Sorry guys. · 6:28pm Apr 18th, 2012
I hate to say it, but I'm only just starting to write the new chapter today. I have a legitimate excuse though! I, somehow or other, went and got myself sick. I've been coughing up my lungs and I feel like my head's been injected with chlorine triflouride since last Friday. Good news is I'm on the upswing now. Better news is that I already had my chapter outline done. And best news is that the last few days have given me some time to think, and I've gotten a couple good ideas for giving the new chapter even more spice. Seeing as I just started, it's obviously still going to be a while before the new chapter is out. Take heart though. Looking at the revised outline, it's going to turn out bigger than I expected. I hope you guys like it.
Forgive me for intruding on your creative process, but I'd advise against making the chapter as big as I am currently imagining.
You see, your chapters are already rather large, and contain a lot of info to take in. However, since it is probably not the only story your readers will be reading, it is very likely that they'll have forgotten most of it by the time the next chapter comes along. Releasing shorter chapters should eliminate this problem, as you'll be able to release more often, keeping all the info fresh in your reader's memory.
Sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds here. I'm just making a suggestion.
No, I totally understand and you're not overstepping your bounds. I'm not talking a 50,000 word chapter here though, just a little longer than chapter one, so you don't have to worry too much.
I've seriously considered making each character's section their own chapter so I could release smaller and quicker updates like you suggested but that has several problems of it's own. Some of the sections just don't have enough substance to make a standalone chapter. Further down the line I'll need to be able to intercut between the characters in order to give a comprehensible view of the action. And treating them all seperately makes it impossible to maintain chronological order since they're all doing stuff at the same time. It's bad enough trying to juggle six different viewpoint characters without forgetting who did what first.
Okay, just making sure you'd keep it in mind. Good luck with it!
.....I'd better start actually working on my new chapter as well.