Equestria Strains: Problems that bug me. · 4:13am Nov 3rd, 2017
P:ES has been out for a year now. I've been taking the story as seriously as I can (Doesn't mean I cant have fun), and that means putting 150% of my skills into this. However, the story is plagued with with a big problem that keeps trickling down, I have no plan.
As of right now, I know how the chapters are going to go for the next major plot point, but beyond that I'm clueless. This story started as a spur of a moment idea. and continued on without some grand plan to lead it on. Gilda as Alex Mercer, that's all I had. With no plan, problems soon popped up that didn't occur to me until after the Music Hall fight. Now it's too late to go back and fix them.
Take for instance Pinkie. She's out of character. The Pinkie in PES is completely different from MLP Pinkie. She's a downer, the exact opposite of what she should be. I think I went with the excuse of a Pinkie beaten down by a month of Apocalypse, and it would be interesting to see what would drive Pinkie would do a 180, but the first part, I didn't plan, and second, I didn't do as well as I could have since I didn't plan.
What if I did plan? Well, Rarity would be the Mane 6's representative. She fits Pinkie's role so much better than Pinkie. Rarity is used to management, she's put herself in stressful situations, and she would serve a dynamic with Gilda the show hasn't touched upon. Rarity works better, but I didn't cast her, because I didn't plan!
That's single example. I've been tackling my lack of foresight for a year now, and I wouldn't be surprised if any readers noticed some iffy stuff going on. Now you know why. This entire story is built off spur of the moment ideas.
Does this mean I'm calling this story bad? No. I'm reflecting on what I could do better. I think it's a pretty good story. It would be significantly better if I started with a plan, but alas. Then again, if I had a plan, we wouldn't have a monster neuter scene. There are up and down sides to everything.
I wrote this on my phone. Bear with me as you find grammar errors
Honestly, it's a rookie mistake, but at least you've been trying your best. You've kept it interesting, and you're exploring an idea that probably hasn't been done before. It's not a bad story, it's just not a refined story. Releasing a story chapter by chapter is difficult in the sense that you have to keep moving forward, and with a lack of planning to begin with it's even harder. But I can definitely let you know that I still enjoy reading the story, and that I still want to see where it goes even though there are some obvious flaws with it. The real challenge now is working with what you've got and trying to make it the best thing you can, so keep putting in that 150% and you will do fine.
4715804 Thanks. I figure if I can make the next chapter better than the last, it'll be worth it. My end goal is to be better than I started off, and if I start off good, then I'll be 10 fold greater than before.
And we're all in the same boat in wanting to see where this goes, probably me the most. I have no clue where it'll end, and I'll never know if I don't get us all there (Arrival to destination in one piece not guaranteed)