Excuse my rambling here, please. Regarding Twilight DONE! epilogue and the future of the missive-driven stories · 3:22pm Dec 11th, 2013
This is one of those blog posts that I absolutely love and yet nobody (well okay maybe some people) writes. I would definitely kill for an author I really like to write something like what I'm going to do here, and yet I have never seen something like this, which saddens me a lot. And what am I going to do? Talk about the writing process of Twilight DONE!. How I thought of it, how I wrote it and a couple silly anecdotes about the whole process. Yes, it's exactly as stupid as it sounds, but for some reason I've always wanted to know how my favorite authors do that thing.
Which makes my own writing even more jarring, yes. I don't want a blog about me, thank you very much. I would prefer a better author. There are some really talented people on this site, and for me to write this... Well. Nobody really gives a damn about my writing process. But right now I have a couple things to say, and I realized that replying to every single comment in my last blog was going to be a pain in the ass, so I decided to just say "hey, screw it," and now we're here. Second blog in two days. Following me must be a pain in the ass.
Sorry.
Anyway, if you want to go to the core of the insufferable rambling that I'm about to get into, just look at the end of the blog. Everything should be bolded. Okay? Okay. Now, for the three or maybe four readers who are still with me: this is going to be a long one. I want to talk, as you can guess by the title, about Twilight DONE! and its epilogue.
First things first: I do have an idea for an epilogue, and I genuinely believe it's funny. And with that I mean that when I thought about it I laughed, and when I told it to two fanfic authors whose opinion I care about they laughed too. And I laughed again. I think it's a good idea, and I can write it in twenty minutes, give it a quick editing and then posting it.
Yet, I'm not going to do that.
Why, you ask? Well, I have more than one reason. Let's start from the beginning:
Daring DONE! wasn't planned, at all. With that I mean that I had a silly idea, I wrote it and then it turned out to be what is definitely going to be my most popular story ever. Some love it, some hate it and it just hit 2000 likes, which is just mindblowing. Also I really like its title.
Twilight DONE! on the other hand? That's a completely different story.
After Daring DONE!'s success (from now on I'm going to call that story DD, because it's easier for me to write this with that in mind) the first thing I thought was: no way I'm going to write a sequel. It would be a desperate cry for attention on my part.
Then I imagined Twilight being trapped in Canterlot, sending letters to her friends to ask for help and her friends screwing everything up while trying to help. It was an idea that never made it to the final product, but I'm not giving any detail here because, hey, I may end up using it in another story later. The core however, was there, and I had an epiphany: I could write a sequel to DD... but only if I had a good idea. I thought I already had it and I said I was going to write it. And the idea changed and eventually the image of Twilight sending a letter to her friends which said that she was grounded while dessing as a princess crossed my mind.
And that's when the Twilight DONE! (TD from now on) you know appeared. I thought that idea had some potential, and then another picture, this time about Shining Armor dancing while wearing a purple wig and everypony being unable to tell him apart from Twilight (and wondering just when did she learn to dance like that), appeared. The latter evolved to turn into Night Light dancing, but the rest more or less was already written.
So I said I was going to write it, and I tried. And believe me, it was a surprise just how hard it was. You need to understand that DD was written in an hour or so: I had an idea, I wrote it, I uploaded to the site and forgot about it. I only submitted it when I got a proofreader for another story of mine, and I said "hey, now that you're at this, do you mind taking a peek at this?"
I thought TD was going to be more of the same, and it wasn't. I had so many things to tell and I didn't know how to start the thing. I spent a whole day just writing first letter of the story after first letter, nonstop. And I scrapped them all.
Why? Because, even though I have said things about the three ideas that started the fic, I haven't said a word about the bazillion ideas that followed. You know how sometimes you struggle to get just one single good idea? That has happened to me countless times. Here? I had so many. Flash Sentry, Prince Blueblood, Luna building a solid gold statue of Daring Do in the center of Canterlot, Velvet reading Dash's fanfic and being so impressed she wanted to write a collaboration with her... There were too many, and the story made no sense.
Seriously. Try to fit so many stupid ideas in just one fic. It's impossible.
So I finally gave up and thought about what do I know about comedy.
You see, comedy is about a lot of things. I'm no expert. But one of the things that matters is pacing, and the other one is a theme. DD, by pure of sheer luck or maybe my *gasp* writing, had both. It starts strongly, with Dash's letter being both descriptive and somewhat a joke (and the first line, "Miss Twilight's Mom" is actually a joke, although I doubt anybody ever laughed to that), and the story starts developing a "credible" situation until it gets out of hand. It starts stupid, keeps being stupid and by the end everything has gone downhill. And the theme? Ponies love Velvet's works, but she likes her privacy. She gets easily annoyed.
That's it. That was all. And it worked because it was so simple. (It's not perfect, of course. IT HAS A LOT OF CAPS, FOR STARTERS, AND THAT CAN GET ANNOYING. PLUS IT'S TOO SILLY TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY). But TD? I had no theme, no plot whatsoever. Just a lot of stupid situations that weren't that funny after all. Luna and a gold statue? Really? That's a joke worthy of Two and Half Men. Well, it would be if I added some innuendo somewhere and those annoying laughs.
So I scrapped everything and thought: Aragón, you need a stupid main theme. Choose one and write about it.
Yeah, I took the "Twilight is grounded" storyline, and I did it because A) it was the best one and B) it had been the first one, and the only one who really felt like a story, not just a prompt or a joke for a one-panel comic. And then I chose a final gag, which was the whole "dancing with a wig so the power of Funk solves everything."
What followed was a far more easy thing to write. The jokes came naturally. The M6 being mistaken by terrorists. Twilight proofreading too much and forgetting about the sewers. And of course, the riot, which takes the whole third act of the story on its own. And the best part? It was fun to write.
But it forced me to actually think. To actually stop and think what would make a better story. TD is far from perfect. I'm nobody to say it's "good" either so I'll try not to judge my own story here. But I know I'm unhappy with some parts.
To name: Night Light is a lovable character that I absolutely adore, but he's a Mary Sue. He started being a nice guy in DD and I flanderized it until he became the final version you all read about. He even took the spotlight out of TD, and as I said, that was a job meant for Shining Armor (but he had to rule the Crystal Empire and I realized that it made absolutely zero sense for Night Light to ask him to come to Canterlot as soon as possible so he could dance, which was the ending I first thought about). I had to give him the spotlight, and even though I actually laughed at his conversation with Twilight. And it's the most popular character of the story... but I still feel I'm doing something wrong with him. I don't want him to steal the whole show.
Also, I had to use a lot of absurd comedy. Yes, that was kind of my whole goal, but DD has been said to feel like an actual episode and TD is far more fanfic-esque.
And finally, the title. Good Heavens, that title is horrible and there's no way I can think of another clever pun like "Daring Done." And I refuse to aknowledge the title of the chapter exists.
Leaving that aside, I like the story. I had to stop and think about how little I know about comedy theory, and then I felt satisfied when I finished it. It was funny to write, and it never ceased to be funny.
Then why the heck won't I write an epilogue?
Because I never wanted to in the first place. I believe the last gag of a story should be the best one, to give the reader a good laugh before he closes the page. This epilogue would have a very good final gag too...
...But it would kind of, well, close everything up. "Too much," a friend told me when I explained it to him. It would be too much of a final gag.
What does that mean? That mostly means that it would mean the absolute ending of the DONE! saga, and I'm not sure if I want that. I'm not thinking on writing another installment yet, but maybe I'll do some day. Possibly after finishing that stupid update of that other story of mine. I have ideas for it: some are good, some are bad. A couple of them made me chuckle, one made me laugh out loud in the middle of the street.
And that's the thing, really: writing this kind of story is fun. Very fun. I don't know if a hypotethical third story would be succesful. I doubt it. But I'm sure it will be fun, because otherwise I won't bother writing it.
Oh, hey. If you skipped everything, you should at least read this part.
So that's it, really. I'm not writing an epilogue because it would mean that the DONE! saga is closed forever. Also, it would destroy the comedic timing that what is already posted created. The only reason why I thought about writing an epilogue was because every proofreader but one wanted me to write it. But TD is finished, and today I realized I don't want to write an epilogue. I feel like I finished that story and I don't want to mess with it.
Then how did the princesses react when they finally saw what happened to Canterlot? Well, you can guess. That would be fun. Or you can wait for a hypothetical third installment which will explain everything.
Because, really. Twilight just destroyed Canterlot. Think about the comedic possibilities. I could do so much with this. Or I could write about something completely different. A Soarin DONE! that deals with the Wonderbolts. A Cadance DONE! that explores that particular week Shining Armor went to the glaciers in the Crystal Empire and accidentaly awakened Sombra. There's a lot to do, although I'll probably write only one more installment before oficially closing the universe those stories created and never writing anything else (or spamming a lot of stories about it and be forever known as "that guy who once wrote a good story and it really got up his head." I'm not saying that's a bad thing. In fact, I partially want to do that, truth be told.) But Twilight DONE! will have no additions, unless I feel the urge to give it an epilogue much later, when the third installment comes out. That could be fun.
But, in the end, I don't feel like I'm done with DONE!
If you write more DONE! stories, I won't care that TD don't get an epilog, I will still be all
, and whit that possebilety in mind, you gane a stalker!
That pun at the end would normally get you The Fist. Only problem, you're kinda out of reach to get The Fist. Tragic.
But yeah, if you don't feel like doing something, don't do it. T'was a very entertaining ride until here, and I'm eager to see what you can pull off in the future.
A story about Spanish stereotypes. That would be interesting. "Equiñol".
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This whole blog was partially an excuse to use that pun, really.
I read it all! YAY. I like the idea of Candace done.
My terrible ideas for that as rambling is fun;
Twilight runs/flys away to the crystal empire gets drunk and meets flash sentry again, her mum finds out and goes up there furious, sending letters on the way.
Celestia tries to sort out the damage from the riot and twilight, but Luna steals all the bits from the treasury for the daring do + Sugar song forever statue and tries to get Candace in on her Daring Do + Sugar song forever music festival by letter and won't take no for an answer.
Sombra starts sending letters to Night light after kidnapping shinning Armour and they get on surprisingly well.
Dat rant...
Well, I respect your opinion so no complaints from me.
If I may ask a thing, what was your inspiration for this whole universe in the first place? I've never heard about Twilight's mom being the Daring Do author before I saw your stories.
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Issure #11 of the comics, plus the blindbag toys (they say Velvet is a writer).
DONE DONE DONE! Or is it DUN DUN DUN!
I have an idea! Write an installment of the DONE! series for EVERY character!
That sounds like a challenge. I'm not saying I'll be taking it up, but someone can.
Regarding the epilogue, it doesn't have to be an anding to the story. It could also serve as lead on to a sequel. I thought I would say that. You can write whatever you like. I haven't read Twilight D! yet but Daring D! was a joy to read.
In Soviet Russia, you don't finish Done! until Done! is done with you.
I think I'm done here.
--Sollace
Those last few story ideas you had at the end sound pretty good, but I would imagine they would be side stories/spin offs rather than true sequels.
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I was very close to making TD a side story too instead of a direct sequel, actually, but I ended up creating that. I might create an actual trilogy and then a side story now and then. That could be cool. I really like Cadance DONE!
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CD sounds really good. There's not enough good fics of her.
Read the whole thing, and I agree with you on practically everything.
), is actually going to be just that— an explanation of everything that went into it since it's inspired by real events. That won't be out for a good long while though, as I still have a lot of story to write before getting to the end...
so far (myself included— laughed the whole way with both), and preventing yourself from being able to expand would kinda suck. I accidentally did that with my first fic (no SSP this time).
Not enough authors write about their processes. I'm proud to say that the last "chapter" of my current story, Through Crimson Eyes (I apologize for the shameless self-promotion
Leaving your DONE! series open for future extensions is a great idea. Obviously readers enjoy what you've done
Though you claim you may not know a lot about comedy theory, you certainly have the basics of general writing down pat. Kudos to you for recognizing that you need them. Not every author does.
Before I go on a rant of my own, I'll stop here. Long story short, awesome job, and I hope to see more from you in the future.
Have a happy holiday!
*facedesk* ohh my head, why did I try and read the whole thing
and the first line, "Miss Twilight's Mom" is actually a joke, although I doubt anybody ever laughed to that
I laughed....
Very cool to see and hear about your process and I'm with the other commenter.s More would be fun but if you don't want to write more in this universe, nobody's gonna hold a gun to your head.
I'd be awesome if you write a mess of DONE! stories, and interweave and connect their plots as one overarching comedic series. I can just imagine how amazing that would be.