The Transient's Progress · 8:33pm Apr 2nd, 2013
So, as I'm sitting here penning away madly to try to speed up some of my work in hopes to have any notable progress done on the second novel before the end of the first is released, I thought to myself that I should find a way to communicate what the progress is looking like to anyone who would care to know it.
What better way than through this handy blog feature?
I'm dedicating this post to releasing (hopefully) frequent updates of my progress on the second novel of The Transient's Detail planned trilogy, which at this point has no working title.
April 2nd:
So let's get started with what I have so far! ... oh boy, this isn't looking good. 3 journal entries completed, and only about half a hundred more to go.
Currently suspended work on the third section, even though it is only perhaps a hundred words from completion. Mostly because I am having an impossible time writing for Pinkie Pie. Honestly has to be the most difficult character for me to work with and feel like I'm doing her any justice.
Fourth entry is going well so far! Strong start I feel, and this is where I can begin lifting the mood a little. The first three entries had to deal so much with cleaning up after Ben's choices in the first novel, and let's say that nopony was too happy when they learned of how he handled the frontier. It livens up from here though, so finally I can wipe that frown off and start working on chapters where he doesn't describe how poorly things are going for him. Hoping to have this one done by sometime tomorrow afternoon.
April 3rd:
All day spent in a doctor's office between my grandmother needing surgery tomorrow, and that I have suffered a particularly worrying spider bite. Not much progress to report...
April 4th:
Will update this with more notes on progress later. Right now, I just wanted to mention that I hate spiders. Also sulfur-based antibiotics.
Alright, went back and polished up Entry 3 and finished it off. If Wisconsin can get off my back tomorrow, will hopefully have Entry 4 completed by tomorrow afternoon.
April 5th:
Entry 4 now involves a grilled-cheese sandwich. Oh, how I do love being vague... Almost done with the entry. 5 will be started soon in that case.
April 7th:
Wow, busy weekend. Hate that it's over. Now own a Chromebook however, or what is pretty much a giant Android phone without 4g coverage, but hopefully getting out of this damn room every once in a while can help me keep my head clear. Cleaned up the first sections this evening, rewrote the end of 3, and trying to not include the word "bitch" in entry 4 even though I want to so badly. (Would be entertaining in its context, but would disrupt the flow with a swear where he is)
Additional note: Red Orchestra 2 seems to be another entry in a list of games that makes me somehow regret even playing them. My pride is severely damaged by this title. Anyone maybe able to tell me exactly what one is supposed to do there? My options at any given moment amounted to suck and/or die, and occasionally having the option of playing "Who can play this game less" by sitting in a dark nook for ten to twenty minutes at a time, so I didn't really feel accomplished playing it. As a man who has overcome the learning curve of Dwarf Fortress, I'm astonished that I don't even know where to begin with this one... would appreciate any advice, because now I'm stuck with this title after being gifted it, and I hate letting a pal's money go to waste.
April 9th:
Done with entry 4. Blame Wisconsin. Also I was busy doing some last-minute editing on the next release chapter of The Transient's Detail. It was worth having another look over to ensure it's accuracy and quality.
April 11th: Scrapped and rewrote 4 because I hated it. Still includes a grilled cheese sandwich. This time, ends on an uplifting note, because Vlad's comment had me thinking about what direction to take it in.
April 16th: I have to admit to having trouble finding the main 6 as characters again. I think I need to spend some time re-watching seasons 1 and 2 to familiarize myself with them again, as I am just lacking a quick pickup to know how they'd react like I did during the writing of the first novel. Seems like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are the only ones I can write for fluently right now. UPDATE: 5th is done. Now to brainstorm where to continue with 6th.
April 19th: Timberwolves are an interesting subject. Have a little something to do with the chapter I'm working on. Ever wondered why their breath smells so bad? Think I have a clever reason for it. Should be done with the 6th entry by the end of tonight. These are longer than the entries of the last novel I'm afraid. Does anyone mind long entries? I do everything I can to have them cut off before 8,000 words, but is that still too much? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.
April 24th: Dammit, I forgot that it's winter at the time of this story. Had to make sure that was covered. Should be clear for now, and back to work on entry 7. I wonder if they do stitches at the hospital in Ponyville? Maybe they have a quicker, better way than that.
April 30th: "Oh, and I wanted to say that I think you were right on what Applejack expected a "Thinkin' Type" like you to come up with..." Wow, doing anything with such a subject is very difficult to find a good balance. I'll admit, that phrase has something to do with what I've been rewriting many times to find the happy medium I'm looking for. So, as for status, still working on chapter 7 (as embarrassing as it is for me to have not gotten this done by now). That, and Mount & Blade had me hooked over the weekend. Brytenwalda module is quite fun, except it tries to convince you that spears are the most ineffective weapon that mankind has ever had the misfortune of inventing.
May 1st: "While ignorance may be bliss, I am certain now that stupidity can be very, very painful." Just leaving a quote from what I'm working on currently. Still chapter 7. Getting a lot done today at least. Here's hoping that May is a productive month!
May 6th: Cinco De Mayo yesterday. I'm still hung over from it. No, I was not drinking, yet somehow I still feel hungover today. Despite it, I forgot to write on what day I finished chapter 7. Working on 8. Most of the way through it already. Wish I knew how many chapters this story was going to be exactly, but I like to think that it will have somewhere near the same as the first novel.
May 7th: Finished with chapter 8. I decided to give up on so much formal dialogue and just have some fun, quick-paced conversation. I don't believe it breaks the story's flow any, and should be a nice chance for a couple laughs.
May 8th: Is the concept of the Gala used too much? I sincerely hope not. I have had a fun section planned for months now, and soon enough, I finally get to write out my thoughts on it. Chapter 10 will be dealing with that, while 9 is the build up. I can only hope my planning will give way to one of the best entries I've written, hopefully on par with Hearts and Hooves Day from the first novel.
May 9th: I want to get the 9th chapter done today so that I can increase my momentum on this story. I want it. I want it. I WANT IT! I'm over halfway done with it. It's a simple chapter to be honest, a lot of dialogue. Not every chapter needs to be gut-wrenchingly funny or tear-jerkingly sad I hope. Maybe just "charming" can be an accomplishment for a chapter. Is that the case? I'll just believe it is until someone tells me otherwise.
May 12th: 10-1 is complete now. Means there will be two parts to chapter 10. I felt that the midpoint between it changes the mood so drastically, that little divide might help. Also keeps from having a chapter that is exceptionally long. Hopefully no BS tomorrow, and I can power my way through the rest of chapter 10. That'd put me roughly halfway through phase 1 of the story.
May 13th: Found my muse music for 10-2, found a good way to start it off and got it rolling, found a great mood to work with... and then realized that I had no good ideas to really make this entry spark. Damn. Need to consult with L. Rose and brainstorm some clever aspects for this. With any luck, this will be back on track tomorrow.
May15th: I had a strange moment of clarity today. As I've been working on 10-2, I want to make sure I understand what I'm working with entirely. This led to a moment today where I had to stop and consider what I was doing. At a desk, the track "Right Behind You" from TF2 is playing loudly through my headphones to create the dangerous and devious atmosphere. I have a notebook open that I am penning notes into to make sure I have a flow and all of my details in order. Then, on screen, is the "Pony Pokey" scene from season 1 playing completely muted, and I am watching it intensely and unblinking as I study every detail of the characters' surrounding with scrutiny. Sometimes I do have to wonder for my own sanity; I suppose context is everything in a situation like this. CONT: So, I didn't get the whole entry done. Maybe this one will take longer than I thought. I spent a lot of time refining the kiss scene (Before assumptions, trust me when I say that it is a gloriously devious and dastardly one used to further other goals. It is not a feel-good, true-love-forever scene. I like to believe I've used it for a perfect element of setting up to show just what our protagonist is capable of when pushed to a limit), but it deserved to be the best it could be. That's the case with this whole chapter. It'll be long, but I swear I will do everything in my power for it to be completely worth every word.
May 21st: Currently rearranging my schedule to use what was my writing time to instead read my way through Watership Down. Never had the chance to read it before, to be honest did not have that much of an interest, but I am respecting the opinion of a bartender that I'm getting to know when she says that it is one of her favorite books. Withholding opinions about the book so far, as they are very varied right now. I apologize, but story writing is on pause so I can get through it for the sake of keeping my word. However, editing of sections I have already written is still happening, so there is not a complete halt on progress.
May 28th: It is the morning... I've finished that book (Watership Down)... stayed up waaaay too late last night... but nonetheless, now it's time to get back to work. Hopefully will have a status update today, but no promises since the job has a work project currently on the table that needs to be done. However, my writing time is once again back to being used for writing again, so all is hopefully well.
May 30th: Work project is over. Finding myself stuck in the current point of the story. Thinking I might as well just say screw it and write something BSish to just get it moving again and come back later to tweak it into something even half-decent. Had a lot on my mind recently. As a gamer, I like to pay attention to the gaming market news to make sure I know what's going on. Why have most of the corporations now lost their minds? Nintendo and its streak of many mistakes that has now resulted in a failing console, Microsoft trying to make a set-top-box that may or may not even be able to be called a console.. I won't bore anyone by going into too much more, but needless to say, it seems like all the companies I pay attention to, gaming and otherwise (looking at you, Hasbro), are making some very unsound decisions that leave me scratching my head in wonder of how anyone thinks these are good ideas. Maybe it's not my place to know, but it still leaves me baffled.
June 12th: So folks, this is exactly one of the reasons I do not release entries as I complete them. That would mean that strange intervals would pass where I pretty much find myself in a literary slump and seem disheartened by my own work. I ask myself: Is what I'm working on worth it? Is this really entertaining? Is this what I enjoy, or what my audience will enjoy as well? Tough questions. I haven't answered them, instead I did something to day that answered a more technical question of mine.
Today I burned a washcloth with some 150 proof alcohol.
Had to do it for research. I knew that burning ethanol atop surfaces, if not left for long, would not damage the surface that the ethanol was poured over (For example, try pouring some Bacardi 151 on a tabletop and light it on fire, and blow it out before, say, the 5 second mark. There will be no scorching left on the table.). I had to know, however, if burning ethanol could quickly ignite surrounding dry fuels. So, poured a strip of 150 proof ethanol across the center of a washcloth, left the sides of it completely dry, and lit it up. Answer is that about 45 seconds in, the dry portions of the washcloth caught fire. Believe it or not, this research benefits the current entry of The Transient's Detail I've been working on. And it has to do with the Gala. Still not sure if it's an overused premise, but maybe, just maybe this use of it will be worth the repeated concept if it has been overdone.
June 29th: Ugh, I hate admitting to that date. I have good news on it however! I finished entry 10-2! Yes, the devil chapter that has taken me nearly a month to finish (or was it over a month? I don't want to know). It ended up being 20,000 words. That's not exceptionally long, I know, but it was hard to feel like I was keeping something that long interesting. I can only hope I achieved it however. Now I can actually make some progress and continue.
July 3rd: I actually finished Entry 10-3 on that day, even though it's the 5th when I'm writing this. That's a momentous occasion for me. officially made it through ten chapters of the second novel! (Actually, 12, if you count 10-2 and 10-3 as their own chapters, which being 20,000 words and 7,500 words respectively, they could probably stand alone, just they all deal with the same condensed time period.). So onto the real double-digits! Starting with 11! Ben's spooning with somebody in the beginning of this. I might just dare anyone to guess who it is with. Anyways, hopefully more consistent updates from here, now that the nightmare chapter of the Gala is over with. I had gotten my hopes up for it really high when working towards it, so I'm afraid that might have been why I was getting bogged down with being unimpressed with my own work. Came out really decent I think. One chapter shocking/detrimental, next chapter funny, last chapter wrapping up some problem areas. Good spread, I feel.
August 5th: 11 done.
Not much more to say. Moving on to 12. Ashamed of my lack of progress. Feeling a bit discouraged, but I am not going to let it stop me. Just hope the slump stops soon.
August 16th: 12 done. Time for 13. Trying to decide if it deserves a supplemental piece or not (a 13+, basically).
Actually, two entries finished in the same day. Done with 13 as well. Just need to work on 13+, but it has some more "intense" content, so that's something I need some serious alone time to work on.
August 21st: Finished the supplemental document for 13. So, that means 13+ is done. I'll state now, it's a Vexglove Study again. I must admit, 13+ does change the rating of the story a bit, I have to add a "SEX" tag now. I'll be sure to mark this section as explicit, however, and offer an alternative in the form of a summary in the Author's Notes when I release for those not comfortable with the content. Now onto Chapter 14.
August 28th: Chapter 14 complete. It deals with Zecora again. Been rhyming a lot recently, it seems. Anyways, 15 is going to be a two-parter, but what a charming two-parter it will be. 15-1 is where I'm starting, and I'll drop this tidbit to hopefully incite a bit of excitement for those who care: Hyacinth is featured in it once again.
Sept 4th: 15-1 is done. 15-2 coming soon. I think it might be shorter, but I always think that. Screw it, every entry is just going to be massive prior to editing.
Jan 2nd: 15-2 is done. I'm too drained to even excuse myself for this absence. It is now ready for its polish at least.
Jan 19th: Finished 16. I can almost see the end of the tough spot in sight. This one took longer than expected because I realized three things after beginning it: 1: I might be trying too hard during this rough draft process, and I need to let some things go for a bit. 2: Everything seems to happen in the Everfree forest, so now I'm hesitant to keep that as the setting for this little adventure. 3: Out of all reading I've done, I realized now that I've never read a horror or suspense thriller. So, trying out some ideas on how to build suspense in a chapter and seeing how it sticks. It's been a lot of trial and error so far, but I think it's coming together solid... maybe.
Feb ...something: Finished 17. Found the will after all of this time of resolving the transportation issue, and moving out of a closet. My psyche is starting to recover. I had no idea that staying in such a confined space would be so damaging to me.
Nice to see progress is being made on it, and the fact that you sit and research the characters and scrutinise the show you're basing it on is a sign of a good author. Good show, old boy!
Checked how you're doing for the first time in a while, keep it going!
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Same here. I probably should check this more often.
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Thanks you two for the encouragement. I promise, I'm still working on the novel (As hopefully can be seen in my sporadic updates of this blog post). It's just disheartening sometimes when working on such a large project because it'll be such a long time before I finally release it. I now understand why releasing chapters periodically when an author completes them is so popular on this site: That instant gratification when you finish something and immediately be able to share it must be really nice.
Knowing that somebody checks this helps keep my spirits up as I trudge onward. I have a lot done so far, but it still looks like so much left to complete. Probably doesn't help that, since the first novel, I've gotten more verbose and tend to write longer chapters now. I think I'm up to at least another 100,000 words, but hopefully in editing, I'll condense some things and cut that number back. "Brevity is the Soul of Wit." Well, trust me, with how long these chapters are coming out, I must not be very witty.
Hooray for Zecora, I enjoyed the interaction that you had between them before.
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Well, that's why you tagged your story dark and adventure not comedy.
...I'm horrible at replying to comments. Usually I wanna wait and think about what to say, but then I forget.
I haven't checked up on you in a while.
How's it been since you posted this update? Any hope of a release by, say... December? Pleeeaaase?
1371809 Hey, thanks for looking in on me, I do appreciate it.
In risk of boring others with my own happenings, just life changes coming up: like a move, struggling to find the will to go to my job every day now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel (New place to live), ear infection, people in general.
December, hm? Y'know, I think I'll keep that in mind. Maybe even if I don't have the whole novel completed by then, I should certainly be done with the first half of it, and I can polish it the month before for at least some kind of release. No promise, but I'll keep December in my head as some sort of tentative deadline then.
Honestly, just hope I can find my inspiration again. I've simply felt a bit lost when I try to write the Transient's Detail these days. I just don't even know if I feel like a Brony anymore. My doubts started on February 16th of 2013. Afraid that's a day I'll never forget... a lot happened on it.
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Magical Mystery Cure wasn't THAT bad, and it certainly shouldn't taint any of the non-Twilicorn fan works. Honestly, I prefer the fan works over the actual show at this point. I'm mostly excited about the show now because it will give the authors and artists more fuel.
1372237 I'm more than willing to be fair and say that you're right: Magical Mystery Cure wasn't that bad. The problem does indeed lie with me, and I like to think a bit of it was around the circumstances of February 16th.
Cutting the story of that day down to bare minimum, the day consisted of my 21st birthday (lots of self-reflection on that one), the funeral of my beloved grandfather, and then on that night, I saw Magical Mystery Cure. All on the same day, and that made it a busy one to say the least.
I... just wasn't ready for Twilight to 'grow up' on me yet. Now I feel like I've lost touch with her. It truly hasn't tainted my story, but I've just not been able to find my way of "getting over it" yet to rekindle the spirit. I'll find it, no doubt. It's gotta be out there somewhere.
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I'm sorry for your loss, I understand how events like that can sour other things in life.
But...
Twilight? Grown up?
Pffffft...
She's not grown up, she's just not a complete social retard anymore.
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I haven't lost faith in you yet, take as long as you need if you intend to finish this story. But I want to say that if you'd rather end it now and stop writing, you can do that, it's easier to just mark a story as cancelled than to keep deliberating on whether to continue, knowing you won't finish it because you don't enjoy writing it. What I'm trying to say is that as much as I love the story, if you won't enjoy writing it, it's better to just end the story and let people know. Good luck!
Hey Mr. Winters, just thought I'd check back with you as it's been a while since I was in touch. How are you doing? I know you had trouble with your car earlier in the year and suffered a loss, hope everything is going well. How's the story coming along, made any progress, how did you feel about releasing those chapters? As always I hope you're doing well and I look forward to a response.