Before all, it is going to be a long post about the status of the story. I wrote this author's note to tell you about the future of When the birds stopped chirping and why I have not been updating the story for eight months. I do not come back empty-handed, the story resumes from today on!
Two and a half years have passed since I began publishing online When the birds stopped chirping in April 2014. As you can tell, there have been up and downs on the road: in two years and a half time only twelve chapters plus A Bird's Loneliness side story and a prologue have been published to this day. I have been running behind on my schedule for quite some time, I must admit.
Partly because I might have lost dedication to the project at some point, partly because I had to battle writer's block more than once, especially after the events of Chapter 12, I took some time to think about the story and how the continuation of events was going to turn out. Truth be told, Kim & his friends' "plans", which will be further revealed in upcoming chapters, were a bold move, quite thoughtless in itself especially from them, but you'll get to read about that very soon.
From 2016 and on, my writing schedule was set to a bimonthly release, which I thought I could keep up, in fact it was harder to write than to state; but, eight months and 20k + words later, the story resumes. I am currently 5 chapters ahead from the actual plot and am planning out many more to come in the next few months.
Before I make my point, here's a little warning. Which I did expect to be an anticipation/ science-fiction kind of novel I am quite used to write is more of a psychological thriller in the end than an action-packed science-fiction novel set in the post-apocalyptic world of the fourth millenary. As it is, none of the characters will go through unharmed and live happily ever after like nothing would have happened. Character development plays a great part in that sense.
Having said all of that, this post will look at the following facts:
1. November 2016 update & Release schedule
2. End of Part One & Table of contents
3. To the future of WTBSC and beyond
1. November 2016 update & Release schedule:
1.1: November 2016 update:
II has been eight months I have been working on the continuation of When the birds stopped chirping. It was a long process writing and editing these chapters. Alongside my loyal writing machine and my Moleskine carnet, which I always keep in my handbag to look for inspiration, I travelled back and forth space and time to bring up the story. From Heavensgate's city heart to the darkest pits of Hellsground Prison passing by the shadowy corners of District 7, continue the adventures of Kim & his friends revolted against the government in power.
The upcoming update starting this month will cover five chapters from Chapter 13 to 17 published once a week, already written and edited ready to be published. Chapters 18 to 20 are still in progress, yet mapped out, which makes it easier to foresee where the storyline is heading towards.
1.2: Release schedule:
From 2017 and forth, I will do my best to keep up a more regular release schedule, if time allows me to, and my studies do not eat all my free time to get prepared for finals, besides other procedures in expectation for 2017's beginning of the autumn term.
To this day, I have 8 chapters in total planned for the next two months. I hope many more will come in the future as the story is not over yet, and has yet so much to tell. The biggest plot hole, which will be addressed and analysed further in the story, is all about the Unknown Lands inhabited by the Birdmen tribe yet to be discovered and explored by the characters. Chapter 15 will close Part One and open the path to a whole another perspective of the plot.
2. End of Part One & Table of contents:
2.1: End of Part One:
I have decided to divide the story into three parts distinct from each other by the character's point of view I write from and by the subplot each of them is about. Basically, Part One was an introductory explanation to the story, which was meant to flesh out the original cast of characters, especially Kim who got caught up in a set of events that greatly overwhelms his understanding.
From a careless art student uninterested in politics and living a relatively quiet life, he grows up to become an indecisive resistant fighter who quests for his identity as he learns how to survive underground, now listed as Shadow among other dissident artists and esteemed intellectual personalities by the Culture and Multimedia Ministry. Part One covers his path from Artea's school grounds to the ruins of the Watchtower. Part Two is going to be told from a different character's point of view to envision the political scope of the plot through the eyes of the Party itself - guess who. However I haven't decided who will be Part Three's narrator as of yet.
2.2: Table of contents:
Subsequently to this post, I will add to the story an actual table of contents for you to visualize the structure of the story. A Bird's Loneliness is an independent side story about Tesamu's and Mai Lan's past from the main novel. Part One covers Prologue to Chapter 15 and Part Two Chapter 16 onwards. Nothing is set in stone about Part Three yet. Additional information, such as story setting, is listed as nota bene. Every time I post a new chapter, I will update it to keep track of chapters that have already been published so make sure to check it regularly to keep updated about the story's status!
3. To the future of WTBSC and beyond:
3.1: Story status:
In many ways, When the birds stopped chirping helps me in going out my safety zone to explore a large range of themes from a family's tragedy to an utopian society corrupted by an authoritarian regime and a large range of categories from anticipation to fantasy. Even if it takes me one more year, or many more, I am dedicated to finish writing this one.
Not to mention I am not an English native speaker so it takes me quite some time to write and review the story, which is part of the learning process, when writer's block does not knock at the door again. Writing has become a huge part of my life and the person I am today: I love what I do and I am pleased to share my love for writing and for the beauty of words with other book lovers.
3.2: What about the continuation of the story?
From now on and forth, When the birds stopped chirping resumes for as long as I can keep up with one chapter a week. Be it sacrificing themselves or save the day at the end of it all, Kim & his friends have gone through thick and thin together, yet have a long way to go side by side, hoping to make society change for the greater good, although the scars of the past are hard to mend; this is not the end of their adventures, and a new chapter in their lives.
When the birds stopped chirping resumes today, and there is yet many chapters to come before I write the last page. Chapters 13 to 17 are on the go, chapters 18 to 20 still in progress. I want to thank you all who read the story, even if it is not much of a regularly released project. I am glad I started writing it two and a half years ago because it is teaching me so many things on writing and on myself that I want to share with you. I am not a published author yet, I hope I can become one someday, and sharing my works online is a great part of the learning process in my opinion to improve my writing style wise and set deadlines to make it on time - which these past few months has not been the case. I hope to continue this adventure with you and until next time, stay tuned!
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When the birds stopped chirping
科幻A promised land meant to self-destruction in a glimpse, a brainwashed society led by a corrupted government: this is what, thirty years after the Exodus, Heavensgate has become in the eyes of its citizens. They long wished to obtain prosperity after...
