New Year and a Possible Fresh Start · 7:10pm Jan 7th, 2018
I'm a week late for 2018 talk, but I've been pretty busy all things considered, especially since I've been working twelve hour shifts at my job for over a month now.
But, my personal life aside, there is a reason I wanted to make this little blog, and it relates to my most 'popular' story.
A while back, I said I would try to finish The Necromantic Adventures of Lyra Heartstrings within that year. Sadly, I knew that was going to be shot as I was fired from my previous job shortly after and had to put more effort into finding a new one and not going insane from not leaving my room for several weeks. After that, it was more work and -- while I did eventually get another chapter up -- there was a slowly dawning and depressing realization.
Necromantic is over three years old at this point, nearly four; there are probably people who are shocked to see it in their feed because they've forgotten they had it in their favorites or watch list. There are probably even people who liked it who aren't even in the fandom anymore. There are authors who could have produced longer stories (more than one even!) in the time I've been writing this one and it's not even done yet. It's all well and good to talk about going at your own pace; but, at this point, it has to be said that I've been really bad about actually writing this story.
On top of that, I've really become more and more dissatisfied with what I've written. I've failed at demonstrating why it's an issue for ponies like Lyra to practice dark magic, I've failed at giving a fair representation of the paladins as the good guys they were meant to be (though, considering the internet, that was doomed from the start), I've failed at writing interesting villains, I've failed at writing interesting heroes, the tone of the story is confused, the entire thing with the druids exists so I can make a G3 shout-out! The bottom line, there's so much wrong with the story that the bad is starting to outweigh the good for me.
I still want to do stuff with this world, since -- quite frankly -- it seems I've found a niche that needs filling if the response to my story is any indication. But, as of right now, I honestly don't know how to go about fixing the issues my mediocre skills have caused in the story. Rebooting it might be an option, but I'm not sure how I'd go about doing it, and dropping the story entirely would likely just leave me feeling dissatisfied an longing for what it could have been.
Anyway, I just wanted to get all that off my chest; sorry to bother you.
There are plenty of long-running stories on the site that take years to finish. Nearly all the ones I've read have been worth it, and Necromantic Adventures is no exception. I look forward to more.
One option you could take that I've seen a few times before and that I generally respect is to write a "chapter" summarising where the story was going to go, along with any other author notes worth collating, and then cancelling it.
Then, if you still love the world you created, you could write shorter stories and oneshots in a rebooted version of it. What I've seen so far in this story suggests that it would be well suited to pocket sized adventures.
Have I seen stories that are longer than Necro? Yes.
Have I read stories that update more often than Necro? Yes.
Do I want to keep reading about Lyra as a Necro? Hell yes.
Do I want you to drop this story on Necro? Hell no. I still look forward to seeing it update in my feed.
So do what you feel you need to do, but I expect a lot more people would be disappointed if you just up and dropped this than you think.
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Agreed. Necromantic Adventures is still in my feed because I am interested in seeing it come to some form of resolution. I myself have a few stories that have been in the works much longer than intended, one for months, the other for years.
You’ve run into the problem that comes with improving over time; wanting to retool something in progress. I did a reboot on my first big story due to realizing how horrible the first go was (without an editor, and me not having written anything for public consumption before) and the result was that when I’d gotten just a little further than my first time around in overall storyline, (even with an editor, wto whom I owe a great deal) I saw how much I’d improved, again. I looked back, and despite the improvements, I wanted to reboot again. Now, that story’s been on hiatus for 3 years. I kinda wish I’d just written a non-perfect version then just rewritten it or rebooted it later, but I was always obsessed with not wanting to have a bad story under my belt.
Ultimately, it’s your decision as to whether you reboot it, Necromantic Adventures is your baby. It may not have turned out as you expected or originally intended, but it’s yours.
Either way, know that there are those of us out here who love it to death... and undeath.
I like it. A lot. It would be sad if it came to an end.
After just marathoning your story I have come to the conclusion that it would be almost criminal to leave it unfinished, I love it: the world-building is unique and in-depth enough to be intriguing without being too front-loaded and overwhelming; the characters are interesting people that interact naturally and play off of each other very well; the plot is just shaping up but its already got me hooked in for an interesting ride.
Tl;Dr- I Really, Really like your story so please finish it.
When you get the time and inclination, I'd be more than happy to see you finish it (taking it to its natural conclusion, not just wrapping it up!). Most of the things you list as bad or that you've done wrong every artist complains about in their particular medium even though most people are enjoying it. "This could be better, or that sucks, or that sucks, what was I even thinking when I was doing this was I high, this is trash and I hate it blah blah undeserved self-degradation."
You've done just fine. Could the paladins come across better as necessarily stern, but the true and wholesome defenders of goodness, protectors of the innocent, and executors of justice? Yeah - but as you've said, this is the internet. Dark heroes or outright villains with everyman sob stories are all the rage, and any reference to a holy champion or selfless knight is generally looked down upon unless they're antagonists or just plain dirty - so this current view is more than expected (better than the usual, even. ... I'm biased on this matter, though - but also well-informed!). Everything else? That's just... more to write about in future chapters. Not everything is meant to be clear from the onset, so don't get down on yourself or say you've done something bad or wrong.
The story is enjoyable. I've enjoyed it, folks I'm familiar with seeing about the site who are in this readership haven't said a single bad word that I can remember. Honestly, the best part of the entire story for me, is the worldbuilding. As the chapters progress we get to see a bit more of the lore, the way things work, historical interactions, opposing parties, the social strata take shape around the characters. The cast is varied enough that we can see some of most things in the world that affect what we're currently dealing with in the story and some more - all without seeming forced and trite or overcrowded. I eagerly await more chapters to see more of this impressive character-centric worldbuilding.