TURN AWAY FROM THAT PDF LINK! EYES DOWN HERE! READ THIS FIRST, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!

Hello. Nice to meet you. Or see you again, as the case may be. Welcome to my little slice of FurAffinity. What brought you here, might I ask?

Have you come upon this little missive of mine because of the fiction raffle I announced earlier today? Clicking around some of my tales now that I got your attention by waving the promise of free rewards around? Just a bit of window-shopping to see what few moments of your time and a couple clicks of a few boxes might win you? If so, thank you for your interest all the same.

Or perhaps, you've been following my fictional catalogue for some time? In that case, thank you as well. I'm flattered, truly.

Then again, you may have followed the link directly here from the Thursday Prompt writing group? Again, thank you.

Now, if you will continue your kind indulgence, let me ask... For any of the reasons above, or those I cannot fathom, been asking yourself... 'Well, this purple prose spouting bozo can do it! Why can't I? I can be a writer too! And share my narrative brilliance with the world!'

I'm sure you can. You're reading this, after all. That's half the work right there.

But allow me to impart a bit of advice. Something I wish someone had seen fit to warn me about all those years ago, when I dared to step beyond my circle of friends and fellow students and endeavored to produce original works for public consumption. It's a lesson we all had to learn, at some time or another.

To become a writer, first and foremost, you will have to overcome something dreadful. Something truly frightening. Terrifying, even. Something that's turned even the most eager neophyte away in shock defeat, never to trouble quill or keyboard ever again. I speak some a challenge far beyond the measly concerns of modern storytelling. 'Has my idea already been done before?' 'Will my readers nitpick the details?' 'How much time will I have to spend on social media shilling my work?' These are but trifles. I speak of something more ancient, more primal than the ever-gnawing anxiety that no one will want to read your story at all.

Do you, dear prospective author, dare discover this horrible thing -- this soul-wrenching phenomenon -- for yourself?

Then, by all means, access the PDF linked above. And may the consequences fall upon your own doomed head.

YOU. HAVE. BEEN. WARNED.