March Update! Art! (Patreon)

Hey all!I've had the most lovely month off. I felt like I could breathe. It wasn't 'I'm taking time off, psyche, I lied, I was actually doing seven other things', no, it was 'oh wow, this is what a bit of peace and quiet feels like'.

It's been super nice. I could feel myself improving. Bask in the glow!

I've been doing about one chapter a week while 'on break' and it's still felt like a genuine break. Hurray!

The downside - I'm finding it impossible to ramp back up to productive speeds. With only half a week to go, and 'only' 6 chapters in backlog, I decided to extend the hiatus another month. This is going to be much more 'I'm on 'break' but really I'm working hard' to make sure Song is as good as it can be. I could do high-pressure, high-stress, jump right into it without thinking writing, and probably pull it off. Except... I'm trying to write the stated climax of book 1 (which is ANOTHER lie - the blurb talks about who's going to be in the coven, but we all know the big question is what is Felix's core), and I want it to be really good. I spent a ton of time working out the rituals, chants, etc., but I'm finding the actual writing of the chapters to be HARD. I spent 5ish hours working today, and only got 400 words done.

I've spent some time wondering why. Have I just leveled up as an author and will only accept the highest quality? Is my writing muscle atrophied? Is it because I'm trying to write in 3rd person still, and it still feels awkward? Is it just particularly tricky? Am I making this harder than I need to?

Frankly, I'm reminded of a bunch of self doubt and thought patterns I had during the elf arc, and we all remember how THAT went. A bit of extra time to slowly navigate through the tricky part + getting back up to speed is just what the doctor ordered.Updates will continue! I'm not going to vanish!As a thank you and to keep shamelessly bribing you all - ART! Free art, when not billing! Once the artist is done with a series of Elaine artwork, I've reserved some slots for Song artwork.

I'm pretty sure I'm returning to 3 chapters/week once I return from hiatus.

Thank you all!

Cheers!Selkie