PrincessKay
patreon
Quick poll on chapter release preferences!
🕑 Added 2023-08-28 03:28:53 +0000 UTCSo, I've recently come to appreciate just how ridiculous my Demon Queened chapters tend to be in length. (I knew they were a bit long, but a couple days back I checked the average chapter length of some of the stories I read. Discovering that the ones with longer updates average at around 4,000 words kinda drove home what an 8,000 word average really meant.)
To be honest, I often struggle to write shorter chapters - the reason they're so long as that it often doesn't feel like I've reached a natural stopping point until 6,000 words in. But, at the same time, that's mostly me trying to fit an entire scene into each chapter, only ending when it feels like there's going to be a big shift in either the setting or mood. In theory, I could probably chop the chapters up pretty easily. At least after the fact.
In fact, I think it would probably be healthier for me to do just that. Putting stuff up on Patreon regularly leads to me feeling much less pressure (if only from myself), and to be honest it just plain feels good releasing things to the public and knowing it's being enjoyed. It would also give me more time to get opinions, and notice issues.
Thing is, I'd prefer not to "finalize" a chapter, so to speak, until the whole scene is finished. With the way I write, sometimes the simplest of edits to a character's dialogue can lead to a different reaction, and derail everything.
I've given it some thought, and I think there's a couple different ways I could potentially balance out the potential need for revisions with my desire to put give more frequent updates.
1. I could post as I write, putting up a chapter whenever I think I'm at a halfway decent stopping point. The main issue with this option is that each chapter might go through several drafts.
2. I can write up the humongous chapters I always do, and split it up after the fact. Try to keep something vaguely approaching a schedule, and maybe build up a backlog in the process. This is probably my preferred method, though I'd like to emphasize the fact that it would only "vaguely approach" a schedule. (I'd rather avoid burning myself out all over again by desperately trying to hit a self-imposed deadline after burning through my backlog. I would make a point of keeping everyone updated, though.)
3. I could keep things as they are. The wait would be longer, but the chapters would be huge and you'd probably end up with way less cliffhangers. (Not that I intend to leave you with a ton of them, either way, but it'll probably take me a while to figure out the best stopping points for chapters. And you might get some mini-cliffs regardless. Hill hangers?)
Anyway, I'm going to list the options below and you can vote for any and all options you'd be fine with. (And if anyone has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.)
