Tiny Break
Added 2023-07-29 20:28:13 +0000 UTCTL;DR - Break from the actual writing, but still actively working on PM!
1. No chapter Monday. Let's all agree that the epilogue from b3 counts as Monday's chapter. (Which was the plan, but then I failed my Bravery roll and chickened out of the cliffhanger, lol.) Back Friday, 200%, unless my head falls off.
2. I'll be using the time to plot, plan, and set up a giant spreadsheet for all the matches next season. Admin stuff, basically. (It'll allow Max to say player X scored 4 in 8 matches, average rating 7.15 etc etc. without me stressing that someone will say 'well actually') In the case of the next 2 books I already know a few major 'oh no you didn't' moments and how the season ends.
2b. While I'm here, I can imagine the first two chapters being on the short side (comparatively). I always think that, and it rarely turns out that way, but this time I think it might actually be true. Tiny bit unsatisfying in web serial form, completely logical when you read it in book form. Just a heads up that it's, like, narrative and not me taking a break and then firing off two short chapters to annoy you.
3. I also need to watch an episode of a trashy TV show before hitting the keyboard. You'll see why in b4c1!
4. And I want to play a season on Championship Manager. Get back in the headspace, and for obvious reasons it's a good time for me to sneak in any major things I forgot to include in the curse! (Also to see how they calculate certain unimportant things that Max doesn't know aren't important.)
5. Can I take this opportunity to say thanks again? Your support has been unreal. It's crazy. So satisfying. I put insane hours into this story and I love it and that's because of you.
6. Big big relief you liked the last chapter! I was more worried about that one than a lot of ones you DID hate.
7. On the subject of breaks, my mum is coming to visit the first week of November. Probably won't write much that week. I'm not a good son but I will take care of the mad old bat. If November sees a weird uptick in reactionary elderly characters who Max gets super annoyed by... it's just a coincidence.
8. So far, the story has been trailing real life by at least a few weeks, which is handy sometimes for generating plot ideas. But at my current rate (3 books a year wtf) I'll almost certainly start writing faster than real life. (No way I'm writing 3 books to cover one season again!) No more Queen is Dead chapters. Two years from now I could be writing about the 2028 season. Any thoughts on that? One option would be to take two month-long breaks a year, but that doesn't seem like fun for anyone. Basically, Player Manager will soon be science fiction. You good with that?
Comments
Henris pa is shown at start of book3, when MD, Inga and max sit at a restaurant and talk about Chester players and their contracts
EducatedFool
2023-08-04 20:06:34 +0000 UTCI posted five seconds before you!
Ted Steel
2023-08-04 10:04:10 +0000 UTCAny other weirdos who refresh every 10 minutes like me?
JohnZ
2023-08-04 10:02:41 +0000 UTCAs a Patreon I already know that Henri's PA is [post it note over screen] Only five minus "days ago" until Book4! I hope that all is well in the Steele household and that this is enough time to prepare.
Richard Carling
2023-08-02 03:55:22 +0000 UTCReally good point about Henri. I'd forgotten we hadn't seen his skills. Magnus' PA on the other hand has a really specific meaning in Football manager the real life game (easily Google-able if you want to spoil yourself for that and things like wibwob).
Geoff Urland
2023-08-01 23:30:14 +0000 UTCWaiting for the next chapter is painful. I never get like this. There are always 27 different things I can be reading, but I just can't wait for the next season. On another note, a couple of people have mentioned Henri's ceiling when it comes to football skill. I just want to say Ted was being sneaky clever because we have NEVER seen Henri's player card and thus his CA versus PA. I'm also interested in seeing Magnus' progression. We know he has a negative PA but he is into crystals and, I assume, something related to Anna's brand of magic. Does Magnus even have a ceiling? Can any of that crystal juju be applied to other players?
Eidetic Eidolon
2023-08-01 10:18:30 +0000 UTCScience Fiction seems like a fine way to do it. Unless you and the rest of us get really unlucky and theres another pandemic or nuclear war or something, you should be able to get away with writing ahead of reality without any obvious errors.
LordOfMurder
2023-07-31 01:38:16 +0000 UTCI'm with you here Geoff, more life than football, and more football adjacent activity is how you get a chapter out of that games time.
Froyo Baggins
2023-07-30 17:02:41 +0000 UTCYou've probably read this already, but I've just started reading "The Dream Factory: Inside the Make or Break World if Football's Academies," and it's great so far focusing on the good and the bad of academies. And you get horrifying gems like this: "The parent of one Chelsea youngster explained how his seven-year-old son was released via an impersonal email after suffering a broken leg. 'If you're not one of the elite boys,' the player's father says, 'then they just don't care.'"
Geoff Urland
2023-07-30 16:02:21 +0000 UTC"My 'worry' is how do you get a chapter out of a mid-season 0-0 Tuesday night game, if you see what I mean." But you've never held yourself to the season model before in this book. If the game is boring you've skipped talking about it and instead highlighted shopping or youth practice or scouting and focused on a different plot or theme thread. No need to change things up in that regard now, right?
Geoff Urland
2023-07-30 15:57:18 +0000 UTCI think half a season per book is a good way to go. You can focus more on the Dof and life side of things with big twists in the 1st book, and more on the football matches and serious stuff with big payoff in the 2nd book.
Uncle Snoo
2023-07-30 13:39:46 +0000 UTCWhen I think about it, Max has tons of stuff coming at him from all angles so I'm sure there will be enough for two books. With season 1, he was doing all kinds of mad things where I was thinking 'I'll never get the chance to look at this aspect of the sport again so let's dive in'. But the men's team will have 46 league matches, the women 22 (I think), plus all the boy's tournaments and whatnot. Last night I was 'maybe I can squeeze it into one' but I'm pretty sure it will be two books per season. My 'worry' is how do you get a chapter out of a mid-season 0-0 Tuesday night game, if you see what I mean. Or the fifth two-nil win in a row. The season model comes with structure but also restriction. A challenge... Thanks for the feedback!
Ted Steel
2023-07-30 12:11:58 +0000 UTC"That said, isn't some of the charm of playing football manager seeing just how far and how crazily things diverge from real life?" Yes!
Ted Steel
2023-07-30 12:03:09 +0000 UTCHonestly, I'll hella enjoy it if it stays 3 books per season, or at least 2. I often drop webnovels when they decide they've been going too slow...even though everyone seems to be liking it. But seriously, I like to see the details, all of the LIFE that happens in between, and when you move faster, those are the bits that get cut out. It makes it feel less real. The LIFE is most of what I read this for. I don't want plot moving faster. Cheers!
Froyo Baggins
2023-07-30 06:36:58 +0000 UTCIn terms of divergence from actual soccer, as long as you don't do something totally unrealistic like having Nick get behind an oil rich nation (that murders journalists and tries to sportswash in every sport) and have them spend billions of dollars trying to buy every good player, then I think you'll be fine. That said, isn't some of the charm of playing football manager seeing just how far and how crazily things diverge from real life? With time skipping I don't inherently have a problem with that, as long as you still get deep into the details of key moments. Part of the joy of this series is not only seeing the soccer skills progression but the progression of Max turning into a real boy. If you can speed things up while still showing us those small moments of growth (and big moments of slapping) then go for it. But trust your instincts, Ted. They've led you to amazing results so far!
Geoff Urland
2023-07-30 01:07:43 +0000 UTCWe aim for perfection and everyone misses. Pretty damn close.
Richard Carling
2023-07-29 23:16:09 +0000 UTCEFL adopting the World Cup approach to time wasting this coming season could be a big narrative change. Shithousing limited to verbals?
Richard Carling
2023-07-29 23:13:08 +0000 UTCHa please blast me with ALL the ideas - now's the time. Re: strength to strength. The last chapter works because I've been thinking about it for ten months. That kind of intricate all-roads-lead-to-Rome FACESMACK is hard to replicate! I'm worried as the story speeds up I'll lose the, whats the word, texture, layers, that make payoffs satisfying. But I don't think we need to follow Max quite as closely now that he's done a lot of the things he needed to do. I'll try to find the balance, as always! I'm sure I'll mess up a few times.
Ted Steel
2023-07-29 22:36:19 +0000 UTCChange is normally very small. Recent events have been face-melting, but I'll just have to take it on the chin. The only real issue will be things like the new Champions League formats and me saying there are 4 English teams when there are 5 and those kinds of minor mistakes that most people won't give two shits about.
Ted Steel
2023-07-29 22:32:28 +0000 UTCWhen this breaks into the top 1,000 of Sports Fiction, then we can start xing Netflix. Yes, I used the new name ironically...
Ted Steel
2023-07-29 22:30:52 +0000 UTCYeh, at some point there had to be divergence fro reality to service the story anyway. Real teams don't tend to go back to back to back up the pyramid. Will be really interesting to see how he has to balance higher standards with friendship (e.g. If he takes Chester to the Championship, there's no way Henri can make that kind of step up. Possibly by then he's thinking of retiring anyway and moves over to the training team).
Felix Skinner
2023-07-29 21:52:55 +0000 UTCI'd actually just been wondering about how you'd handle 'in the future' stuff and figured you'd just make it up. You can still draw inspiration from real life events, just don't have them be chronologically accurate. Get yourself back into FM and convince yourself Max needs Staff Search! One of the first things I do in that game with every team is put together the best medical/coaching/scouting setup and it had a huge impact on the team. Definitely agree these work best as books and I think most people will understand that. The web serials I've ended up dropping have always been where it feels like the author is stretching or shortening chapters to meet a specific word count. Go with what serves the narrative and plot pacing, you've done an incredible job so far. I'll end the comment there at the risk of being longer than your update! Enjoy the down time mate and see you back on Friday (maybe I can actually enjoy the weekend now without eagerly waiting for Monday to get here!). P.S. I've reread that final chapter multiple times already and it still sends chills down my spine. Your writing is going from strength to strength.
Felix Skinner
2023-07-29 21:47:00 +0000 UTCHe could theoretically take from past seasons or at least use historical data to create a foundation
Brandon Baier
2023-07-29 21:35:33 +0000 UTCKnowing almost nothing about the sport, I still feel a little odd about diverging into another timeline when it comes to how the sport develops. Though I suppose Chester isn't having the season I've been experiencing, so go for it! Let's go off the rails!
MrHrulgin
2023-07-29 21:29:33 +0000 UTCNow is your opportunity to sell your idea to a major Hollywood studio. With the writers strike, we have a real opportunity to get player manager made into either a cartoon or live action.
Brandon Baier
2023-07-29 20:34:44 +0000 UTCLove this update you shared, shows a clarity of mind and direction sorely lacking in the online space. Wouldn’t mind an increase in pace since I dont think were all chaffing to wait 5 years to actually reach 2028. All round happy and excited!
Josh
2023-07-29 20:31:48 +0000 UTC
