A Year In The Community: The Van Halen Dilemma · 5:43am Mar 22nd, 2016
I can't believe it's been a little over a year since I joined FimFiction (and a little less than a year since publishing my first story). And yet in retrospect, I can't believe it took me that long to join the herd. I certainly missed enough chances to jump on board, and it probably would have helped a lot with my non-MLP-related creative goals as well.
Maybe I should back up and take it from the top. Brace yourselves for a year-plus in review.
Picture is related eventually...
My first brush with MLP came in late 2010. I remember reading a news story about the pastel horse invasion back when it was new. The story included a link to watch S1E1... and I watched it, and I thought it was surprisingly good, but I was busy and I forgot about it.
At the end of 2013, my kid discovered ponies, and I remembered how I'd heard of the Brony thing a few times. My curiosity peaked for just long enough to buy a couple of toys... and I kind of forgot again.
In mid-2014, kid and I were at the local library, and kid wanted to rent a DVD. But on that fateful day, the DVD of choice was a disc containing the MLP S1 episodes Ticket Master and Suited For Success. I remember having a mix of low expectations and perverse curiosity as we sat down to watch it. I also remember feeling my eyebrows start to climb at just how compelling Ticket Master managed to be despite its premise revolving around a friendship problem with a bunch of magical ponies wanting tickets to a ball--things that seemed ridiculous, ephemeral, but that were working for me regardless.
Then Suited For Success came on.
My jaw dropped somewhere during The Art of The Dress. "Even though it rides high on the flank, Rainbow won't look like a tank?" Did a kid's show just say that?! But it kept getting better. Rarity flipped her shizz in the most gloriously melodramatic way. Pinkie suggested Rarity was at risk of becoming a crazy cat lady, and when faced with doubt about this, just said, give her time. There was a DJ pony, and not one but two fashion shows, and somehow they were captivating, and...
It was absolutely not what I expected.
In the following months, we discovered four whole seasons of MLP, as well as Rainbow Rocks (and the other movie that shall not be named). I was digging it. My wife started joking that she wasn't sure whether kid or I was the bigger fan. The jokes would later get more serious, as we all started to realize it was me.
In early 2015 I (somehow) caught wind of MLP season 5 being on the horizon, so I started Googling for information and ended up at Equestria Daily. It was another jaw-dropping moment, because I couldn't believe how much art and music the community was coming up with. It was a vibrant community; alive and kicking. Oh, and there were story links as well.
Stories? Wait, what...?
Fanfiction? You're kidding. People actually write pony fanfiction?
...I dunno. I guess I could read one.
...whoa, what else has this Pascoite guy written?
*binges*
Assuming I haven't lost you already (and I'll admit that I'm in full-on lengthy rant mode), there's two more parts to the story. Maybe the most important parts.
I'd been writing on my own for years, trying to produce the kind of epic fantasy or sci-fi that you'd get with Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson, but rarely producing anything good. I showed bits and pieces to people along the way; heck, I joined and/or founded several in-person writing groups to try to figure out how to improve. In late 2014, one of my longtime victims readers asked if I was ever going to try to buckle down and go professional... and I panicked. I knew I wasn't ready; I needed more eyes on what I was writing, but I didn't really know how to get them without being able to produce a higher quality of work. It was, in brief, the Van Halen Dilemma, for those familiar with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure; needing X to get Y, but also needing Y to get X. It's not a great situation if you want to make progress.
Then suddenly: pony fanfiction. People are willing to read it whether or not you're a professional. People are often willing to pre-read and give detailed feedback about it if you can ask them politely and sometimes take no for an answer.
And what I realized is that the people reading it are keen souls who tend to be swifter on the uptake than I am... and perhaps not so quick to judge a deep and moving show about colorful characters by its appearance... and who are perhaps more willing to admit when they're liking a thing that seems kind of unusual than I was... and who are often skilled writers with a lot to teach about the applied practice of writing... and who are sometimes just great to talk to, and to joke around with...
My whole experience with the MLP community thus far hasn't been what I expected, but I feel really grateful for what it is. I'm curious and excited to see how that experience reflects in my upcoming trip to Whinny City Pony con. The MLP community is something that brightens my day and gives me an outlet for self-expression in my off-hours. And while I don't know if or when I'll come back around and take a shot at writing professionally again, I'm glad to be here with you guys. Thank you for a great first year! 
TL;DR: Friendship is Magic 
"Woah"
Be Excellent to each other.
Indeed it is. I know I'm hoping to turn fan fiction experience into something more concrete. Glad you've had a very positive experience.
3820253 Thanks Abe Lincoln dude!
3820275 Indeed! Do you mind if I ask what's your genre of choice, and if you find that MLP provides good opportunities to write in it?
FWIW I haven't dabbled much in trying to write epic fantasy since I got into MLP. I still love reading that stuff, but I've found I get a lot more enjoyment out of writing shorter things.
Or
kidnappingconvincing Plato into a phone booth with the philosophical lyrics of Every Rose Has Its Thorn.3821047 Waitaminute, I thought it was Dust in the Wind...
I don't think there really was a Van Halen dilemma. I mean David Lee Roth is the only true lead singer of that band. Sammy Hagar was a whole lot of meh and nobody remembers Gary Cherone. Also, is it just me or is it weird that there isn't a Wyld Stallyns band in this show? I mean seriously. Like they couldn't hire Alex Winter to do at least one of the voices. Keanu might be more difficult to land but, you never know.
Anyway, glad you've had a positive and fun time of it and I hope it ultimately remains that way.
3822628 lol, I actually like Van Hagar more than I should probably admit. I know it isn't as firmly on the hard-rock/hair metal axis as Roth, but even a dyed in the wool metalhead such as myself can appreciate the softer things occasionally.
This was super cool to read. I met another writer I really like in this site, Atomicpuffin, who writes other fan fiction and original works. From seeing her stuff here I now follow and enjoy her other stories. If you are posting other works outside of the land of ponies let your followers here know so we can check it out too :).
I hope you do create your epic work...like that guy who wrote the Martian...you never know what could really catch fire if you just keep following your passion.
3825304 Thank you so much.
I do have a growing number of stories over on the Writeoff website, but they'll generally need a lot of cleanup before they'll be ready to post on FimFiction.