This is more of a sudden realization reaction post than an actual well thought out discussion prompt on the subject, but I'm awake and it's five am, so what the hell.
I cannot write long stories.
It's as simple as that, really. I've wrestled with that for years, know that I've wrestled with that for years, and been entirely unsatisfied with how I've wrestled with that for years, but it's true. Today, however, I think I pinned down the reason why. It's pretty simple, largely understandable... and devastating when trying to write long things.
I hate it when bad things happen to characters I like.
I'll keep reading, of course, to the bitter end. But it won't be the same. All that emotional investment I've got in the story sort of......
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