[@Charley] You're right lol, I'm not a big fan of King as a person, and some of his stories have rubbed me the wrong way. But I've definitely taken cues from him in the past simply because, even without his coke-binging, the man still produces a book every 3 to 6 months like clockwork.

But that excerpt was very reassuring, and makes me feel a lot better about the struggle! Thank you again!

[@mickilennial] I agree with this completely! Like I pointed out in the OP, I know I'm not going to make some big "paradigm shattering" masterpiece that changes the world or starts some kind of movement (and given history's track record with that thing, I definitely have no desire to ever do so). Thank you for your encouragement! I share your view in that I've been trying to break things down to "just get it done," whether that's one short story, one chapter, or some days even just one paragraph at a time.

[@ERode] I [i]did[/i] read the rambling, so there was a point to it! Yeah, self-publishing/serializing on something like Royal Road is one of my goals at the moment, I've been trying to keep myself on track towards building a large enough buffer that I wouldn't be struggling to get chapters out on a regular basis. And yes, I'm certainly trying to avoid being "preachy" or letting the message overcome the story. Thank you for your help!