06/05/2022 - A Little Hint of Motivation · 9:24pm May 6th, 2022
This is a little progress report to help put the final version of Moondust into a better perspective.
So I set a target for myself last month to write, at minimum, 20,000 words per month. That would translate to roughly three chapters or so. Preferably, I want to do 30,000, so an average of one-thousand words per day, or four to five chapters. Alongside that goal I started keeping track of how many words I write each and every day, giving me some much needed perspective on my overall productiveness.
Bleh, that all sounds so mechanical. It's proving pretty useful, so this tactic is working as intended so far, so that's good.
Now onto the story progress. Currently I have four different projects on my radar, three of which I spend time on when my motivation for Moondust flags:
Red Rhino (working title) - A smaller story focusing on Captain Blitz Wind going to meet one of the Hammers. Still settling into Blitz Wind's persona as a character and sorting out plot details. Overall thrust of the story is already in place.
Black Mountain - Vinyl Scratch's sister story to Moondust. Currently on hiatus.
Remake of The Tentacle Demon in the Pony Suit - Yes, this is now a canon thing for the Triad Verse. Currently figuring out what kind of "voice" I want for the main character, but the overall plot is fully worked out.
And Moondust - ...
Actually, let me give a spotlight to Moondust. Here's what my mental checklist looks like so far:
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Vital Stuff
- Have Chestnut and Quilliam contribute something to the story so that I don't have to yeet them into the void - Done
- Properly foreshadow Peace instead of having her show up out of nowhere - Planned
Less Important Stuff
- Communicate the bad state Canterlot is in more clearly - Done
- Prevent Twilight from being such a passive protagonist - Done
- Rework Moondancer's relationship with Spike - Done
- Make it so Moondancer isn't right literally all the time - In progress
- Figure out which Hammers to involve in the Peace fight - Undecided
So, lots of character tweaks and balances, a little rearranging of events to help things work better and feel less linear, proper foreshadowing and build-up to the more major stuff, etc. In general I'm making good progress. Definitely going to try and get back into writing Black Mountain soon, too.
Til next time.
