Hey guys. Nirrvash here, back after cutting myself off from - well, everything. I hope you enjoyed the Christmas holidays and whatever time off you had. I sure did, despite the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about Lament of the Slave. Not so surprising, since I've spent the last two years writing it. All the more painful to make the decision. It's a story I put my heart and soul into. It's an amazing story, and I learned a lot while writing it - but it's a story riddled with mistakes.

It took me a long time to figure that out, too long, or maybe I just didn't want to face it, but those mistakes drag me down as I write. Sometimes it's the little things, sometimes it's the bigger issues. Like the system. It was supposed to be a simple, not too complicated thing. A crutch or a guide to help me with the power scaling and the growth of Korra. Instead, it grew into something very complex. I've thought a lot about that, and I think a lot of it has to do with trying to look at things as they might actually work in the real world. A lot of novels just skip over things like that and take the system for granted, something not worth giving a second thought to. Not the way my brain works, and I simply wonder...

But it's not just that - the characters. There are a lot of characters in my story - maybe too many - but I find that I fail to give them diversity and make them different and unique. I don't mean that they're all soldiers or copies of one woman or man, but that their voices, their personalities don't come through as much as they could. It's a problem I've been aware of for a while, but I haven't been able to do anything about it. It may be my shortcoming, but it's so hard to get off the beaten track - every time I've tried to change something, I've slipped back into old habits, old characters, and so on.

I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to move forward, if I wanted to grow, I had to start over. A fresh start might allow me to do what Lament of Slave could not. It's very harsh on my beloved story, but to some extent it has become my shackle, dragging me down.

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BUT, my heart won't let me just give up on Lament of the Slave. So I thought I'd try the reverse approach I've been trying for the past few months on Patreon. My main focus will be on the new story, while I'll write Lament of the Slave as a side story, one chapter a month. With the pace of the story - way too little, I'm aware of that, but the only other solution I can see is to rewrite the whole story. A daunting task for which I simply don't have the time. Better to put that energy into something new.

Which brings me to my next point. In order to avoid burnout, I'm going to adopt the model of other writers - one week off a month - administration week, or whatever you want to call it. My hope is that this will give me more breathing room, allow me to write under less stress, and give me more time to think about the chapters/story. As a result, the chapters should have more quality and not repeat what has already been written.

Now, as for the new story? That's still up for discussion. I have one in mind that is somewhat similar to Lament of the Slave. But I wouldn't mind continuing the story I've already written as a side story. And that's where I'll let you help me decide. I'll be releasing both stories to Tier 2 patreons during the month of January.

As you can see, January is going to be a mess.

To recap: Lament of the Slave - starting in January, only one chapter per month on Royal Road and Scribble Hub. Two new stories for you to help me decide which one to put more energy into - only on Patreon for now. Unfortunately, nothing for tier 1 patrons except for that one chapter of LoT and possibly nothing extra for tier 3 patrons. So I'd recommend only Tier 2 for now. Simply a mess.

Well, I've said just about everything. I hope it makes sense. I can only ask for your understanding and patience. It may well be that I will see things differently at the end of January, but it is impossible for me to say how at the moment.