Doing more things possibly, I am · 3:35am Feb 28th, 2013
Okay, so. In order to get the full import of this blog post, you would have to be familiar with my scheduling habits. Thankfully, these are not very complicated. I have two slots. In each of those slots is a story. I then try to alternate between the slots. Sometimes I break stride if a story isn't working and I need to refresh myself by moving to the other, or if a story is going really well and I feel I can update more than once in a row quickly. It's very simple, a-side b-side logic.
I'm thinking of expanding that schedule so it now has three slots: an A-side, a B-side, and a weekly thing. Ideally, the weekly thing should be short and easy to write (best-case scenario: can be reliably done within a day), so I don't get too distracted by it and hold up the other projects. That way, you guys get more content, and I get more variety in what I do. Everybody wins.
So, going on the basis that I'll probably end up doing all this (since I tend to get somewhat overzealous about such things), the only questions that remain are: what's the first thing that should fill my new weekly schedule slot, and what day should I do the weekly thing on? Suggestions I've already considered for the weekly thing slot are:
– Some kind of sequel to Music. Since Music already pretty much dealt with all the plot, I could focus more on the slice-of-life aspects. Which is basically a fancy way of saying, "I could take Music!Vinyltavia out for a joyride and just do all sorts of scenes and stuff from the relationship post main story." There probably wouldn't be any hard chronology, and the individual pieces would most likely be 500-1500 words in length, involving a single event or something.
– A new collection of stuff, featuring one pairing. Pieces would likely be wordcounted to 500 words each, because I like the challenge of doing a worthwhile piece in 500 words.
– Somewhat of a curveball: a collection for reader-made prompts. You send in the prompts, I'd pick one, do whatever I wanted with it, and post the result. (I did something similar back in the FFVII fandom, and that went on for like 150 chapters or so. Good fun, though.)
If anybody has any other suggestions, feel free to let me know; I'm interested in what you guys think about the whole idea. As for the day I'd be doing all this on...eh, probably Thursdays or Fridays. Wednesday is a pretty meh day, even if it is named after Odin. Tuesdays are weird, and Mondays? I think not. Either way, let me know what you think!
(Still can't be bothered to do Fear. I'm thinking about starting the post-Music oneshot early.)
You're way more organized than I am. Here's how I manage my pony writing:
1. Try not to write pony stories.
2. Try not to write pony stories.
3. Proof-read a story that's been gathering dust for three months, because it's already "done" and that doesn't count, it will only take an hour!
4. Spend entire weekend rewriting said story and expanding by 3,000 words.
5. Try not to write any NEW pony stories.
6. But it's okay to write another chapter for that thing I started six months ago; I'll just look at it before bed.
7. Stay up til 4AM writing. Act hungover all next day at work. Resolve never to do that again.
8. Do it again the next night.
9. Try not to write any pony stories.
10. Break down and write another pony story.
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I'm not organised because I want to be. It's because I have to be. xD If I don't have a schedule of some kind, I just end up not doing anything. (Conversely, if I stick to my schedule too strictly and don't switch around a little bit when a story isn't working well for me, I end up stalling and then taking an unannounced hiatus for like six months.)
Still, I think your way probably works better, seeing as how my incredibly slow upload speeds are somewhat of a running joke amongst my watchers. All that scheduling does not beget productivity, it seems.
I like the prompts idea, since I have a ton to throw at you that I know you could do perfectly.
Do the Music one, because Music was awesome.
Promts seems like fun, but I haven't gotten to Music yet, so I have no way to judge properly....
Adding that to my list then.
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Of course, one extra factor with the prompts idea is that I, historically, am a huge jerk who takes pleasure in twisting prompts that are suggested to me. Especially if they seem obvious or are leading into a very defined story idea. I think the most obvious example in the FFVII fandom one was someone who asked for Candlelit Dinner as a prompt. Long story short, there was a candlelit dinner, but not between the pairing that the story was devoted to. (Then said pairing crashed into the restaurant through the window and ruined the dinner for the characters who were actually having it. That was a fun chapter to write!)
Well, I'm way out of practice for shorter things, so I'll likely flub the first few until I get refamiliarised. I think the one problem with the prompts idea is that it should really be done more than once a week, so a lot of people get their turn. The one I did in the FFVII fandom had me doing a prompt every other day, but that ended up being way too demanding in terms of focus, so I had to drop practically every other story I was doing to keep up with it. Still, it could work. I'm thinking of doing a trial version for a few weeks to test the waters.
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If I end up doing the Music one, I'll start it after I've done the post-series oneshot, for reasons that will be apparent. (Basically, the oneshot will include plot, and I'll have to write around that in the weekly thing). Other than that, I can't think of too many ways it wouldn't work.
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You don't have to read Music if you don't want to. I'd recommend it, but then I'm the author, so there is some slight bias there.
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Ohh, I will. Eventually.
There are 37 stories in my to-read list, and that is after spending a week sick in bed, doing very little but reading.
People just keep writing so much awesome stuff.
I want a mirror pool.
Twisted prompts might even be more fun than playing them straight.
Either way, do whichever you feel you want to do most: They're your stories after all
Collection of TwiPie please