Another week, another rewrite update.

  I currently have the rewrite written and edited through Chapter 20, which brings the story through the equivalent of the end of Chapter 8 in the current version. Kinda. More on that in a bit. That puts the rewrite at roughly 13% complete.

  Part of the reason that covering eight chapters of the original story has expanded into twenty rewritten chapters is the shift in chapter structure. I’m now aiming for chapters that fall roughly between 2,000 and 4,000 words, and so far most of them land comfortably within that range. A few run a bit longer, which is expected, but the extreme swings in chapter length from the original version are mostly gone. Shorter, more consistent chapters naturally mean a higher chapter count even when covering the same narrative ground.

  Beyond that, a lot of new material has been added and existing content has been significantly fleshed out. One of the major focuses has been expanding the Ironfang as a whole, along with goblin mentality, culture, and internal dynamics. I’ve also introduced Kesh and Throk much earlier as vital parts of the Ironfang’s leadership structure, giving them (moreso Throk if I am being honest) proper scenes and dialogue to establish their personalities, motivations, and reactions to Grub’s arrival and the rapid changes he brings. Strengthening these side characters has helped make the tribe feel more grounded and believable.

  I also added an entirely new mini-arc to Grub’s early journey. In the original version, his rise from slave to Ironfang member to trusted confidant of Dravak was extremely fast and not especially believable. This rewrite addresses that by introducing a trial-based arc where Grub and the other slaves must prove their loyalty before being accepted. His ascent is still relatively quick, but it should now feel far more earned and natural. That mini-arc alone accounts for roughly three to four new chapters of content.

  One thing I want to clarify is that the rewrite progress will not always map cleanly to the original chapter numbers. Because of how the original story was paced and split, progress may sometimes appear to jump suddenly from the equivalent of Chapter 8 to Chapter 15, and then into the 20s, even though the rewrite itself is progressing linearly. This is largely due to how Max’s storyline originally ran from Chapters 10 through 19, with only a single Grub interlude (Chapter 15) breaking it up.

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  Getting Max’s initial arc (Chapters 10-19) into the rewrite in a more controlled and intentional way will likely be done by the time I get the rewritten chapter count to somewhere around Chapter 50 or even 60, even though it covers material that previously spanned a much smaller range. As I mentioned in the Max feedback discussion chapter, I’m planning to spend significantly less time and detail on Max’s storyline, shifting him from a second main character into more of a VIP side character. That means I won’t need to turn every one of those original 5,000–9,000 word chapters into direct equivalents, but there will still be short clusters of chapters focused on Max. I will do my absolute best to keep those clusters under five chapters at a time.

  One thing that should help is restructuring Max’s progression. Instead of running him through the equivalent of three or four quests in one uninterrupted stretch like I did in my original writing, I’ll likely handle his story one quest at a time, interspersed with longer stretches focused on Grub. The end result should be a story that is far more Grub-centric, with Grub once again serving as the sole main character, as he was originally intended to be when I first began writing the story.

  The tradeoff from this decision is that this will inevitably turn the story into a bit more of a slow burn. I know that may not be ideal for everyone, especially since the story was already somewhat slow-burning to begin with. However, there are a lot of things Grub needs to do, experience, and build before he becomes truly entangled in the larger Harvest/Necromancer plotline that sits at the core of the story. In the original version, Max was the primary conduit for advancing that plot quickly. By focusing less on him and more on Grub, it will take longer for that thread to fully come into play, but that time will be spent on exploration, goblin tribe building, and deeper worldbuilding within the North Wilds, which will hopefully be an fun for you all to read as it is for me to write.

  As of the rewritten Chapter 20, the story reaches the point where the first war council is convened following the discovery of dire wolves in Ironfang territory. This whole section benefited greatly from the expanded pacing and added character work, and I’m very happy with how it’s shaping up.

  Progress continues steadily, even if it doesn’t always translate neatly into percentages or one-to-one chapter comparisons. As always, thank you all for your patience and continued support. I’ll keep sharing updates as the rewrite moves forward.

  Next update will come on Monday January 26th! See yall then.

  ~ Viserra