Block-breaking ahead! · 5:41pm Jul 6th, 2015
Part of the trap of being a well-followed writer is the belief that every story out of your pen has to be the next "Past Sins" or whatever, lest you disappoint the masses. If you approach the page every single time with the attitude that everything you produce must be brilliant, groundbreaking, hilarious, famous and perfect, I absolutely guarantee you that you will get nowhere at all, which is basically where I've been the past six months.
The fact is, sometimes you just want to write a short, sweet little piece about Cadance and Rarity having a chat. And so I did. It's not going to dominate the feature-box for five days straight, it's not going to be linked to from Equestria Daily, and it's not going to make the Royal Canterlot Archive. And that's absolutely, one-hundred-percent okay. Hope you enjoy the forthcoming "Gone So Long."
EDIT: Up now.
If you seek to make your every project "Past Sins" then you've set the bar for yourself way too low.
Dear Celestia, no! One Past Sins is more than enough already.
3212022, 3212001
Pen Stroke and I have paneled together, and he seems like a great guy. That said, I have to (somewhat shamefully) admit that I haven't read more than a few paragraphs of his magnum opus, so I can't contribute anything to a constructive critique. Sorry, Pen Stroke; too long working in comics has given me the attention span of a gnat. I was merely speaking of its iconic status as an unstoppable juggernaut of horsefame.
... really? Why not?
There are a number of authors whose fics are, as near as I can tell from outside observation, are basically passed straight through the EQD pre-readers with barely a glance and put in the fic posts. That, coupled with the slowing of fic traffic there in general, coupled with your general track record, makes it seem like you'd have a fairly decent shot of getting it on there.
Assuming you care. I know people for whom not having ever navigated EQD's byzantine and at times baffling fanfic screening is a point of pride.
3212032
Well, anything's possible, of course! I mean, all three of the things mentioned are not strictly under my control, so hey, maybe! I guess what I'm trying to say here is "these things are not a part of my success criteria for this story." My sole success criterion was "write a story," and I am pleased to report that I have already succeeded.
3212028
I don't know him, but everything I've heard about Pen Stroke from those who have met him in person and/or spoken with him for any length of time lead me to believe he is indeed a great person.
I also don't fault him for the fame of his story, nor his support of his story for the fans, and so on as evidenced by a skim of his blogs.
But I have read the whole story, and I have some fairly extensive notes I'm working on as a side project for the story. Suffice to say, the story is not good. It really is one of those great examples of "that story that is super popular but doesn't deserve it" that you hear people mention but never give examples for when they complain about things like the feature box.
3212093 cough *My Little Dashie* cough
3212115
The HiE people that gave that one popularity are like their own separate fandom with strange rules and customs that fly in the face of proper storytelling and defy sane concepts of good or bad.
In other news, Skywriter, read the story. Will comment on it.
3212165
Thank you!
I don't think you have to have thousands of followers to experience this kind of writer's block. When I started writing my first (and at this point only) fanfiction novel, I had zero followers, zero exposure, and felt certain that the only people who would bother commenting would do so to criticize my amateur storytelling and ideas.
These low expectations had the unexpected side effect of allowing me to write at times very, very quickly. I banged out the first 10,000 words in a twelve-hour literary fugue state, most of which I consider to be some of my better writing.
Now, my chapters hit the feature box, I have over fifty followers, and I've raised the bar so high for myself that I can't seem to write anything at all. Every time I come up with an idea, I eventually shoot it down as "not good enough," and try to find a better one.
Meanwhile, I have to deal with both comments and PM's from disappointed readers asking me when I'm going to get around to continuing the story. I'm sure that any one of them would be happier with another good-enough chapter of the likes that captured their attention in the first place than with a masterpiece that never comes.
...Anyway. Of the many, many superb writers here on fimfiction, you, Skywriter, are certainly one of the best that I've read. I'm very glad that you're making strides to overcome your writer's block, and just wanted to let you know that you're not alone in your struggles. Your newest story is already on my Read it Later list. ~ Sable
P.S. I HAVE read Past Sins, though it was a long time ago. It was the second story in the fandom that I read (after Spiderses), and not only convinced me that fanfiction could be more than slash fic written by fourteen year-old girls, but is also part of what inspired me to write my own villain-protagonist novel. Past Sins may not have been as great as today's epics like Harmony Theory or This Platinum Crown, but it was clearly Good Enough.
3212244
Thanks for weighing in with your personal experience, ST. It always helps to know you're not alone.
Resisting the opportunity to take potshots at a popular story for cool kid points, I see that you took the advice we gave you in one of the groups somewhere. (I'm in too many to track.) The story looks promising enough. I put it in my Read Later list, so I'll get to it eventually(TM).
Hope this frees you up to do more writing! There's not much more frustrating than having ideas and being unable to write them. Or wanting to write and having no ideas.
And then sometimes you write a simple little block breaker and you get featured anyway.
3213053
I am very pleased! Obviously the length doesn't hurt; it's more likely to be read and digested at first glance than put into "Read Later" which I am, mark my words, no less grateful for, but it doesn't push the algorithm as far as I know.
Sorry to tell you this, but it's been Featured.
3213154
Thanks for the info! Well, what I wrote still stands, I doubt it'll hit the top and stay there or anything. It's not weighty enough for that!
3212244
Oh gods, I know that feel, bro. I know that feel.
I feel a little bad for you right now. It's still up there.
3224011
It's done... a bit better than anticipated, all told.
>past sins
So absolute dribble that the fandom goes insane over for no good reason?
3715648
Heh. Everyone's mileage varies. I couldn't get into it myself. Just speaking of its iconic status as a Popular Story.
3715681 It's worse garbage than My Little Dashie.