Behind the scenes #1 · 9:26pm Feb 20th, 2015
In the original short story, the lone chapter ended very strangely... and rather stupidly. It made no sense. Luna wasn't present in the throne room at first. She came in to delivery the chest containing the antique tiara. Also, there was no conspiracy theory revealed by Diamond Tiara. The movie consent, tickling, hairgasm, stallion salute, and the reveal that Luna was the publisher of SubPlot were also elements that didn't happen. Finally, the actual ending was very Looney Tunes. After Celestia said "nopony likes to feel that they are the product of the machinations of others," Fausticorn and Bonniecorn appeared out of nowhere, lay their forelegs behind Celestia's neck and said "You said it, sister!" or something to that effect... then they disappeared, leaving Celestia wondering what the heck just happened.
I swear I don't smoke funny cigarettes.
Also on the editing room floor: The scene where Twilight and Celestia talk about the grisly details of the case replaced a scene with Lyra and Bon Bon as police detectives telling Twilight those same details with a few jokes thrown in here and there. It felt too forced and Lyra and Bon Bon have never been police detectives in anyone's headcanon.
A cut joke with the CMC and Celestia: a settled bet between Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle regarding a yanked out strand of Celestia's hair and whether it continued to move on its own. (It didn't, making Sweetie Belle the winner of the bet.)
What say you, readers? Do you want to hear more about this behind the scenes stuff?
Well, considering I'm the first to comment. I would love to know what goes into the writing process.
I can't speak for everyone but I start off with an ending and work backwards. There are one or two scenes I get in my head that I know must take place and I try to wedge those in where they make the most sense and feel the least out of place. I'm working toward an ending that will bring as many of the side plots work. J.Michael Straczynski wrote an excellent book called The Complete Book Of Scriptwriting. It was a gift from a friend and I am saddened to say that I have lost that book. I lost that friend as well but I'm more saddened by the loss of the book.
I've pretty much given up on writing scenes that don't fit any existing tropes. Everything's basically been done before so to borrow a phrase from Applejack, my fanfics are plenty good enough for the readers of fimfiction. I just have to dress them up a bit and prove it to them.
For my fics, I write dialogue first. If there's an important action that takes place, such as a character leaving a room, I'll put (Character X leaves room) and then resume the dialogue with the new cast of the scene. Then I'll fill in the details like Scootaloo examined the shiny, candy red button and found herself incapable of thinking of anything other than pressing it to see what wonders it held.. Writing these actions is the most boring part and it's the one I tend to save for last.
The actual ideas for stories are organic. Either I have them or I don't. Fortunately, pony holds no shortage of story ideas for me. I'm so familiar with the characters that I can see them doing all sorts of things. One idea (and if anyone wants it, it's theirs) had a maxed out future Mane Six from an alternate timeline who each ruled one sixth of the planet. I pictured them wearing epic armor as they sat around for a meeting that Twilight called. She acknowledged that they were bored because nothing could threaten their power. They had even conquered old age. Twilight prescribed the cure for their eternal ennui. They would go back in time and fight their past selves, not caring one way or the other if they destroyed their timeline by killing their younger goody two horseshoes selves or lost their own life. Anything was better than being bored. Meh. Now you see why I don't mind if anyone takes it.