Major gratitude · 3:42am Aug 26th, 2012
When I transitioned from mere reader to actual typer -- I think "writer" is still somewhere off in the distance -- I speculated that I might get twenty-five or so story reads, based on the idea that, hey, it's a first story, how good could it be?
Well, it wasn't universally loved, but the little gauge, if I'm reading it correctly, says that 441 of you made it through the first chapter, and while not everyone thought enough of it to come back for the second, the six chapters in aggregate have now rolled up 1500 reads, a mere sixty times what I projected.
The second story, a one-shot unleashed the following week, has now reached 100 reads on its own.
The downside of this, of course, is now I'm going to have to start thinking about yet another story.
I'm excited, and I absolutely loved Dead Pony Flying. Despite your intentions to prevent it from being a sadfic, I was still very touched by Rainbow's personality continuing on with her to the afterlife, and the attention to the ponies still alive.
Keep writing, my friend.
Dead Pony was exceptional. Mind, expectations do rise, as I've found for the same reason - reader to writer; hoping to express an idea likened to what's preferred, in a manner both acceptable and professional. It's a very difficult endeavor! I have been forcing a multi-chapter story for some time now, and I've spent ten times what it took to type out in edit.
I seriously want to give it up, or post it as is, yet it feels as though there has to be more. Where's the balance? How do I meet the line between acceptable and overdone before it's too late?
Sounds like we're kindred in that aspect, Dusty. You're certainly more accomplished, but this seeming surreal artistry becomes very serious far too quickly.
As someone who appreciates your abilities, I can but wish you well.
I may as well admit here that Dead Pony Flying was not the original title, and in fact I'd gotten halfway through the second section (Dash's POV) when I realized that I needed some sort of transition from Celestia's last line to Dash's first thought. "Dead pony flying!" seemed perfectly Dashlike, and about two seconds later it occurred to me: "Why the hay is this not the title?" I had some trepidation about it, but I figure if no one complained about Twilight Sparkle Gets a Free Salad, I'd get away with it.
And I've had to make an attitude adjustment. When I started work on The Sparkle Chronicles, I vowed that I would not let it get in the way of my "serious" work. You don't want to know how serious I got towards the end of that story.
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Now I want to know! GAWD.
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Don't say you weren't warned.
Keeping both characters in character proved to be tricky. I'd planned the narrator to be somewhat Derpyesque: good heart, perhaps not the best motor control. But as Twilight began to take shape, it became obvious why she was willing to come through that portal again and again: with the exception of the princesses, there was really nopony she could talk to on a regular basis who would make the effort to engage her on every single topic she might want to discuss. Half an hour with that crazy human, and she felt better: about herself, about her place in the pony community, about not having to be one of those crazy humans. It's a serious drawing card. (Note that while his ponification is discussed, the opposite technique is never once considered. Of course, it probably doesn't exist.)
This threw me (as distinguished from the guy in the story with the same name) into a tizzy, since "world-class conversationalist" is at the very top of my list of desiderata for female companionship, that throwaway line about a sweet smile and nice legs notwithstanding. The focus shifted from "How do I not embarrass myself?" to "How can I actually win her heart?" And with that, several decades' worth of emotional energy, which I'd sought to dissipate with side interests, useless crushes and prescription drugs, suddenly became available to your lowly typist.
The ending I'd been planning for would have wound up something like the Doobie Brothers song "What a Fool Believes": to him, it was the defining moment of his life, while to her, it was just something that happened. At the start, this seemed like the most logical place to end. But now, infused with all that fresh emotion, I -- and at this point I was actually identifying with my narrator, something I'd taken pains to avoid doing previously -- went all out. Chapter 6, unlike any of the others, was written in one furious burst, about an hour to complete, only two or three small edits, and when that last line was on the screen, I wept for a good half hour, because I loved her so and I knew I would miss her terribly.
It is, I presume, not wise to be emotionally involved with a fictional character, especially one you didn't create in the first place. Yet it had its benefits: a lot of emotional debris was cleared out of the back of my heart at that moment, and I was able to put aside several "If only" stories from my past that up until then had been nagging at me on a regular basis. Given my extreme susceptibility to futile crushes anyway -- I can trace it back at least as far as 1960 -- I conclude that I am actually better off. But it also means that I'll never do another story about Twilight, light of my life, sparkle of my soul, because I want to remember her just the way she was, that Saturday, that summer. On balance, it was a small price to pay.
And as a special treat, the original coda to The Sparkle Chronicles, which I didn't even write, and struck before posting:
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Aw Dusty. Twilight's my favorite too.
Writing is considered a very therapeutic application; it's helped me out with a ton of recent issues involving my family - just not coherently.
And on balance, this may be why Dead Pony Flying turned out so well: there was no hint of, um, self-insertion. I should package this as an Old Adage: "The only person the writer should fear is the first."
Then again, I have long had grave doubts about the second-person story, yet they've been carried out here remarkably well, with several reaching my Favourites list.
Dead Pony Flying really is an excellent read. I haven't done much but skim Chronicles, but now I HAVE to read it, don't I? I simply must know! I mean, I would have read it before, but I don't seem to have time to read these days, sigh - This i'll have to stick in somewhere between sleep and work. SOMEHOW.
I don't think i've done alot of perspective thought in my own writing... as for first and second person views, hm. I noticed the supplant some readers prefer when it comes to pony interaction - especially the DIRTY second-person stuff - but i'm not of an incline to consider one view over the other. I should consider that.
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I've made my peace with the first person, having long since discovered that I wasn't going to write anything on the level of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which to me sets the curve for such things. I don't think I'm ready to try second-person for myself, or is it for yourself?
I hadn't seen a lot of human/pony romances, at least with "Mature" toggled off, and I figured I was getting in way over my head after I'd worked on the first two chapters of Chronicles and realized that it was going to be in fact a human/pony romance -- the plan, at first, was simply for the narrator to discover, after the visits ended, that his feelings had, um, escalated -- but the characters as written pretty much demanded it. No doubt there were several readers put off by the whole idea, especially when hints of off-stage cloppage manifested themselves (though nothing that would jeopardize a Teen rating).