The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Howdy, patrons!

I hope you're all having a reasonably cool October! Things at the Burrow are all right for the most part -- now that all of the travel is done and there hasn't been a surprise for a little bit, we're settling into something of a routine. Just in time for the holiday season to smash it all to pieces, no doubt!

I've been working hard on Boundaries this week, and I think I'm ready to announce that part one will be up for viewing on the Patreon this Friday! HOORAY! I've been really happy about the work I've put into this one, and I hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing about it! Episode one will get you acquainted with this motley band of furry explorers and set us up for the very big challenges they'll be facing in subsequent episodes! I can't wait. :D

That being said, I've been feeling a bit of an itch to work on something else a bit more free-form, but still show-worthy. I have a few different ideas, like bringing back the size-gambling poker game; working on a series of stories about a kaiju wrestling organization; or doing something else where I can tell self-contained but connected stories in a loosely-serialized format. What do you think? Poker? Kaiju wrestling? Something else entirely? Let me know in the comments if you have an opinion!

Part of my pre-writing for Boundaries has been making sure I have a strong grasp of the characters and an outline to work from; as you might have guessed, I usually fly by the seat of my pants with these things and outlining is a bit of a new endeavor for me. Traditionally I've shied away from it because it triggers my perfectionist tendencies in a bad way; I need to make sure that every minor detail and bit of foreshadowing is accounted for and dropped at the right time. This doesn't leave a whole lot of room for discovery or plot changes if characters make a different decision...and that's something they like to do.

With the help of Writing Excuses (an excellent podcast, by the way) and a few writer friends, I've backed off the ledge on that and feel more comfortable using an outline as a guide for the action -- a suggested path to get to the major plot points in the story. I'm still finding my voice as a writer; I'm not sure if I'm character-focused or plot-focused, or maybe neither. But learning how to use tools that help me edge towards complete and better works has been a really great thing for me these days. 

That being said, I know I talk about writing an awful lot for someone with so little to show for it; again, thank you all for sticking with me while I figure out how to get serious about this. I sincerely hope that it's worth the wait, once things get significantly less spotty!

Until then, buckaroos! See you on Friday.

Sincerely, 

Jakebe