Ghost of a Rose: Completed & Aftermath · 12:55am Oct 24th, 2014
This story. What do I say about this story? It's completed. This is something true about this story. What is also true, for me at least, is that I love this story. It has been on my mind in some way or another since April, when it first came to mind. I started outlining it in mid-may, and then stopped working on it until the middle of July. I had other stories to work on, and I wanted to let the idea for Ghost mature a little more. My editor and friend, Minds Eye, could tell you just how many iterations and false starts I had with this story.
Breaking here, just in case you haven't read it yet. Author thoughts below, mixed with some spoilers. The worst spoilers will be spoilered.
What emerged finally, in late July, early August, was a story that would evolve yet more before it reaches the stage that it is now. Yes, I had an outline, but it was based on ideas of what the characters would be most likely to do as I understood them then. That's the big part. My understanding of Roseluck, of Post Haste, of Swift and Berry grew as I wrote them. What they would do, were most likely to do, shifted as my understanding of their character changed ever so subtly.
It's like playing chess. You understand your opponent, and you understand the game. You can guess what your opponent will do based on what you put in front of them. But it isn't until that move is made that understanding comes. And with further understanding of an opponent comes better understanding of what moves they're likely to make.
So it was with Rose. The more that I wrote about her, the easier it got to write her. Pinkie/Mirror was a different matter. Early on, it was the Roseluck show. All about Roseluck. But as Rose's journey went underway, I found Pinkie making her own journey as well, down a different path, and she became more important to me as time went on. I came to love her, and worry about her.
It made writing her harder. I had to separate myself from my wants and needs for her and let the part of me that understood her best write her.
Her role changed, as well, over time. She went from being a guide to being a partner, to being a pony in need of guidance. Rose's journey was a mirror of Mirror's, from being a pony in need of guidance, to being a partner, to being a guide.
Did one grow and the other regress? No. They both grew, but in different directions.
So why is that such an important thing? For characters to be organically involved with the story and the plot? Well, for one, it makes the plot mesh with the characters a heck of a lot closer. If the characters are allowed to change and grow as the plot progresses, then they move the plot. It may not be the epic battle showdown that you had intended, or it might not be the peaceful resolution you wanted. This is where the authorial hand comes in.
We, as authors, make small adjustments to the plot to make it fit better with the direction we want the story to go. Not epic enough? Go back several chapters if needed and guide the plot in the direction it needs to go through slightly different actions, different understandings, and different reactions. It's a lot of work, yes, but it pays off in that you get the story you wanted and the story makes sense to your readers.
Judging by the feedback I've gotten thus far, I did pretty decently at shaping plot and characters into as close a match as possible for each other. Is it perfect? No. Could it be better? Yes. Can it ever be perfect? No.
There is no such thing as a perfect story. Ask a friend what their favorite story is and they'll choose something other than what you chose. Even if you chose the same story, your reasons for naming it a favorite will likely be different.
Wandering off topic.
So... Ghost of a Rose. A story inspired by a song/album title and a character's name.
The story deviates from the song quite a lot. In fact, the only thing that's left is the title and a concept.
What does Ghost of a Rose mean to me?
It's the importance of memories, how each one, no matter how mundane, holds a piece of our lives. In those moments, we have happiness and sadness, lust and grief, contentment and disappointment. We have fights, we have loved ones, we have reconciliations and bonding with friends and family. In all of these moments, our lives are told as a story. To us, these moments are precious. To few others will our memories have as much meaning.
But there are others. People whose lives we touch, and whose lives touch ours. People that, were we to never have met them, become friends with them, loved them, we would not be the same person.
On the other side of that, if our memories are not ours, if they are not things that we did... then who are we? Our memories define us, they shape every decision we make. If our memories are not things we earned on our own... then do we have will? Can we make choices? Can we be friends to others?
Big spoilers, written from the perspective of one of the characters.
I am Mirror Pie. A clone, with imperfect memories of the original. I did not believe I was a clone. I feared it. I feared it with every frozen moment.
What if that were revealed to be the truth? What if I were given incontrovertible proof that I am not who I thought I was?
Do I still have worth?
From the moment my memories diverged, from the moment that I experienced other things, I became a different person. My past is not mine, but my future... I hold that in my hooves. And nopony can take that from me. I have worth. I made a difference.
That is what the story means to me. It's a statement, of sorts. But more than that, to me, it was a telling of a story that I felt wanted to be told. I wanted to tell it. And I'm glad that it's been as well received as it has. If the story means something else to you, don't be afraid to let me know in the comments. I'm always interested in seeing what others glean from my stories. My interpretation is what drove the story, but what drives it is not always visible, and I welcome other viewpoints. It helps me to see things that I might have missed while writing it, and I can use those insights to improve my writing in the future.
Bonus! Because Fimfiction destroys formatting when downloading as text/html/epub, here are some links to some PDFs that I made of the story in three parts.
Google Drive Folder: In Three Parts
For your mobile/offline viewing pleasure. I have included both a Google Docs version and a PDF version.
Thank you for listening to me ramble on about stories, this story, and writing in general. I hope you all have enjoyed taking this journey with me, and with Rose, her family and friends, and Mirror
I... don't even know what to say, so I'm just going to start typing.
And I stop, because I still have no idea what to say.
I called this story an emotional epic when I blogged about it, and that's exactly what it is. It's an epic. No gods or monsters, but is there anything more open and sweeping and epic than a life?
All the nouns, people, places, and things; all the verbs, walking, running, breathing, sleeping, loving, and living; all the adjectives, sad, happy, dark, and bright; all the words you can think of make up a life, but they still don't tell the whole story.
This story gave us a look at that idea. Memories, like you said. The people we meet that change us in ways that can be so slight or so profound they can't really be described.
Think I'll stop now, because I'm not really sure where I was going with this to begin with.
It... it was Ghost of a Rose. It meant a lot to you, and it meant a lot to the audience.
There is little that I can add that Minds Eye hasn't... Getting through Ghost of a Rose was an enjoyable venture. Seeing Roseluck go through her ordeal and knowing her life was an absolute joy. Enjoying her joy, sadness, hopes, and despair was so engrossing that once I started reading, I wasn't putting my phone down.
As enjoyable as seeing Rose go through her adventure, I could tell that your feelings for Mirror had gradually changed from when she first appeared. She grew and changed because of the experiences she had with Rose. She was no longer what she thought she was, even if she hadn't realized it.
Memories and experiences are what defines our perceptions of the ourselves and the world around us. If we were deprived of our memories and experiences, we would not be who we are. Look to those who have lost their memories due to amnesia and dementia. Who they were is no longer there, they are someone completely different. These horrible situations took their very identity away.
Ghost of a Rose firmly reminds us of this. To forget is to die, to be forgotten is worse than death.
I've said it before and I will say it again. Excellent story, Noble Thought, it true deserves to stand with the best of this fandom.
BRUCE WILLIS IS A GHOST