To all Button's Mum readers - Concerning Chapter 7 · 10:01am Aug 17th, 2014
If you're not following or haven't read up to chapter 7 of my fic The Epic Quest To Mount Button's Mum then this blog doesn't concern you at all, and it's for the best if you leave right now. If you are following my fic and you're thinking, "What? But there isn't a chapter 7!" then you should leave too, because that way you can still save yourself from having details spoiled from the chapter I deleted. That should leave only the readers who happened to have read chapter 7 while it was still up. Okay? Okay...
Oh, and for everyone's information, I honestly didn't know deleting the chapter would delete all the comments. It was not my attempt to delete all negative comments and make myself look good. In fact, I wanted the comments here so I could directly quote them. But whatever... Time to face some of the criticism head-on.
'Half-assed' is perhaps the most applicable here, because it's absolutely true. Even while working on the chapter I wasn't particularly happy with it, but instead of spending more time thinking about better things I could do, I just bashed it out over the course of a few evenings and published it. I even had a conversation with a brony friend (who is probably still reading this despite what I put in the first paragraph, because he stalks me. :P ) about this, and instead of taking his advice, I basically said "Whatever, they won't care." Not only was I wrong, but I was stupid to even think like that. And what kind of writer does that make me? A lazy one, that's for sure. While I'll freely admit that this story has never been top of my list and I've never paid it as much mind as some of my other ongoing fics, I still at least tried to make it a good story that people would enjoy. Until Chapter 7, that is...
The biggest problem was the pacing. I literally shot through ten years in under two thousand words. Now, I will point out that the jump to the future and Button's Dad's death were planned a long time ago, and there would still be several chapters to come after those events. Heck, even the bit about Rarity being killed by getting thrust out of the window I came up with months ago, and couldn't wait to write into the fic. I wasn't making everything up on a whim and I didn't write myself into a corner and wonder what the hell I was going to do next; I planned for this. Which... makes it a whole lot worse when you think about it.
So now that I've scrapped that chapter, I'm going to take some time to brainstorm some better ideas. My overall plan for the fic will remain largely the same, but the whole 'Featherweight and co. growing up' is getting a massive overhaul. One chapter is nowhere near enough. And as difficult as it's going to be, I'm going to try as hard as I can to avoid particularly dark humour. I should be saving that for Jam-verse. So Rarity (worst pony) will live. Maybe.
I guess the most important thing I should say here is thank you. I need readers kicking me into touch when I screw up, and "It's only a silly story about ponies," isn't an excuse. I should strive to uphold a certain standard. I'm lucky to have so many readers in the first place, and your support means a lot to me. So I should return the favour. The downside here is that you probably won't be getting another chapter for a long while. I don't want to rush things like I did last time. So pretend that chapter 7 never happened, and I'll see what I can do.
Your thankful fic writer,
Ficta Scriptor
...tee hee...
Just hang in there and take it at pace. The readers will hang around. Hell, I haven't posted a story in almost a year and there are still awesomely cool people that still pay attention to what I am doing, lol. At least you recognized that a mistake was made and are taking the time to remedy it. we both know for a fact that there are people in this fandom who's egos would never allow them to do such a thing. Hit me up at some point, peace out.
Oi.
I love you.
Man, I liked chapter 7. It was funny, it moved the story along, I do wish we saw more of Buttons and Scootaloo settling for each other. Does she make him dress like his mom?
2377276
i1.cpcache.com/product/689624123/ego_meter_beer_label.jpg?color=White&height=150&width=150
I'm still a little pissed off at myself for getting to the point where I delete a chapter, but eh... It'll all be fine in the end. TTYL
2377352
2378891
Holy crap you've given me an idea.
Sorry if you liked the chapter, but I think the criticism it got was well deserved, and I know I can do better.
2379705 Then I look forward to better.