I second this; it's not going to help OP rank up any faster by cranking out a bunch of posts in a short period of time.

And OP, I don't know when exactly you were on hiatus from the forum (I can't view most of your posts because I apparently have the sections you posted in on ignore), but I don't think you could have picked a worse time to do so if you're concerned with earning merits and ranking up.  If you'd just kept posting regularly from the day you registered until the end of January 2018 (when the merit system was rolled out), you'd be at a higher rank than you are now. 

Also: some members might tell you it's not that hard to earn merits, but for the vast majority of posters here it's extremely hard.  Basically in order to earn merits, your posts have to really stand out against most of the nonsense garbage that gets posted all around the forum.  Even then your post has to get noticed by someone who has merit to spare, which is always hit-or-miss depending on which section your post is in. 

And finally I'd mention that the more you post, the more chances you have to earn merits.  If you're only posting casually, a couple of times a week or so, don't expect to earn any merits unless what you're writing is pure brilliance.  I think it's true that the majority of members who've earned the most merits tend to be prolific posters.  So anyway, welcome back to the forum and good luck with your journey.