A little update from me (Patreon)

Hello Patrons!!

I hope your 2024s are all going well so far. I wanted to check in as it’s been about eight months since the Patreon went on hiatus and I wanted to share what I’ve been up to and how Vol 6 planning is going. Consider this a one-off newsletter of some sort. Or maybe I should start doing newsletters?

When I’m not working on the comic, the TV show sort of takes over my life, which can be really fun but can also make me feel a little detached and without control of my own work. The TV show is not just mine - there are a lot of other people involved. It's a team effort! Which is incredibly exciting and fun. But I do miss having something that is just mine (I am a bit of a control freak, in case you hadn't already guessed this about me). Getting to work on the comic and share it with you all makes me feel the most like myself, and when I'm not doing that, I really really miss it.

Where have you BEEN!?

While I've been on a hiatus from the Patreon, quite a lot has happened! We filmed season 3 of the Heartstopper TV show from October-December, which is always an extremely intense and stressful period where I'm not able to focus on anything else. Since January we've been editing the show - we're now into the colour grade and the sound mix, as well as creating all the animations and score. We're getting there! In case you hadn't heard, season 3 is coming out in October and I can't WAIT for you to see it. I love that the show has evolved so much since season 1, doing something a little bit different and unexpected each time (or maybe not so unexpected for everyone who's read the comic !!)

Aside from that, I tried to take a month off from all work in January... and kind of failed. It didn't really help my stress levels at all, and I didn't succeed in taking a long social media break either. Well... at least I tried? No, in actual seriousness I am dealing with some quite bad physical stress symptoms at the moment. But HEY, life goes on.

After January, I did a book tour, and then started trying to work on Vol 6 but, as you'll read about in the rest of this newsletter, I've been finding it quite challenging. I also moved house last week, which was a pretty big ordeal! I'm hoping that now I'm sort of settled (despite being surrounded by boxes) I can get back into a creative headspace and get back to working on Vol 6.

I've also very recently gotten into Baldur's Gate 3. I'm having a great time.

How's Vol 6 going, Alice?

Well, I'm writing it at the moment! Not drawing, just writing all of the scenes and the dialogue. I'm about two-thirds of a way through a first draft, and I'm feeling a little bit nervous about it. And I want to TALK about it or I may go insane. Talking about my work is scary these days because things I say about Heartstopper get reposted to various social media sites and rack up thousands of likes and views, and are always inevitably misunderstood and overanalysed. But if I don't talk about my work and express myself then I do just feel a bit insane. I'm an oversharer at heart at a time when oversharing is unwise and cringe, unfortunately.

Because of the popularity of Heartstopper, I am very aware of what most people like about it and what people are hoping and expecting for in the last part of the story. I know many people will be wanting more fun adventures like the Paris trip, and I definitely considered this - when I sat down to plan, I asked myself: 'what fun adventures could the gang get up to this time?' But then I realised... that's not my priority here, or what I'm interested in. What I'm really interested in is delving a little deeper into Nick and Charlie's relationship dynamic and challenging the notion that they are a kind of unattainable fairytale romance with no problems. And I'd also like to delve into some of the smaller sub-plots that have been bubbling along through the story, and letting them all have a satisfying conclusion - or at least saying goodbye to them in a way that allows the reader to imagine what might happen next.

I'm scared about this volume not having a big new villain or a big adventure like the Paris trip, because I know there will be people who read it and be like 'huh that was boring. nothing happened'. I know that was some people's reaction to Vol 5. I am just scared of negative reactions, always. You'd think being an author for 10+ years would eradicate that. It does not!

At the end of the day... I love that Heartstopper is mostly a slice of life story - just the everyday progression of Nick and Charlie's relationship and the ups and downs of their school days together. I want the whole of Vol 6 to feel like an epilogue to that, in some ways. And of course it will be fun and silly sometimes, and there will be some plot, but I don't want to introduce new big story elements just for the sake of this book having a unique selling point. In my heart, I know I want it to be low-stakes and character-driven, and I am going to try and make it so. And if some people think that's boring, then, hey, so be it. I think I'm really going to like it though!

(As a small and slightly unrelated side note, I do just want to express that the events of the Nick and Charlie novella have presented me with an actual logistical and thematic nightmare in plotting Vol 6. I'm trying to honour the canon of the Nick and Charlie novella as best I can, but it is- well, it's very difficult, to say the least. I guess I'll see what happens when I get to that section of the story later in my draft... Did you know I wrote the Nick and Charlie novella over nine years ago now!?)

Volume 6 = Season 4? What's going on there?

If we get a fourth season of the show, it will use volume 6 of Heartstopper and the Nick and Charlie novella as the source material. I am very much hoping that there will be a fourth season, so the show gets to have a proper ending! I'm praying to the gods! Begging on my knees! Having nightmares about it regularly, etc!

What this means for me is that I really need to get a move on and finish writing Volume 6 so that I can give myself as much time as possible to write scripts for season 4. I can start writing scripts for S4 before any kind of renewal potentially happens - I will probs want to do this to make sure I have as much time as possible to work on them (having 2-4 months each to write seasons 2 and 3 was a genuinely horrible experience), and also so we have something to share with cast and crew as early as possible. I will most likely be drawing Vol 6 simultaneously while writing the season 4 scripts, even if we haven't been renewed. And the other thing that I have to keep in mind is that I really, extremely, devoutly need the Volume 6 book to come out before season 4 comes out, so people experience the end of the story from the books first. So there's a timer counting down now.

It's quite a LOT. Hence why I'm trying to schedule my life for the next two years.

(Just reiterating for anyone lightly skimming this newsletter that we have not yet been renewed for a season 4. But hoping and praying!)

What's the plan for the Return of Patreon?

When the comic returns for the final two chapters of Heartstopper - chapter 8 and the epilogue - I will be resuming posting the pages here on Patreon in the Full Comic Tier as I have always done… but just for chapter 8, not the epilogue. Due to the popularity of Heartstopper, page leaks from Patreon are now inevitable (though please still continue to report them - my publisher can take legal action against people who do this!), and because of how fast leaks spread on sites like TikTok, people will be spoiled without wanting to be. I want to ensure that everyone experiences the very end of the story together, so I will not be posting the epilogue to Patreon in advance - it will be going up on the webcomic sites at a later date.

As for WHEN the Patreon will return... well, it depends when I finish writing, when I'm happy with the writing, and when I feel comfortable and confident sharing pages again. I want to give myself a good amount of time to get into it without other people's eyes on it. I think a reasonable estimate at this point for the return of Patreon would be July (THIS IS NOT DEFINITE).

When the Patreon returns, it will 'unpause', and people will be charged their monthly pledge again. I will make sure to give you all plenty of warning before this happens! People will also be able to join the Patreon again.

In conclusion!

I've been writing and rewriting this post for weeks, and I've been staring at it today for a good two hours, so I think I should just post it. I miss making the comic so much!!! Sooooooo much!!!!!! I can't wait to be back soon. I know that drawing pages again is going to make me feel so much more alive and at peace! I can't wait to bring this story to a really enjoyable and satisfying conclusion, and I can't wait to hear all your thoughts about it. I think talking about my work and how I'm feeling about it - as scary as it is - will help me a little in this whole process. So I'll try and do it more!

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you're all looking after yourselves. If you've got any questions I'll try and answer them in the comments. See you soon!

Alice xx

[This post is public - I don't mind if you want to share it elsewhere!]