Plans and Projections · 12:56am May 27th, 2013
I just checked and the Upheaval series as a whole is now at at combined total of 418,330 words (198,911+219,419). With edits, hopefully I can slash around 50,000 or so words from the entirety of the fic, more as it continues to grow. That is if I don't end up adding as much as I am taking away. Fallout: Equestria (which people keep bringing up in discussions about the fic) has around 600k+ words. I really don't want to reach that length, but I might at this rate.
Reckoning, as I'm looking at it right now, will extend past my original limits for it. When I started writing chapter 1, I had expected it to be close to to Breaking Point's word and chapter count. It's not going to be the case. Reckoning's going to be much longer. Right now, I'm projecting it to reach around chapter 60.
Things will get a little spoilery at this point.
There will be a third Upheaval, which I'm currently planning to call Upheaval: Finale, but it will be focused entirely on Oceanus, which means Reckoning will conclude both Black Rose's and Gravitas's arcs. Once the trilogy is completed, that's when I plan on opening up the world into some kind of -verse, which seems to be a thing here on FiMFiction. I'll most likely be done with any major story writing at that point, likely I'll occupy my fanfic writing with smaller-scale, shorter stories. This is all assuming I even make it to that point.
Yes!, I knew it would be a trilogy, even if I've not read Reckoning yet.
Closing in on the lotr series of just over 550.000 words, i do hope you go well past even before the third part
It will be awesome to follow your continuation, but perhaps a more dramatic name than: Finale? How about End times, The fall or perhaps destiny? I do hope you dont mind me suggesting^^
Interesting, I've been wondering if we were going to get to three (or more) stories. Beating FoE does seem a bit likely with 13 or so more U:R chapters and a third story.
Well this is interesting, can't wait
Also: going by what you said about after this is all done. I sincerely hope you get into writing things other than fan fics eventually (though not necessarily right away. Because from what I've seen you have a really firm grasp on writing and pacing and all the things that make me really like a writer.
And if you were to ever write any works of fiction outside of MLP I would definitely purchase it because I love reading your work. Granted I'm not sure how I would know it was in fact you unless your real name is actually Visiden Visidane but I digress.
More to the point I trust your judgment and I'm glad you're keeping us in the loop.
Hmm, you're planning on slashing 50k words? I do see the purpose of streamlining it somewhat, though please don't change too much. In my opinion use as many words as you need to tell the story, us current readers will follow this series to the very end, no matter the length, I know I will. Please don't sacrifice quality for brevity.
There will be a third part and it'll focus on Oceanus? Awesome!
Though I definitely agree with Mithridate, it could use a slightly more dramatic name
So the Upheaval series will be your fanfic magnum opus? I'm alright with this, though I was hoping for more epics from you, oh well. Though if you ever do go into writing original fiction and it does get published, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. You could definitely craft a world the size and depth of Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire, you've proven it already with Upheaval
I'd be careful about what you cut out. Upheaval is a long series, sure, but that's just because there's so many chapters and perspectives. The chapters themselves really aren't all that long, especially compared with the usual stuff I read, so I'm thinking that making them even shorter by cutting that much might not be to its benefit.
Also, on the more nitpicky side of things, Finale is really not all that good of a name. General rule of sequel naming in fiction is that if you do the subtitles thing, the subtitle should be something that can stand on its own and be memorable enough so that people can name it without having to refer to the overarching title.
Skyrim, The Wrath of Khan, Judgement Day, Sons of Liberty, Vice City, On Stranger Tides, Goblet of Fire, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are just a few examples of good subtitling, because you probably don't need me to tell you the rest of their titles to know what movie, game or book series each are from, or even what number they are. Breaking Point is an example of this kind of subtitling too.
On the other hand, examples of bad subtitling include Reloaded, Resurrection, Revelations, or a lot of other R subtitles. When I say Revelations, which one do you think I'm talking about? It could be that I'm talking about Assassin's Creed, but I could also just as easily be referring to the Resident Evil game, or hell, even Revelations from the Bible. What about when I say "Resurrection"? Am I talking about Alien: Resurrection? Halloween: Resurrection? Do you see the problem here?
And this is the category I put Finale in. Because there are lots of Finales, even if most are chapter names, not story names. IMO, I think you should go with something more unique for the title of the final instalment. (Sorry to go off on a long tangent like that, BTW. I just thought that if I'm going to complain about something so inconsequential, I should at least explain my reasoning.)
yes you do!
I'd suggest calling the third part Upheaval: Paradigm Shift or something along those lines, since everypony's beliefs are guaranteed to change in response to learning of Oceanus.
Also, don't feel like you need to cut stuff out, since there really isn't any unnecessary filler.
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Paradigm Shift reminds me too much of FFXIII. I hate FFXIII.
1128847 How does it remind you of that?
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Paradigm Shift is that thing you do in Final Fantasy 13 where you get your party members to change the roles they're playing. It's a very important aspect of the game's combat system.
1131987 Huh. Well, the simple definition of a Paradigm Shift is the altering of one's beliefs in response to new information that debunks them. It would fit well with the theme of Oceanus being revealed to all ponies as their "deep father".
In 2012 I set out to write one story in a year and it took me 13 months. Then I set out to write 1 sequel in another year and it's turned into a 10 season series with each season having several episodes made up of several chapters, and then a mound of side story prequels that together are bigger than the main story. Estimated at least 500 chapters with 160+ important characters, most of which has never been posted. I feel your pain. I think I need help.