Ramble Post: Reading and Writing

Okay, I have to talk about this.

One of the best things to me is when you find a story you just cannot put down. Here on FimFiction those stories are very rare, but once you get it then it really stucks with ya. The main ones I love right now are Wander D's Sweetie Belle Chronicles, The Parasprite's Solitary Locust, and Ivory Piano's Keeping It Simple.

Each of those stories are very unique and entertaining. Wander D keeps me on the edge of my seat every update because we have seen how much Sweetie Belle has grown and matured. Each chapter is very long so the waits between each update also feels worth the wait. The Parasite's story is something which isn't as unique as Wander D, but he gives it a realistic and fantastic twist to the trope to keep me interested and questioning what will happen to Twilight. And Ivory Piano's take on Big Mac fits so perfectly with the fandom's original view of him, and yet he has found a way of keeping it fresh with the interactions between every character.

It is stories like these which has kept me from leaving this site during my hiatus. I've always had to come back just to see if they updated again. The type of stories which grab hold of you and suck you into their world, making you both feel and care for each character in it. It is the goal of every writer to strive to not just tell an interesting story but to make the reader live in the story with the characters.

As fiction writers we both have it easier and harder than original story writers. The characters are already known and cared for by the readers. They come in knowing exactly what character they will be reading about. So an interest in the story is already there and all we have to do is make the story interesting enough to keep them interested. But this also raises a major hurdle we must cross. The audience already knows the character. We must learn this character and keep them as show canon as possible as we write. At least, as close as possible during the beginning of the story. If you have a longer story the character can grow and change.

This is present very well in the three stories I've mentioned earlier. It feels as if the characters are growing and changing. Maturing, in a way, with the story. We must struggle and make this growth feel realistic and not forced. For example: You cannot make Twilight jump from her nerdy self to a ruthless battle mage in only three chapters and/or 5000 words. That is too much of clash from what we know of her canon personality. It can be done, as seen in Upheaval: Breaking Point by Visiden Visidane, but you have to work for it. Work very hard.

No matter what anyone says, writing is difficult. We have an almost infinite amount of ways to tell the audience something, but we have to shuffle and sort through those many ways to find the 'perfect' one which will both enhance the story and be entertaining. It is a job we love, though. It is something we strive to perfect.

It is also something which I'm really studying recently. Not just with fanficiton, but with other fantasy novels. Currently I'm addicted to the Mistborn Trilogy. I've read through two books within a week and I'm a fourth of the way done with the last one. It is a story with a wonderful mix of politics and adventure to keep me wanting to know what will happen next. Not to mention it has managed to fool me with every twist. I'm baffled on where the story is leading, but I'm loving this journy I'm taking.

The feeling I'm feeling now is how I want my stories to be. Not just a story to be told, but an experience I can take the reader on. To make them question, to feel, to remember. I think it is the goal of every writer to make those things part of their story, and it is something I hope they achieve.

I think I've used up enough of your time reading this long post, but I felt like I needed to get this out into the open. As my script writing teacher always told us: "You cannot do anything with an idea. Get it on paper so the world can see it. Only then can you fix it up to make it into something great."

This idea has been cooking up in my mind on and off for a few years and I'm finally getting it onto paper. Now I can read through it and see if I can fine tune it and see if there is a purpose for this rant or if it was just me blabbing away.

Thanks for reading it and I'll see you on the next update!

-M. D. Quill