Aila's Ramblings - 1/14/21

My break is almost over!  It's hard to believe we're back to regularly scheduled updates. 

It was nice just lazing around for a bit.  I cleaned out a closet, put away all the Christmas décor, and worked on some other non-Tori writing stuff.   There are non-writing things to the story I want to work on; such as the map that I haven't touched in a bit.  The last thing I did was mark Lutrae Landing and the ancestral estates of the duchies.  

I also think in order to give more info on the map and list location back stories, I should just spit it and the family tree; make a separate page on the website for it.  I also have to go back and update the extensive list of characters.

I am considering taking regular breaks like this.  I am in between a one week break in every 25 chapters or a two week break in every 50 chapters.  I feel like two weeks was a good amount of time off.  I was able to take a few days to decompress, then work on things outside of writing, and then take another small rest before diving back in.  

On the other hand, 50 chapters at every other day will lead me to...the end of April.  It becomes a sort of quarterly break, I suppose.  I will think it over and see where I am.  I don't want to get burned out.  This would also depend on outside factors, such as events I can't control, which I know everyone understands.  I am very grateful; everyone is so cool about this.

For now, I will see how I feel around the 25 chapter mark.  I just want to be consistent, both for readers and for myself.  I don't feel comfortable posting a chapter and saying "BRB in 2 weeks".  I also found that not everyone reads my author's notes, so they might miss it.  Having the countdown worked well as a notification.   

I also work best with at least a rough schedule.   I still have a bit of a backlog left, so I have some leeway.  Things that are coming up in the story:

- Tori spends time with her brothers
- The Empress' Banquet
- Sebby's Ex-Girlfriend
- Lycee Starts

That's all I got so far.  :(  

I've charted out the general story lines per love interest, which will be slow, but we finished a full 'year' in the story in 4-ish months, so if the story's pace is maintained, then it shouldn't be too slow.  To be clear, this is not an estimation of when the story will be completed.  I'm just trying to figure things out.  

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and are taking care of yourselves!  Thank you for your time and patience! <3