Appologies for my absence · 1:20am Dec 27th, 2014
Hey everyone. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and all the usual winter-related tidings.
Wow, has it been a while, and what little I've gotten done in that time. Well, I got to a good start, but that's about it. So, many of you may be wondering what the hell is going on with A Trusted Friend in Science and Ponies. As you may recall, after a significant amount of gripe from many of my readers for certain plot points (I'm looking at you, Celestia) that were unredeemable and beyond repair, I decided to start fresh and try to do this right. As of this moment, I have written a measly three chapters, admittedly a better start than the original, but I can never find it being as good as I want it to be. I feel like I can never quite make it good enough.
Then lo and behold, life kicks in, you know, that little thing that's every writer's worst nightmare. I got a new job a few months ago, a much better one than my previous pathetic excuse for an occupation that robbed eight hours from my day and my sense of purpose. But now my current job, one that I actually enjoy fortunately, has been occupying the majority of my focus. Yeah, you know all know this story from writers who got too busy with their lives and abandoned their writing endeavors, and it sucks. I don't want to be that guy who commits to something and then can't follow through. So I really want to write this, but the longer I stay away from it, the harder it is to get back. And things are pretty settled by this point. The trick is to get back into gear and find balance with my job.
I think what gets me down is the expectation that I have set for myself. I want to make something great, but nothing that I can write can ever seem to hold up to that. Been low on inspiration and low on ideas. The flame still burns, but it needs to be relit. The question is how. Redevelop my ideas, talk to friends, not sure. But I am still determined to see this though. I can never rest easy until this is done, however long it will take. I need to work this from the ground up, find that spark again. If any of you can tell me what you enjoyed about my work, or what you were looking forward to, that may help, or just tips to overcome writer's block for that matter. And what better time than around the new year to make this change?
So, I'm gonna try to get back into writing this. I owe it to you to you guys see the through. Hope to hear back from you guys. And hopefully, I'll have good news within some relatively brief positive temporal increment. In the meantime, I'm gonna try to step up my game.
Thanks for all the continued support.
Life.....that conniving annoyance..it reared its ugly head again.....the face only a mirror could love....
But its good to hear your still putting the thought forward, just remember to relax every so often!
I hear you, my man. Yesterday I typed a measly 350 words on my latest endeavor. On the plus side, I've been plugging up logic-gaps in previously written chapters. As long as some kind of work gets done, I feel good about myself.
One thing I have to admire about your efforts as a writer is that what you're trying to do is much bigger than anything I'm likely to write.
I have never had novel-sized ideas before in my life. Over 165 thousand words? Oof!
In order for my enthusiasm for writing to stay at it's peak, apart from the sheer joy of writing, is to read a lot of the work on this site.
I look at a ton of pony-videos on Youtube, too. Argodaemon and Herostrain are but two examples of top-shelf animations. One curious side-effect of watching this stuff is that I can see my characters as well as the canon characters a little more clearly in my mind's theatre.
Deviantart is bulge-loaded with pony art. If you are as inspired by art as I am, that might kick away a few bricks from that writer's block.
Maybe this will help: I believe that you will finish what you have started. It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude for you to journey this far.
You have the motivation and confidence to see you through. (Having a better job, no matter how time-consuming it is, has got to help your moral.)
One thing I learned a long time ago, long before I ever discovered this fandom, is that what you type will always be less than what you see in your head. You can't let that stop you, however. You have 115 people who like your stuff. What you see and what you eventually type will always be separate from each other, but so what? As long as the story has flow, pacing , characters you care about and all that wonderful stuff, you'll do fine.
Don't stress out is another bit of advice. Take your time. Do it right. You have given me a ton of help with my work, so there's no reason to believe you can't complete this story the way you want.
Its just goo to hear you're still around.
I know the problem. I'm working on several stories which are all connected, and clocking in over a combined 400k already, but it is getting difficult to find both the motivation and ideas after so long. Still, I have some 'guidelines' which help me with my work. Maybe they can help you? (click image to enlarge.)
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And try this as well. Maybe it works? Just write down what you feel like in the story, even if it are only 10 or 15 words. Do the same the next day, and the next. After you feel like you've got a decent amount of text on paper, read it back and see how it all connects, and fix it where it needs to be fixed. What makes sense, what doesn't fit at all, and how should it be instead? This way you might be able to (slowly) continue your story. After all, some words are better than none, and it might just spark a new idea or two which can help you in the long run. I know it works for me.
Good luck.
~Powerdrainer
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Thanks everyone. I'm happy to announce that I've gotten back into writing. But just as I start getting into chapter 4, I realize that chapter 2 needs a lot of work. Uhh, this is gonna take a while before it's ready. I really hope this will all be worth it in the end. I've remembered why this story means so much to me. If only I can just manage to get that meaning down onto paper.
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The method of repeatedly applying your forehead to the paper does NOT work...thought you should know.