(Book 11, The Titan of Baleros, comes out on November 14th!)
Recap of my break. Most of it was resting or doing management stuff and not writing. Near the end of my longer break, I took time to plan out the Solstice from start to finish. Not perfectly; I don’t write out every scene, but my notes were chronological, and I layed out each major ‘event’ even if I don’t stick to the strict chapter format.
I slept decently well near the start of my writing. I relaxed my mind and stopped writing and got a bit of rest back. Was it perfect? No, but this is all due diligence for a writer preparing for an important writing moment. I even went to the doctor for a checkup and got a tetanus shot!
…The tetanus shot was a mistake. My arm hurt the entire first chapter, and while it’s mostly gone away today, that was not fun to write 6+ hours each day with. Anyways, that’s my recap of the break. I was ready to write the Solstice. Nervous, but I had a plan. How did it go?
As of today, I’ve been editing about an hour, and the chapter is sitting at 33,000 words. I have a list of edits to make after writing on-stream, but I am sure I’d be able to finish the chapter and put it out to my satisfaction more or less by tonight.
However, as the title indicates, I will not be doing this. I realize I promised a chapter back on the 11th. And I can deliver–but it seems to me the best thing for me to do would be to delay posting a chapter until I have backlog of at least 1-3.
I know that’s a lot to ask, but if I write ahead and realize I’ve underdeveloped a scene or moment, I cannot normally go back and fix them. Having a backlog means I can get into the Solstice and make sure everything is even better than my usual standards.
So. I may delay releasing any chapters until next Saturday, even. Perhaps longer if I run into some critical errors.
I have done this for previous volume ends, and my commitment is to the best story possible. I realize this is a long time to wait, and I do, sometimes, value feedback, so I will keep up the streams of chapters on my channel if I write live.
That way I can have a core of people who are willing to watch along with me and provide me with reactions on how I’m doing. I don’t encourage you to read via the streams. I’m just letting you know that to avoid confusion.
It’s been a long wait, but the worst thing to do would be to fail in delivering the Solstice well. This is my update, and I will perhaps post short notes after finishing a chapter even if I don’t release one.
Frankly and honestly–I regard this first one back as acceptable. I didn’t get the sense it was amazing, but it hit every note I wanted (with the edits I am about to do), and I don’t feel like I’ve tripped yet. I will let you know as I head into the next chapters. Thank you for your patience.
–pirateaba
