As much as fanfic writers may be writing for themselves and the pure enjoyment of having created something that exists within a series they hold dear to their hearts...I doubt that's simply it. It is supremely discouraging to anyone, no matter how much they are doing it "for themselves," when they recieve no feedback what-so-ever on a piece of work.
And, thusly, when they take over a year to prepare the next installment, they are seriously dissassociating themselves from their original fan base. Too much happens in a year. People move on, stop caring, or any number of things that cause them to stop responding or reading your work. So...you could say that this outcome is "punishment" enough to anyone who takes that long to finish something.
Don't get me wrong, though...as a long-time Nintendo fan, I, for one, can appreciate that when things take that long to be released, they are often of supremely high quality. But it may be an unread high-quality piece is all I am saying.
This got me to thinking, however...if a writer is having that much of a problem, why not ask for help? I'm sure at least one person on the list could help think of the one way to continue a fanfic that the writer couldn't (you know...outside the box and all that).
Just a couple of thoughts from my unknown self...
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