Developments and Musings

Alright, the fic I've been blabbing about, "In a Story", is pretty much ready to post, I just need to make a couple edits and then it's done. It'll probably go up tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the feedback from reviewers ultimately deemed it a failure (as far as what I set out to accomplish). I had the option of either re-writing most of it, or making the most of what I had, and I chose the latter (as I was advised to). I imagine there will be people that will enjoy it quite a bit, but in my book it's a failure and a learning experience. It pulls some pretty cheap tricks and the characters stay too limited for the fic to truly pack the punch I wanted it to. As a whole, it's very abstract and conceptual; not for those looking for light reading.

Soon after I post that one up, I'll be editing my /fic/ write-off entry and submitting that as well. Around the same time (or even earlier—who knows?) I'll be posting an adventure/romance fic that took a back seat to "In a Story". I'm actually pretty excited to get back to working on it. I'll have the first 3 chapters written up, and I'll start by posting the first 2, then wait a bit (6 days, perhaps?) to post 3. The idea is that I'll be able to keep up with my posting schedule and have something ready every 6 days.

Anyways, there's something else that kinda sent me for a spin. In having "In a Story" and my write-off entry reviewed, I realized I have a tough time with main characters and canon characters. HA! How about that? So I've been thinking a lot about how to approach those two things. I often read back a bit to get in my characters' heads whenever I pick up writing mid-story, but that doesn't always work out. I was actually really bothered by this until I went back for another round of editing on "In a Story". One of the reviewers told me my Pinkie was too aware of herself. Now, Pinkie has always been an enigma to me. She's not a shallow character, but I have had no ideas on how to show her depth. I have searched far and wide for a Pinkie I liked to read about and was worthy of imitating. Shortskirtsandexplosions actually got pretty close to what I was looking for in Background Pony, but the resolution of his Pinkie chapter left something to be desired about her.

So: what was I missing?

I realized I was an idiot. I was letting my own weaknesses as a writer blind me to what makes Pinkie so interesting: she is a purely action-developed character! Almost none of her dialogue is truly meaningful, and since I rely on dialogue to convey most of my character's personalities, Pinkie confused me. However, her actions say everything! She doesn't tell you a joke to make you laugh, she bounces around you in circles, boops you on the nose then giggles. She doesn't come over and chat with you to get to know you better, she throws you a party. If you're sad, she finds out what you need and does it. If she's sad, she doesn't tell you her problems, she breaks downs.

Pinkie, you're awesome.