Back in early 2017, when I was a 16 year old kid having issues at school, the idea came to my mind to write this story. I had zero experience as a writer. But being somebody mostly incapable of expressing my feelings appropriately in real life, turns out typing my feelings in a keyboard became addicting. And I can see why, the catharsis I felt while putting my pent up feelings into a story was something that I badly needed at the time, and frankly, even now at 24 years of age, I still need.
The Way Of Life was the conclusion of all the things I was unable to say in real life put into a story. It was a reflection of my childhood and late teenage years.
But like any story that gets written with no proper experience or planning, it had flaws. No proper planning or pacing, and a multitude of grammar mistakes. But regardless, I absolutely loved writing every part of this story.
I am honestly in shock as the amount of feedback this story has received, both positive and negative but mostly mixed. And most of this feedback was justified.
I am far from a perfect writer, but I have done my best to get better. Lost Game, Our World and In the Stars are the three stories I am 100% proud of, with After Midnight not being too far behind.
I don't have a short term plan to finish this story. I was not able to put a proper ending together. I did my best in the last chapter to prepare a conclusion, but the reality is that no matter how much I try to improve as a writer, the pacing of The Way of Life was deeply flawed and it's probably unfixable.
So what's next? At this moment, I won't make any promises. I don't want to set expectations, especially after this. For those that wanted a conclusion, I am deeply sorry.
The idea of a young adulthood story involving Hachiman and Saki is something I love, but if I make another go for that, it should be done right. That means proper planning and execution.
Will I keep writing? Absolutely. For now it will be just short Oneshots. I have too much going on to invest time in a long term story, and writing is something that I mainly do for myself. It's just a way for me express those feelings I am otherwise not able to express.
To all the people that took the time to read this, thank you from the botton of my heart.
- WanderStar