Just realized I was reading slow burns backwards for a year, skipping to page one after the ending
For about 12 months I kept picking up long serials on Royal Road, reading the newest chapter first, then going back to chapter 1, and wondering why nothing ever landed for me. Last Tuesday I started a 400k word story the normal way, front to back, and the payoff in chapter 9 hit so hard I sat there staring at my fridge for a minute. So is it just me, or does starting at the end ruin the whole point of a slow burn?