05-06-2025, 11:39 AM
Hello all,
I wanted to post here more to make sure everyone sees it as not everyone is on the Discord (But if you're not, come on over and say hi. Most people don't bite).
I thank everyone for their patience especially this past year as my timeliness with shows got to abhorrent levels. Without getting into too much detail, I've been battling burn out for quite some time and it's probably an occupational hazard that one of my main hobbies (e-fedding) and my emplyment (Teaching and research) require me to do a lot of the same skills, so I always am using them. Add some unforeseen challenges this year (and opportunities), things became too much at times and I've been writing from behind.
The problem is that this is now affecting the health of SCW. It is something that prevents us from attracting new writers and I know it's also cost us some writers who elected to go elsewhere. Given that we are a competitive e-fed and that still favours long-form writing to some degree, that significantly limits the opportunities for new people joining us and contributing to the community we have here.
That's why I wanted to post this and let you know of my goals heading into Rise to Greatness XXII. I am going to do my very best to have every Breakdown up by Friday evening. Ideally, I'm aiming for Thursday, but this week we have the extended deadline, and I also know that since this is a voluntary game, sometimes people's schedules don't always line up, especially as match writing is completely optional, but I also need that help as I cannot keep writing shows solo. Taking Hold of the Flame will be a bit of a different beast with the battle royal, but I will aim for it to be up the Wednesday after deadline which allows me to ensure one thing I want to do going forward - every show will have six or so days to roleplay. PPV cards will be booked more proactively (I've already been doing this but I'll explain why that's not always followed up with earlier cards in a moment). Finally, I will aim to have a limited hiatus for Rise to Greatness more to allow us to build momentum and hopefully get back to just getting into a groove. One thing that should help is that based on all information I currently have, I should be teaching classes I've already taught, so most of my prep time is cut down (something I've not had ever in my teaching career).
For me, I'm going to stop fretting over every decision. I've noticed particularly in the last six months I'll delay a show over one decision, often related to how a match is laid out or a finish. It's a bit of a curse - I've been writing SCW shows for nearly 22 years. I know what is expected of me. The bar keeps going up and, without pointing fingers, I have had some people get irritated with me if their match isn't to that standard or if an angle doesn't click, and that has led me to develop a bit of a paralysis at times. Part of why SCW has weekly shows instead of fortnightly is to force me to make decisions. I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to have everyone on the show in something meaningful. I can punt an idea a week later and still make things meaningful if it doesn't click or I don't like an idea. I need to get back to what used to drive me before. Fortunately, I think some of the angles this 2025 that I've written, and you've all contributed to, are some of the best in SCW in years. I like the stories. I like the angles. And I like how they've helped handlers and allowed some handlers to really thrive. The roster is probably the most even it has ever been and I want to maintain that both in terms of momentum, show quality, motivation, and in terms of continuing to constructively challenge people with fresh blood. I also want to keep the people who are here as the fed has a great mix of people with very little drama. And if there is drama, it's quickly dealt with as we're all adults.
SCW is a wonderful community. I'm proud of what we have here. But ultimately, I've been failing on my key end. So I'll be using social media more, I'll be keeping up with site updates, and most importantly, I'm getting shows up relatively on time and maintaining the standard you've come to expect. And while my schedule is nuts, I don't want to stop so we are going into the fall, into the winter, and into 2026 (and yes, an events calendar will come soon, J).
I wanted to post here more to make sure everyone sees it as not everyone is on the Discord (But if you're not, come on over and say hi. Most people don't bite).
I thank everyone for their patience especially this past year as my timeliness with shows got to abhorrent levels. Without getting into too much detail, I've been battling burn out for quite some time and it's probably an occupational hazard that one of my main hobbies (e-fedding) and my emplyment (Teaching and research) require me to do a lot of the same skills, so I always am using them. Add some unforeseen challenges this year (and opportunities), things became too much at times and I've been writing from behind.
The problem is that this is now affecting the health of SCW. It is something that prevents us from attracting new writers and I know it's also cost us some writers who elected to go elsewhere. Given that we are a competitive e-fed and that still favours long-form writing to some degree, that significantly limits the opportunities for new people joining us and contributing to the community we have here.
That's why I wanted to post this and let you know of my goals heading into Rise to Greatness XXII. I am going to do my very best to have every Breakdown up by Friday evening. Ideally, I'm aiming for Thursday, but this week we have the extended deadline, and I also know that since this is a voluntary game, sometimes people's schedules don't always line up, especially as match writing is completely optional, but I also need that help as I cannot keep writing shows solo. Taking Hold of the Flame will be a bit of a different beast with the battle royal, but I will aim for it to be up the Wednesday after deadline which allows me to ensure one thing I want to do going forward - every show will have six or so days to roleplay. PPV cards will be booked more proactively (I've already been doing this but I'll explain why that's not always followed up with earlier cards in a moment). Finally, I will aim to have a limited hiatus for Rise to Greatness more to allow us to build momentum and hopefully get back to just getting into a groove. One thing that should help is that based on all information I currently have, I should be teaching classes I've already taught, so most of my prep time is cut down (something I've not had ever in my teaching career).
For me, I'm going to stop fretting over every decision. I've noticed particularly in the last six months I'll delay a show over one decision, often related to how a match is laid out or a finish. It's a bit of a curse - I've been writing SCW shows for nearly 22 years. I know what is expected of me. The bar keeps going up and, without pointing fingers, I have had some people get irritated with me if their match isn't to that standard or if an angle doesn't click, and that has led me to develop a bit of a paralysis at times. Part of why SCW has weekly shows instead of fortnightly is to force me to make decisions. I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to have everyone on the show in something meaningful. I can punt an idea a week later and still make things meaningful if it doesn't click or I don't like an idea. I need to get back to what used to drive me before. Fortunately, I think some of the angles this 2025 that I've written, and you've all contributed to, are some of the best in SCW in years. I like the stories. I like the angles. And I like how they've helped handlers and allowed some handlers to really thrive. The roster is probably the most even it has ever been and I want to maintain that both in terms of momentum, show quality, motivation, and in terms of continuing to constructively challenge people with fresh blood. I also want to keep the people who are here as the fed has a great mix of people with very little drama. And if there is drama, it's quickly dealt with as we're all adults.
SCW is a wonderful community. I'm proud of what we have here. But ultimately, I've been failing on my key end. So I'll be using social media more, I'll be keeping up with site updates, and most importantly, I'm getting shows up relatively on time and maintaining the standard you've come to expect. And while my schedule is nuts, I don't want to stop so we are going into the fall, into the winter, and into 2026 (and yes, an events calendar will come soon, J).
