Random Ramblings XCIV · 5:55pm Nov 16th, 2016
IN WHICH MY PLATE IS FULL SORTA
I woke up at 4:30 this morning in a panic. Eventually I was able to get back to sleep. Upon clicking on this site, I realized it had been over a week since I've completed any writing. I decided to reread my Dazzlings story that I currently have hidden… and I'm still not happy with it. I'm quoting too many songs from the same bands. I need to broaden its horizons. However, I'm not really well-versed enough in music. This was a difficult story to write to begin with despite its 1500 word length, making it suitable for publication (by my standards) will be a real process.
I started a new chapter of Spike + Mayor (a.k.a. MBT) where Mayor Mare despairs over Donald Trump – or, as he shall be known in my universe, "Agent Orange" – being unexpectedly appointed prime minister. However, I'm not really sure where to take it beyond the mayor getting completely shitface drunk, so I may never finish it. Well, I realized that January 20th – which will be when Obama gives up power to Trump (I've said for years that the 22nd Amendment, i.e. the 2-term limit for presidents, is bullshit; this awful election does nothing to dissuade me) – is also the second anniversary of my uploading my first story to the site. This year, I made it a tradition of mine to upload a Mayor Mare story on that date each year. It makes sense to hold off on a Trump story until then.
What I really want to write, but haven't yet started, is more of Sunset Shimmer's recovery. Specifically, I want to do a story about Flash Sentry visiting her. My understanding is that they interact in Legend of Everfree… which I still haven't seen. I have no idea what their canon dynamic is at this point. Fortunately, my Sunset stories have the "AU" excuse if I go too far off the rails. I don't know why I want to write him now. I never did before. I expect the finished story will be downvoted to hell because of the negative Pavlovian response of this fandom to Flash. Nonetheless, I won't slack off on this one. In fact, knowing it'll be hated just gives me incentive to put in all the effort.
BUT, is it worth it? Most professional writers say one should never ever write fanfics because it instills bad practices. One needs to be able to create one's own characters and settings and plots, not piggyback on someone else's work. They're not wrong. But I wonder if I'm capable of doing that. I have original characters and an original universe in my head, slowly evolving over the past sixteen years. Yet I have the hardest time actually writing any of it down.
Relax; I'm writing a Flash thing now too that's likely destined for the bottom of the barrel. Maybe we can race to the bottom together?
I still think it would be cool to go professional someday, but I feel like I'm learning tons of stuff writing fanfic. If nothing else, you learn how to construct a complete story with plot- and/or character-development arcs.
...Agent Orange. Love it.
4305873 - Glad to know I'm not the only one who's crazy enough to write him. You'll probably beat me to the bottom, but I hope once I get there to crash and burn spectacularly.
I can at least say the mechanics of writing are no different between one's own ideas and sporking someone else's. Chuck Jones once said everyone has 100,000 bad drawings in them, so best to get them out of your system so what's left will be good. Writing is probably the same. It might be best to not waste original concepts before one's skills are up to handling them.