Friday Q&A (Azurite, Silent Knight, Anzel) · 1:49pm Apr 17th, 2015
With FIMFiction being down all yesterday we didn't feel that the latest chapter of Crystal's Wishes had much time in the sun. Especially for such a big chapter! As a result the Three of Hearts update that was intended to go out yesterday will likely be delayed until later today.
Crystal and I also had a discussion about having all of our eggs in one basket. Honestly, with the site down, we were cut off from our entire audience and that was unnerving. I realize that sites go down now and then. There is still no reason for us not to have an alternate place for you to consume our content. We'll be bringing up a mirror website shortly. It will feature items that are awkward here like character bios, connections, and artwork.
In the mean time, I still wanted to allow everyone to have some fun on a Friday. If you'd like you can ask Azurite or Silent Knight "in character" questions and they'll respond. I won't spoil anything though.
Additionally, you may also ask me out of character questions regarding writing, process, etc.
Happy Friday everyone!
SK do you have your eyes on any mares or stallions?
2990846 I'm not a big fan of stallions as far as what you're suggesting. Not that there is anything wrong with that, they're just not my cup of tea. There is a unicorn I like to draw but she's taken.
I just started reading this today and it's great, on to Luna visiting the EWC in chapter 14 now so should be interesting.
Silent Knight: what would you do if you would get an anonimous present?
Anzel: do you have a shedule when you when will Knight's next birthday party take place? (More-or-less, you know I don't like accuracy)
2991077 An anonymous gift? That is tricky. Royal Guards aren't really allowed to accept gifts because that could curry favor. Of course if it was anonymous that would sort of make it hard to get favor. I'd probably need to check with pony resources on that one.
It is funny you ask. Silent Knight's birthday will take place within the next 2-3 chapters.
2991106 Oh... intresting. S*******! I wanted to do something in the 15th chapter of what I'm trying to scramble. And actually... man, I missed a magnificent chance 2 chapters ago. Argh! I contact you on sunday...
Anzel: How long do you plan in advance for story events and what's your writing process like? What does your preplanning look like? And do you build the world before or as you write (not super in depth, but rules of magic and such type things)?
I've tried writing several times (I'm up to the mid teens in Never Posted Story Beginnings[that never got farther]), but I just can't seem to hold a storyline for the life of me. I'm wondering how some of my favourite authors do it.
2991171 How long do you plan in advance for story events
Not to be silly the easiest answer is "a lot." I plan the grand arc and progression of the story heavily in advance. That is my "top line" that rarely changes. Below that is the major arcs. Those form a second line of sub-plots I want to tell. Sometimes major arcs are added later but, in general, most of them are there to start. After that minor arcs and small plots mostly just get planned 5-10 chapters in advance.
Most things I do I do for a reason. An example is Cadence being unicorn. A lot of folks pointed that out to me as an error and such. That was something planned and necessary for this story before chapter 1 was even published and it isn't going to be resolved for a while.
what's your writing process like?
I write fast. At least compared to other writers I know. I don't believe in perfect. There is no such thing so I don't even try to aim for it. I just put words on the page as fast as I can in draft status. There are about 100,000 words for Memoirs in draft status as we speak. Maybe even more. Some will see the light of day, others won't.
Periodically I do a second pass over the draft words. This allows me to align earlier things with later things and check consistency. I even correct some of the spelling grammar!
Finally, as a chapter nears release, we'll call it 1-2 weeks, I do a final pass. Once that is done I hand it over to editing. My editor will then go through it and I take that on faith. It gets scheduled and posted.
Then I just repeat this process over and over.
What does your preplanning look like? And do you build the world before or as you write (not super in depth, but rules of magic and such type things)?
Spreadsheets and bullet lists. LOTS of them. I am a HUGE pre-planner. I say this without ego: if something is in the story it has been carefully considered and planned. My word choice is usually very intentional, especially in pivotal scenes.
With the Memiors story and associated works (Three of Hearts, Crystal's Wishes, Lovey Dovey) there are a list of rules that must be followed for consistency. I can't share them because they're spoilers. They do exist for a reason. Again, I point out Cadence the unicorn.
World building is key. In fan fiction it is easier and we as authors can be lazy. You grab a canon and that is the basis. Then you decide what, if anything, you want to change.
For this story, I started very close to the "show canon." As time has progressed I've diverged to the point where there is no way to reconcile the two. I also borrow some of the clever plots out of the comic series but use them out of order. My world building started with "What will I do different."
Then I went to what I wanted to add: the Unicorn Temple, Pony clerics/paladins, etc.
Then I went to what I wanted to remove: Other alicorns, every other authors fanon that people decided "this is real."
Hope that helps!
2991282
Wow. That actually sounds a lot like how I GM. And is quite amazing. It should help, too. As soon as I can get confident enough in my writing to think I can write another person's OC's IC, I think I might start by adapting one of the oldest RP's I've done with a character I love playing, and just start building that world up.
My problem is the storylines. I need to plan them out better, and I think I might borrow some of your methods, given that they've given us these gems. (Azurite has to be one of my favourite original characters ever, and if you look at my library, you'll understand I don't say that lightly [don't count the Read It Later, but I've got probably close to three, four hundred stories in there that I've read]).
On a side note, I suggest you never let a man named Chekov into your home. Someone is going to end up hurt after he leaves all his junk there, seeing as he's already having a field-day with your story.
Once again, thanks for the advice and I'll have to try it out. Hopefully I'll be able to finally write a good story. Not just A Story. I could do that. I want a good one that I can be proud of.
~Hope Dawn
Some questions :
Silent Knight :
Did you get some letters from Shining Armor?
What is an usual day for Princess Luna? It sound she stay all day in her office, she need to work out more!
Does the guards get some full report about some major event that happened in Equestria? (Like Discord or Nightmare Moon) or do you get just a very abridget story.
Anzel:
How you do you create a new character? I mean do you just stray out personnality trait for him (or her) and write with that in mind or do you write some thing you want in your story and adapt the character to make it work?
2991840
Did you get some letters from Shining Armor?
SK: Yes actually. He and I exchange letters fairly regularly. I usually get one every other week.
What is an usual day for Princess Luna? It sound she stay all day in her office, she need to work out more!
SK: Her schedule is quite varied. She has been taking on more royal responsibilities lately. Typically we don't leave the palace though. She usually is either in her office, a conference room, or the throne room. There is a lot more royal business over night than you'd guess.
Does the guards get some full report about some major event that happened in Equestria?
SK: We have access to all of the reports that most guard units do. Typically a lot of that would be over my pay grade but since Princess Luna is kept in the loop about everything I often am too. It is the nature of the beast.
DANGER Warning. SPOILERS below (depending on how far you've read)
How you do you create a new character? I mean do you just stray out personality trait for him (or her) and write with that in mind or do you write some thing you want in your story and adapt the character to make it work?
A:It depends on if we're talking about a protagonist or adding a character. I'll talk a little about both.
In either case no character is really born complete. I have to start writing a bit to get a feel for them. Azurite really came into her own after about chapter 4. I then went back and put more of her personality into the earlier chapters. Now writing her is easier and a lot of fun.
For a protagonist I start out by asking what story do I want to tell. Silent Knight was pretty straight forward. I wanted to tell a story about the ponies you never hear from: royal guards. Just like secret service agents it is almost as if they're invisible... but imagine what they've seen or heard. The goal was to create a stiff, seemingly one-dimensional character with a dry humor and a few quirks. Then I'd let him "grow up" along side the events I deemed important. That is the story I wanted to tell and thus that is the character I needed.
Azurite is a bit different. I wanted to do a spinoff rom/com that also looked at the pain of living with anxiety. Originally she was Lavender's little sister but the story was just so much sadder. I mean painfully sad. It didn't work but I already had a cute, "in her head," anxiety-riddled pony. I actually shifted the story to match her. Thus instead of a horrible loss she had to do something horrible and her partner was injured. It is sad but not nearly so.
Essentially when I decide to write a story I ask myself what sort of character would be the best to tell it. After all, I'm a first person writer. Everything I write has to be colored by that character. A lot of readers don't seem to get that fact and it is the LARGEST impact on the story. You have to believe Silent Knight is writing it. If you don't I've failed. Thus, for me, the protagonist has to be the "right" character to tell the story. Imagine how insane it would be to have Silent Knight telling Azurite's story.
For supporting characters, secondary characters, and minor characters I follow a much simpler method. I ask "what does this story need."
Memoirs would have been atrociously boring without Iridescence. Silent Knight needed an opposite. I invented a unicorn mare that was more outgoing and less by the book. I had not written six chapters before I knew that she was also going to be a love interest (and, for those wonder, I also knew at that time that they'd break up). It just made sense BUT that was not her original purpose.
Winterspear was created similarly. I needed him to have a family. There had to be some force opposite his father that wasn't his mother. Silent Knight's mother is an enabler and/or bound. Stratus Knight is wounded physically, mentally, and blind. Regardless of what she may think of him, Mrs. Knight wouldn't abandon him. That just wouldn't do. Nor would she fight with him. Thus... Winterspear.
Runic was created to add some comic relief and cameo a dear friend's OC. We often hash random crap together that makes us laugh.
Miley was created because I wanted my own Derpy without using Derpy. Radiant Orchid is a mentor. Sunny Day is a super happy, optimistic, hippy.
Each character fills a need in the story. Of course you have to be careful doing that. Just plugging a whole doesn't always work (unless you're going for that). I try to ensure my supporting and secondary characters have some depth. At the same time, I absolutely do not believe that "every character must have depth." Sometimes a one dimensional character is awesome!
Lieutenant Haze is perfect for what he is. For goodness sakes his name is Haze! As in Hazing! He was supposed to be an irredeemable, annoying turd... and he was. If I had given him any more depth he'd have gotten a different reaction.
Lavender, on the other hand, has a little depth. She's 1.5 or 2 dimensional. I wanted to make her more than a name because I knew the poor pony was destined to die. It was imperative for me to convey to you, the readers, that death is real in this world. No, Silent Knight did not die... but he could. He certainly didn't come out of it the same way.
Hope that helps!
SK :
Is there some major political figure with special guards assigned to them? I thinking about Prince Blueblood, Lady Cadanza, or any other ambassadors of Equestria.
What is your favourite cake flavor?
Azurite:
What is your favorite dessert?
Anzel:
Thanks for the insight of your character creation process :)
2992079 Is there some major political figure with special guards assigned to them? I thinking about Prince Blueblood, Lady Cadanza, or any other ambassadors of Equestria.
SK: There are many actually but to differing degrees of security. Only the princesses have House Guards. Princeling Blueblood has three bodyguards that rotate their shifts. Lady Cadence has a squad that also protects the colonel. All ambassadors travel with royal guards and our embassies are secured by them. Even mayors typically have at least one.
What is your favourite cake flavor?
SK: I don't eat a lot of sweets... I guess chocolate?
What is your favorite dessert?
Azu: Is funnel cake a dessert? I love funnel cake... if it isn't I like funnel cake flavored cake. Otherwise... probably berries.