On Equestria Daily, Festival, and other things. · 5:40am Feb 2nd, 2012
I was hoping to not have to post this until later, but I've heard rumors passing about that I've dropped Festival entirely. This is completely untrue, and I'll go into that in a bit. However, nopony's heard from me in awhile, and I do have news to share.
Equestria Daily
First off... hoorah! As much of a shock as it is to me, my story managed to make it onto EqD. I'm just as surprised as you are. Sure, not everypony liked it, but it's an honor to be on the site in the first place. Plus, a couple people were nice enough to toss around some very constructive criticism. You people know who you are, and you have my thanks.
Moving on...
Festival
Ah, yes, the heart of the matter. Have I given up on this story? No. Am I having trouble? Yes. I'll make it quick...
-I've been extremely busy lately, and as such, very little time gets put towards the story.
-I've been looking over my plans for where I was taking the story, and to be honest, I have no idea what I was thinking. Maybe it's just my writer's doubt speaking, but I'm not liking it. As such, I have a request for any interested Festival fans: If you're opionated, eager to help, and don't mind spoilers, I'd love nothing more than somepony to bounce ideas off of (both old and new). Of course, if I can't find anyone, the story will still come, but I can't quarantee quality.
-My writer's confidence has been shot pretty hard. The Discord situation was, overall, a mistake (Yes, I have a reason for it that'll be revealed down the line, but in retrospect, it's a stupid reason), and I'm worried anymore bad plot points will turn the story from an above average tale into the slums. However, when this issue makes you force your viewers to wait a month for an update, clearly it's a problem. I'll have to brave it, and accept any hate y'all fling at me.
Is a new chapter coming soon? Man, I truly hope so. I'm planning on a new style, since somepony mentioned I was shoving too many details into each chapter. I've decided that while I'm sticking with the chapter = a day formula, I think I'll try dividing each day up (like what I did with the two Discord chapters). For instance, the next chapter I have planned will probably be at least two parts, effectively extending the story chapterwise (and allowing for more updates) yet keeping the length the same.
I'll admit, I'm bothered that I've left the story behind for so long. Hopefully, it'll have been worth the wait in the end.
In the Meantime...
While I've been fretting over Festival, other ideas have been swimming in my head. I'm considering starting one to help practice/ease back into longer writing, but I can't decide which (if any) to try. That, my friends, I will leave up to you.
-A mixture between action/comedy, involving Apple Bloom's unfortunate situation of getting sucked into an undercover Ponyville crime ring.
-MLP/ One Piece crossover (seriously, I'm surprised nopony's done this yet) wherein the tale is retold with MLP characters, with original situations put in (and an underlying background story in the MLP universe told through intermissions).
-Several short stories, ranging from sad backstories to funny antics.
-These are all bad and I should feel bad. Try something else.
All opinions appreciated.
In Conclusion...
Can anypony even see this? Do blog posts even work? Guh. I'd appreciate if someone commented to assure me that people know this exists. Otherwise, I suppose I'll just add in a mini-announcement with the next chapter.
Anyway, thanks for takin' the time to read both this long-overdue post and, of course, my stories. You're all awesome, and I'm glad to have you all enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy writing them. Like I said, if ya wanna help out with Festival's planning, shoot me a message, and any opinions on other stories are helpful as well.
Thanks for the update, Festival was one of the first fimfics I ever read and it got me hooked.
Been waiting on an update and SO glad you didn't drop it! XD
Have confidence! It's your story and you can always finetune.
Going to reread from the beginning to get ready for new chapter =D
Keep us updated!
p.s. I like the applebloom idea
Not a big one piece fan, but i do like the applebloom idea...can't wait for the Festival update it's one my favorite stories i read on here, and i've read quite a few.
I wouldn't mind spoilers if you did want to bounce a few Festival ideas off me. I don't guarantee that my opinions would make it any better of course.
And now with your mention of the Applebloom / crime syndicate story idea I can't get the image of Sweetie Belle as a gangster's moll out of my head.
Ahh, Creative confidence.
As a musician, I hear ya.
I do like that applebloom idea, I mean, the mafia is very interesting.
Taking a step back and looking at what you are doing is a good thing to do though, even if it did mean an unwanted break.
While I was surprised and abit confused over the Discord situation in Festival, it never made me want to stop reading.
And the amount of details or such never struck me as anything but nice-
If you want to bounce ideas I'm sure most of us would love to help you.
And a thing I usually tell myself when I'm listening to my own stuff and worrying; If you like it yourself, someone else will probably like it too.
But then I worry, "Do I like it cause its mine?" annndd so on.
First off, I'm with the others, if you'd like to bounce ideas off me, go for it. Second, it's been a little while since I read any of Festival, but that said, I don't recall it being too descriptive or anything. I remember liking it the way it was.
Third, I can't say I was that surprised by Discord's appearance, considering how easily he let the mane 6 beat him in the Return of Harmony pt 2. What surprised me more was the switching thing was all he did, and it was something that was easily undone. It's a Twixie fic, and switching bodies for a day is a good a way as any to open them up more to each other.
Have confidence that people are liking what you write, and I for one look forward to what comes next.