About Pages of Harmony: one long story or one story per arc? · 12:52am Dec 1st, 2013
Also... I've been debating a bit with myself... should I have the next story arc be its own separate story, making this a series? Or should I keep it all one fanfic?
This is how I'm weighing my options:
Potential reasons to split it up:
1. It will give it kind of a fresh new start
2. It won't seem as long to read/
3. It may have more of a chance of getting featured and the like, whereas the dislike ratio in this one would probably prevent that for another hundred likes or so.
4. More people might feel like they could do readings.
5. One story arc is over.
Potential reasons to keep it as one fic:
1. It would spoil the whole Empress Twilight thing to split it
2. There would be a bit of a continuity lock-out so future readers would pretty much have to read the first to fully know what's going on.
3. Considering a sequel for the sake of more likes seems vain.
4. A bunch of people have been following this expecting updates.
5. To have it as a sequel might seem a bit disjointed.
6. There are plenty of long fics like Fallout: Equestria.
I was leaning towards just keeping it as one long fic, but then I thought it might be better to break it up, then I didn't want it to feel disjointed so I considered having a transition chapter and then starting the next arc as a separate fic and... yeah...
Yes
... I just sorta skimmed through 
...eh, I'm tired 
Honestly. I like the idea of one long fic. With end arcs listed on the chapter like you did with Extraction. But I can see where the split would come from. It would be nice to have it in bite size bits. But as you mentioned that'd lockout new readers. All in all. Keep it in one fic is my personal opinion.
Also. Happy Belated Thanksgiving.
I prefer a split, seems more convenient. Just put the link in in it's own chapter
1558842 Uh... saying "Yes" doesn't really clarify what the "Yes" is referring to...
1558865 You do have a point... I had been considering having this fic end by adding a separate, epilogue-type chapter, but it might feel tacked-on and I don't want the fic to necessarily end like that... ugh, now I'm even more unsure!
1559316 I don't think it's allowed to just post a link in a separate chapter, so I'd have to put an epilogue in which now that I think about it may seem a bit tacked-on...
1559760
I've seen a lot of stories that say "Sequel" for a chapter. And have a link to the sequel. Personally it's a nice little move. Lets your followers know that there's another fic up that's part of the series. But I'm sorry I wasn't much help.
Personally, I lean towards making it one long fic, and this makes sense for two main reasons.
You don't have to write a summary/exposition chapter that would feel tacked on, and you would still keep all the people who were originally following it up to date. You have 73 people who have favorited the story, but aren't following you.
Think about this, if you were a new reader, and you saw a sequel with some promise, but the original story was pretty long, what would you do? Most people wouldn't have that much faith in the sequel to read the original, and you would either have people that go in completely uninformed, or people that abandon the fic for something more promising. The third option at your disposal is, write a prologue, which all of your older readers would find unnecessary.
Rant aside, I definitely think that you should not split this story.
Whatever you decide to do though, for the love of god, don't stop writing it.
One long seems fine to me
When we were last talking in the comments you seemed to have decided...
Oh well. I've already given my thoughts on the matter, and they haven't changed at all. I'll just keep working on the art until you decide.
Thought I'd give my feedback.
Ask yourself if you can give a fresh start while not locking-out future readers, and I think the answer for someone with your talent is yes. At this point, your original premise (murder and extraction of the elements) is over, and a new premise (Empress Twilight vs the Universe) has begun.
As a new reader, what would they really need to know for continuity?
-- Twilight tortured the mane six to 'extract' their elements, then killed them.
-- Twilight fused with the Elements, becoming a powerful, twisted being
-- Mane Six are trapped in limbo. Spike & Sweetie are dead.
-- Ponyville brainwashed
All this can be revealed in the point of view of any un-blessed pony, trying to 'adapt' or 'escape' the new world order. So I don't think the hurdle is as high as you might think. The question then becomes:
Length is never really a factor. if you look at ShortSkirts&Explosions, he seems to hover in the 300-450 thousand word range. So you can write long and still succeed. And yes, some people will see that word count and go "eh, I don't have *that* much time."
But we can't control what people think of the length of our stories. What you can control is it feeling disjointed. So think about what PoH was about, and what the sequel would be about.
Pages of Harmony is, in essence, a torture fic. There is a plot and a reason, but it is written for people who enjoy the pain and suffering of our favorite ponies. The futile struggle as each one succumbs to the insane Twilight. This is important as it relates to your likes/dislikes. Not everyone wants to read gorey stories.
So consider this: If the theme switches from "elaborate torture" to a "dark adventure" as Twilight conquers Equestria, will it still have lots of torture? if the Empress Twilight arc has little to no torture, then people who read PoH for the torture may feel dissappointed. However, as a sequel, the torture-free Empress Twilight arc would attract a larger audience.
Doing it as one story would allow you to have one epic novel. The large shift from torturing the mane six, to a diety conquering Equestria might be big enough to create a disjointed story. You could also plan for a trilogy. The difference being the key points where the story arc, themes, and plot change. You can split the story up at these key points to make shorter stories and address the next issue:
I don't say this to people often, but given your level of writing you deserve well beyond 200 followers. You put a lot of time and effort into a single story, which already had it's ten minutes on the front page. The fact you're this dedicated to a story that only a few hundred people favorited is admirable.
So there are plenty of people who write to get featured and be popular. You are not one of those people. I would argue you deserve more recognition for your work, and for taking the time to write a chapter to a high level of quality.
Consider the other options on your list, but ignore this one. If it is in the stories best interest to split it into sequels, then split it. The likes/fav's is a side effect of you doing what is best for the story.
My opinion would be that a sequel will increase the view count of the original (as people who see the "sequel to PoH" in the description will likely read it anyway.) If you leave out details on the torture, there isn't that much to 'bring readers up to speed'. All the reader needs to know can come from the viewpoint of Diamond Tiara, or another one of those "not blessed" as they struggle to live in a brainwashed-Ponyville..
The new arc would appeal to people who don't read torture fics, increasing your target audience, and likely netting both the original and sequel increased viewership. If there was ever a place to split it into two stories, you're at it now while between arcs. You can write the first chapter of a sequel, and then post a small chapter in Pages of Harmony as an epilogue, something like "Celestia finds out." Then, in the Author's Note, link to the Sequel. People following the original will be "updated" and see the sequel.
By releasing an epilogue, you can link to the sequel without violating the "no sequel update chapters" rule. As long as the chapter has some story signifigance, of any length, you can link to the sequel.
It may seem vain, but you wouldn't be doing it 'for views' as it is a logical place to start a sequel. And if anyone deserves some vanity, I think it is you for laboring this long on a single story. If you have any questions let me know.
1559910 I could do that, especially because of the new feature that allows for a blog post that is sent to story followers when a story is linked.
Ah well, I'll reach a decision eventually.
1560109 You do make pretty good points... dang it, this is a tough decision...
1560627 Thanks for the input.
1560629 I did think I decided, but then I started having second thoughts.
1564525 Both you and I HV NO FEAR make very good points, but considering how you've really brought up both sides of the argument, tI feel like you really helped in that dilemna... I do have a possible question though: the dilemna. As for questions though, I do have a little point/question I was thinking of:
I know that there's now a site feature that allows for blog posts for story followers concerning linking a story, as well as the Prequel ID thing, both of which I am quite happy about.
So as far as the transition goes, do you think I should have an epilogue at the end of Pages of Harmony, and post a chapter of the sequel at the same time and link to it? And as for that chapter, should it perhaps be a bit of a lead-in prologue kind of thing? 
)
(Also, about the "not brainwashed" thing, technically all of them were influenced in some form into believing Twilight is the Empress, but only a group were ones she deemed "worthy". While some may have small inklings of what life was like before, like a faint memory, everypony for the most part thinks that Twilight has been like that for a while
1567181
Glad you found the feedback from everyone helpful.
I still think an epilogue would be a nice setup and link to the sequel. I would vote that the epilogue isn't just "the next 1k words of the story" but something like a side-note or interesting fact.
For instance, the mane six commenting about how they're trapped, or Celestia finally getting word "something is wrong". I usually end a story, and then the epilogue is like a bonus look into another part of the story the reader wouldn't have seen. It can also foreshadow the theme or plot of the sequel. That way it adds more value and is more fun to read then, for example, having Twilight continue her monologue from the last chapter.
1568062 That seems like it could work... though there is also the matter of the prologue chapter for the sequel..
And speaking of that, say, I was wondering... maybe before I post the epilogue... would you like t take a look at it?
(not now, but when I finish it, I'm still deciding which character's perspective it should follow
)
1570354
Rainbow, this Kaidan guy is a genius! I can't wait for the new arc, and I'm so excited to see you progress!
1570354
Yeah I'd be glad to give my feedback on it for you.