Okay, I'm back. · 5:52am Apr 14th, 2015
It's Apple of Discord's three-week-iversary again. That's just how this story works, isn't it? Always three weeks. Anyway, I apparently just took a break. I didn't want to take a break. I love writing and would have gladly continued. Did I need to take one? I'm not entirely sure. But me taking a break is something that happened, and, though not everything that happens necessarily does so for a reason, almost all observable phenomena are the result of many circumstances converging. This was no exception. And, since this is my blog about horse words and I can write what I please on it, I'm going to write about those circumstances. If you don't want to read my words, the bottom line is in the title. Funny, since the title is, in fact, the top line.
Let's start simple, with what I mentioned in my last blog post. First, bipolar disorder. Talking about this makes me feel weird, because I haven't received a professional diagnosis, so I'm not 100% sure I even have it. If I do, though, then, as it turns out, the episode that started after I submitted chapter 1 was not depressive, but mixed. It was awful. I'll leave it at that. Now, though, I may be hypomanic. I'm definitely feeling great; that's what's important.
Second, there's North's observation. This is the interesting part. Twilight Sparkle should have written to Princess Celestia first thing when she found out that Applejack had Discord's magic. I forgot about that, and the only mention of princesses in the chapter ended up being in Applejack's oath.
I'm quite lucky, actually, in many ways. Obviously, the discrepancy could have been a lot worse. But it also could have been less severe. If there had been no error at all, or if it had been easily-resolved, I would have started on the next chapter without a second thought. Instead, this one made me stop and think about my whole plan, and, more importantly, how I had created and organized that plan. It made me realize that my prewriting for this story was quite lacking. It let in a glaring error in the first chapter, after all.
I actually fancy myself quite good at plotting out storylines. I'm writing a murder mystery right now alongside Apple of Discord, and, though I'm not prepared to reveal any details about it yet, it contrasts well with Apple of Discord, so I'll use it to illustrate my point here. It's full of twists, turns, and layers of deception. This all comes very naturally to me; so naturally, in fact, that, the first few times I tried to write MLP:FiM fanfiction, the stories grew during the planning stage into grand sagas that would take years to write. As much as I like grand sagas, that's not what I'm here for. I just want to explore some interesting possibilities in a world I enjoy with characters I like while honing my writing skills. So, with Apple of Discord, I decided to take a different approach. I would get a general idea of how the story would go and how it would end, dwelling on the details as little as possible. I would work them out as I wrote out the chapters. That way, I could avoid, for instance, accidentally giving chaos magic a dark backstory, revealing that each of its bearers has been a pawn in a larger scheme, and making Applejack go up against cosmic forces as she tries to find a way to break the endless cycle of chaos and bring peace to Equestria. I mean, really, the whole story is about Applejack's gradual character development. How hard could it be to write a linear plot with no tricks?
Well, as it turns out, I had things backwards. Nonlinearity and tricks are not hard. What's hard is writing a graceful story that accomplishes a goal in a believable fashion.
That is to say, it's easy to write a plot for plot's sake. It's hard to write a plot that serves a purpose.
I was so enamored by the intricate fractal beauty and grand, exciting developments of stories like Homestuck that I didn't notice that seemingly straightforward ones like Groundhog Day (in this one, in particular, the main character literally cannot have a lasting effect on anything around him for pretty much the whole movie, and the mystical effect that sets things in motion doesn't even come close to having a backstory) have their own balancing acts to do. Each type of story uses the same literary tools. But, in the former type, these tools are being used directly to do what they're best at, to make a story, and any meaning that may arise, however deep and intriguing, is, ultimately, either incidental or a happy accident, while, in the latter type, they are being used to convey a message of some kind, or, often, more than one. This isn't to say I didn't like those stories. I loved them - Groundhog Day was and is my favorite movie. And, on some level, I suppose I knew that a lot of work went into making them flow nicely and have power. I didn't really understand, though, because I had never tried to write such a story myself. And this also isn't to say that I appreciate grand sagas any less now. They're totally awesome. But they're awesome for different reasons.
Once I realized all of this, I changed my approach with Apple of Discord. I split it up into four acts and assigned each act a set of purposes, things I needed to achieve through the events of the act in order to bring the story to the conclusion I wanted. Things have been going smoothly since then. I think I've got something pretty nice going here. That may just be the hypomania talking, but I like to think my manic side is the reasonable one. I should be able to finally get started on chapter two soon, and then there ought to be no more delays of this nature. Hooray! 
Wow, look at that all of that inane drivel with which I have assailed your computer screens. Let's move on to some serious business. College is serious business, right? I started my first college class last week. And any of you who think a 15-year-old shouldn't be going back to college and should've gotten the right degree the first time around are immature whippersnappers who don't know how the world works! Because, come on. If you knew how the world works, you would know that most people my age haven't been to college yet. Get with the program. At any rate, I'm taking a class on the magic of friendship. Well, sociology, to be precise. Close enough. 
Woulda gone for math, but I'm already in a high school calculus class.
And how about those first few episodes of season 5? I'm loving it so far. Who would have guessed that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a show whose name never stops being ridiculous no matter how many times you praise it, would end up being influenced by George Orwell? And, on an unrelated note, what is it with powerful unicorns and ditrochee Nighttime Glowstuff names? Answer: THEY ARE ALL SAME PONY. IS PLOT.
I just typed a bunch of silly stuff. I feel silly. When do I get to write again? Oh, right, when I finish the outline. Hopefully I'll do that tomorrow. Wow, I feel like a ten-year-old who ate too many of those cookies that are 90% frosting. That's probably a sign that I should wrap this up. Thanks for thinking my story is cool, everybody! You're all really great. 
Especially you, Diannaria.
The way this blog post used to end was too silly, so I edited it. 
Bye!
Welcome back.
I can understand hypomania. It's even more depressing when one has only a talent that does involve large machinery.
Keep on. I was actually thinking about this story over the weekend and wondering if you were going to update. If you need assistance, I'll offer my time for a limited time. Stuff can change even though it hasn't really changed for me the last two years. Needs more Dark.
I can't wait to see more of your story, especially after reading this, thank you for all the informations. And I am very touched that you mentioned me.
By the way, without wanting to interfere in your private life, I would like to recommend you to ask for a medical advice as soon as you can. I have been having, for several years, a mood switching between an awfully hopeless state, a more balanced state, and a too enthusiastic to be true state. I saw a doctor a few months ago, and now it is finally getting better. Although in my case it was linked to a very silly thing apparently : lack of luminosity.
2982453 And I am very touched that you like my story so much!
I've been thinking of getting my whatever-it-is-maybe-nothing looked into for a while now. I've just been struggling with whether that's really necessary, since I find it to be advantageous in many ways, even if it is obstructive in others. I may, then, choose not to get it treated, even if I do have something. I'll probably end up taking your advice, though.
2982404 I'm curious about what you are offering to help with. Stories like this are typically one-person projects; the only thing I can think of would be proofreading. And, as for Dark, was that a recommendation for Apple of Discord? Because, if so, don't worry. Act IV in particular will be plenty dark. A fair amount of stuff from the story's cover page involves elements that won't be coming into play for a while.
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Just thought I'd offer. You mentioned missing some obvious points in the blog you put up.