Chapter 9 out, what's next?


With the release of chapter 9 now squared away, it's time to quickly glance back, and then look forward. 

Looking back.
Overall people seem quite happy with this shorter format and tighter focus, and that's good, because I'm quite happy with it too. It is a lot less hassle to create, because there fewer moving parts involved, both story wise and coding. The release itself went surprisingly smooth too, so much so that it left me with time to spare to do a wallpaper, which would be unheard of during one of the big chapter releases or yore. So overall, a good experience, although I think there's a few quibbles that could be raised. Let's do an informal post mortem real quick, without over-analyzing too much, before moving on.
  • A short chapter is very hit or miss. A big release has a bit of everything for everyone, but with a small release, if you don't like the one dish on the menu today (either because of the person or the activity involved) you're shucks out of luck, and I've had a few people tell me so. On the other hand, tomorrow comes by quick with short releases, so that's also quickly forgotten. I think this balances out in the end.

  • It was very light on actual story development, which I guess made it feel even shorter than the effort put in warrants. That is not to say padding it for the sake of padding is a good thing. In this particular case it made sense to stop there and not add a bit of unrelated storyline that would have it end on a strange note. Since that part will obviously be picked up in the next chapter, it should balance out too.

  • More of a general observation than something particular to chapter 9, but there is less room for subtle story development within a single chapter in this format. But while that could have been a valid argument earlier on in the development of Light of my Life, it's not at this stage of the story, which is mainly about eating the cake we're already having.

If you have other quibbles, I'd love to hear them in the comments, but for now, let's turn around and...

Look ahead.
I've been spending a bit of time the last couple of weeks to read through all the little story notes and random fragments of dialog and ideas I've jotted down over the years, putting together an outline for the events I still want to cover in Light of my Life, and figuring out what works, and what doesn't make the cut. 
What it comes down to, is two more chapters and an epilogue. Each of those two chapters will be roughly comparable in effort to create to chapter 9, although featuring a little bit more story development. I'm not gonna spoil exactly what will be tackled in those last two chapters but I guess most of you will be able to take a stab. 
Apart from the regular lewd scenes to come in those last two chapters (with build-up, foreplay, pay-off, and pillow talk), there will also be a epilogue that adds a few lewd moments (which are much shorter than a full lewd scene) for some of the things that didn't quite make the cut for a full scene treatment. 

Okay. So chapter 10 when?
Not so fast. Before I start working on chapter 10, I first want to put together a little demo for The Next Thing (which is NOT what it will be named), thatis planned to be half of the first chapter of it (although I have yet to decide if it'll be the first, last, or middle half of it). 
I'll do some development blog posts about that as I'm working on it, outlining my plans and sharing art and previews. 
When I'm done with that, my plan is to come back to Light of my life to complete chapter 10, then continue with The Next thing, completing chapter 1 and put that out there for all. After that I'll come back again to Light of my Life for chapter 11 and the epilogue and wrap that up properly, before continuing on to The Next Thing. Or the Backup Thing if everyone including me hates The Next Thing. 
Dovetailing the production for the ending of Light of my Life and the beginning of The Next Thing makes for slightly longer timelines in releasing either, but it lets me keep the rhythm of production up throughout without falling into a black hole when Light of my Life is completed.

Coming up next.
So what can you expect next from me next? Well, for one, a new infographic with the planned production in the coming period, and some blog posts where I share some more information and concepts with all of you.