Basic

Hello there, I'm TheTimeSword.

So, I finished up Above the Fire Sky this week. I'm glad it's finally finished as I'd like to move on with writing something else. I've mostly figured out that I can write two different stories at the same time, but three or more is almost impossible. This is caused by me wanting to stick so much into a story that it deludes the inspiration pool, which in turn forces me to put limits on chapters.

Above the Fire Sky had some of the inspiration taken out of it, and then shoved back in. In that last half of the arc, I forced it to focus more on the few rather than the many. This is why many of the firefoxes are not referred to by name. The chapters were meant to be short, but if every character gets a speaking line, then it definitely wouldn't be short. Zecora and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to return for the last chapter, but it was already too chaotic.

It's the exact opposite for the other story I've been working on. PONI is long, almost ten thousand words per chapter. It gives me time to explain things properly, so much so that when I edit my work after I've finished writing it I will cut things out that I deem uninteresting to the story. PONI is definitely my baby, and I know the ending to it will knock peoples socks off.

When I write chapters, I like to set goals for myself. Above the Fire Sky's goal was fifteen hundred to twenty-five hundred words per chapter. PONI's is close to ten thousand words per chapter. I think breaking away from the goal orientated chapters would be helpful to my writing ability, but I'm going to stick with it for PONI.

I originally came up with the idea for goals as a way to keep me going or to keep me wanting to write the chapter and not give up. But since I've started writing I haven't really felt like I've needed to, mostly because I have a daily goal that I haven't missed since I started.

My daily goal is to write a thousand words everyday. If I can do that then I feel like I've accomplished something. Even writing in a blog seems helpful. I can without a doubt say that my next story will not have chapter amount goals, and will instead go for as long as I feel they need to.

Another tip that I've found is that taking a step back from a story, going and writing something else, and then coming back is extremely helpful. It rejuvenates the inspiration. I usually don't write in the same story for more than two days, another good reason to have two stories run side by side. If I spend two consecutive days writing the same story, I'll switch to the other so that my ideas stay fresh.

I'll have to figure out what's going to replace the Above the Fire Sky slot, as I've got a few ideas for other stories. Either it'll be another long multi-chapter story, or one that's more like a TV show where every chapter is different but in the same universe.

My main goal is to find what genre I'm good at, and stick to it. Maybe I'm good at writing things that are suitable for everyone. Maybe I'm good at writing smutty clopfics. Or perhaps depressing stories are my thing. I won't know until I've written a story for every type.

That's pretty much it for this week. Also, been playing a lot of Dark Souls 2. Absolutely love it.

~TheTimeSword