Results and next steps (Patreon)

Well, I wouldn't call that experiment a success.  I did not manage to finish the chapter; I made progress, managed to break through the initial block I had and get about half the chapter done, but at that point I hit real burnout and it started spiraling into a pretty bad depression so I'm pulling back before I kick off another whole-ass brain episode I don't need.  I got about half a chapter out of the day-long effort.

As I said last update, I have been feeling much better and honestly felt like I was ready to resume work again.  I think it's just OVDT I'm burned out on.  I am going to try another experiment to verify this before making my final decision.

I have several other projects I am working on, with deadlines ranging from none at all to self-imposed and different degrees of progress achieved and achievable.  Tomorrow I'm going to spend the day writing again, working on several of these or maybe just one if I get a real head of steam going for it, and at the end of the day analyze my results.

If I'm having equally bad luck making progress on everything, I will conclude I was not as ready as I thought to resume work.  Otherwise, I'll consider carefully whether the problem seems to be working under deadline, working on OVDT specifically, or both, and proceed from there.

Whatever the outcome, this does indicate a likelihood I will need to back-burner OVDT for a while and do something else.  I'm gonna aim to have something ready by Friday, which would be the next normal update day, and will stay in touch about my progress.

Sorry for pinging with all this extraneous info, I just want to be transparent about my process and what I'm doing.  I feel like it's the least I owe everyone for supporting me.

More info soon as I figure things out!  Thanks very much, everybody.  I appreciate you.