April/May Patreon Update

It's nearly the end of the month so I should probably give some sort of update, given it's been a quiet month.

I'm back after my short break, although my focus right now is mostly preparing to write Spellblade. There's some prep work I need to take care of before I jump back in and try to knock out a ton of words.

The short version is that it's unlikely I'll post any preview chapters next month. Instead, I'll likely put up the planning post, potentially a larger post about some notes, and other ramblings about the series. I'm going to try to avoid being distracted by other stories for at least a little while.

Anyway, some more details on what I'm working on:

• A huge update of my notes and materials for Spellblade. Although I do plan things out a lot and worldbuild, my notetaking is always kind of rough (as from past experience, I'm wary that these can become a method of sophisticated procrastination). But Spellblade has gotten too big and has way too many little lore drops and plot threads tucked away across its five books to avoid a complete overhaul of my notes. I spend a lot of time flicking through the books for specific passages to ensure I get specific details correct (or to double-check a "feeling", as sometimes I forget what scenes and ideas I've cut). This will also include a full reread of the books.
  
  If this works out, I'll have a huge block of notes that should be easy to navigate while writing, include excerpts, and limit my time going through the books. The downside is that there's a ridiculous amount of stuff. Tons of characters and concepts, often with little things attached to them (e.g. all the nuances around Champions, gems, how they're created, and their relations to nations).
  
  I might be able to share this when it's done (leaving out secret stuff), but I'm not even sure how exportable it will be (I'm using Obsidian Notes, and it stores everything in a billion files).
• Reworking the Spellblade 6/7 plot outline. Feedback for the original opening of Spellblade 6 seemed fairly muted/negative, and it seems everyone had varying expectations of how the book should start. With the book being split into two, I need to adjust the outline anyway, but I can adjust the opening to try to fit closer to "immediate panic" everyone seemed to expect.
  
  There are also a couple of plot elements that I'm uncertain of including for various reasons (EDIT: and no, these aren't NTR/cheating related). Then again, although I know a specific group of politically-minded nuisances got really mad over Neural Wraith 2 (you can find them on Goodreads), I don't think they're responsible for its relatively low sales. So, ultimately, I think what matters is a good story and whether people want to come back to read more afterward. I can just ignore the cranks.
• The one non-Spellblade thing: narrowing down non-harem series ideas. I've got it down to three, and will probably draft some pilot chapters later in the year. Right now, two of the ideas are straight progression fantasy involving mage MCs, and one is a litrpg time loop that plays on videogame/D&D tropes.
  
  I don't usually write litrpg, as I find the numbers tacked onto most stories to be distracting (I'm the sort of person to skip the stat sheets, as I find they add little to nothing 99% of the time). The timeloop idea could naturally work with it, however. The flipside is that gimmicks can get old, especially with a time loop.
  
  Part of me thinks including litrpg elements in other stories would be a good idea, because it would be easier to promote/have talked about. On the other hand, I just said I don't like tacking on the numbers so... yeah. I expect my approach to this will depend on how things play out over the year, as to whether I make my non-harem stuff more commercial, as I find that aspect of writing the most frustrating.
  
  At this point, I think I'll park the ideas for a few months and see which stick with me when I'm ready to write more. Then I'll work with the one(s) I still like and go from there.

So, yeah, that's the update. I'll be staying busy. I expect to start writing within a couple of weeks, but I'm not sure how I'll post to Patreon given there'll be a long lag between chapters being written and book release (and I want extra time for alpha/beta feedback).