Looking towards the future. · 1:46am Mar 26th, 2016
Welp. I guess when I say "later today or tomorrow," what I really mean is "In almost a week"
Isn't that just typical for me 
Anyway, as I said in my previous blog, I'm going to try to spend my time forging ahead now, rather than dwelling on the past several months. Hopefully by doing so, I'll manage to lift myself out of the depressive funk I've found myself wallowing in since about Thanksgiving and finally move forward with my life.
This in mind, I'm going to be implementing a new rule for myself. A standard to keep up to keep me productive, if you will:
I heard it reported that, before he died, Terry Pratchett, the prolific author of the highly successful and beloved "Discworld" series, made it a point to write 400 words minimum each and every day. I plan to impose this rule upon myself. I mean, let's be entirely honest here, four-hundred words is rather a pittance. That's like... what... writing twelve tweets? Sending a few messages on tumblr? I almost certainly write more than that amount simply chatting with friends on Skype every evening.
I also plan to start implementing a strategy I've seen called the 20 minute test. It's something I've adapted from a study strategy for procrastinators (something I have a distinct issue with). The idea is, when a procrastinator goes to study, oftentimes it's not so much the act of studying that turns them away as it is STARTING the activity, and generally, if somebody can bring themselves to actually START the activity, they can fall into a decent clip and continue going for a while. If, however, after 20 minutes they still find themselves distracted and unwilling to continue, it is best to leave the studying for later, as they are not in the right place of mind to do it at that time.
I intend to implement this for writing. I plan to put aside 20 minutes wherein I start writing things out. If, after 20 minutes, I have not fallen into a decent writing clip (or at least not a good enough one to churn out 400 words) then I will drop it and come back later in the day. If I can fall into a decent clip in the first 20 minutes, though, then I keep going.
Hopefully these two things combined will allow me to be more productive.
Honestly, if I can't keep these two things up, then I'm not sure how I can justify calling myself a writer. 400 words is a very meager goal I've set for myself. Frankly, I'd think most writers would be more ambitious and try and set something like 1000 or 2000 words a day. And while certainly that isn't off the table in the future, I feel like right now I'm not in a good enough place of mind to go setting goals that are too ambitious.
Anyway... with that in mind, I'd like to address some issues with specific stories. In particular, the big ones that I suppose some might say "made" me.
Super Smash Bros. Disharmony
This is the lesser of my two "big" stories. It has more of a "cult" type of following than Applebloom does. A smaller, but definitely vocal and passionate base of fans.
Which is why I'm sorry to say to that group of fans that I honestly have NO idea what I want to do with this story. It's been a hard learning experience for me writing this story that I can't so easily fly by the seat of my pants when trying to write. The story, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, began as just an outlet for me to bang out some interesting character snippets. Really, all I wanted to see was different characters from extremely different walks of life bump into each other and start talking. Interaction between very different characters is something I'm very interested in. Unfortunately, putting a PLOT to that idea has been... difficult. I'll openly admit that I have no idea where it's going. I have some larger general concepts, but at the end of the day I have no clue where I want it to go.
Really, all I wanted was to put, say, Applejack and Princess Zelda in a room together and see where it goes. Or have Twilight lower a video camera on a fishing line into Kirby's supposed infinite maw. Or have Fluttershy cuddle with Pikachu. But giving reason for these things to happen has proven arduous. I'm sad to say that, until something changes, SSBD might be forced to go on a hiatus. I hate doing that because in the fanfiction world, hiatuses are often the death knells of stories and there's no telling whether or not that will happen here. It might. It might not.
Hopefully I'll be able to sit down one day and come up with an actual PLAN for the story. I'll certainly let you know if that happens. In the meantime though, I think it's going to continue to be quiet for a while. I know it sucks, since it hasn't updated since September, but unfortunately I'm just at a loss for what to do with it at this point in time.
Applebloom: Transform and Roll Out!
That wasn't a Steven Universe reference. It was a dual Transformers/Dragonball Z reference. Seriously, DBZ has been around so much longer than Steven Universe. I don't even LIKE Steven Universe.
...ahem...
The last chapter of Applebloom drew some mixed reaction. Some of the mixed reaction was very justified, involving things that I didn't catch myself when writing or flaws I didn't notice. Other things that drew mixed response were things that are rather spoilery or are simple interpretations of headcanon that I liked but other people didn't.
I'll admit to feeling discouraged by the mixed response. It's both a strength and a flaw of serialized storytelling, as putting things out by the chapter allows you to get criticism on the go and change course when necessary (like what happened when Commander Ballista put his snout where it didn't belong), but at the same time, getting a lot of criticism can also turn the author off of the story he's writing, especially if he doesn't feel like he can so easily fix what's wrong. This is sorta what happened. I started writing the next chapter and suddenly everything felt off. Everything was too rushed or too lacking in detail or too out-there or too long winded and I couldn't bring myself to keep going. Of course, it didn't help that this was right in the middle of my family crisis and just before my spiral into self-loathing.
I'm in a bit of an odd position when it comes to Applebloom:TaRO. Unlike Super Smash Bros. Disharmony, I've actually got a plan for the rest of the story. I've had an outline for literal years now and have been following it closely. And yet, for some reason, I've found myself less and less engaged by my own story, and the recent bout of criticism has not helped me want to continue going.
...at least not with this installment.
See, Transformer!Applebloom was originally conceived as a Quadrilogy (Tetralogy?). I had four stories in mind, but have been stuck on the first one for a very, very long time now and I've grown rather dull to it. Honestly, more than anything, I really want to start work on the second story, which would be titled "Applebloom: Darkest Hour," And would chronicle Applebloom and the Mane 6's adventures in the Crystal Empire upon its return, fully taking into account some serious butterfly effect timeline-divergence after the events of "Transform and Roll Out."
Honestly, for a long time now I've been far more excited about "Darkest Hour" than I have been about "Transform and Roll Out." Where the main theme of TaRO has been "Who am I?" and has been covering a 'coming of age' story for Applebloom in the midst of great conflict, the plan for Darkest Hour has long been "What am I?" The story would ideally follow a much more coherent and straightforward adventure without so many jumbled elements and character arcs, constant perspective switching, and hopefully wouldn't require that I make a flowchart to keep everything straight. Meanwhile, the general "What am I" theme would be much easier to tackle, as Applebloom discovers her origins and certain secrets about herself, as opposed to her having to navigate the emotional, twisted, complicated muck and mire of self-discovery and coming to terms with one's self, and all the emotional baggage, angsty moments, and teenaged drama that comes with it.
Of course, the problem is that, well, writing it before "Transform and Roll Out" is completed would of course subject the audience to massive spoilers about what's going to happen in said story, and would also possibly confuse the audience when they don't realize what's going on now that Scootaloo has joined G.I. Joe and Sweetie Belle is a member of Jem and the Holograms.
Is that actually a spoiler or am I just yanking your chain? I guess you don't know... >B3
Basically the options that it comes down to is this: I can either continue working on "Transform and Roll Out," despite my disillusionment with what's happened, where it's going, and my own ability to write it, which will probably make it take a LOT longer to write and I can't guarantee it will be any better...
...or I can begin writing the sequel NOW, despite not being finished with the first installment, voluntarily own up to the various spoilers, power through any reader confusion, and write a story I'm actually excited to write, which will likely result in more productivity. Then, when I feel comfortable enough with it, I can come back to TaRO later.
That's sorta the choice I have at hand at the moment. The other choice is, of course, to write one of the many OTHER stories that I have banging around in my brain (many of which I'm just as excited to write as Darkest Hour) and roll with them until I feel comfortable enough to come back to TaRO.
I dunno. I might make a poll about it.
MYSTERY ONE-SHOT STORY
Before I do ANYTHING else, though, I feel like I'm going to write a one shot. Something fluffy and light with no long term commitment issues that I can use to get back into the writing groove. Expect to see that before I put out any more chapters of Applebloom one way or the other. My guess is it's going to be either a One Punch Man crossover or a story about alien abductions. I dunno yet, we'll see.
Streams
I don't know when I'll actually begin streaming stories again. I want to try and get back into a decent clip before I start committing to any streams again. Hopefully it won't be long before I start announcing them, though.
Anyway, that's the situation as it is now. I'm going to be implementing these new rules and getting to work as soon as possible. Also, if I remember to do so, I'll try to keep you updated on how the next chapter is coming. I've gotten some comments suggesting that I be more open about how things are coming and, well... since nothing has really been coming at all these past few months there hasn't really been much of a way to do that, but I figure I'll start giving word count updates on my main page. That'll be a good way to keep people updated I think.
Hopefully this will all work out. Let me know what you guys think about the Applebloom situation. For now, I'm going to go drown myself in ice cream while I play Minecraft. In the bathtub. With scented candles and a bottle of whiskey.
Sounds like the kind of evening I need right now :P
Talk to you all soon!
Aaaand this is the part where I realize I still haven't read the latest chapter of Applebloom: TaRO.
Of course, then we run into the procrastination thing. I'll get on it soon, I swear.
In the meantime, best of luck with the new regimen.
Get started on writing the sequel. Nobody says you have to post it just because you've completed a chapter. Might actually help you refine TaRO in the process.
To be honest, I can pretty much see where A:TARO is heading, AB kicks some Con tailpipe and decides that she's okay with being a Cybertroinian, all that's left is some details (such as whether or not she'll regain her pony mode). I say, sequel full steam ahead. Although I do have 1 request, doesn't matter which story it's in, have AB meet OP, please?
When you start streaming again, you know I'll be there.
If it were up to me, I'd finish TARO before working on any sequels (truth be told, if it were me in your shoes, I wouldn't have bothered with a tetralogy and just keep it as a single story). The biggest issue with TaRO is that you're devoting a lot of detail and vivid descriptions to things that really don't matter in an action crossover story. Fix that, and it wouldn't be as long before you could work on the sequel.
As for SSBD, the best approach you could take is to just focus on one thing at a time. Like, for example: 1. Focus on getting the Equestrians fully accustomed to the Smash tournament and how it works; a few matches with them would help. 2. Focus next on how they've adjusted to life in the Acropolis and how they get along with the other contestants, while also revealing a little bit more about the dark conspiracies occurring there. 3. With the tournament drawing to a close, things are starting to unravel, culminating in X final showdown before everyone is sent back home.
Regardless, glad to hear that you've got a game plan set up, and that you're out of your funk.
You would either have to lower your standards for what you would consider to be a writer or just change them a little bit, like changing the factors that you use to evaluate a writer for.
But honestly, I don't like this kind of thinking, it's not the best kind of mentality to have if you know what I'm saying.
I don't think you should be questioning youself at every turn on whether you are worthy or not, whether you can call yourself a writer or not, whether you can become as productive as you want to be or not.
Just do it.
Do what you want, when you want, how you want.
If you are not feeling like writing then maybe that means that you don't want to write at that exact moment, but if you happen to find yourself conflicted between a desire to have something written while not actually feeling like writing it, then you might want to consider fueling your desire to be writing at that moment. In the present tense. Trying to foster positive feeling like excitement, fun, eagerness or whatever sounds like it would drive you to enjoy the process of working in something that you want.
Sorry I just got carried away with this, but if anything that I just wrote sounds like it's worth considering then I'm glad I wrote it and if not then that's fine too.
~Leonzilla
Whether or not I'd be okay with you starting on Darkest Hour depends on how self contained that story is supposed to be. Like, if the Decepticons hadn't shown up and she'd learned to accept herself in other ways, would it affect the next story? I'm not saying you can't mention anything, it just needs to be kept vague. A good example of this is MyHobby's "In the Absence of Sunset Shimmer", which takes place after "Daybreak" but was written before the latter was finished. Readers learn that Twilight's lost her voice after meeting a time travelling assassin and that there was some sort of disaster at Cloudsdale, but not a lot of details are given because it isn't relevant to the story. If you can do that, then I say go ahead.
Still, if you do decide to go that route, could you do something like only letting yourself write 100 words of AB:DH for every 300 words of AB:TaRO that you write? That would help provide more motivation for the latter, right?
Welcome back to writing Dusty, and happy easter too if you celebrate that in your part of the world around this time.
I personally would like to see an and to TaRO before any sequalls comes out but if you don't think you would be able to write more on TaRO at this point then... well...
I think you should take an evening with icecream and minecraft to relax some. Then post a poll the next day to learn what your readers think and then ponder over this with a warm bath, a drink and some scented candles. Then you should decide to do what YOU think would be the best choice.
Also, writing something else for a change to get back into the swing of things sounds like a great idea.
Hiring and editor and/or a Proofreader may aid you, especially in regards to your Super Smash Brothers story.
I'd prefer you keep working on the first story before going on to the sequel, but its really up to you. As you said, the sequel would contain spoilers, and I would really like to see how they play out in the first story.
Ok... take the time you need... You still have settled the SSB-verse, and put solid bases to a wonderful fanfic, as well as the goals the good characters want to reach, as opposed to the bad guys. If you want, you can also ask trusted readers, or editors, for help and ideas. One of the thing this story can use is, for example, how much the mares' friendship can take. Being pitted against one another by the Hand sure would be a test to their bond.
Till then, I'll wait.
I like the ideas, and I hope to see another one soon, I'm all excited for this story. If the "immediate sequel" path as I'd like to call it is chosen, I don't mind much (if any), but I'd love to see AB whip Blitz and Brawl into junkyard crap soon, it's making me worried. <:(( Still, either way, I love the idea on the sequel, and I hope to see both plans happen soon, and I hope you feel better after all the trouble that happened, don't let it get you down, lad. As Prime had said:
:)