General Thoughts on Ponies, Things, and Writing

Hello everyone. Today I finished chapter one of my story, Behind a Sunny Face, and I'm really glad so many people liked it. I already have 37 people eagerly awaiting what comes next, and I plan to start on chapter two really soon. But tonight, I'm in a serious and contemplative mood, and I thought I would share some thoughts with anyone who is willing to read.

I've been writing ever since I was in 6th grade. I started writing as a mode of escapism, like a lot of writers. My stories had a lot of personal devotion, and as a result were pretty awful. I tended to work feelings into stories, disregarding other important elements of a plot. I won't go into much detail, but I needed this escapism because I was unsatisfied with the state of the world. Not that life was bad; far from it. I was (and still am) a very lucky and blessed person. No, I was dissatisfied with reality. To me, there didn't seem to be much wonder in the world. We live in a world where fictional stories are advertised all the time, all full of fantastic things and characters with powers I could never dream of having. I began to think too much about it: WHY did the world have to exist where I'm stuck in a boring body that can do nothing special? Why can't I have superpowers? It sounds cheesy and immature, but remember that I was in 6th grade at the time.

Over the years. my writing improved. I began to explore certain themes and ideas and describe things with more detail. But I never stopped thinking about the nature of reality and how we react to the world we live in. It's what one of my novellas in progress is about: how mundane the world is, and how it would be nice if things would be more exciting. But I also believe that IF something new and spectacular happened, it would quickly become mundane. If we were to suddenly be transported into the Pony Universe as ponies, it would eventually become the norm, no matter how wonderous it may be initially.

It's a no win situation. I want the world to be more significant, yet if this happened it would stop being significant. And perhaps that is why I am immersing myself in the MLP community. It's given me an avenue to explore certain themes. For example, I've always been fascinated by powerful characters in literature, especially deities. However, usually deities aren't actually in the story, only prayed to. But Celestia is rarity, a deity (in my eyes) that actually exists. So I've been exploring her character with my story in progress, as well as skimming other stories on the site. However, for some reason, I'm a bit hesitant to read too much other stuff. Is it because seeing another excellent story will make me feel insignificant as a writer? Or is it because it'll refresh my desire for this world to be different? Or perhaps it'll be sad and bum me out? Call me a wuss. But I like being happy. I've never understood why people write such tragic, sad stories. Sad, fine. My story is a little sad. But it's psychological, with no real harm being done to anypony. It's just exploring sad thoughts, not sad events. But sadness from tragedy...I can't handle. Yet, sometimes I can't resist to read some of those stories and bum myself out. Why? Is it human nature to want to be sad from time to time? To be connected to significant emotions?

Alright, enough of that. Thoughts on the story so far? I have a couple ideas for chapter two It'll either be a flashback, to show what Celestia told to Twilight, or I could skip right to bringing Pinkie Pie in! No matter what, any ideas for a flashback event? Something that Celestia would be doing in her day to day life, not a massive event or tragedy. Any ideas for the story are welcome! :)

And that's all for now!