Doing Something Better

by goodyfresh

Jasper feels directionless in the wake of Steven's departure. She knows that her Diamond only ever gave her one order: To find a means of self-improvement. While she doesn't know HOW to improve herself in any area besides combat, she's savvy enough to know that wasn't what he was referring to. So she seeks help from the one non-Diamond Gem whose power and authority she respects.

9. A (GOOD) Update on this Story's Status

Chapter 8.5: A (GOOD) Update on the Status of This Story

Hello dear readers! I'm just posting this update to assure all of you, as I have before, that I'm still working on this story; it isn't dead! I know it's been five weeks since I posted the last chapter, so I just wanted to make it clear that Chapter Nine WILL be coming. However, it may still be another few weeks or even a couple months before it arrives! I just want to update you all on what I've been working on:

-First off, you all may have already guessed that some stuff has come up in real life that has been eating up a lot of my time! As a result, I've had even less time to work on this fanfic than before, but I can assure you that I am, in fact, working on it on a semi-regular to regular (depending on my schedule) basis.

-Aside from having less free time, one of the three biggest reasons why things are taking so long is that Chapter Nine is going to be another very long one. It will, like most of the other long chapters, be broken into two parts that can be read in separate sittings! Look forward to another 15,000+ word chapter, everybody! I know I said earlier that I had a lot of Chapter Nine already prepared and planned, but well, things change: These characters have minds of their own, I swear they are out of my control and they keep doing and saying things that I didn't plan on. Needless to say, writing a 15,000+ word chapter of Lapis teaching Jasper how to relax and have fun is taking even longer than I expected!

-The second big reason for the delay is that I'm revising the earlier chapters! So far I've revised the first three. Among other things I'm fixing some typos, clearing up awkward syntax, and making the dialogue sound more natural. Moreover, I'm breaking up some of the giant wall-of-text paragraphs into smaller ones to make the story easier to read. Finally, I'm adding just a couple things I didn't think of before and fixing some things that created a few small plot-holes.

-The third big reason for the delay is that I'm a perfectionist, and my writing-process for new chapters is very long and tedious. I don't have a beta-reader and insist on doing any and all revisions myself, so once I write a chapter I go back and revise it over and over again many times before eventually getting it into its final, polished form that is ready for posting. The reason I'm revising the earlier chapters is because I'm such a perfectionist that I feel I still didn't do a good enough job with them, haha.

-Some of you may have noticed that I got an idea for and posted a short half-serious half-parodic One Piece fanfic on August 13! Those of you who are One Piece fans should definitely check it out. Interestingly, Rebecca Sugar is a HUGE One Piece fan and made a number of references to it in S.U., most especially pretty much Spinel's entire move-set when fighting in the movie, haha.

-I spent a long time on a big project of revising all the chapters that so far exist for my other fic, "Their Love Can Take Them Away Together," as I've now developed these characters far enough here in the Jasper/Lapis-focused prequel to know what changes I wanted to make to that other story. Those revisions are now done, and the first six chapters of that other fic are now in their final form; just letting you guys know in case you wanna go check that out!

Once I finish Chapter Nine, I will obviously just delete this chapter and replace it with it! Look forward to it, in like... uhhh... yeah I dunno how long, but probably at least not until mid-October. Sorry.

Until then, feel free to go back and re-read chapters one to three now that I've revised them! However, there is no actual need to re-read anything unless you want to, as I am not changing any actual major plot-elements. The revisions for Chapters Four through Eight are coming along as well, and I will be updating this update-chapter once those are done!

When it comes to waiting for new chapters of this fic as well as "Their Love Can Take Them Away Together": I'd say to view it the way we all viewed the wait for new episodes of the canon franchise back when it was still airing! There will be hiatuses and I can't necessarily tell you just how long those hiatuses will be, and I apologize for that, but just like Rebecca always did, I can tell you with certainty that more is coming and I won't leave things unfinished! Heh.