What I've Learned · 2:33am Jun 19th, 2015
Alright, everyone, the moment you've (hopefully) been waiting for is almost here. Lyric's one-shot for Just What I'm Dying For... is ninety-five percent done. What I mean by that is that I am now very happy with the core story, so now I would like to go back and clean it up where it needs. I've also had some wonderful people pre-read and offer their suggestions which I will see if I can incorporate into the story. (And don't worry, you'll get credit at the beginning of the chapter.)
Now I know I promised you that the story would only be done in a few weeks, but it took me much, much longer than that to finish. For that, I apologize greatly. Long story short, I had the first half written out but could not get the second half to come out right. I wrote it once when I was overtired but determined, and went back the next day to find that what I had written was utter crap. (No, really. It was horrible.) So what did I do? I scrapped it and started again. But then the dialogue felt too forced and nothing was flowing right. I knew where I wanted the story to go, but not how to get it there. Because of that, and because I just could not find the motivation to write, the story just sat there, lagging in development hell.
And then last Friday rolled around.
It was before I had to leave for work. I had woken up early and went to do the dishes, which is where I often find that I do a lot of thinking. As I let my mind drift, an idea came to me. Actions that I had not considered before, a new take on the dialogue. Excited and emboldened, I finished my chore and turned on my computer. For the next half hour, I just sat there and wrote and felt happy because I was finally making progress!
At least, I thought I was. Once I had finished that part, I had to leave for work. And after the work day ended, I found myself without any ideas on how to progress once more. But then, last weekend, as my dad drove us home from another state and with an hour left to go in the trip, the ideas came flooding in. Getting antsy and lacking a computer, I started to type my ideas on my smartphone. Once again, the magic of writing came to me. Ideas put themselves onto paper. The words and dialogue flowed. This lasted until I was dropped off at a friend's house to go to a celebratory birthday dinner for her, but at least I felt accomplished. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt that I could continue the story.
Cue the rest of the week. I was either out late, working late, or visiting family. All of which were fun and/or important, but left me with no energy to write each night. But when I came home tonight, I knew I had the time and energy, if not a whole heck of a lot of motivation. But you know what? I had to try. It took a while, and I was distracted from time to time. I checked here, went onto DeviantArt, answered a few messages, the usual stuff. But all the while I was thinking that I needed to finish. And finally, I did. I'm not quite ready to post yet, but I'm damn close and feeling good about it.
So now what did I learn from all this? First off, I've learned to not post a story before it is fully finished, or at least not to promise a delivery date on here. You never know what will happen in your life, and it does no good to keep your fans waiting. (Of course, becoming an author of your own works is probably different if you are published, but that in itself is motivation to get something down.) I've also learned not to be afraid to ask others for help. I usually am, as I am always afraid that I will receive unhelpful negative criticism, although time and again I am shown that to be completely untrue. So to those whose help I asked for and who so freely gave it, I thank you.
In addition, I learned that while staying true to source material when writing can be a wonderful thing, it can also become stifling as well. In this case, I was trying to stay so close to how events unfolded in the Heroes of Equestria campaign my friends and I took part in. Recreating each scene as it was just did not work. It felt forced and the story could not breathe. It took me a while to consider taking the story in a new direction, but when I did, the ideas came rushing in. No longer was I trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The story came out exactly as it wanted to, and that is fine with me, which also leads me to my next lesson. I learned to only write when I am awake and alert, and not to force a fic out just to get it finished. I know now that I will likely not be pleased with the end result.
Lastly, I also learned to not be afraid of scrapping all I have and starting over. Normally, when I write a fic, I am able to get the core story down in a few hours, then will re-read a few hours or a few days later and will revise as necessary. Sometimes I'll scrap a paragraph or two, or change some dialogue, or take out extraneous wording or what-have-you. Or sometimes I will take the base story and add to it, putting in details that flesh out and strengthen the story, turning them into something better than they were before. Music of the Heart and Magical Melodies are perfect examples of this. Never before did I take a completed story and gut half of it. Never before were my revisions so thorough. But you know what? It felt so good to do, so liberating. And my story is now all the better for it.
To those who have waited all this time, I apologize again and thank you for your patience. To any newcomers to my works, I thank you for your interest and hope that you will give the story a chance. Really, just thank you. Thank you all. You and my love of the written word are why I do what I do, why I send Lyric out on her journeys, and why I record her travels and tales for all to enjoy. She and you are my motivations for writing now, and that means more to me than I can truly say.
Until next time, my friends.
3161549
Heh heh, yeah. But all true. It's been one hell of a crazy ride. @_@
3161558
And I completely believe you. It's not easy being a writer sometimes. But when you get that fic out there and you're happy with it, there's no better feeling. I can only imagine what you went through when your fic made it to the popular section of the page.
Welcome back!
Man you put a LOT of thought into your stories. Most of mine are "lol I think I'll write the first thing that pops into my head!".
3161570
I know EXACTLY what you mean, mate. For all of it. But once that work pays off, there's no better feeling. A lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into our works, and it shows. Especially with yours. You truly deserve that spot on the popular list.
3161589
Thank you very much! It's good to be back!
3161684
Or would that be tooth and hoof? 
Haha, well mine are like that as well sometimes and they'll come to me pretty easily. Not this one. It fought me tooth and nail.
3161709
I prefer "Tooth and Horse Feets".
3161722
That works for me!
3161709 Tooth and hoof sounds correct.
But where's the fun in that? 
3161785
Good question.
3161788
3161850
Nah, just speaking the truth.
3161923
Also, thank you! I truly hope you enjoy it.
Hahaha, she just may be! I would not put it past her.
I feel you there mate.
It is the same for me.
Your story is good, Bard. I'm sure of it.
3162985
Thank you, Lazydrill, and thank you very much for your suggestions. I heard them and took them to heart.
3162992 You've helped me in the beginning when I started writing, and you still do. Helping you, is the least I can try.
3163027
Still though, thank you. X3 And I promise that I'll get back to your stuff ASAP.