Interview: Sunset of Time · 3:13pm Jun 19th, 2013

From the moment I saw Sunset of Time in the pre-readers’ queue, I wanted to post it. Three rounds of revision later, I was finally able to. In this interview, The Albinocorn and I talk about what makes a great time travel story and what it’s like to go through three rounds of revision with an EqD pre-reader.

Amacita: What inspired you to write Sunset of Time?

Albinocorn: When I first saw the description for Sunset Shimmer’s toy saying she was Celestia's former student. For one thing, her color scheme was really adorable. So I started looking for more artwork of her, and I stumbled upon a little comic strip where she was Twilight's student instead. I ran with it.

Amacita: Is there any theme you’re trying to explore with this story?

Albinocorn: Self-discovery, the magic of friendship (of course), and how everyone has choices; those choices may have consequences, good or bad, but in the end only we can make them.

Amacita: Were you attracted to time travel stories before Sunset of Time? In other words, just how genre-aware are you, and do you think you've read anything I might find interesting? Personally, I love time travel stories, so when I saw your story in the pre-readers’ queue, I was really excited.

Albinocorn: My Choices: Twisted Tales Through Time by koolerkid is a very good time travel story. Genre-wise, there isn't going to be as much time travel as I might have hinted at. Though time will play an important role.

Amacita: Okay. As for me, my first exposure to MLP wasn’t the show; it was Capn Chryssalid’s The Best Night Ever. More recently, I read Ponydora Prancypants’ “Que Sera, Sera,” which for me, set the record for the most a short story has made me cry. Before that, I came from the Harry Potter fandom, where two of my favourite fics also had to do with time travel: Harry Potter and the Wastelands of Time and Backward with Purpose.

Amacita: My favourite time travel stories aren't so much about the idea of time travel as they are about the people doing the time travel. In The Best Night Ever, it’s about Blueblood becoming a better person. “Que Sera, Sera” and Backward with Purpose were about love and self-sacrifice. Wastelands was an awesome action adventure, but it was also about how time changes people.

Amacita: In my experience, too much cleverness with time travel just gets confusing.

Albinocorn: In my original notes, very original, I had Sunset bouncing around through various points in time, but it got very confusing very fast.

Amacita: That's the value of revision.

Amacita: In Backward with Purpose, I think the author finished writing it, then went through it with her editor and revised the hell out of it. She also weaved in enough cleverness with time travel that it took an entire companion novel to explain all the things that were going on in the background. Both it and the companion novel were very powerful and very well executed. But yeah, it's incredibly hard to do.

Amacita: As for Twisted Tales Through Time, I liked it. I hope the author will finish it.

Albinocorn: Same here. But life has other plans sometimes.

Amacita: Indeed. That's one of the downsides of fanfiction; so many great stories are never completed. Whereas if you pick something up in a bookstore, you get the whole story.

Albinocorn: And there's less cliffhangers.

Amacita: Speaking of revision, you went through three rounds of feedback with Equestria Daily. The first rejection was purely for grammar. The second was for story issues, namely Sunset Shimmer seeming incompetent and weak, though I also gave the whole thing a thorough proofreading. The third round was just some quick feedback before posting, mostly some minor blocking issues and a few things I missed the first two times. You were only awarded a strike for the first rejection.

Amacita: What was it like for you?

Albinocorn: The first time was almost expected. I had one editor, and he's a very good editor but still, that's only two pairs of eyes to catch any of my mistakes. And that's all I was thinking about when I first took on an editor, just someone to fix my grammar.

Albinocorn: The second time was a little frustrating... okay, it was very frustrating. I had two editors then, and I was almost positive it would get taken in. Instead I got ten pages of notes and suggestions. I'll be honest, at first it felt like a slap in the face and someone saying 'this is everything that is wrong with your story.' But after I cooled off I went through it and realized that these suggestions were given not because my story was bad, but because it had the potential to be better. Although some of the revisions were harder than others, I think the story is miles ahead of where it used to be, and I took in some helpful writing tips.

Albinocorn: So thank you, Amacita.

Amacita: You're welcome :-) My favourite part of this job is helping stories reach their full potential. I'm really happy that you came to see feedback more the way we do, or at least the way I do.

Amacita: Honestly, I felt bad after giving you your first rejection, especially since it was both a rejection with a strike and an "I didn't finish reading this, but here's some grammar issues" rejection. I mean, yuck! That's the worst kind of rejection to give.

Amacita: And I knew that your story had a ton of potential.

Amacita: And I knew that I really hadn't made that clear in my letter, so I felt like a jerk after doing that.

Amacita: Sorry, I guess :|

Albinocorn: Eh, I was more of just disappointed in myself. The entire time I was thinking, 'dammit, if I had just found these errors, I would have gotten in!'

Amacita: I was really happy when it came back for round two, because then I knew I could make up for my glib first review by giving it a very thorough second review... and I'm glad you didn't take that the wrong way :-)

Amacita: When I give detailed feedback, it means I think your story is worth the time to go through and make better. I trust you as the author to take all my criticism and use it to make a stronger story. And you did a fantastic job.

Albinocorn: Again, I had to cool off for a day, but when I re-read it I realized a vast majority of your criticisms were warranted. Especially the details about Sunset herself. That was also the hardest part to read and to revise.

Amacita: I was going to ask you about that. I mean, I only noticed that she was acting consistently weak because it was my second time reading through it, and I had just read "Sol Stein on Writing," in which a professional editor talks about what makes a great character, and he mentioned how he likes to juxtapose moments of strength with moments of weakness to add depth to a character.

Amacita: After you revised it the second time, I was able to go through Sunset Shimmer’s scenes and literally count up every moment of strength, cleverness, and awesomeness. There were quite a lot. So by the time I got to the parts where she's awkward or a bad liar, those moments of weakness only made her more loveable.

Albinocorn: Glad you enjoyed it.

Amacita: Have you written in other capacities (other fandoms, professionally, etc)? When did you first start writing?

Albinocorn: Actually, this is the first fandom I have ever joined. I love Harry Potter myself, but I never bothered to go look for fanfiction of it. And even now, I can't think of a decent story that could fit in that world. I started writing years ago, but it was literally just a couple of paragraphs of things that I never finished. I didn't start fully writing and fleshing out my ideas until last year when I started working on some of my other stories on FimFiction. Now I actually want to be a professional writer.

Amacita: Cool. If you ever have any original fiction you'd like feedback on, I'd be happy to take a look.

Albinocorn: That be great! I'll keep that in mind when I start on my original stuff, but that might not be for a while.

Amacita: Do you have any tips for aspiring writers, or writers who are struggling with their own stories?

Albinocorn: First, if you are going to write, only write one or two stories at a time. I'm trying to juggle four stories at once, and it is not fun.

Albinocorn: Second, be open to all criticism, it may sound harsh at first, but it'll be helpful in the long run.

Albinocorn: And nothing is really original anymore, but always try to throw a twist in your story that will make it memorable.

Albinocorn: And I think I have to go.

Amacita: Okay. Well, thanks for taking the time to do an interview with me.

Albinocorn: Of course, it was fun! And the least I could do for your help.

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