From the Other Side of the Gauntlet: A Conclusion to NaPoWriMo 2017 · 2:37pm Dec 1st, 2017
Blog Number 33: The "Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future" Edition
The 2017 National Pony Writing Month is now over. I did achieve 50k words, and even surpassed 60k, which averages at slightly more than 2k a day. That's a good effort, in spite of my own overambition, and one I'm rightly pleased with.
I did not achieve 100k words. In hindsight, it wasn't a smart target to aim for, and I'm shedding no tears over its loss. It was miserable to try for and only sounded good when I filtered out such things as "common sense" and "experience".
So, where to go from here? Answers below, organized in the contents section for your reading convenience.
A Load of Self-Indulgence
The Past
The Present
The Future
A Space for Other Users
Flashfic 150: December Challenge
Wonderful Wonderbolts Writing Contest
The Writeoff
A Load of Self-Indulgence
The Past
First, a minor retrospective. Compared with previous NaPoWriMo events, this has to be counted as a reasonable success. While my 60k+ count is noticeably less than the 75k+ of yesteryear, it is a massive improvement over the 6k+ underachievements of 2012 and 2015.
Of course, 2016 was an outstanding year, in that the word count was concentrated in only three fics (this year I spread it over five), and one of those fics was actually completed. But then, 2016 was almost certainly an outlier; the only other time I've ever rivalled that level of productivity was with February 2017, itself a conspicuous outlier for this entire year. It's hardly a crime not to measure that high, says I.
Narrowing our retrospective down to this year, I think I know what I'm doing wrong. February, March, August, October, and November seem to be pretty decent months and good models for the kind of output I should be able to handle. January, June, and September had something to bring to the table, even if it was relatively modest, leaving a clear run from January to March, a gap punctuated by June, and then a clear run from August to November.
By contrast, April, May, and July are the clear weak points, months with no output worth noting, and except for June would represent a clear run of non-productivity too.
Notice anything?
Obviously, the problem is warm weather!
Nah. I kid, I kid. The superficial analysis is misleading. The true problem is overambition. Specifically, a failed sense of proportion.
See, here's the thing. Even during February, I was thinking about how much further I could push things, and that was during the most productive month of the year. It has become clear to me that the problem is not wholly output - this year has clearly been my most productive yet, even excluding the incomplete works - but is at least partly a result of trying too much. When I was starting out in 2012 and 2013, I left several incomplete works compared with the number I actually completed. Oh, and by the way: those completed works from way back when? A good chunk of them were scenes originally intended for much longer stories. I kid you not.
The Present
Back to the present. I've submitted my validation email for NaPoWriMo with a healthy 62,299 words, all spread over five works. Of these - I haven't submitted three of them and the fourth is my latest fic - I'm happiest with the Magical Deathmatch work. Several times this year, I made a note to go back and continue the thing, and while its story plan has now grown bigger, I'm further along than I would've been if I'd kept putting the thing off again and again. It helps that at least one person seems really enthusiastic about the way the story's going. And I've proven I can revisit and revive old works into the bargain! Breakthrough!
As for the rest... well, we'll see. I clearly need to learn a few lessons before jumping ahead, but it must be significant that two of the fics were inspired by contests.
The Future
And now for the future. Without overambition, I think things should be a little less awkward. My last blog entry is hopefully about as bad as it'll get, because it was almost entirely fuelled both by me overestimating my chances of getting 100,000 words written in a month, and by me getting too unreasonably frustrated when I didn't. The good news is that I've recalibrated my expectations the better to fit the evidence of my own output. Good grief, it's a load off my mind, I can tell you!
But...
I remain dissatisfied with the way I handled November. And since December is the last month and the last chance of the year to lay the tracks for the train going forward, I think I'd like a second attempt. A retry of the month-long writing event. A Personal Novel Writing Month, so to speak.
This month, I'm going to try for 60,000 words to match last month's. If I think scaling down is the sensible thing to do, then this month should be a test run for that new calibration. Moreover, I intend to complete at least one of the incomplete projects I created this year, because seven is just ridiculous. Haven't decided which one yet, but you'll know it when I pick it.
One month. 60,000 words. One last chance before 2017 is gone for good. I think I can do this.
A Space for Other Users
Flashfic 150: December Challenge
OK, self-indulgence out of the way, I'd like to make a few announcements on behalf of others.
First of all, a flashfic contest run by Loganberry's Flashfic Group has just begun. On the off-chance this is the first you've heard of any such thing: given a monthly prompt, the participants have to write a thematically relevant story or scene* in no more than 150 words. After three weeks - give or take a few days depending on circumstance - users can then submit critiques and feedback on everyone else's work. Finally, the group founder then gives their judgement and announces a winner (and occasionally any runners-up), and this winner will select the prompt for the next month.
* The group members have often discussed whether or not scenes are as acceptable as stories. The verdict from the judge is that they're acceptable, provided they're interesting enough.
150 words sound like fun to you? If yes, then help yourself to this month's prompt: "Through the Ages", chosen by last month's winner Matthewl419. Here is the link; please read the OP carefully so as not to accidentally disqualify yourself on your first try. Good luck, and hope to see you there!
Wonderful Wonderbolts Writing Contest
Next up, we have Manaphy's Wonderful Wonderbolts Contest. From what I can tell, Manaphy is not impressed with a notable trend for Wonderbolt-bashing, and believes they deserve more fair-minded treatment. Not having seen much out of them past Rarity Investigates!, I'm not in a position to gauge how bad it's gotten, but the solution proposed here sounds like a good idea.
So the aim of the game is this: write a fic featuring a Wonderbolt character, make that character a major protagonist, and depict them as either a likeable (not perfect) pony or at least as a far more interesting one. Obviously, Rainbows herself is excluded on the grounds of being too easy a target, so if you think Spitfire needs a better depiction, or think Soarin' could do with some love, or even want to champion a less well-known member of the team, here's the place to go!**
** I'd also like to state that Manaphy's contest inspired me to write one of the five fics for NaPoWriMo, and not an insignificant amount either. To that extent, this is partly my take on quid-pro-quo here. But I do think it's a worthwhile project in and of itself - obviously, or I wouldn't have written for it - and, in any case, the fic in question is not eligible by dint of violating one of the rules.***
*** Guess which one. Go on.
The Writeoff
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie; my interest in the Writeoff is not great. I've got enough to be dealing with as it is, and the fact that you have to go off-site and pay attention to narrow schedules doesn't do much to interest me. Plus, it's not exactly the most obscure thing here, so my contribution is limited to pointing you in the right direction on the off-chance you missed, say, Cold-in-Gardez's announcement****. This announcement is more a just-in-case kind of deal.
**** Not a contingency I'd bet on, assuming I were in any way inclined to betting.
I believe that is enough for now. With the possible exception of Tuesday 12th December, I'll most likely maintain blog silence***** for the rest of the year. That exception is solely due to it being the sixth anniversary of my joining this site, and the odds are I won't have much to report anyway.
***** Like radio silence, but in a different medium.
So that being that, I shall don my Christmas hat****** and bid you Merry Christmas 24 days early, just in case. Oh, and possibly a Happy New Year. Or a New Year, at least. Assuming no unfortunate accidents, of course.
***** What a wrench it is that The Descendant is no longer active on FIMFiction.net. I haven't read many of his works, but the ones I've read make it clear why he has the following he does. So while I'm miles away from being a replacement, nevertheless: if you would consider a Santa Hat...
Enjoy the winter times. Impossible Numbers, out.
NEW: List of Reviews
Nothing to add.
Fics Accepted By Equestria Daily
Unexpectedly, I received a response to my writing back about Transient. It was courteous and constructive, so it seems to me the only fair response is to take it onboard next time I try my hand at a mysterious style like the one I used for that fic. Not that I necessarily agree with them in the specific case of Transient (again, I really don't get their specific interpretations), but I can at least grasp why they got there now.
In fact, this is not the first time my writing has been described as unclear: this year, I've repeatedly been told that this-and-that writing is too vague or such-and-such transition is jarring. Since this indicates a consistent weakness in my work, it seems at least worth keeping an eye on for future projects. Focusing on clarity and emphasis is a way to improve this style of fic. Finding a balance between mystery and clarity, I think, is key.
Currently, I'm waiting to hear back on The Web Untangled.
New Stories? The Science of Hugging was a far-too-late and far-too-long attempt to meet CategoricalGrant's Cuddlefic Contest, which has now ended. At the risk of being overambitious again, I have a few "inspired-by-contest" fics behind the scenes which I hope to publish someday. And, of course, to finish.
New Updates: No.
Story Count: 61.
My Total Story View Count: Rendered obsolete due to new site changes.
Age: 2,180 days, or 311 weeks and 3 days.
Working: 19 days in December 2011, 2x366 days for 2012 and 2016 leap years, 3x365 days for 2013 and 2014 and 2015 combined, and 334 days so far in 2017 up to today.
My Follower Count: 149.
My Followed Count: 104. Hopefully, I can find some more users before the end of the year.
Congrats on 60,000 words! That certianly nothing to sneeze at.
Glancing at your current list (though not thoroughly so I might have missed someone,) you might want to take a look at these folks and see if anything clicks:
Bad Horse
TheJediMasterEd
Georg
PresentPerfect
Oliver
FanOfMostEverything
...those guys probably make up 90% of my blog reading and interaction here.
4739493
Thank you for the recommendations!
FanOfMostEverything is already on my list, but I'll definitely have a look at the other users there.