Regarding Secrets Shine Brighter · 3:57pm Dec 30th, 2014
Hello all, you may know me, or you may not, but my name is Cyneryk. I am the author of the story "Secrets Shine Brighter," a dark tale about just what it means to harbor secrets, and how they have a tendency to eat you inside, as well as destroy the harmony around you.
Or, at least, that's what it should have been.
I'll just kick it off with this. Lots of people have been messaging me regarding why it's cancelled. Hell, it's been cancelled since, what, October? I'm still getting occasional messages about it. I'm still getting comments on the story asking why it's no more. I'm even getting flamed about it. So, now, I'm going to take out the time to actually explain why Secrets Shine Brighter is the way it is.
Let's start from the beginning. Secrets Shine Brighter was supposed to be a oneshot, just a fun little story that I'd write in my spare time between classes in school with my friend, Belle. I was already a struggling writer on here, hoping that maybe, one day, I'd have my own story at the top of the featured list. I honestly wanted it a little too much. I wanted the fame, the glory, the connections that some very popular users on this website had. I wanted to be like them. The only other significantly popular stories I had were Fantasma and TMNP, but... they were crossovers. That was no fun.
So, I wrote the first chapter: "Twilight's Secret". I'll be honest, I put absolutely ZERO thought into Twilight's secret itself. I just wrote the first thing that came to mind. I figured "Hey, I'll just come back and fix it up later. Still got a shit ton to go before it's ready anyways." I wrote it, and was actually a bit proud of the quality. My friend Belle read it, and told me "Dude, you can't just say Twilight gave Shining a blowjob, that's kinda fucked up! They're siblings. But I already knew that. I always loved dark shit.
Eventually, I got a bit too excited for the story. At that rate, the story would have been very long, and to be honest, I didn't have the patience. The more time I put into writing it, the more nervous I became. What if I spent all this time writing this story, and it ends up just bombing? All my hard work would have just been for nothing. So, to see if people actually enjoyed the concept before I spent weeks on it, I edited the chapter and posted what I did.
This was the first mistake. And, in my opinion, one of my worst.
This. Shit. Blew. Up. I realized my dream, and stood at the top of the featured box for nearly a week. People ate the story up. Love it. The concept, my writing, the style, the characters. I even started some kind of "admitting trend" where people shared their secrets on the story. I was getting wonderful feedback. To this day, Secrets Shine Brighter is one of my highly rated stories. I didn't expect it, at all! I honestly thought it would just pass through the "new stories" slot and that nothing would happen. But... holy hell!
Then I realized I had to come up with another chapter.
This was when I realized that I fucked up.
I didn't have an idea for the next chapter. Any of them. I had completely failed to even consider where I planned to take the story. Where I wanted it to go. That's when, well, you can kind of tell that things went downhill. I spent nights awake simply thinking and brainstorming different scenarios. I bought notebooks and pencils to places like work and school(this story, by the way, was written when I was a junior, I believe), so that when I came up with ideas I could jot them all down before I forgot. I would take long walks so that I could brainstorm out loud about it.
And, well, I had a lot of trouble. Then, I started reading some of the comments on the story. There were some comments on there regarding where I should take the story. Comments such as "I bet you Pinkie Pie's secret is blah blah blah!", "I bet you blah blah blah was behind all of this," or "You should do this in the next chapter!" and the such. That's when... I don't even know what happened.
Truth be told, the story quickly came a Fimfiction creation, not a Cyneryk creation. I started listening to the comments, and molding the "secrets" around them. I don't even need to explain the quality of the secrets themselves. If you reread the story, you can tell.
I made the gigantic mistake of not even using my own ideas. I molded the ENTIRE story around what the READERS all wanted. This was also a mistake that lead to my demise. I let my own work get completely trashed so that I could appease all of you. So you would all continue reading. (Note: I blame no one but me for this. Just me.)
So, this continued for each chapter, until the most recent one. I spent a while writing it out, blah blah blah. I had spent a while contemplating how I should end it. Because, like I said, I didn't plot it out. I'd have to completely come up with something out of my asshole just to make it work. So, I came up with the "ending" like I did. I posted it and...
Oh my God.
It bombed. Immediately. Five minutes later I was getting messages about what was wrong, and how it makes no sense. How it didn't work. I was COMPLETELY disappointed. I felt like my best friend had completely stabbed me in the chest. I felt so upset, but for the risk of looking like one of those authors who get pissed over "honest feedback", I actually listened. I mean, hey, maybe I could still fix it up?
But then I started getting messages, comments. Ones that completely made my blood boil. Ones that, literally, made me cry. Ones that completely made me rethink about my passion for writing itself. These comments were all somewhat like this. I'm not going to actually copy and paste, as to not make anyone else feel bad, or... you know:
Dude, way to go. This ending makes no sense. You took a wonderful story, and completely fucked it up. Unfaving, taking away thumbs, whatever.
Cyn, I'm sorry to say, but you have totally ruined this story.
I really had high hopes for this story, but it just went down the drain.
The comments and messages were like this. And let me tell you, I was none too happy. In fact, I was so terribly pissed and upset that I didn't know whether to keep crying or break my laptop, or just to not write anymore. I lost the will for it anyways. Who are these people to tell me that my story is ruined? Who are these people to tell me something like that? That wasn't helpful. No, just was just utterly painful to read. It hurt a lot. It was my work of art, not theirs. While I appreciated feedback, these comments killed me.
Hear me out. A writers, well, writings, are their own. They are a portal. They let people see the inner workings of their mind, on a single piece of paper or even on a computer screen. Everything that comes from their mind is totally theirs, and theirs alone. No one should be able to alter what they had in store. I mean, those comments didn't even tell me anything besides how I "fucked up". No. I've listened to some of you, altered my ideas to give plot twists that surely would have raked in more and more views and likes, when I went about it all wrong.
It's my mind. Concepts and stories that come from my mind are solely mine. They should not have the ability to be changed, simply because I wished to impress all of you. That was the reason for my downfall: my wish to appease. From Chapter Two on, I had to stray away from an idea that I, personally, would have liked. But I changed it to something else, that I felt you all would have liked more. Like I said, I realize now that this is the worst way to go at writing. My passion and my dreams should not be swayed by the lustful eyes of others.
And... I listened. Come the final chapter, I had no one else to listen to. In the end, I was fucked either way. I knew it, but I still tried my best. I did my absolute hardest to appease you all, and I fucking failed. Instead of love, I got loads and loads of hate. I was so crushed that, well, for a while I stopped writing itself.
Sigh. In short, the story was cancelled because I couldn't handle what was being said. I couldn't take the fact that I completely screwed up molding my own ideas so that you would enjoy it. I couldn't take that my work of art had been tainted and tarnished after all this time. I couldn't bear the fact that people hated me, and disrespected me, because they thought that their experience as a reader was more important than my growth as a writer. This is why the story was cancelled. I felt like, while I was the one painting, others were taking their turn guiding the brush in my hand.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I let this happen. I let my innermost wishes get in the way of my passion. I let other people get into my mind. I'm sorry that this blog post explaining it was so late. I just couldn't work up the courage to explain myself.
This is why Secrets Shine Brighter is cancelled.
I'm sorry for everything I may have caused because of it, as well.
-Cyneryk
Please Note: No. This is not a pity party. I am not trying to look sad in order to gain sympathy over this. My true feelings needed to be shared. If you respect them, then good on you. If you don't, I don't care, that's cool too. Emotionally and mentally, this story has took its toll on me. I don't need sympathy, I just... want you all to understand why it's the way it is. Also, while I did get very good, honest feedback on the story... like I said... some of them just.. sigh. I shouldn't have listened. I should have written what I wanted. It was entirely my own fault.
I'm trying not one of those authors who gets mad after bad reviews of their story. So, instead of getting angry, the story is still cancelled. I MAY continue working on the last chapter, but don't get your hopes up.
I understand and forgive.
I just learned that the story was apparently cancelled yesterday and was wondering why it was so. I haven't had much of a chance to read any of the stories I was following when college started for me. it's a shame to hear, but one that is understandable.
We all make mistakes. The most important thing you can do here is learn from it. Use the experience gained in your future projects, and shape it in something that will shine with your own ideas and dreams. Besides, listening to the audience isn't a bad thing per se, as long as you keep your own ideas in the forefront of your mind. Your story did blow up, true. Heck, I even send you a PM to congratulate you with it. But, with a story as such, you will always draw the attention of those who think they can do better, and who will not hesitate to drag you down when you make a mistake. I have encountered a couple of people myself as well who only give negative feedback without actually saying what is wrong. But there are always those who can see through the mistakes, and give you the help or support you might need to help with your fic, should you so want to. Now, although this fic is now canceled it doesn't mean it is gone. Like I said, the experience you've gained from it will bleed through in your next projects, and the quality will only increase as a result. And don't let those haters get the better of you over a mistake you've made. The world is full of those kind of people, and if we let them get to us we will never be able to rise above them and shape things for the better, one way or the other.
And even though this blog post is late, it still shows the commitment you've put in both the fic, and how you feel about what has happened to give us an explanation. It shows your character, and that is something haters can't take away. Remember that. You're better than them just for that. Instead of dragging others down, you've showed you stand above such things by admitting your own shortcomings and accepting them for what they are. That takes real strength, whereas others might try to feel better about themselves by trying to drag others down to their level.
Now, whether you will revive Secrets Shine Brighter or not is up to you, and you alone. Use your own ideas and imagination and go on from there. It doesn't have to be perfect. Nothing is. All you can do is make something you're happy with, and share it with the world. Of course there will be those who dislike it, but there are enough others who will like and share your ideas, spreading your spark of creativity to others. So, don't give up on your ideas, dreams, or writing altogether just because some idiots say you fucked up. We all make mistakes, and it is how you deal with that that defines your character. So, keep writing and entertain us with the magic of your fics.
~Powerdrainer.
I always wondered why the last chapter never came.
I understand dude, I've gotten most of a my fics bashed or whatnot, granted, looking back, some aren't particularly good, one was just a self insert, but still, you keep on writing what you want. In my eyes, Secrets Shine Brighter's ending, while not perfect, was fine for me. You are a great writer ,
The like and fave remain, even in the cancelled state.
But yeah, I was wondering where the plot was going because it did seem to become a runaway train somewhere in there.
Good luck with the next one!
Well if its any consolation...-I- thought it was just fine and wanted to see it end. I respect your choice and am sorry the idiots on this place decided to flame the story to oblivion. Its your creation, not theirs. There is a big difference between criticism and just flaming..and it sounds like you just let the flaming get to you because there was no actual criticism.
Again, sorry to hear what happened. I wont remove my thumb/fav, it was good enough for me, and maybe you'll change your mind in the end. If not, its okay though
I was wondering why the fic hadn't updated in awhile; now I know.
But, as much as wanted to see how it would have ended, I totally understand your reasoning behind the cancellation, and I respect your for it.
That said, I hope that we do get a proper ending for it someday, but if we don't, that's okay, too. You're still one of my fave authors around here, and I've loved all of your stories.
And honestly, Secrets Shine Brighter was one of my major favorites. Which is why the Fave and the up-vote/Like, as well as the Track option, will remain in place.
Anyway, good luck in whatever else you decide to do, bud. You're still a great writer, and always will be.
I'll admit I'm a little sad to see the story cancelled. I loved the idea and when I saw it was cancelled I was sad. It was an awesome read and one that I'll read again should it ever come off that cancelled status.
Best of Luck.
It happens. Just do your thing. We understand.
even if the story had its downfall i still enjoyed it. it was something i could read and actually "chew over" it made me think and contemplate my own deep secrets.
Absolutely excellent. This is a great lesson for all fanfic writers.
*sigh*
Well, I still think the story has some merit, but I'm sorry you had to learn this lesson the hard way. I still appreciate the honesty. Applejack approves.
It sucks that the opinions of a few people pushed you so far, Cyn. I really did enjoy working on SSB with you, and it peeves me off that some butthurt fans made that stop.
Ah well, with time maybe you'll find an evil pleasure in their comments. You know when you elicit such an angered, emotional response from a group of people that, at the very least, you're still writing something that's good enough to make people care and feel strongly about it. 
And on the upside it's got to be fun to pick through the comments on SSB and think that you started the whole spill-your-secret-in-red thing. That was definitely neat.
Writing for you is the best lesson an amateur writer (note: I'm not claiming to be more than that, myself) can learn, and if this is the reason, then screw it, I'm glad that by cancelling, you made the best decision for yourself.
Also, it turns out you get tagged blog updates for a story in any library, including "read later." Huh.
I still plan on reading it when I get through more of my backlog.
It's a risk either way one writes a story, I guess. I've seen other stories where the author clearly didn't have a plan in mind when they started, and sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. I've also seen stories where the author *did* have an outline in mind, and they *still* fell flat at the finish line - in one case because the author decided to stick with the original planned ending despite the story having "evolved" over the course of writing it.
So I don't think there's necessarily any one formula that's ideal, or even that is best for any specific writer.
You cracked under pressure.
Here's what many authors struggle with when a story becomes increasingly popular, like you, they want to please their fans.
This is why so many great stories go unfinished. They get stuck, not wanting to use their own ideas, because of fear that they won't be accepted, and not wanting to use to many ideas from their fans, what happens is the story deviates from it's original objective.
You can tell this very clearly from your story.
I left a comment like the ones you listed above, it was not because I was angry at the ending, it was because I could see you losing interest, you were only writing to please your fans.
The story is finished, and we have accepted that, the best thing you can do for yourself is just write what you want. Not what the people want, if they are true fans of your work, they will understand and enjoy your stories.
There is no rush when producing quality content, as long you believe your work is good, write it, of course there will be people who dislike your work, but for every person that hates on it, there will be 100 others who love it.
This may be the end for Secrets Shine Brighter, but it is just the beginning for a new Cyneryk.
Is it bad that this is the first I hear of this story being cancelled? Anyway, like has been said above, I will keep my like and fav in case you do end up writing that final chapter. Don't worry about it. One thing I will say about myself is that even if a story starts running away from its origins like yours did, I will stay with it through any hardships it might have. As long as this story remains on this site I will give it my like and fav. Thanks for the ride, a shame it had to end early, but it was fun while it lasted.
Huh. Well, that sucks. I actually really liked the reveal at the end. (I actually completely forgot that this story was incomplete—I was for some reason under the impression that the last chapter was the last chapter. It makes me sad that there was still another chapter to go that I'll never get to read.)
Anyway, thanks for the story! I really enjoyed it.
2688586 You can turn off blog notifications for individual Libraries.
2688826
Good to know, thank you.
I'm sorry that things went so badly for you. Thank you for explaining, though.
I think I understand. I won't go into a great deal of depth about how I do, because it's not relevant, but I do want to apologise for the review I left on the last chapter you published. Whilst I did try to keep it constructive, I do feel that it was still on the harsh side, and may have contributed to the cancellation of the story. If such is the case, I do sincerely apologise.
Either way, I hope that, even if you do not continue your work on Secrets Shine Brighter, you'll continue writing and posting your original ideas on the site; they're definitely a breath of fresh air.
A good lesson to learn but a very unfortunate loss of a great story. I hope to see more greatness from you in the future, my friend.
Hey man, I know how you feel. It is like with my story (And before anyone says anything, this is NOT advertising) Sonic New World. I wrote it because I really like Sonic Lost World and I hadn't written my first Multi-Chapter story yet, and I was inspired. Problem was, I only thought up the first 2 chapters and a few action sequences that I wanted to write, and the rest forward was improvised to somehow make the story work and get to those plot points. And in the end, I got some love from it, and a bit of "not love" from it. The majority of people that read it ACTUALLY liked it and
beggedrequested a sequel. Which I accepted and started working on which is still underway, I am just lazy XD. I was also the same in the department as what people would have liked to see in the story, which I also accepted because it was a flexible story and needed something to work with XD. But there was one person who wanted me to add in something that made absolutely no sense and didn't even know how to make it fit into the story. So, I respectfully put my foot down and told them "There is not a way I could work that it", and they were cool with that :). It is alright to feed the viewers, but they also need to know not to bite the hand that feeds them. It isn't just your fault that your story "bombed", (Which I haven't read the ending to yet), but this is a technical relationship. The viewer is just as much a part of this as the author. And it is okay for them to give a positive or negative review/critique. BUT, it is their job to point out and give reasons for their critiques/praise as well. If they just want to sayThat is fine. But, if they say something like
It is their job to tell you what could be done to IMPROVE the story and make you a better writer in the future. I really love this story and would hate to see it die, so that is why I suggest that if you TRULY love the story that you created and were helped along with by the audience, I advise taking some time to go back and rewrite the story how YOU would want to write it. Taking suggestions is fine, a lot of authors on here do it, but don't let your audience write it for you. Be the amazing author I know you can be. I didn't let my lack of plotting stop me from writing Sonic New World, and you shouldn't let it stop you from making this story what you made it out to be. Never give up Cyn :D. To quote "Meet the Robinsons" Keep Moving Forward!!
Honestly, I am not your fan. Nor do I read any of your works all that often. Not because I dislike you in any fashion, but because I lose interest far more easily than I would like. All I can say is you should keep writing, even if only for yourself. Even if you never post any stories to this site ever again, keep writing. Even if, for some reason, you one day choose to leave this site and never come back, KEEP WRITING. That is all the advice I can give. I leave you to decide whether or not you should heed it.
With my regards,
SuperWeegeeWorld
This story received (and still has) a favorite and thumb up from me. I enjoyed it up until I saw it was cancelled and even then I continue to enjoy it. I'll admit, you caught me by surprise with who was responsible for the whole situation but the reason was not entirely unbelievable. I hope you do go ahead and finish it, for your own sake, even if you never post the end of it. Hopefully you've learned from the mistakes you made and have learned from them, and realize that they are exactly that: mistakes. Everyone makes them, some more than others and as some others have stated before me, it's about what you learn from those mistakes that matters. Don't quit writing because of a few negative opinions, there will always be some out there.
I appreciate that you posted a reasoning for the cancellation, you didn't have to, this is the internet after all, it's not like someone can physically walk up to you and be like "Hey, why did you cancel SSB numb nuts?", but you did. You were big about it and posted a sound reason for cancelling your story. Thank you!
Your story will remain in my tracking list, so should you ever decide to post anything more, I'll be ready to read more goodness!
In the future, when you get to the point where the sadness or regret doesn't sting as badly, maybe you should consider a complete rewrite for anything after chapter 1. You may lose people, and it may be a totally reworked plot from what it is now, but I think it might be therapeutic! The story would be YOURS, not the fans. You would be the painter, not the brush. Even if people don't like it as much as what's posted now, you can at least have knowledge that you took a wrong, and made it feel a little more right for you. Just a thought.
I am glad to see this blog post, it's good to get an explanation. Sorry to hear the thing was such an ordeal for you. For what it's worth, I enjoyed the story enough. Sounds like you took what happened as a sort of lesson, so I hope it turns out to be a valuable one. And I hope any future projects you might undertake will proof to be far more satisfying.
Honestly, i don't think the last chapter was bad, and i do hope that you decide to make the final chapter happen.
I don't see why you're letting this bother you, that story STILL has over 2000 likes, a staggering number. I was one of the people who commented why I didn't like the last chapter, and I never took away my upvote for the story. Anybody who would is the kind of person whose opinion you really shouldn't care about.
Thanks for putting this up. It dose sadden me that I won't know how the story truly ends, but I do respect your reasons for cancelling. And you have my sympathies for the situation, I've written more then a few stories over the years, granted I still haven't posted anything here as of the time of this post, but I can relate with your "Oh god people like, now what?" I"m sure it's part of what keeps the stories safely in my head and unshared. So congrats for having the guts to post your story, and huzzah for it being the great work that it became regardless of the how. And last Boo to any of the jerks that gave you flack about you trying to wrangle your story and end it on your terms, cause that took courage to do. Looking forward to reading more of you stuff.
Never stop writing.
I'll be honest.
I actually don't mind the last chapter you posted for Secrets Shine Brighter. I was okay with it because it was your story.
I ,as a fan of your work, shall respect your wishes to cancell the story and honestly this story should have some pony to do some postive critism on.
Because it deserves it.
The story itself reminds me of like a darker tone of another fimfiction story "The Numbers Don't Lie"
And although you cancelled the story. To me, the last chapter you posted sounded like a great ending to me. And till next time, I look forward to your next fimfiction story.
Stay Awesome,
Mix