for putting this whole thing together most weeks!

It may have taken you a (Hero's) Journey for you to rekindle and recapture that spark, but I'm glad that you were able to find it. It really never gets old, does it?

Thank you so much. You're right; it was never about the trophies, or the avatars, or the prizes. Maybe I don't get as much fanmail as I used to during the earlier (read: 100+) issues of the NT, if at all, but the thrill of finishing something and seeing it published is still there. The thrill of getting an acceptance letter, the feeling of achievement especially in my case since I just crawled out of the dusty depths of retirement...and yes, the thrill of finding out that you have Quote of the Week. It really never gets old.

Heh, it seems fitting that my big NT return began with the April Fool's collab issue. It's almost as if I just pranked you all these years about retiring; I wound up just taking a very long and surprisingly well-needed break. (If I have to be honest, and as I also mentioned in my diary, I became very hard on myself at some point before I left and some of my joy in writing morphed into pressure and excessive self-consciousness, which I believe took a toll on my inspiration.) But I am truly glad to have been a part of the collab with all the other amazing writers and artists of the NT.

Man. I really did go on my own (Hero's) Journey, didn't I? But if I came back with two completed degrees and a license to practice law, on top of recovering my old spark for the NT just as I got my life and career together, I'd say it was worth it. Especially since law school is known for siphoning away creativity.

[Sparktater]

That's lovely, and you're so right.

For me, getting my first short story into the NT was about fulfilling a childhood dream. Watching my cousin reading the Times is how I got into Neopets, and I used to admire people who were creative enough to write these wonderful stories and comics. I never thought I could until I tried, and I did! As you say, the first fanmail you receive makes it all worth it.

[Kat]

Apr 12, 2020 8:51:16 GMT -5 Sparktater said:

That's lovely, and you're so right.

For me, getting my first short story into the NT was about fulfilling a childhood dream. Watching my cousin reading the Times is how I got into Neopets, and I used to admire people who were creative enough to write these wonderful stories and comics. I never thought I could until I tried, and I did! As you say, the first fanmail you receive makes it all worth it.

First of all, congratulations on getting into the NT and fulfilling your childhood dream - and getting fanmail! Really takes me back to my first few publications way back in the day. It's really cute that the NT was how you got into Neopets.

And thanks. But even if there is no fanmail, nothing replaces the sense of achievement of getting published in itself.