I Entered That Equestria Daily Contest · 2:53am Aug 16th, 2014
Hi guys. I probably should've done this earlier, but I'm lazy, so there you go.
Anyhow, I entered that one contest Equestria Daily is running: Outside Insight, where the prompt was to write about ponies from a non-pony's perspective.
I spent a little time hashing some ideas out when I first heard about the contest. Because obviously I wanted to enter, having just run a contest of my own... I was sadly unable to win that one, by virtue of running it.
Anyhow, before I go any further on this, here's the entry I wrote for the contest. I'm sure some of you--maybe a lot of you--have seen it by now, but just in case you haven't, I present to you Changeling: The Movie. Feel free to read it and give thoughts, if it so please you and you haven't already. Always open to feedback!
Chrysalis, queen of all the changeling hives and infinitely cunning architect of their plans to conquer Equestria, has a problem: She knows diddly-squat about ponies. But Chrysalis is cleverer than most—or all—changelings, and she's already devised a brilliant solution to this trifling issue: Make a movie about them.
For my entry, I went with changelings--because I like changelings, and I think it's pretty fun to explore deeper into how exactly they view the world and what they're really about. That they're very similar structurally to ponies, but obviously completely different in a lot of other ways, makes them a pretty natural fit for comparing'n'contrasting too. You do sort of have to wonder what a pony-sized sapient bug would think about all the weird stuff their prey gets up to.
I also went with Comedy here, because while I think it's easy to explore changelings in deep, dramatic, and "meaningful" ways, I've got to admit that I've already sort of done that with them before, and I wanted to push out in a new direction--let's shake things up a little, yo! All or nothing. SHOOT THE MOON.
I've been told Comedy's a little bit of a dicey shot in the contest setting, which I can sort of imagine because stuff that's more philosophical or dramatically impactful might be a bit more likely to make a "WOW THAT'S GOOD" impression on a given judge... but we'll see, I guess. Worse comes to worst, I stepped a bit out of the comfort zone and hopefully grew a bit as an author for it. Can't ask for a lot more than that, really...
Although doing well in the contest would be pretty nice too, if life's offering.
Anyhow, I'm really excited to see what other folks did with the prompt, and maybe quaking in my boots a little about having to compete with them. There're plenty of good-looking stories roaming about the entry list, and I'm sure we'll get more than a few surprises before things are all said and done. Good luck to all my fellow competitors!
This one's gonna be a slobberknocker.
I wish you the best of luck.
(Lies)
Meh, I've already got an 85,000-and-counting-word story about integrating changeling into Equestrian society. Good luck!
I think the reason comedy is hard is that you're tying yourself to a particular genre or series and trying to deconstruct it while still creating a story of your own. Usually it accomplishes the former; far more rarely the latter. Also, being funny is harder than it looks. Funny on repeated readings? Probably the hardest problem in fiction.
But hey, best of luck.
Good luck, Obs!
2373883 Now now, Bob. We're all friends here. Even if this may end with us all trying to choke the life out of each other for the top spot...
2373883
<3
2373896
Thanks, yo! And yeah, Comedy's hard. But I gave my best shot at it, and would like to think I did pretty well. Or I hope I did. If you ever feel like giving it a read and giving your thoughts on it--not that you have to, of course--I'd be super grateful.
Also, cool meeting you in Baltimore, man! Fistbomps.
Funny thing, I believe the winner of your contest would have a great chance at winning EQD's contest. Quite a bit of a coincidence that story fits the EQD prompt like a glove
Well, best of luck. I didn't read your story yet because I was working on my own, which was finished just a few minutes ago
Obselescence victory or riot!
images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/6400000/RIOT-paramore-6412664-1280-800.jpg
Good luck, friend :)
Sure... lazy.
(I'm onto you, Obsie)
(also, g'luck, dude)