Your friend is one smart cookie, and you should listen to him. My first story (The nature of the beast) was literally written on the spot. And, hes right. To improve, you have to write and realize just how HORRIBLE it is in the first place. Before I wrote that story, I didn't bother even capitalizing my sentences. Now my grammar is at least proper, in most cases. Do as you said, start a story, go with the flow, see how it ends up. And, no matter what people say, don't be discouraged. Keep doing it because you like it, not because its for them.

And NEVER reread older chapters after you have begun improving. You will likely beat your head against the wall over the obvious mistakes.

>>2793527935

Personally, I felt that getting ideas to fit is the hardest part of writing the story (And getting ideas in itself). Sometimes I have ideas that might fit into the draft, but difficult to express them properly. If I may ask, what inspire your stories/writing? Writing a nearly 190K fic (And the second one almost 100k), I can only imagine must be quite difficult to do.. . Did you have previous writing experience of any sort?

>>2795027950 Nope. Well, yes. I had begun a book called 'dragons tea' but it made it to about chapter two before I trashed it. Its was for all intents and purposes a POS.

My inspiration is difficult to express, because im inspired by another author. I pretty much live in my own little world as is. I never really bothered doing anything with it other then the occasional mental-roleplay. So I took that to another level and wrote it out. Instead of simply thinking to myself 'what would I do in this situation' I make a character, then I place them into the situation, and play it out like I am them. I never intended for the story to go as far as it did, ill be honest. I expected to be laughed off the site.

But surprisingly, I was only insulted a few times. I mean, I have a few thumbs down, but that's not surprising. You cant please everyone. I write for myself, I love to do it now, when I started, I wrote about six chapters, posted them, and was going to call it good. But I started getting comments, and a rather funny thing happened, someone psychoanalyzed my character. I thought that was absolutely amazing to see. They mostly all said that the story was in general rough around the edges, and had some typos, but for the most part was good.

So, I continued, I learned from my mistakes, fixed the typos, and (Ill be honest,) learned the differences between there, their, to, too, all that, I never paid attention to it. But people called it out in a way that not only encouraged me to do better but to keep writing.

Then I found the story 'My Second Life' and that inspired me to do better then just write a story. I wanted to spin a tale, I wanted to bring my characters to life. And so, right around chapter something or other, You can tell where I got serious with my writing. I no longer was content with just telling a story, I actively sought to improve everything about it, so my recommendation? Just start a story, if you need inspiration, find someone like yourself, who you you can talk to, or who is going through what you did. (Coal has, he posted the story for himself, and people liked it. Same situation.) As for how I wrote, what I said above. Make a character, give them what they need to survive, perhaps a few quirks. A nervous tick, Ocd, hell, even allergy's, but making a 'perfect' character? You end up making a Gary-stu, or someone, who no matter what it is they do, they make everyone love them no matter how hard they screw up. Have flaws, be pessimistic, be sarcastic, have ADD. Something.

No gary-stu, Romance is okay, but if everyone falls in love with your character instantly. Its... Eh, I admit, I did that to a minor scale myself, and even I cringe. The biggest, and I mean the most important thing that you can do, and im deadly serious when I say this, if you screw up this part, its not gonna work.

Have fun.

If at first you don't succeed? Try, try again. There is a lot to writing a story, but eventually, if you are writing, and you find you enjoy it, you will hit a groove, a wave, a coaster. You will eventually get to a point where your story will dominate your life, and that's when the good shit comes out. Making a character relatable in reactions, and sufficiently unique is difficult. But, if you base the character off yourself, with a few changes, it becomes easier to fit yourself in their role. Then you can understand how they feel, and explaining it becomes a second nature. The biggest thing to remember, is that you aren't writing for others, you're writing for yourself and sharing. You cant expect to please everyone.

I ramble, im sorry. I just write what I feel, Ive never had any issue with motivation on my first story because it was a lighthearted comedy with some 'serious' thrown in. I'm good with that, I can make funnies. Now im working on a more serious tale, and ill be honest. Its difficult to work with. For your first try, do something simple that you love, even if its a clopfic. Do what you feel for your first time, and trust me, if it turns out bad, we will let you know. Or at least I will, but it takes a lot to make me go "What the hell did I just read?" So. But as I stated earlier, you eventually just hit this point where everything becomes simple to do. If you're writing something you love, it flows naturally. Especially if you are winging it. Or, maybe that's just me.

This is the longest comment I have ever posted, anywhere.

>>2796427964

Wow, thanks for your kind input. As for the writers part, do you mean book/novel writers or writers here at Fimfiction.net? (I mean in the 2nd paragraph.) Unfortunately clopfics are not my cup of tea, lol. I mean, I could make a plot on that uhh... I can't write steamy scenes well.

>>2853528535 I was just using the 'clopfic' as an example, and yea the best place to get yourself started is someplace where people will have easy access. You could write and publish your book to a big studio, but then you likely wont have many people read it. Especially with the internet becoming the dominant form of media. But, yea, write what you feel, publish it here, see your initial response after a few chapters, and if it works out? Keep it going, if it doesn't? Well. You gave it your best shot!

This is the story that got me inspired to do more.

>>2862028620

Sending a manuscript to a editor, and finally publishing a book is the ultimate goal of writers. This means your work must be rock solid, and slightly better off than other people sending their works too. Rejection rate is also high, since editors are terribly picky. Self publishing is possible, but only if the writer is established then it's profitable in the long run. A minimum requirement is probably at least a 100k, to maybe 200k- 300k for a novel[Or more since I'm not sure about the actual word count for publishing.]

If somehow, and if my work gets featured on EQD, that would already be a great honor for a new writer like me. Which is, honestly quite a heavy task for people without a good writing background. I forsee that my chances are nearly very low. lol.

My Favorite Author is Blueshift & all his works.

I'll most likely send here... and let the missiles fly lol. *Hides In Corner*

I'm gonna have to check out CoalBuck's work, and yours once I have more spare time. Looks good.

>>2862828628 Well I can tell that man likes a good laugh! 'airshipping is magic?' Thats awesome! I'm gonna be reading that soon!

And Second life has Humanxpony clop in later chapters, he gives sufficient warning to skip it if you like though. I personally think he wrote it in a way that its not clop, its love

Sorry, my stalking led me here...

I'm not a writer, but I've read a lot on this site and something I've noticed with many authors; Kinta, Coal Buck, kickass222urmom, Killjoy, and many others too I'm sure, is that if you read chapter one and compare it to chapter XX (newer chapters), then the writing has dramatically improved. It goes to show something important, which is simply this: Time and practice DO make you better. You can't expect to be J.R.R Tolkien right off the bat. Besides, many stories with a sketchy start have become imensely popular on this site. The ones by the above authors for example.

>>2863928639

It's okay, you are more than welcome to make comments.

Well, J.R.R Tolkien did a lot of extensive research for his stories to be excellent. From Norse mythology to the Bible. And even then, Tolkien probably spent more than ten years writing The Lord of the Rings.(And a whole lot of other major books). But, in Fanfiction, you need hell a lot of time & effort to make it excellent/epic, especially when one doesn't have much of a writer's background. (Or writing been writing for a few years at least). *Depressed*

63th Rune is an example of a excellent start, at least for me. Hopefully I can do my best like these authors, but probably one step at a time to be more realistic.

>>2866028660

Dude, the main thing about my not-very-epic post was simply; everyone starts somewhere. Don't expect to be great from the get go. Besides, if you do post what you got on this site, the majority of people will be creative with their critisism and help you improve. We're nice like that! You get the odd dick, but people frown upon them and tear them apart! God I love bronies sometimes...

>>2866428664

The reason why I can't post unless it's acceptable.

(Especially the comments section.)

But wait you .. guys gave me some sort of idea to start... Hmm.... Now I must learn how to make it work! Gonna take a lot of time unfortunately (especially with real life crap)...

>>2935929359

Yeah, I get ya, real life crap is what can hold you back.

And OK, I can see why that story got killed by the readers. Buuut, it seemed to me like the author just never read his work back to himself. Oh, or learnt the difference between; there and their. Honestly, something like that could be made legible if he just sent it to a proof reader, or even just a mate. A while back Kintra asked me to go over one of his chapters, now I'm no proof reader but I found a few mistakes and pointed them out, and his skill is already good. To correct something like that (the story you linked me to), then yes, it will take much more editing, but there is also more to play with and correct. An analogy 'grade-wise' would be how it is easier to bump a 'E' grade story up to a 'C' grade story than it is to bump a 'A' grade story up to a 'A*' grade story. (Does that make sense?) With good writing, you have to notice grammar errors and punctuation; that's tricky. With not-so-good writing; you have to reword sentences, and if you ask me, that's a lot easier. All you have to do is read them aloud and see if it makes sense, write it, as you would say it to someone.

Sorry for being so longwinded... Besides, I'd be happy to go over whatever you write and have a look for improvements and corrections. Just let me know when the time comes if you want any help!

My friend Gave me the same advice once. So I started writing for fun and never looked back. He also told me to never think that what you write is terrible. Unless you put zero effort into it.

Oh and thanks for Following me

>>2956129561

No problem, I liked your short stories, especially the one with Scootaloo turning into something unexpected. (The alicorn twist was... ) I was reading one of your old blogs... and one of the line reads: 'Zecora inexplicably becomes a Alicorn'... I guess you modified that idea for Scootaloo?

Does it mean you wrote those stuff on the spot? Personally I liked short stories, because I can remember them better than long stories. Oh, and do you think that length of a story matters? Does one needs to write a like a epic 5k words per chapter kind of thing to get a lot of ratings?  

Thanks for the encouragement.

(Thanks for the track too.)

>>2793527935

If I write a epic story like that, I would still try to edit the first few chapter if I knew where the mistakes lie. Might be easier for the new users reading the story. However, I wouldn't deny it's a terrible thing.... I like your writing style, after reading through some chapters btw.

>>2948229482

The technical mechanics can be indeed hard to catch. Especially dialogue writing. I found rewording sentences difficult, especially with expressions. Your theory made a lot of sense, but the hardest part is turning a 'E' story to 'A**' story ... *Looks at script outline again* *I think mine is 'F' *sigh* Long way to go...

>>2989629896

Heh, so many questions, let's see now

1. Actually the Scootaloo story inspired the Zecora idea.

2. yes and no, so far the Scootaloo one is the only spur of the moment one. I may keep it up it was ridiculously fun to do.( I was a little sleepy writing it though) The others have had a lot of prep work and research. I spent 8 hours trying to find the right opera or operetta for discord.

3. I enjoy both long drawn out epic tales and short stories. The right author can do a lot with a little. Word count does not matter, only the heart of the story.

4 . nah there are plenty short stories here that get lots of views and ratings averaging anywhere from 3000 to 5000ish words. at 1000 words you run the risk of very few comments, most here want something a little longer.

your welcome and I look forward to reading something from you

(side note: I write the short stories because I'm avoiding working on my bigger stories. I write to avoid writing)

>>2995029950 Two things, one thanks for the compliment, I couldn't really explain why I write the way I do. I just do, and it works. Two,

Don't... Just, don't do that. Trust me. Don't degrade yourself like that. Right now, write out the first chapter, post it to the site, and then link me the view password. I can tell you right then if it is 'F' material. But, I gotta be honest. I really doubt it is. and I mean, I REALLY doubt its F material. You put thoughts and feelings into your comments like they are yours, each and every one of your comments carries a piece of your personality. And, that means that everything you write will as well. Trust me when I say, do NOT degrade yourself. You'll end up screwing up because of the amount of pressure you force on your shoulders. If you story, no matter how lame it is, is properly written, then you can improve.

Look at your comment. Now back to mine. Now look  at yours. Now back to mine. Your comment is here. And look, it has become . Now I will give you that . But only if you agree to never diss yourself again until its posted. Seriously. You do NOT want to go down the self-murder path right now. After the story is posted? Go right ahead. But taking yourself out of the game now will mean that you will never know what others think.

So, again, my suggestion, write it out, no matter how much 'ass' you think it is. Let a few of your friends read it over, give you opinions, and it will only go up.

>>2997029970

Most people that write under 1000 words doesn't engage the user much. Predictable outcomes. Sadly I'm struggling on my first 500 words, not to mention 3000, lol. I found some long stories to have way too much excessive description.

So much that it bores me to death sometimes. I like short stories that grip me on the seat, rooting for some sort of hero. And then blam!!! The ending leaves a 'WTF' feeling. Or even stories that has a morality ring to it.

E.g, Do we look into our hearts each day and see that the life offers more than kicking your butt?

And personally, I have yet to see a really good completed fic with words less than 1000. (Or at least 1K to 2K words)

[And besides blueshift's smaller works.]

80% of them are: "Meh, ok. Passable, but nothing interesting." 15% Poetry and 5% went to 'zomgwtfbbq'

I disagree. You see, the act of writing short stories gives practice to greater stories. Bigger stories are just a series of sub plots coming together. E.g, A does something. Then B explains, and does this. (And etc etc)

>>2997829978

The reason why I gave my plot outline rating is low because it has a lot of showing, cheesy overused conversation and simplistic description. Some of the plot parts didn't flow well. Like Part 1 to Part 6 plot outline doesn't feel 'right'. It's like falling asleep reading it. E.g, my first paragraph line goes like this:

It was a cold and stormy night, made even more depressing by the night's silent passing. However, this didn't deter a pegaus from banging her head against the sugarcube corner side wall and feeling stupid. "Dammit, this sucks." The pegasus banged her head against the wall again.

I need to change that.

>>3009830098 You had me laughing... Aside from that, you shouldn't be so quick to judge, I mean it. just...Type, if it doesn't come naturally, dont force it. If I can recommend something, don't plan conversations too in-detail. Leave a bit of breathing room in case you feel the characters should talk some more. Also.

"It was a cold and stormy night, made even more depressing by the night's silent passing. However, this didn't deter a pegaus from banging her head against the sugarcube corner and feeling stupid. "Dammit, this sucks."  she said as she walked around to the front, trying the door one more time. It remained locked. Pinkie said she would leave the key under the mat for tonight's visit, but once again she forgot to. Every time that pony planned something that wasent a party, she would seemingly forget it ten seconds later. "Pinkie! Open the door! Its freezing out here!" She set her hooves against the door and pushed a few times. the door tumbled open causing the Pegasus to fall forward onto a certain pink party pony.

"Hi! I forgot the key again huh? Sorry." she said unable to help but laugh a little as she watched the Pegasus stand and shake off. Pinkie was back on her hooves in a heartbeat, and already had the door closed. Pushing the Pegasus with her head "Come on, the others are waiting!" The normally outspoken pink pony as whispering like some dark force had began stirring in the night.

"Pinkie, I thought the slumber party was just going to be us..." The Pegasus pretended to pout at her pink friend.

"It IS just us silly head! I mean the blankets are waiting!""

Sorry. You can take that ending however you want. I just got bored.

>>3012030120

Interesting premise, although the actual bulk of the story didn't take place there. I need to learn to do more of that fancy sort. The method of doing the character's thought and action. I hope you don't mind if I use some parts of it.

>>3019830198 Not at all that's actually my first time using anything like that specific point of view. I normally use first person, you know "I went in the room" Over third "She went in the room." So, it was a learning experience. And, you didn't specify WHO the Pegasus was, so I had to avoid any real referencing to her.

And uh, yea, use it however you please, I made it from your piece anyway!

>>3020030200

To be honest, I thought of using the first person for my first fic for the reader to share feelings. It's like experiencing what the person sees. My draft initially uses the 1st PoV. (The reason initially why the pegasus wasn't named.) E.g, I walked up the concrete derelict door,placing a hoof on it's hinges. What could lie behind these doors? I tremble. I was scared. I this, I that.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to replace with too much of the 'I's, which is a big downfall for me. And I don't like switching the first & 3rd PoV, it makes it disturbing.

But if I can narrow the amount of "I"s, I might write in the 1st person instead. As a 1st person PoV, any tips on doing that?

Until then, I found it safer to write the 3rd person PoV. At least for me.

Oh, and I prefer to making the quality a little better before posting the first chapter. I disliked people having a headache afterwards, and then providing the aspirin.

>>3021730217 The only time I get a headache is if I eat skittles, don't ask why that happens, I really don't know. Aside from THAT. I still feel that use FAR too many I's in my stories as well. I mean, seriously. One way I work around that is using feelings or thoughts to start a sentence. So instead of,

"I walked into the dark room. I looked around it and sighed. I walked into the room" I so something like.

"I walked further into the dark room. Sweeping my eyes across what little I could see in the darkness with a sigh. After a few futile moments of that I began walking further into the room, squinting in an attempt to clear shadows."

The only time you need to avoid "I" is during the start of the sentence. And even then, it is acceptable, just not if every sentence starts with I.

Oh, and good morning!

Right you gave me an example, let me rework this beetch.

"I walked up the concrete derelict door,placing a hoof on it's hinges. What could lie behind these doors? Nervousness overtook my body, making my fur stand on end. The feeling of my body trembling was a new feeling, the fear of the unknown making itself very present to me... I was scared, no I was downright terrified of this door, everything I had worked for, everything I had achieved, would either be made, or broken in this room. With a rattling sigh I forced myself to swallow my fear and pushed, the creaky hinges groaned in protest, but I didn't let up.

"Dude, its just a hospital." A voice called from behind me.

I fell forward, my fantasy having been broken, I tumbled through the glass doors. A cross white and reddish pink pony looked at me from behind the counter as I turned my head from my new found sitting position. I found a tan pony walk up next to me. He helped me back to my hooves with a laugh.

"I see what happened now." He chuckled as he looked at me. His blue eyes were so light they seemed to fade into the whites behind his brown glasses. "I thought I was the only one In ponyville with an overactive imagination! So what was it? I murder-mystery? And epic adventure? Oh, no no, wait. Post-pony war right? Yea, I like those." He smiled and ruffled my mane. It wasent a bad feeling, At first I didnt like it because of it being what I felt to be indignant. But, after a few moments, he must have hit a spot because I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head in pleasure. Never before had I considered head rubbing an amazing feeling."

Okay, sorry. I like working stories around short concepts. its a lot of fun!

>>3034530345

Hmm.. what's the best way to 'show' and not 'tell' in your opinion? Like, I know the character is feeling sad but how do I show she's sad? Like, if don't want to tell she's sad during shocking incident.

E.g, I walked up the broken concrete derelict door, my heart pounding. My hoof gripping the ripped canvas. She did it. My best friend. I cried. I feel sad. I feel disappointed. That was the worst day of my life.

>>3216932169 Well that's fine, although, to express the feeling more, you should try to explain HOW it feels, not just say "I felt sad" Say something like "The hollow feeling in my chest left me feeling like I had failed, my friends, my family, everyone. She managed to do it, but why didn't I?" You know, stuffs like that. N stuff!

>>3222232222

And now I wrote everything I feel in my last blog. I felt.... I hope I can make use of your example, cuz I feel sad & disappointed if I can't.

Hopefully it will all work out.