It’s Official
I’ve stopped writing.
I’ve felt this way before, but never quite so much this way as I do now. And after some bad news this morning, it felt like confirmation that it’s time for me to stop.
When I look at my list of accomplishments, I’m grateful for each of them. At the same time, I no longer seem to be ascending; I’ve plateaued or may, in fact, be descending. And when I look at my WIP—of which there are many—none feel necessary or exciting to me.
Some stories I write in my head, and that’s where they stay. It’s starting to feel like that’s where most of them should stay. That I should entertain myself rather than worry about trying to entertain others. It’s not selfishness, really. It’s that the ROI has declined to the point that I cannot keep giving energy to something that gives so little back to me.
Financially, too, it has ceased to make sense to continue publishing. And with the surge of A.I., now seems about the right time to get off the merry-go-round.
I will continue to blog, and I’ll certainly continue to make YouTube videos about books, movies, and television. I hope you’ll join me here, and there, and on Bluesky now, too, where I am mplbooks.bsky.social.
Never say never, as the saying goes, but for now I am finished writing.