So! My first serial is finished. What next?

With Monsters Don’t Cry completed, and the holidays behind us, I’ve been pondering what to work on next.  And I’m pretty sure most of you know the answer, but I’d prefer to make it official -- it’s finally time for me to work on Dogs Chase Squirrels!

This one has been a long time coming, but Dogs Chase Squirrels will be my next major project going forward.  I’ve been wanting to share how Fields of Gold’s Camelia and Jazz At Night’s Irene became a couple for quite a while, and it’s high time I give them the attention they deserve.  There’ll be laughs, smiles, a few tears, and if I do my job correctly, more than a few “aw, how sweet” moments.  Who knows, I may even make you think some, too. :)

So, what can you expect going forward?  While this isn’t a comprehensive outline (and I plan on going into more detail as we get closer to the first chapter post), I’d like to share my thoughts with you, and let you know where I’m heading.

So, without further ado: THE LIST.

• While I do have a basic outline I’ll be following, I’m basically playing everything by ear.  There are several story beats I plan to hit at certain points, but for the most part, nothing’s set in stone.  Don’t worry, I don’t plan on taking things in any sort of drastic direction -- no surprise wizard duels, where Camelia and Irene are flinging spells at aliens to save Pinewood from being turned into literal cheese (although that sounds so silly, it’s kind of awesome).  But for the most part, I’ll be doing most of my storytelling on the fly, and see where things take me.
• Because this will be my longest work to date, and something I’d like to do on a consistent basis, chapters will be a bit shorter.  My aim is to write tighter, more focused scenes and dialogue so I can make the more exciting moments really stand out.  Tentatively, I’ll be shooting for 4000 words per chapter, give or take.  Using standard font, that would be roughly 10 pages as a PDF.  While I do expect to go over on occasion, I want to avoid a chapter getting rambly or throwing too much out there at once.  If I find a chapter is running long, I’ll aim to shorten it, and if that isn’t possible, then I’ll find a cutoff point and continue where things left off in the next chapter.
• Because I’m still hoping to post one chapter per week, Dogs Chase Squirrels  will be more of a “polished draft” over a finalized novel.  This means each chapter will get a once-over for typos, grammar issues, and to make sure I like the direction the story is heading,with the goal of posting that chapter on Saturday.  While I’d like to avoid putting out a sloppy result, a few misspellings may slip through the cracks; rest assured, I’ll be doing my best to give you a quality piece to read.  You *are* supporting me with your money, after all -- it’s only fair you get what you pay for!
• As for how long I expect this serial to be?  I have no idea.  I do expect it to be finished before the year is over, but at this point, I’m not quite sure when that finishing point will be.  Bottom line, as long as I’m having fun, and you’re all enjoying it, we’ll keep going!  There will come a point where I’ll be ready to wrap things up, but I’ll let you know in advance when that time will be.
• While I haven’t committed to this decision yet, I’m considering making Dogs Chase Squirrels a Patreon-exclusive story, to help drum up interest for the Patreon itself, and because I feel trying to keep up with posting the story here and on FA for several months might be somewhat strenuous.  That doesn’t mean I won’t post chapters for free on FurAffinity -- I’m planning on making the first three available for everyone.  This will cover Camelia and Irene’s first meeting and ‘date’, of sorts.  Following that, all future chapters will be posted on Patreon.  Same rules will apply - $3 per month gets you access to every chapter, with $5 and above support getting you the next chapter a week early!
• The general story rating will be PG-13, although knowing me, there will be times when we’ll dive into mature territory.  So...fair warning if you’re planning to read this at work or while you’re stuck at your in-laws or something. :)
• The biggest challenge will be how to make Dogs Chase Squirrels a story everyone --both fans of my previous works and first-time readers -- can enjoy without feeling overwhelmed.  I’ve always wanted to explore my universe in more detail and share how other supporting cast members have been up to, but this can be tricky to accomplish without leaving new readers confused and current fans bored.  I’d like to avoid turning the serial into a convoluted diatribe where you’re forced to read several stories before you can enjoy it.  In that same breath, I’d also like to give a nod to those that know who Seymour, Amelie, or Hunter might be, and how they’ve been doing. It’ll be a matter of finding the right balance.  All that being said, if you really want to go into this story prepared, check out Fields of Gold and Jazz At Night beforehand!  They’re free on my FA page, and won’t take you too long to read.

I think those are all of the major bullet points for now.  As for when to expect the first chapters to go up?  I have a few chapters already drafted, so I’d like to aim for January 25th or Feb 1st.  I may go with the latter just to give me more time to prepare, but we’ll see.

Oh, and before I wrap things up -- I see there are a couple of $8 supporters now (thank you so much if you’re one of them, by the way), and I’d like to make your support worthwhile.  I’m considering posting a two-parter story that I worked on in my spare time -- a story that I did mostly for fun and to push a few of my own buttons, and didn’t initially plan to share -- as a reward for you in the next couple of weeks.  Unlike my other works, this story will be exclusive for $8 supporters, meaning you’ll have to be in that tier to read it.  I may do this in the future for other pieces, but I’d like to test the waters first.

And with that, it’s time to get back to work.  I plan on sharing more posts like this in the coming weeks.  Next week, I’ll look into more challenges that Dogs Chase Squirrels will bring -- the most prominent being how to take two characters who were impact characters in their respective stories, and pushing them into the limelight in a tale all their own.

Until then!