(NEW PIECE OF ADVICE #16, AS OF 2/15/16)

Hi there. I'm Interloper, one of your Overstallions (admins) and I'm here to present to you - the Fimfiction Survival Guide.

Though we call ourselves bronies, preaching love, tolerance, and friendship, the vast majority of Fimfiction does not. Fimfiction is a dangerous world of trolling, scumbaggery, and general douchebaggery that cannot be fought, reasoned with, or ignored.

But it can be avoided.

What are you? An FO:E writer. And a NEW FO:E writer nontheless. Ahhh. Fresh meat for the grinder. Hate to break it to you, buddy, but it's a terrible world out there ... and for us, it is much worse. Much worse for us. But, not without justification of course. Our kind has sort of a ... reputation on this website.

And the burden of such a reputation lies upon every FO:E writer out there.

Still think you want to write FO:E? You fucking better.

It is your duty to dispel this reputation by writing a successful FO:E sidefiction. With this guide, I will try to get you on the right path to writing a great story, and an FO:E story to boot. Through this, I hope to increase the general quality of FO:E sidefics in general in hopes that at some point, there won't be anymore bad FO:E fics because the majority of people have heeded my advice in this thread. Here, we will look at the common mistakes FO:E writers tend to make. And here, you will learn how not to make them.

I present to you a list of suggestions on how I feel it is best to get started on the right hoof. With this guide, I will attempt to set you up for success, with advice from my own experiences (yes, we all started off like you), do's, and dont's.

I did say these are a list of suggestions and advice. These aren't rules. I wrote this guide to help you prepare a story in the way I believe is best, based upon my own personal experiences on this website. These are my opinions, and if you disagree with them, I won't stop you. You're the one writing after all, not me. You know what's best for you.

To do list:

On Grim Darkness
Formatting your story

1) There might be a problem with your story. And that problem might be you.
As I mentioned before, FO:E sidestories have sort of a bad reputation around here. There are 2k+ FO:E stories floating around Fimfiction, and countless more on the internet. The thing is, is that people don't like that. People don't like when an idea (FO:E) has been exploited so many times. Coupled with the fact that many, many, many of the FO:E stories out there are poorly-written, FO:E tends to be disliked by many of Fimfiction's bronies, because they make that observation and automatically assume that all FO:E stories are bad. And some of those bronies think their opinions actually matter. A few results of these ways of thinking are:
* Dislike Bombs - Dislike Bombs are drive by downvotes that occur when an asshat generally doesn't agree with your story's outward appearance (coverart, description (or lack thereof ... but I'll get into that later), etc). But most of the time in our case, as FO:E writers, it is because of what we write: FO:E.
- Dislike Bombs are generally unavoidable. Even the best of us still get the occasional dislike from some chucklefuck who simply doesn't like FO:E.
* Nasty Comments - People post nasty comments (obviously) when they don't like something about your story. This generally occurs when your story is poorly-written. This rarely occurs otherwise.
Many times, people will see an FO:E story, and proceed to do one or both of the above - simply because the story is Fallout: Equestria. "Ahhh, this shit again." "Really, another Fallout: Equestria fic?" "Fallout: Equestria sucks." are examples of what you may see - as well as random driveby dislikes. Because your story is FO:E.
But, but, but, but, BUTT, but ... BEFORE we jump to the above conclusion, we must look back and reflect on what we've done.
Look at your story. Does it have correct grammar? No. Does your prose have the complexity of a well-written story? No. Does your story have a strange, overly-unique title? Yes. Does your story start out as cliched as a warm sunny day? Yes. Do you have a shitty Mary Sue OC as your protagonist? Yes. Do you even follow Kkat's FO:E canon? No. Does your FO:E story have humans in it ? Yes. Does it have a graveyard of deleted comments in the comments section? Yes.
Then your story must be pretty bad. The fact that you didn't invest in ANY time at all to edit and write your story, flesh out an interesting plot and set of characters, or remain faithful to Kkat's universe, tells me that you actually deserved those dislike bombs and mean comments.
Waah, but Interloper, you're being mean, and you aren't being constructive!
Yes. Regretfully, I am. I understand that we all have different skill levels here. No one starts off as a novelist. I'm not a novelist, or a renowned author for that matter. (One day, I hope to be, hee!) But it is the truth, and it is what becomes of those who do not know how to survive in the horrible world that is Fimfiction.
But anyways, luckily for you, this guide is here to show you how.

2) Invest time in Proofreading, an Editor, and or (a) Pre-Reader(s)
One way to eliminate a great portion of the negativity you might get for writing an FO:E story on Fimfiction is to edit your story. After you write, read it over, and over, and over again. You'll usually catch a ton of mistakes. But even then, as I tell the people who I help advise, the worst editor is the author himself.
When I write, I spent several hours, maybe three to four at a time (to prevent me from going insane) editing my horse words. AND THEN I send it to my editor. Why? Because authors tend to think ahead of the words they write, thinking what they intended to write will come next, but instead of referring to that character as a she, like they thought they wrote, they glazed over it and missed the fact that he referred to the character as a he.
You as an author cannot catch all the mistakes you make. That is why you need an Editor. Editors, depending on their skillsets, will look for errors in your grammar, English conventions, etc that you make in your story. These are things they spend hours doing, searching, hunting for that misspelled word that you glazed over. Writers with editors are generally those who are concerned with their public image, those who don't want to look like complete and total baffoons as they butcher the English language and anger English speakers who expect you to at least know how to write their language correctly.
You see, if you can't write the English language perfectly, that's fine. Nobody's perfect. Hell, I spelled language wrong while typing this. That's why you really, really, REALLY need to get an editor who can read over your work and make sure that your English skittles are as close to perfect as possible. But that doesn't mean you should lump all the work on their shoulders. No, no, no. Editors are angry people. Every time they see an error, they die a little on the inside. So you ought to throw them a bone and read over your Chapter once or twice, run it through a spell checker, AND THEN send it to them. You don't want to hear that your editor slit his wrists after reading your Chapter.
Additionally, and optionally, you can invest in Pre-Readers. Pre-Readers, are, if your Editor isn't already doing this for you, people who will read your story, and give you general feedback. They're basically your quality control people. Give them something to read, and they'll point out to you what they do, and don't like. That way, you can consider their opinions (as these opinions will likely be shared by the public audience when you update) and anticipate what things will get you that nasty comment and dislike bomb, and correct them before your story goes live.
However, one thing to really remember is that editors and pre-readers aren't going to make you a better writer. If you're writing at the 5th grade level, no amount of editing is going to improve your skill at writing. Editors and pre-readers are there to catch mistakes, and give suggestions on what you should and shouldn't do. However, if your foundation in English and writing is horrible, your editors and pre-readers don't have much to stand on and are helpless to improve the quality of your quality-less writing. Do not think for one second that editors and pre-readers are your magic bullet. They are there to help, but they can only help so much. Expecting editors and pre-readers to improve your skill at writing is like asking someone to sweep the dirt off a dirt lot. The only way to increase your skill at writing is to turn that dirt lot into something better and build upon it. That is something only you can do - not your editors. (I'll have more on how to do this in the near future)

Stop by this thread and ask if anyone wants to pre-read or edit for you, or ask a friend or friends to do it for you.

3) Kkat's Fallout: Equestria is Canon, by Law, and those who betray it (will likely) be flogged

Kkat had this to say about canon, in her blog. Please click on the link to said blog for a discussion of canon from Kkat's perspective.

It is in your best interest to remain faithful to Fallout: Equestria's canon. Because if you don't, you'll likely see a huge audience backlash in your story, and quite possibly, a mob of infuriated FO:E purists marching outside your house.

For Godsake's man, Kkat even said it herself!

Writers whose stories ignore or oppose canon can reasonably expect some backlash or a loss of readership.

The idea of creative liberty, something that Kkat openly allows us to do, is nice. But you risk the chance of pissing off a ton of people - and incurring a huge red gash in your story's like/dislike bar (as an FO:E Purist myself, you'll likely find me amidst that angry mob, as well). While you are not being held at gun point to remain faithful to Kkat's canon, and Kkat herself even says that whatever's written in her story is up to your interpretation, I believe that it is still in your best interest to remain faithful to canon.

I personally believe that the canon of FO:E should be your foundation to build up your story from. But should you destroy that foundation and attempt to rebuild a new one, your story may fall through the cracks or crumble to dust. It is simply too much of a risk to take - and that is why I - and many of us will advise you to never alter the original lore and canon.
In regards to the original canon, FO:E's canon has deep roots in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This means that the entirety of MLP:FIM Season 1 happened in FO:E's Pre-War timeline. Season 2, is, to some extent, canon, but it's debatable to what episode the canon ends at, since Shining Armor and Cadence don't ever make an appearance, nor does a Changeling Invasion occur. This doesn't mean it couldn't have happened, since Kkat hasn't ever specified to what extent Season 2 is canon. You may, in your fanon, include Season 2 and beyond as canon, but you would have to do so with caution as many things will conflict with Kkat's canon. Authors who do this often turn the end of Season 2 and beyond into an alternate universe of MLP:FIM, cherry picking what fits and what doesn't fit Kkat's canon so that they can use it in the Fallout: Equestria universe.
Now it's time to set the record straight. Only Fallout: Equestria and its associated pre-war events from MLP:FIM are canon. Nothing else.
With the exception of A Mare Worth Fighting For aka, Chapter 20.5 by Pacce, all other side fictions are not, and should ever be considered canon.

It (A Mare Worth Fighting For) is the single outside work that have (and ever will) designate as "permissible to treat as canon".

And no. Project Horizons isn't canon (though a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that it is, when it isn't. See the link below). Neither is Heroes, Murky Number Seven, or Pink Eyes.
Traditionally, at least. You may, of course, incorporate fanon from other stories, but do this with caution: not all stories may be 100% faithful to FO:E, and you run the risk of reaching a canonical impass between the fanon you're using and Kkat's canon.
In the end, Fallout: Equestria is canon. Nothing else. If you choose to incoporate fanon from other stories, you must remember that ultimately, Kkat's canon trumps all. That means that your story MUST revolve around and take place in her universe. We'll talk more about this below.

3.5) The "KKat Approved" Message on PH's EQD Post does not mean what you think it means.

4) KNOW. YOUR. GODDESSES-DAMNED. CANON.
You see, one thing that pisses (me) people off is when FO:E sidefic writers think they can make their OC a super powerful Alicorn Princess and have them secretly commanding the Ministries with Luna as her puppet, or think they can add a new pony to the Mane Six and make a seventh ministry. Why? Because that simply does not fit Kkat's canon. You can make Alicorns work, of course, so long as they're the mutated ones from FO:E. But that's besides the point.
The point is, is that if you want to write a well-recieved, successful FO:E story, both in the Fimfiction and FO:E community, you must, YOU MUST be canonically correct. Breaking Kkat's canon is like breaking the law, and take my word for it, many, many people will be displeased. Should you so foolishly commit such a blasphemy, you will find that you'll have a Sith lightsaber for a Dislike Bar and a great many angry comments on your story.
So please, for the love of Celestia and Luna, be canonically correct! Why would you want to butcher the universe Kkat so lovingly created for us by ripping a hole in it to fit your rred adn balck alicron OC!!!?
It is imperative that you study (yes ... study) FO:E lore and canon. Dannykat-sama, my friend and mentor, created a timeline for you to use, which will allow you to scroll through all of FO:E's pre-war plot devices, examine them, and write your story around them without destroying canon. Use it. Or die. Just kidding, But use it. If your story takes place after the end of FO:E you might actually need to re-read FO:E to make sure you aren't ruining the historical rad-spikes that Littlepip's created as a result of her travels.
But how, Interloper-san, how do I go about doing that? Ask on the forums. Look for someone who can tell you what the canon is. Use Dannykat's timeline. And if all else fails, re-read Fallout: Equestria, or do a Ctrl + F keyword search of what you're trying to find, and then research it.
Bottom line is, you must stay faithful to canon. Or you will suffer the consequences.

5) Plan out your story!
Planning your story, including its plot, characters, conflicts, etc, are integral to writing a successful FO:E sidefiction. This, coupled with canon-research builds you a solid foundation to work upon and sets you up for success. If you're making shit up as you go, that's fine. But at least have a general idea of what direction your story will be going. You can do this by writing out synopsises/synopsi/god damnit summaries of your story as a whole, individual plot devices, or conflicts. This way, you always have a reference, a map, rather, to look at when you want push the story forward.
You don't want to be writing your story, and your character's supposed to save the Overmare or something, and you write an entire sidestory plotline that has nothing to do with the Overmare and waste yours, and everyone else's time writing, and reading it, respectfully. You see, your story needs to have a beginning and end. One thing that really kills it for FO:E stories is their length, and some writers lose sight of their story's ending and run their story off a cliff, struggling to get back on track. (You all know what story I'm talking about ...) To top this all off, you need to have a plan, a game plan, if you wish to call it, before you run off into the unknown and get lost and picked off like carrion by Fimfiction's judgemental masses.
One of the worst things you can do to your story is creating sidequests that have literally nothing to do with your story. If your character is supposed to be rescuing the Overmare, she shouldn't be diddling on some quest to deliver some dumb bitch's nude selfies to her stallionfriend. She. Should. Be. Saving. The Overmare. You see, in order to write a plot-driven story, you need to have a clear sight of where you want it to end up. Every Chapter you write needs to be relevant to the central plot, or it has to develop your characters in some way shape or form, and each needs to be a stepping stone to reach the end. Never. EVER branch off with bullshit sidequests that have no impact on your story and or its characters whatsoever. It might work in video games, but it sure as hell doesn't work in literature. But if you want to branch off into a sidechain, say, to reach the next stepping stone, your protagonist needs to find a lock to open the door, then that's fine. The sidechain you are planning on writing needs to lead back to the main story or have some kind of impact on your characters and their development, not tie up on its own and that's it. Everything you write needs to be a step towards the finish line or a shift in a character's development. This means, no 'go deliver these health potions to Piddley Widdley for me please' sort of subplots. They have to be, "go deliver these health potions to Piddley Widdley and along the way, encounter something that develops your characters in some way, shape or form." subplots. Remember, if the plot device has no purpose, then there's no point in writing it.
Stories that are poorly-planned, tend to be poorly written, and also tend to become targets for trolling and general hatred.
Let's move onto characters, shall we ? Planning characters is also important. But characters are a whole nother shebang.
You see, people like realistic characters. They like dynamic characters who respond to the environment, conflict, and action as a normal human being would. People hate flat, cardboard-esque characters, or caricatured imitations of what you might percieve that character to be. Writing good characters takes time, research (seriously), and lots of planning.
I'll start by talking about research. Say you want to write a rape victim. If you just go ahead and write about a rape victim they way you think a rape victim might act like, chances are you're going to piss a shit ton of people off. You see, in order to write about characters, you need to first study that character. You need to go out of your way and study the psychology of rape victims, the effects and symptoms of PTSD. You need to read up on memoirs, blogs, autobiographies, new articles about or written by rape victims. You must do all of this to understand rape victims. For how can you write about something you do not understand? Trust me, All that research I just mentioned? Yeah. I did all that, myself to write a character in my own sidefiction. From what I've been told, she's as realistic as it gets - all because I took the time to learn about people just like her.
Lets move onto another example. Want to write about a character who's specialized in engineering electrical work? Study the basic ins and outs of machinery and electronics. I, for example, have a character who is tasked with manually disarming an IED. I went out of my way to talk to my dad, who's ex-military, and who's also an electrical engineer, about how wiring works, what wires do what in a circuit, and other things that involve anything that requires (or cutting of) an electrical current to work. Such as the IED I was writing about. I succeeded in writing this scene, because the actions my character took towards disarming it were realistic, relatively accurate, and believable. Believable. That's the word.
A successful, dynamic character is a believable character, someone who thinks and acts like a human being would, with all the emotional/skillful baggage they carry with them. If you want to write about a character, you must first understand the kind and type of character you want to write about. When you understand them, not simply as characters, but as living, breathing human beings, then you can write believable characters.
People love believable characters.
Bottom line is: plan out what you want to write before you write it. You don't want to become carrion for the masses, do you?

6) Invest in Cover Art!
Having cover art puts you leaps and bounds ahead of A LOT of stories on Fimfiction. Especially if you have nice looking coverart. You see, people tend to be judgemental pricks. Especially people on Fimfiction. If they find that you didn't take the time to wrap your story in a bow when you present it to them, they're probably going to scroll away, close the tab, or worse, if you have a terrible looking cover art, dislike your story just because it looks terrible.
Now, you want to have a cover art. But it needs to look nice. Have a cover art that gives people an idea of what they're going to see in your story - its setting, its characters, its conflicts - etc. People like to look at a book's cover before reading it, and if it looks enticing, they'll generally read it. If if doesn't, or worse, it looks terrible, well. Read step number 1.
Show people that you're serious with your work, and that you put time and effort into presenting it by investing in cover art. Ask around on the forums for artists who are willing to make covers for you. Ask around on DeviantArt and request or commission one. Or, if you're a sexy beast like me who can write and draw, then you're in luck - because you can just do it yourself.
Bottom line: show people that you cared enough to make your story look presentable, because the cover and its description are the first things they're going to see and judge. I'll talk more about descriptions next.

7) Write an interesting description!
Fimfiction requires that you have a Long Description and a Short Description. Both give potential readers a general idea of what to expect from your story, just as the cover art does. But you can't have one or the other. You need both a good cover art, and a good description.
And don't derp it up by literally giving us a Goddesses-damned summary of your story by saying, "Red Dawn is a talented young stallion with a red mane and a brown coat, who lives in Stable 91 but is forced to leave -" OKAY NO ONE GIVES A SHIT
What you need, is to write a synopsis, not a summary, that capitalizes on the uniqueness of your story. Basically, write your synopsis - which details the main idea of your story - while at the same time, focusing on what makes your story unique and different from all the other Fallout: Equestria stories have done. Be also aware of the cliches (I will talk about this later) in the FO:E universe. Yes, you want to write a Stable pony as your main character. Yes, you should still mention that, but make it be known how different the world is when she steps outside - capitalize on what makes your story different. Does it take place in a unique setting (Northern Wasteland, Zebra continent, Crystal Empire, Changeling/Batpony Kingdom, etc)? Do you have an antagonist or conflict no one's seen before? Ask yourself these questions (those are just examples) and find out what makes your story different from everyone else's. Once you've got that figured out, write your descriptions with a focus on those key, unique features.
Let's look at an example. An example from my story. Interloper stop advertising your story, asshole -

Okay so, my story's about a Stable pony whose Stable's machinery goes awry, and he is forced to leave his home while looking for something to fix everything. Yes. We've seen this shit a million times. Stable goes bad, and ponies leave.
But there are things that make my story unique. A few huge, important features that make it unique are that it takes place in the Northern Wasteland, the Crystal Empire will be involved as a result, and an evil force, which I refer to as the 'Darkness' is taking hold of the Northern Wasteland.
With that in mind, let's write a shitty description, using the above information.

"Red Dawn is a unicorn stallion from Stable 91. He and his family, and the generations of Stable ponies that lived before him, lived and died and thrived in the only home they've ever knew: the stable. To think of life ever changing is madness, for how can a life that's been maintained for two centuries fall apart? The ponies of '91 were sadly mistakened. When the Stable's machinery breaks, and Red Dawn's life, once secure in the hooves of ponies long dead, is shattered to pieces. As an engineer pony, it is his duty to help find a way to fix his Stable's water talisman and restore safe, drinkable water to his Stable's populace. However, with no alternative or contingency in sight, he and his friends must leave the stable in search for another water talisman and protect his Stable's way of life - for the sake of the generations to come."

BAD. NO. STOP. THAT'S BAD. You know why? Because I wrote the description with a focus on something that people are sick of seeing. The broken water talisman cliche. People want to see something new! They want to see something fresh! And if they don't see this, they'll keep scrolling or ... re-read number 1.
Now, lets re-write this description with a focus on my story's unique features.

"When the bombs fell, the North was not reborn in spellfire. It was reborn in darkness. 200 years ago, the Crystal Empire kept at bay the nightmares of the Frozen North. But when balefire scoured their lands, the floodgates parted and an inexplicable, aberrant darkness fell upon the Northern Wasteland.
As the world above plunged into perpetual twilight, the ponies of Stable 91 slept peacefully beneath the snow. But their sheltered lives could never have lasted forever. Time could only tell when their systems would shutdown, or their water became impure … or worse.
In the Northern Wasteland, a dying stable is the least of anypony's problems - for outside those doors, only darkness awaits.."

There we go, THERE WE GO! Now that's a doozy of a description. It focuses on the setting, among the story's other unique features, it gives a general idea of what the conflict is going to be in Chapter 1, and hints at a greater, overarching conflict that will come into play later. LIkkadat! Write your deescreeption likkadat!

If you focus on what makes your story awesome and unique, then people will fall into the trap likely read your story because it interests them, and it doesn't sound like the same regugitated crap that they've read in 100's of other FO:E sidefics. People LOVE unique stories. People LOVE reading things that are new.
But of course, you can still write a cliche, and write it well.

8) Be Aware of Cliches!
Cliches, both in the FO:E universe and out, really kill your story. If you're starting off by saying that your story "Began on a bright, sunny day in the middle of June," then you've basically just shot yourself and the foot and garnered a few dislikes and quite possibly a few mean comments already.
I won't go into this much, because this is suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch a vast topic, but I'll provide a few places to start learning what to do and what not to do with cliches. First, look at this thread about FO:E cliches. The majority of them are there, so do take note of them. Second, google literary cliches, because those literary cliches and tropes, if used in your story, will annoy the living crap out of some people.
Now, cliches aren't bad - as long as you create a refreshing take on that cliche. Almost everything in the world's been done already; the best stories just so happen to do better than those who've done the same. Basically, if you want to write a cliche, you have to:
* Write it well
* Write it with a twist on that cliche
* And write it well. Yes, I repeated the first bullet point, because this is extremely important.
You can write a cliche, but the thing that really just lops your foot right off is when the cliche is written poorly. Say you want a stable pony as your protagonist. That's cool. BUT IT'S BEEN DONE A THOUSAND TIMES. But what else is special about this pony's home? Is the Stable's social experiment something no one's seen before? Has some prototype technology been integrated into the stable to support its inhabitants? This is what I meant by writing your cliche with a twist - write it by adding something new to it, something no one's seen before. That way, you aren't simply ripping off the same idea the next guy's done. Instead, you are writing something old, yet refreshing, and in a different light.
Everything, even the ugliest of dogs look better in a different light. Just ... just shine the light on the part of it that looks good. Yes. That's a great metaphor, Interloper-san.

9) DON'T (BE) TROLL BAIT
If you somehow manage to fuck everything up that I've told you not to fuck up, or you've already made the mistake of doing them already, NEVER. EVER. CRY ABOUT IT ON YOUR STORY.

And DON'T DELETE COMMENTS, EITHER! (Unless it's completely justified, such as people just being dicks to you. I tend to draw the line at this: you can insult my story, but if you insult me, personally, I'll delete your comments and block you.)

Deleting criticism only makes you look like an arrogant cry baby.

Additionally, don't write stupid shit in your description.

What kind of stupid shit do I mean? This stupid shit:
"Dis is my frist stroy. Pls be gentle with by butthoel."
"lol this story sux, but its my first so go ez on me."
Or worse ...
"Yall r a bunch o h8ers, construtive critcism onyl, plz."
"Fuk u haters, I dont care about wat you say."
"I'm writing for Fallout: Equestria fans, not you, so if you don't like Fallout: Equestria, kindly fuck yourself."

If you do this, you'll just be cutting both of your story's legs off. By writing the above, you are setting the stage for today's Fimfiction laughing festival, where people will drop by, laugh at how much of an incompetent, whiny, buffoon you are, throw a dislike at you, maybe take the time to write a comment on how much of an incompetent, whiny, buffoon you are, and leave. Next thing you know, you'll be on Rage Reviews or some other group that makes fun of terrible stories and authors. People get a kick out of seeing bad author's rage when they're told how bad they are, and you don't want to be that guy.
Kindly take your criticism, negative or not, and use it to improve. Don't whine about it. And DON'T take your story hostage either. What I mean by this, is that if you see your story leaning on the precipice of a Like<Dislike ratio, don't set a quota for yourself by saying "IF MY STORY DOESN'T REACH POSITIVE LIKES BY NEXT WEEK, I'M GOING TO QUIT AND DELETE MY STORY AND LEAVE FIMFICTION FOR GOOD!!!!"
If you do that ... then you're letting those nay-sayers win. You need to pony up, buck up, MAN UP, WOMAN UP and PROVE THEM WRONG!
TAKE WHAT YOU'VE GOT, AND FIX IT, AND IMPROVE ON IT. Just don't be a bitch.
The internet likes to chew out people who bitch. And you don't want to be that guy.
Basically, don't set yourself up to be another piece of comedy entertainment for everyone on Fimfiction to partake in.

Click here to continue to Advice 10)

This needed to be said, all of it. Thanks for taking the time to put it up, and I hope the people who really need to read it do so.

Looking over everything, my body count looks like...

1. Maybe?
2. Check, check, check, and check.
3. Check.
4. Check (see number two)
5. Check (see number two)
6. Check?
7. I hope so.
8. Whoops.

And thanks for the war-order link. A compilation of the war order will be a huge time saver.

-Sage

This gets my personal brony stamp of approval!

3 . 3925204
To be completely accurate, though, FO:E chapter 20.5, written by Pacce, can be considered canon

And when writing your own story, you can incorporate more stuff into your story's canon, of course. I consider large parts of Project Horizons and Pink Eyes as part of my story's canon. But, yeah, that's entirely the author's choice.

5. 3925207
Nope. I refuse.

Honestly, though, writing method is writing method. I just happen to like character-driven storywriting, without any clue where I'm going. Any excess stuff that doesn't seem like it's going anywhere will just end up on the cutting floor long before I publish it.

Of course, I excel in making stuff up as I go.

6. 3925209
Eh. As I've said before, some slightly edited Pony creator pics dumped on a googled Fallout 3 background can still be better than having no cover at all. You just need to make sure it is representative for the story

This is awesome. Fo:E has needed something like this for ages, not just people in the comments and forums saying it, but having an actually well-written guide. Good job, Interloper!

The thing about side quests though, is that I think they're one of the things that can make Fo:E fics work. They have to be done right, though. They have to be unique, memorable, and they have to further the characters. Let's face it characters are the most important thing. People love Blackjack and Puppysmiles and Frosty Winds and Atom Whatever-Her-Name-Was-I-Was-Too-Busy-Laughing. those storyies sometimes have digressions and things, but it's the characters that make people stick around.

I'm gonna go and edit my fic.

This is a very helpful forum Overstallion Interloper. Thank you very much for your advice and steps. With all the reading I've been doing, I've been toying around with a few ideas. Though even those have to wait till I've read most of the other side stories so I have better context.
Until that time though I'll be going over this and many of the other useful links you have kindly put in here.

Sincerely,
Creatures4Life

Ah yes. This is quite an awesome read. All that's missing is the cover art. As I've recently gotten on my new PC and have yet to create a new dA account, I'd need Slouping (or other artists on dA) to do a cover art of my WIP side-fic for me. Again, wonderful read.

3925325

An FOE purist such as myself forgot about 20.5 and the whole incorporating other people's fanon thing. I added an addendum to 4)

As for 6) ... pony maker... . It might be better than no pic at all, but everyone and their cat does this. It's unprofessional and it almost always guarantees a dislike, from what I've seen for stories that do this. The point of this thread is to make writers strive for the best they can get their hooves on, not a compromise between quality and opportunity.

There are tons of willing artists out that there that can and will make art for you - for free, which is why I'm stressing the importance of finding one and getting cover art not cover pony-maker-compromise.

As for completely character driven stories, see my argument below.

3925675

Too bad none of those sidequests had any impact on Blackjack's character whatsoever. all they did was muddle up, overextend, and ruin the premise of almost every possible plot device out there. It is because of this side questing in PH that people believe that everything PH has shit on cannot ever be done right, because of how terribly Somber dealt with them (I have a conviction to, and have successfully proved this wrong in my own sidefic by doing many things PH did wrong, right. Take for example: rape victims). PH sidequests ere pointless, and served only the purpose of bringing shock value to the story, which is why I will always believe PH owes its popularity to its shock value, and not its literary merit.

Very rarely are sidequests done right, and while yes, character decelopment is important, you can and should do the same over the course of the central plot instead. Any college english or creative writing professor will tell you to develop characters along with your plot, not via unrelated nonsense.

Plot and character development should always go hand in hand, and deviating from that course can cause you to run your story so far off the tracks you won't be able to get back on. That, or you waste everyone's time with meritless, pointless diddling.

I don't understand how anyone can write a story without... a story. Or a story that's basically driven by the characters alone, where the only conflicts are conflicts they happen to stumble upon. I've taken creative writing classes with an emphasis on novel writing, so that might be the reason i'm so traditional with how stories should be written.

3925763

The point of this thread is to make writers strive for the best they can get their hooves on, not a compromise between quality and opportunity.

Not everyone has money to spend on their writing hobby, though.

There are tons of willing artists out that there can and will make art for you - for free, which is why I'm stressing the importance of finding one and getting cover art not cover pony-maker-compromise.

Yeah, Imma call bullshit there. That's just absolutely not true. Maybe if you know the artist very well or something, but in general, with the amount of work going into a full-scene fic cover, I don't think anyone would do that for free. Commissions for that kind of stuff run in the hundreds of dollars.

Also, I've seen a lot of people who just make a pony in Pony Creator and use that as cover, standard library background and all. That's not at all what I'm talking about. You can make some neat stuff even with Pony Creator, if you just use a bit of creativity.

3925784

Requests, not commissions. That's why i said to ask around, not sit at your desk griping about hownyou don't have money to throw around. And you can always use art that's already been created, with permission of course.

3925767
Well, none of this really applies to my story, since, there simply is no main plot. The main plot is, in fact, the character development itself. And the more they go through, the deeper we get into these ponies' psyche and background. I believe that, and the humour, is what makes my readers keep coming back

3925784

Yeah, Imma call bullshit there. That's just absolutely not true.

lol bruh, you are the one bullshitting me. People like Slouping do requests. And he does them well. You just need to look hard enough for artists who can. Many are trying to get their names out there, by doing decent artwork to attract commissioners. I know several other, low profile horse artists on my watch/friendlist that will do art for free.

And I will stand by the fact that Pony Creator is laughably the worst source of cover 'art' out there. Not because they're genrally unimaginative and poorly made, but because they attract judgemental dislike bombers like flies to manure. A story with no cover art at all has a greater chance of slipping under the radar of trolls and dislike bombers than a story with Pony Creator 'art'.

3925787
I edited my post to clarify that. A request will maybe get you a quick sketch if the artist feels like doodling, and/or you know them. It won't get you the kind of art a lot of the big stories in this community have as cover, because, quite simply, to get to that level, you're gonna have to pay someone to work on it for a week.

To further clarify: my fic has a commissioned cover. It just started with those pony creator pics. Heavily edited pony creator pics, that is.

3925812

You don't need a fancy shmancy picture with explosions and ponies getting ripped in half. A picture of one's OC with a simple background and logo will work, too. Let's face it: all of those big stories don't owe their success to their cover art. They owe it to their story (or lack thereof ... in some people's case.) Cover art just completes the handshake and attracts attention. But it had better attract positive attention, or you're doing something wrong.

All this talk about a full scene for cover art is just preference. Some of the world's most renowned and critically-acclaimed novels have the simplest cover arts out there. You just need something that can paint your story in a positive light.

3925767
*goes on EQD*
Wait, PH has been updated!?
*clicks link*

Yeah, PH gets hate, and I can see why, but personally I like it for its rambling. Length has never been a deterrent for me - heck, when people warned my Fo:E was long, I just took that as a challenge. And PH... well, I took that as an insult to my determination.

This was totally needed. I hope more people take the time to appreciate the vast amount of resources there are for researching.
And edit your work people, because no matter what: it all comes down to when do YOU submit.

Because in Fimfiction.net, we all submit. With many kinds of submissions. Submit your work properly or get submitted.

A do agree with this all for the most part.

rule 3, and 4, are for the most parts right, but also flexible, and can't help but feel that some of this is directed at what Project Horizon has done. The current story I am reading is part of a collab between two writers, not for the same story, but between five different story's loosely connected together, and that's probably the best way to go about it if you want to use event's from other story's in your story.

but the big point I see is that more you diverge from the original story, the more haters your going to attract.

3925294

Thanks Doomande, it is a pleasure to be of service to the community. And the noobs. Especially the noobs... for our sake.

3925325

And a question for any and all my fellow overstallions: how about adding this thread to the group's homepage description?

And would you mind if I bumped this over the other stickies constantly so that new people can see it the moment they go to the forums? I think it's important that every prospective writer ought to know where and how to start. This thread consists of my opinions of course, but it does provide a starting line to prepare behind.

3925812 3925806 I have to agree and disagree here, while it is true for many that good cover art are usually commissioned for a price there is a few people out there willing to make a decent cover for free you just need to know where to look, like on Deviantart look for an artist who generally has low page views or Watchers but makes visually appealing art they usually take requests to get noticed or to improve. Like me as a amateur artist I would LOVE to get a request for a cover to actually have a challenge and improve my art.

3925843
WHOA! NO NEED FOR THAT!

3925200

Beautifully done Interloper-senpai couldnt agree with this more

Knighty, why can't I comment on this thread like a Gdoc?
3925204 You should add a clarification on the statement for PH on it's EQD page of "KKat Approved" in regards to (head)canon and how it doesn't mean PH is canon (It would have to have deliberate effort put into it to be any more unclear as to what it actually means. This of course means there's an EQD conspiracy PH-level to destroy FoE.). KKat herself has said that the only thing canon outside the story itself (not even her other FoE work involving other things Equestrian) is the already mentioned chapter 20.5, and there's really nothing that'd actually change anyone's OC stories in it.

Bonus points in my book if you mention what FiM season KKat's covers until. Nothing past the first season is ever really mentioned, with the story starting partially through season 1.

Wow, I'm impressed. You only mentioned having the idea for this thread last night, and here it is. And it's damn good, too. I approve

3925200

Agreed for pretty much everything.
The only points I am in disagreement with are:
- The side quests
- The overall length

Now, I agree that if the hero is supposed to be saving the day, they shouldn't have time to go hunt radigators or something equally silly. However, most of the time, if your protagonist is racing against the clock to save the world, not only you are probably going against FoE's canon, but you are most likely missing the point of side stories as well.
I have come to realize, through the feedback on my own story (two years in existence now), that such a story shouldn't be about grand heroes and epic adventures. Kkat did it, and if you think you can do it better than her, then you shouldn't be reading this bloody forum.
My point is that such a side story should explore aspects of FoE that has not come to light before, and a great way to expand the lore is to include sidearcs that do not involve saving the world or the local town.
This brings me to my second point: length. Fallout: Equestria is a doorstopper and it bled out on most of the stories it spawned. Hell, my own is 200k words long and I'm not even finished. But it's okay. After all, the world of FiM fanfictions is full of short and sweet one-shots one can read in a handful of minutes. We are writing for a niche of readers. Those who dislike long stories never joined the wagon in the first place.
However, a long story must not be boring. If you're thinking about adding some padding, a word of advice: don't. Just don't. I didn't write 200k words because I wanted a long story: I simply have a lot to say. I believe this is the price to pay to build a world and a handful of characters. As long as you know where you are headed, write away, I say.

Oh, I will also add that if you want a decent cover art, if you don't know a good artist who's a friend of yours, prepare to shell some money out. If you're not ready to do that for your story, then ask yourself whether you are really moved by it.

3925767

You can have a story without a defined overall goal. I even believe one could even write slice-of-life stories with recurring characters without a real plot.
Once again, I got my own story in mind (hell, I spent the last two years giving it some though so I might as well use it now). The story starts through day-to-day events. Then, from greed comes an expedition, which ends by the setup of a larger project. This project requires the protagonists to achieve various tasks, but it is clear the end result is not the most interesting thing about them. Through those adventures, those arcs, characters develop and interact with one another; from a narrative standpoint, interesting ideas are explored through their actions...
Of course, you cannot drop those arcs in the story with a paper-thin excuse of a plot. This is why one should plan ahead - to articulate the story, to make everything find its place smoothly in this greater whole the novel is. Often, those ideas don't fit, so you have to drop them entirely.
At the end of the day, your story may not even look like your first drafts anymore. I know mine did not.

3926476

If you're a skilled enough writer to develop characters via sidearcs (it isn't that hard, but new writers can't really wrap their head around these kinds of things) be my guest. My problem with that is that, it appears to me that the vast majority of stories that try, fail terribly.

If you are a skilled enough writer that you can juggle a dozen unrelated sidequests without losing sight of your story, go ahead. Just make sure it is signifigant to the characters involved, and you aren't just doing it for the fuck of it.

In writing, everything must have a purpose. if characters aren't changing as a result of these experiences then you've wasted everyone's time, then your sidequests are about as pointless as having mindless clop or violence in your story.

3926476

Arrrghh if you havent noticed this guide is for new writers, people who need to have their hands held when it comes to story writing and planning. This is a guide for people who actually 'need' to plan their stories, because they can't wrap their heads around writing a good story like he, she, you and I can.

I mentioned this in my OP. New writers.

3926577 Save the orphans* 200 miles away! It's for character development, so postpone the less important quest to save everypony. Especially if the protagonist has little to no moral standard(s) exhibited up to that point!

*Also works for:
-Stables
-Slaves
-Abused housewives
-Elderly ponies
-Minor settlements
-Major settlements that if facing certain doom are way past the point of saving even for the best Deus Ex Machina (Also applies to those built around megaspells, because even if they should be removed form the gene pool, we don't let it happen).
-Party members rumored alive, thought dead two arcs ago!

gee i wonder how many new writers are going to very briefly glance through this and ignore it

in all seriousness tho, this should definitely help. very well written article that should help new writers out with their work.

but then again we live in a generation where the only way to keep someone occupied is with pretty colors and explosions every 15 seconds so i dunno exactly how many new authors are going to take the initiative to read this

3925839
3926476

I will add an addendum concerning sidequests and how to do them correctly. Later. Not on my pc at the moment.

Woo! I did all these things! I win!

3926674

So you did number 9? Thats not good....

3926758 Number nine is "Don't be troll bait." So yes. I did do number nine. I have not been troll bait

10) BEGIN YOUR TITLE WITH "Fallout (:) Equestria (-)"
I am literally sick and tired of all the people that think that with-holding the full title of the story will actually help deter dislike bombs because they think that if they don't have Fallout: Equestria in their title, no one will hate them.
You see, when you lie to your readers by telling them that it isn't Fallout: Equestria, and it turns out it really is, YOU'RE GOING TO PISS THEM OFF. This includes people who abbreviate FO:E, with the assumption that the readers are too stupid to realize that FO:E stands for Fallout: Equestria. Don't worry about your title being too long. You better damn well have Fallout: Equestria written out in full in your title or it ain't Fallout: Equestria.
But for the very few people who've actually had this work, SHAME ON YOU.
You bring shame on us all - you bring shame upon our lovely Kkat by deceitfully concealing the true nature of your story. Be proud that you're writing a story based upon Kkat's great universe. Be proud about what you're writing, and never, ever feel ashamed of it - just because it's Fallout: Equestria.
Fallout: Equestria or not, you will succeed and fail on your own merits, not because of your title.
People want to know what they're going to read, and if it's going to be Fallout: Equestria, it had better Goddesses-damned be titled Fallout: Equestria. And for Celestia's sakes, man, DON'T BE ASHAMED OF WHAT YOU'RE WRITING.

Click here to continue to advice 11)

3.5) The "KKat Approved" Message on PH's EQD Post does not mean what you think it means.
You'll see on the Project Horizons EQD post a heading that says "Kkat Approved". No, That doesn't mean it's canon.
You see, Project Horizons is so Goddesses-damned popular, that people used to flood the shit out of the FO:E compendium that EQD posts every few months with PH comments. With the PH comments flooding the post, they decided that they should split Project Horizons into its own post so that the PH comment flood wouldn't bury other peoples' comments concerning other stories.
In order to do this, they needed to ask Kkat's permission. And she approved of the notion. Which is why it says "Kkat Approved."
It doesn't mean Project Horizons is canon, or that it's special(er than everyone else's), or that it's Kkat's favorite sidefiction (she's read up to Ch16), or that it's the number 1 best FO:E story out there (but hey, if you think so, that's just like, your opinion, man).
"Kkat Approved" just means that Kkat approved of the creation of its separate EQD Post

Additionally, for the record, Kkat had this to say about Project Horizons;

In general, I am always honored when someone is inspired by Fallout: Equestria and creates work based on it. Project Horizons is no exception to that rule, and the sheer scale of the work leaves me in awe.

As for the work itself, I have only read the first sixteen chapters of Project Horizons. Therefore, I really cannot review the story or speak to its merits or flaws beyond those sixteen chapters (which, for a story with Project Horizons' size and scale, is very little of it indeed). However, what I have read was extremely well-written, with great characterization and marvelous world-building. There were many times that Somber's attention to detail left me in awe and slightly jealous. And despite a growing displeasure with the story, every chapter had something that blew me away and made me want to come back for more.

That said, the story presented a world so grim and nasty that it divorced itself from the world I had created early within the first chapter -- it's not my Equestrian Wasteland. There were several elements of the story that just were not my cup of tea. Inevitably, I found the story too depressing to continue reading even with all the points worthy of praise. Chapter sixteen created a suitable finish to the tale, and I was happy to treat it as an ending.

If the story continued to be as good or better as its first sixteen chapters, I can certainly see why it has the fan-base and acclaim it does, and would be more than worthy of it.

Click here to continue to Advice 4)

3926398

You should add a clarification on the statement for PH on it's EQD page of "KKat Approved" in regards to (head)canon

Done.

Bonus points in my book if you mention what FiM season KKat's covers until. Nothing past the first season is ever really mentioned, with the story starting partially through season 1.

And done.

3925200 Thank you. Really, just... thank you.

We need to set up an inquisition a bureau for sending this this newly published authors, too, or make one for authors who have already published their works.

3927792

That's way out of my paygrade. Wait ... but I'm not being paid anything.

Maybe G-Man, Regolit and Tetra can do that? I mean, all three are constantly clicking and or favoriting people's sidefics. I personally don't have the time or the patience to do this myself.

3927420
Somber has a Fimfiction profile you can follow, updates get blog announcements.

3927792
3927798
Deus Vult!
Get the rack, I'll bring the comfy chair! Actually, I'll bring the rack, you two get the comfy chair! If not we can always fall back on the HHG and the KWSN.