Slumber 101, FlutterDash Contest and New Story Idea · 9:37am Aug 5th, 2014
Righty-o, let's get right on it.
First off, Slumber 101. You might be thinking, "What is this?" Well, basically, it's a group idea. As I was browsing my Groups tab, to get the latest posts and such, I came across Sleepovers! And I have to say, it's pretty poor. It's off the newest groups section, and really... it's just poor. No picture, description, anything.
So what I did after seeing it was search for other sleepover-based groups. Groups in which the fics are dedicated towards slumber parties or Truth or Dare kind of stories. And I found naught. None of them exist! So there's a group specifically made for Lyra and Human clop, but there are no slumber parties...
So enter Slumber 101! A group that I'm thinking of making dedicated towards these story ideas. The mane six have a slumber party where they dicuss crushes, because that's totally all they do, or spin the bottle maybe. Or perhaps it's a certain clop story that's based around a key party that is totally awesome because it includes TwiPie. Yeah, that happened.
This group, of course, would have the basic layout: Description, list of rules, pictures that I'd get, and of course, folders. You know, where the story goes in. Because in a group dedicated to stories, you have to have folders right? I mean, a group called Sleepovers! has to have folders right? ...Right?
No? Okay, looks like it's up to me. I'd likely set out a few folders, probably going off the tags of Everyone, Teen and Mature. There could be others for specific types of slumber parties or something, but nothing has come to mind yet.
Expect this group... sometime in the future. I'll probably make a blog on it when (or if) I make it.
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Next up, the FlutterDash contest. Now I haven't participated in a fic contest before. I was contemplating entering The Most Dangerous Game, where my entry was going to be Rainbow Dash Steals My Shoes, but I scrapped it. Well anyway, I've decided to do something now. I'm going to write for the FlutterDash contest. <- Nifty link
The idea is basically FlutterDash used in some way around the 4 Seasons. That is left to the writer. I've already got four chapters planned, one for each Season. My idea is going to base the pair over time. So for the first chapter, it's going to be friendshipping when the two of them are young. Don't want to give too much away right now.
Here's the thing. I'm going to dedicate quite some time to this. I'm not even sure how long each chapter will be; I could end up with 11,000 words for each one for all I know. It's going to take up most of my writing time, and because of that, I may not come out with other fics. Some one-shots may be published in that time, but don't quote me on that. But don't be surprised in the case that no stories may come up until September, if that happens.
I'm also going to open up a request/invitation. I'm going out on a call and say that pre-readers/proofreaders and/or editors are welcome, if you don't mind working for free, and if you can put up with my writing. It's purely optional of course, and I'm more than happy to do this by myself. Hell, only pre-read one chapter if you feel like it; all assistance is appreciated. I'm certainly going to try with this contest. I'm not going to mind if I place last or anything, but I think this might give me a good chance to improve my writing. Join the contest too if you want; it's open, and it'd be nice to see competition. If you don't mind FlutterDash, that is.
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Lastly, this idea. This idea for a story isn't exactly some life-changer; it's a comment-driven story. Basically, a Human has interviews with the mane six over and over again (with guests time-to-time), asking questions (say 20) and they answer them. Each chapter would be based around a character and a session. So after the prologue (whatever that'll be), the first 20 questions that commenters ask on the story will then be directed towards, say, Twilight, who will then answer them in what way she would. Of course I would put a limit and say something like:
Maximum of two questions per comment. Any others or double posts to ask many questions will be ignored. Any questions after 20 will also be ignored.
Could be set-up like that, or perhaps the questions will roll over. I haven't decided. It would rotate with the cast, and after the chapter is done, I would edit to the story to say something like:
Next Interviewee: Pinkie Pie
Putting that up would let the readers know who's up next, and can then ask the specific questions. There would be limitations to the questions, and I would like to keep everything Teen and under, preferbly. I wouldn't dismiss questions such as, "Have you ever stuck a dildo up your cooch?" but I'd have to tread carefully there.
This story will also not use any narrative, or rather, "With haste, Pinkie Pie leapt forward, tackling Greg to the floor, binding him in a massive hug." Instead, everything will be pure dialogue. Dialogue that the Human uses won't have any quotation marks, while the character will use them. There's no narrative, but there will still be hinting things, such as, "Rarity, would you mind stop playing with you hair?" Things like that to show something that could be happening, while not dedicating sentences towards it.
Not only do I think this story could be fun, but it'd also give me a chance to improve the writing for the characters. But I do have fears about this, mostly:
How popular will this be? Given that it's a comment-driven story, it has to have readers. It'll be no good in saying that I'd need 20 questions, only to get 2 from a single commenter. I could fill in the gaps, but this needs a fanbase, to put it bluntly. It's no good to get absolutely nothing on the first day.
If you've read Know your Mare, you may be thinking it could be similar. It's not, let's clear that up. This is also not a case of lazy writing either; I'd be dedicating the time to it like I would anything else.
I'm interested in writing this. I really am. Which is why I'd like some feedback and thoughts on this idea before I bring up a Word document. Also putting forth from the FlutterDash contest, this may not appear for quite a while. Or it may go on while I'm writing for that. Who knows?
Well, I'd definitely read the Flutterdash story. That's one of my more liked pairings.
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I've actually set up the story here. It's not finalised; especially that cover art. I've found vectors from DA that could be a better pick, but I don't have a DA account, and I'd hate to use them without permission.
At least, I assume I'd have to do that. Am I allowed to add in the source and put "Credits to blah blah" in the description? I get nervous about these things.
2345153 If you can at all, make a DA account and directly contact the artist. I do sometimes upload fanfic on there, but a major reason I go there is to look at art I like and sometimes mentally file it away as "that would be great for X kind of fic." If you have a tumblr account, you can do the same.
I think the only time I might not try to contact the artist is that there are a handful of artists on Derpibooru whose art is uploaded to a Japanese site that I can't decipher at all. But I prefer to ask for permission.
And especially for a Flutterdash fic, why wouldn't you try for something amazing? Flutterdash art is so pretty!
Anyhoo, that's what I do.
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It feels a little bit of a hassle to me to make a DA account just to contact authors. I can browse art that a non-member wouldn't be able to view too, but its never really interested me.
FlutterDash art is incredibly pretty from the ones I've seen. What I might do, is continue to browse around and see if there's one I can use that either doesn't require permission and just a credit, or a unclaimed one where neither has to be done. It's definitely a no to uncredit someone, so I'll make sure.
Otherwise, I guess the current cover will suffice, or I could find a better one. It's not the biggest concern right now.
2345380 Yeah, to me, it's always been well worth it. 80%-90 of my cover art has been from kindly artists who allowed me to use their stuff. And if you're wondering whether nice cover art makes a different: yes, it does. The art, if it's nice, is definitely clickbait. Heck, one person freely admitted they clicked on my EG fic because of the pretty art! (That was a commission, and an expensive one, too--and it was worth every dime.)
Up to you, but the hassle is well out weighed by having access to cover art.