Shetlander: The Afterword · 7:32pm Apr 27th, 2014
My very first blog post on this site was a grouse about how this... manuscript... needed a rewrite. Well, after about forty thousand not entirely well-chosen words - maybe I will. But I'm not starting today.
NaNoWriMo 2012 taught me that when it comes to the blazing fires of unquenchable creativity, I'm actually pretty quenchable. I had a vague idea, started in with the charge, burned out, and ended up in a place I had to struggle to get out of.
So, what would I change, if I was to write Shetlander 2.0?
Well, first off: Out with the Lovecolt. No Them under those stones, no degenerate pigs worshipping them. It's just that the Shetlands are a far-flung, wild country, with plenty of room for bandits. That, coupled with his self-confessed 'head full of horseapples', would give our Mucmarfóir his drive.
And that's the second thing: Rationalisation of Shetland names. Laird Roanald's personal name is closest to what I originally intended. Less incomprehensible Gaelic, more terrible horse puns.
Finally, since there's no external foe to justify slam-bang action scenes, Mucmarfóir's journey to redemption would be more about learning from Harmony Incarnate about the power of friendship - all six chapters, more than likely - with Winterberry getting more and more interested in this brown laddie who definitely wasn't part of her da's retinue.
In other words: If I was to rewrite it, I'd make it more purely Equestria. Which is what I should have done in the first place.
And I wouldn't upload chapters as they were done either. I'm doing that with my other fics, and it's constricting. Nope, it's time for me to treat any future fics like beer. Mix up the wort, add hops and yeast, then let that sucker ferment until it's mature.
