Alright, hi there everyone! So… yeah, I probably have some explaining to do. We break the forth wall while I tell you a bit about the real life details surrounding this story; not Toothless' but the REAL author's. Recently a few changes were made to this story, but what's worth noting there is that the story stops in exactly the same place as it did three years ago, when I released Ten Winters originally. All that happened was I updated a few chapters, compressed a couple together, and removed some filler. In other words: I shortened the story.
Since I first wrote this story, I've become a better writer, and I was also just generally unhappy with the first few chapters of this story up to what used to be chapter 6 (which was Memories Follow Me). I wouldn't have realistically felt comfortable with continuing this if I hadn't redone those first, and now that I have… well, let me put it this way; I have structure out the next three chapters already. However, therein lies an issue. Notice I said structured, not completed. I've touched on all the story beats I wanted to touch on, now all I have to do is smooth it over. And that creates a huge problem.
While I may have become a better writer since 2019, I am still not primarily a writer, and as such narrative writing like this is simply not my strongest skill. I can tell stories through music, but that still comes out as a very different approach compared to something like this. As such, I'm formally announcing a hiatus of unknown length. I have an approach to this story I'd like to take that will require possibly many years of work. We'll be lucky if this even gets done, but trust me, I really want it to! Let me lay out how I want the story to be completed.
The reason I have the next three chapters structured already is because I want to have the entire 35 planned chapters at least structured before I put them out. In other words, I'm not writing a chapter, releasing it, and then moving on to the next one. As far as you all will be concerned, the story will be basically done by the time I even release the next chapter. This is an insurance measure on my part so I can afford to take extended breaks if I need to without having to constantly worry about writing the next thing once that chapter is out.
Once I have the next chapter ready, it will replace this author's note, and I'll attempt to release chapters on a monthly basis. But I make no promises. The entire point of this as an exercise is that I won't rush it. I want this story to be good. I think I owe it to Toothless as the character I've developed, especially given the growth I forced him through in Ten Winters.
So, in short, don't expect any updates to this over the next little while, just so I can finish the story. It's going to be for the story's benefit if I treat it with patience.
I'll see you all eventually! I wish you the best!
See you in the skies!
~AD
