User blog comment:DarkSkullPirates/Chapter 745 Prediction/@comment-3412412-20140416193944/@comment-53539-20140416223243

^When there is a break, it usually marks a certain spot in the arc. Lately, Oda's been "marking" things more often though. :-/

He writes each chapter about a couple of weeks before we see it, submits it too more then a week before its published in S.Jump mag.

Oda's missed a deadline before when his been ill, and a chapter was delayed once because of it. I think his also taken too long to submit before too and missed the deadline. But most fo the time, a missed week is due to "research" time.:-/