MLP:Prime Heads-Up and Questions · 2:04am Jun 17th, 2012
Hello, my dearest readers. In the spirit of communication, I thought I'd let you all know where I am right now in terms of Chapter 9.
I'm about halfway done with what I'd been hoping to put in. It would be the longest chapter so far, probably about 8 or 9k words. Unfortunately, this chapter is proving to be a little frustrating, and it's taking me longer than I'd like to write this one.
So, this brings us to our first question: Would you like the first half of chapter 9 now (about 4.5k words) and have it end a little abruptly? Or do you want to wait for the full chapter, maybe about a week or so in the making?
Another thing. I've been going back through the earlier chapters, trying to get some inspiration for chapter 9, and as I read I started getting an uncomfortable feeling about Firework Flare, one of my OCs. He seemed to me to be fairly high on the Gary Stu scale, and I was wondering if any of you guys felt the same way. I would really appreciate advice on this part, as I want to keep my OCs reasonable and realistic. Please be honest here, even if it means criticism.
Thank you all for sticking with me so far!
I've never perceived Flare as a Gary Stu. Now that I think about it, he is a bit off balance, but in fairness, he's hardly had any screentime thus far. I don't know that he's a Gary yet, but he's at risk. You've played him as both successful and sympathetic, which aren't really angles that go well together, but play one or the other down and show us character rather than circumstance, and he'll stay believable. That's my take, anyway.
Oh, and I vote full chapter.
I agree with Silent up above me, while your suspicions about Flare are likely well-founded, he's gotten so little time in the story that it hasn't become super obvious. As long as you know that he's a bit of a Gary Stu and make sure to avoid that in the future, it'll be perfectly fine.
I know I never help authors when I say this, but do whatever you're most comfortable with when it comes to the chapters. I can understand wanting to do either of the options you outlined, but believe me when I say the last thing any of your loyal readers want to do is stress you out with deadlines or start expecting constant updates. You work on each chapter at your pace, and upload it when you're satisfied with it. It's not like we're watching you write it and second-guessing your every move.
178870>>180760
Thanks. I thought about what you said and made some moderate adjustments to his parts. Basically, I decided that I wouldn't change much, just have the more Stu-ish parts revealed after I've established his personality a bit better.
You guys are great.