It’s been a month and a half since I’ve written a Wiki Stories newsletter. I got up to Dying Light: The Following and just stopped. I missed one week, then two, and so on, feeling crushed I missed my own deadline. Some days, I joked to myself that I’d just send out a “screw this game” for the DLC and then move onto the next guide.

I’m not sure what to do here. The guides and stories coming up are good and fun (at least I think so), but I know I failed the mission. Do I just cut ties now and shut it down? Do I pick back up and try again? Do I keep the letter around in limbo, sending when I feel like it?

I feel sort of lost with this project, just shy of halfway. I got a polite nudge from Buttondown that I hadn’t sent an email in a while. I knowingly shook my head. I clearly fell off the wagon of building these writing muscles — just like I’ve fallen off working out and building real muscles. The thing I know though is that I can get back on the wagon again. The problem I feel in my gut though is, do I want to right now?

Just Cause 3

This letter is two weeks behind. Sorta feel like a failure churning these out on time. When I picked this draft up a couple days ago from publishing, I reveled in how nice it is to write. I get in my head sometimes, amping up a dreadful atmosphere to writing these, but when I put “pen to paper” it’s enjoyable.

I also announced I was having a baby and quit my job. Kinda been going through some stuff. My sincerest apologies. I promise the rest of this letter is way more fun.

Facts:

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

Facts:

• Game - The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

• Released on October 13, 2015

• Developed by CD Projekt Red; Published by WB Games

• IGN’s Wiki Team - Jon Ryan and myself

• My contributions - Side Quests, Hidden Treasures (Clean-Up)

• Pay - $250 (base Witcher 3 was $900)

• Time Spent Playing: 34-54 hours for Hearts of Stone; 174 hours total for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Until Dawn

Facts:

Game - Until Dawn

Released on August 25, 2015

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This letter was supposed to come out on March 23, 2022. I missed my deadline and extended it to this week. I’ve been in a unmotivated mindset when it comes to my writing lately. Going back into the office (an hour away) three days a week has been more draining than I remember. I know realize why I was up at 4:00 AM working on Chasing the Stick. I even had the notion to just quit this newsletter.

Thankfully, I did not and am not. I’m sorry for not sticking to the promised schedule. Here’s to the rest of these letters. I hope you enjoy.

Facts:

Dying Light

Facts:

Game - Dying Light

Released on January 27, 2015

Tales from the Borderlands

Facts:

Game - Tales from the Borderlands

Release Dates

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Facts:

Game - Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Released on December 5, 2014 (Wii U) and July 13, 2018 (Switch and 3DS)

Hitman GO

Facts:

• Game - Hitman GO
• Released on April 17, 2014 (iOS) and February 22, 2016 (PS4, PS Vita)
• Developed by Square Enix Montréal; Published by Square Enix Ltd.
• IGN’s Wiki Team - N/A
• My contributions - Worlds 1 and 2
• Pay - $0; copy of the game provided by myself

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Facts

• Game - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
• Released on February 21, 2014 (Wii U) and May 3, 2018 (Switch)
• Developed by Retro Studios; Published by Nintendo
• IGN’s Wiki Team - Andrew Eisen
• My contributions - World 1 through World 4, written guide and images
• Pay - $0; copy of the game provided by myself

The Bottom of the Rut

“My brain is bouncing all over with plans to work on this and that. Projects get started and then stopped. Ideas are stuck in creative purgatory.”

Yours truly on September 1, 2021 talking about my own creative process and being in a rut. I ended that post with the following thesis.

“My ideas are big. I need to break them down. I need to build up into the big ones. So, I’m going to try and break them down. I’ll create smaller pieces of them, publish them, and move on to the next one…Instead of ideas that take months of work and skills I haven’t fully developed, I need to tackle shorter turnarounds and develop those skills.”