Ph.D. in procrastination and occasional writer of pony stories.
Some unicorns use their magic for their special talent, but Twilight Sparkle's talent is magic itself. The study, application, and understanding of magic is part of her very core. What happens when she hits a wall that no amount of talent will boost her over? How will Twilight deal with finally discovering the limits of her natural skills?
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I'm going to be ruthless at cheating to steal the first comment spot. It's easiest for making extra information easy to see. Unless I'm not allowed to do that, in which case I'll just be super fast instead.
This is the second story I've worked on, but the first I've submitted. The other is a multi-chapter piece that I'd like to plan a bit better before going forward with. I didn't edit this much except for obvious spelling and grammar. I'll most likely go back and perform some basic house keeping once I get some sleep. I promised myself that I'd publish something by the end of June, and since I haven't slept yet it still counts as June. HA
.
This didn't evolve how I expected it to. I'm starting to think that's a recurring theme in writing. Originally I planned it as a long monologue of self discovery, but then Rainbow Dash showed up for some damned reason
. Just couldn't give up the spot light, I guess.
I hope you enjoy my first foray into the wonderful world of My Little Pony fan fiction, and my first in a long time to writing in general.
Update: Cleaned it up a little. Added some commas, corrected some mistakes, yada yada. Special thanks to my cousin for the read-through.
It was very well written and thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your story, and I enjoyed Rainbow Dash being the pony who saves Twilight from herself. I also thought that the spell you designed sounded exactly like something Twilight would come up with.
BB
Thought-provoking, and certainly interesting. With a potent set of magic skills like Twilight's, such a thing would come to her much more easily. I find it hard to believe she's NEVER failed a spell, but then you amended it with "never gone a day without making progress", which makes far more sense. I like that. Well done.
Fir- CELESTIA DAMN IT
LATE BY HOURS AGAIN!?
really awesome story, short and sweet.
Me Gusta
Wow, this sounds like something they could make into a real episode.
this is a real neat story, friend. I would'nt have expected
to be the one who helps out Twilight, but then again its only RD who would be likely to hit her limit being an athelete compared to the other Mane 6. <3 this!
That was an enjoyable read. The idea that Twilight has never come up against something she'd have to really work for is an interesting one and it works well with her cannon reaction to perceived failure.
"This didn't evolve how I expected it to. I'm starting to think that's a recurring theme in writing. Originally I planned it as a long monologue of self discovery, but then Rainbow Dash showed up for some damned reason. Just couldn't give up the spot light, I guess."
Think of that, not as an accident, but as a Good Sign. Instead of trying to force the characters into some sort of matrix so as to make the plot complications unravel on time, you're letting Twilight be herself. And what she needs at that very moment is somepony of a comparable skill level - best in all Equestria, of course - to make her think outside her own carefully constructed box. Rainbow Dash simply has to show up then, or poor Twi drowns in her self-absorption and the story is all but over.
So it's not at all an author's failure to maintain control of the narrative; it's the fact that the characters drive the story, and not the other way around. Which explains why Twi is plucking a feather from Dash's wing at the end there: I'd bet anything that Rao wrote that down, looked at it, and said "Now where in the hay did that come from?" These ponies can surprise you, even when you think you know where they're going.
moar?
Thank you, everyone, for the comments. Kind ones, nonetheless. I admit, I was really nervous to check the comment section. My confidence was all too fragile up until a few minutes ago. You've all gone a long way in helping me feel comfortable with my work. Thank you. Now, for specifics :D Bottom up, because I'm feeling inverted. Apologies if the replies got mismatched with the intended links.
840700
Sorry Doc, not for this one, no. But fear not! I have 3 more stories planned (re: vaguely conceptualized), all multi-chapter. One a nice slice of life, like this one, an adventure type, and a dark themed psychological peek inside the mind of one of our favorite immortals (Emerald Flight had a peek at the opening to this one. It has a ways to go still).
840447
I never thought of things that way. I thought I was going off on a tangent with Rainbow's story, but it felt necessary to keep things moving. Muses are strange things, no? Thanks for the input. I'll be less afraid to let the characters do their thing from now on
840033
Highest compliment I could imagine. The show is why we're all here, after all.
839843
It's less never, and more never took more than a couple tries to get things working, which is where the making progress part comes in, yes. Looking at the canon, she managed time travel after glancing at the page the spell(s) were written on. I figure that's probably top of the line magic, or else it wouldn't have been behind a locked door patrolled by a guard.
839839
I got plenty more up my sleeve, don't you worry. Now, I'm motivated!
You are quite the talented writer. I shall be watching...
Good job! While I did enjoy this, I think there wasn't enough focus on Twilight. I was expecting a thoughtful bit about overcoming obstacles, and instead I got "story time with Rainbow Dash". There's good and bad to that, but what really would have made this better for me would be showing Twilight failing at the spell before Rainbow Dash showed up. That way we get a little more Twilight at the beginning as well as a better idea of how hard this is for her, rather than just having Twilight say "I've been trying to get this spell right all day" and have that be the end of it.
845985
Truth be told, I didn't know exactly why she was depressed when I started writing. It could have been a failed spell, a miscommunication with Celestia making Twi think she had earned disapproval, denial of professorship at some magical university, etc.
The first words I had down on paper (actual paper, for the record), which sparked the entire story, were: "I didn't want to be special. I didn't ask to be so powerful, either," Twilight Sparkle said to nopony at all. "I certainly didn’t need to be immortalized in the stained glass windows of the Royal Palace."
Everything happened organically from there. I do feel that I could, and should, have expanded her opening monologue. I still have some house keeping to do on it, so we'll see. In my head it did start off as a Twilight solo story, but like I said above, Dash just kinda popped up out of nowhere. Planned stories are kind of a new thing that I need practice with still.
Thanks for the feedback!
846738
Ah, the world of unplanned stories. I used to do quite a bit of that myself, but I found that making a plan and then bucking with it is better than bucking with something I have little ideas on. Those stories didn't get far. For me, at least. Still, to make this story from those sentences is quite an accomplishment.
846746
All the flattery in the comment section is going to give me a swollen head.
I have two large projects up my sleeve. One I'm going to try happy-go-lucky style, and the other I'm going to attempt to outline. They're both pretty cool concepts (no spoilers, kids), I think. I'm hoping to have the opening chapters for each ready within a week or so.
I really enjoyed this story. Looking at the other comments, I have my own observation to make about pre-planned vs. organic/character driven.
Everything in moderation, everything in balance. It's fine to tip the scales a bit in favor of one over the other; organic is fine for shorter stories, pre-planned is a must for much longer ones. Many authors will embark on a long story without a plan and eventually hit a point where they either come up with a long-term plan organically (being mindful of the future, while focused on the present), desperately need a plan badly enough that they stop writing until they figure out where the story is going (one of several forms of Writer's Block), or lose interest in the story either because of their writer's block or because they realize it isn't going anywhere at all.
I know of several webcomic artists who started without a long-term plan in place, then developed one as they went along, with the quality of the story improving as they did so. Hell, that's even what happened with the Red vs. Blue machinima series. However, one thing they all did to keep up the quality was to not shoe-horn themselves into following the plan if they felt it no longer reflected their understanding and perception of their own characters, or the way events were unfolding. Any long-term plan in writing should be flexible and subject to revision as necessary. I know Dan Shive of El Goonish Shive has done this many times, where he has a long term plan that he makes some fairly significant changes to as things progress, such as the school uniform side-arc that he ended much sooner than planned simply because it was incidental, taking far too long to complete, and taking too much away from the primary story. Before that, there was the Evil Lord Tedd premise that pretty much got dropped altogether when he realized it wasn't something he wanted to pursue given what else had happened. It never really took off in the first place, sort of a long-term thing that was developing in the background, so it didn't need much in the way of closure in order to move away from it. It's a constantly evolving story with a moving target.
Pick a destination, plan the route you intend to take, then take detours whenever you come across a roadblock, or see things heading down a road you're not very keen on. At the end of it, be prepared for the destination to either not be what you were hoping for or not as advertised (it seemed like a good idea at the time…), or simply be closed by the time you arrive because of the delays you ran into along the way (it doesn't fit so well anymore with everything else that's happened); have someplace else in mind to go to as an alternative. The quickest and most direct route is seldom the most fun to drive, and it's the little surprises we find along the way that get us to change up our plans that really define the journey. And it is the journey, not the destination, that makes the story.
848340
1. Highest of Fives for RvB, even if I'm 5 seasons behind.
2. I'm quite glad you, and so many others of course, enjoyed my story.
Now, to the bulk of your message.
Balance is very important. It's why I'm writing at all, frankly. Well, I do enjoy it and it gives me an excuse to buy beer. I focused on Twilight's Wall first because it's a one shot and I needed the experience of simply telling a story after being out of the game for so long. I wanted to empty my brain into something and not worry much about a particular detail or turn of phrase coming back to bite me in the ass. Stretching the muscles, as it were. As I've said, my next two projects are long ones. One I know for a fact will have certain points I have to move toward because it ties directly into show events. I'm letting that slide in the organic-planning direction. The other is entirely out from my head canon, and it will be my practice for a more structured approach.
That said, your advice and examples in paragraph two is incredibly helpful. The thing I'm afraid of most is letting a story die. I don't want to do that to my readers, myself, or the characters. It really doesn't seem fair. Equestria's Twilight was shaping up to be all kinda of awesome, but the author hasn't been online in over 2 months. Real life comes first, of course, but as a fan who can't help but feel sad at the loss, and I'd hate to do that to someone else. I always thought great authors had steady plans and stuck to them. Knowing it's OK, and a little necessary, to be flexible is a big relief. Now that I think about it, Device said that Eternal started off as a love triangle between the princesses and Twilight. Funny how things can change!
The whole ending analogy is great, and makes me wish it wasn't 115 damn degrees outside so I could cruise on my motorcycle. I'll keep the journey interesting, even if the destination isn't what I had in mind. I got a little taste of that already.