Silver linings? · 3:19pm Nov 21st, 2018
WHELP.
This is my 2018 "yeah I failed at NaNoWriMo again" post. Made it about ... 16k words in, and decided to scrap it. Mostly because I was having trouble reconciling setting exposition and compelling characters and so on.
But, I still wanted to keep writing ... so I went ahead and hammered out like 2,000 words on Absinthe Makes the Heart Go Yonder instead. Woo? So yeah, that's where the new chapter came from. Plus, I now know how I'm actually going to end the story, where I was more or less just making it up as I went along earlier. Not to mention it was kind of a relief, going back to an unfinished project that I'd been deliberately ignoring in favor of hammering something that I didn't have a clear vision/voice for just yet.
Amusingly enough, I started working on The Prisoner of Zebra right after my 2016 NaNoWriMo failure, so that's ... precedent? Maybe? I dunno. I suppose writing pony fanfic just sets the bar rather, er ... low. Sturgeon's law, and all that. I'll freely admit that there are far better pony fic writers than me on this site. On the other hand, well ... every time I see another "You are anon and now you are having sex with Twilight's mom who is also a mermaid" story or whatever in the featured box, I get just a little more jaded.
The real thing, though, is that when I write fanfic, it's straight up writing for pleasure. There's no little voice at the back of my head asking "would a publisher want this?" because already know the answer is no. Plus, y'know, writing a silly and ongoing pastiche series that has only the vaguest of connections to a children's cartoon makes for a rather ... niche audience. Which is how you know it's art or something.
Anyway! Depending on how ambitious I get over the holiday season, I should have the finale to Absinthe Makes the Heart Go Yonder up before long. After that? Well ... we'll see. I've got a Rarijack-ish adventure to fiddle around with, or I may just go and write something silly about Gargantulon instead.
Everybody loves Gargantulon.
Hooray for lowered expectations? :)
That's what writing for yourself is like, though, and it's great. :D
Well, you seem awfully harsh on yourself. For that little voice asking you if a publisher would want the story, I suggest telling it to wait until a product is finished. You never know. Also, it might be a platitude, but even an attempt is better than nothing (nanowrimo). Finally, remember that shitty content on the site is meant to have us reflect on the absurdity of existence. I can't think of anything else to redeem the umpteenth pony-mermaid-milf x self insert.
I had no idea I was an artist. Neat!
4971184
Is that actually a thing? Glad I keep the mature filter up.
I am doing Transformers for my nanowrimo. Hit me up on the twitter if you want in on progress!