too many ideas... · 5:17pm Sep 26th, 2015
I don't know what to do. I need a new project to focus on. I've asked other people and I can't get a good handle on what I should focus on.
Idea 1) Writing the story where Scotch Tape, Majina, and Pythia go to the zebra lands. It's continuing on PH but it's not PH2. Just resolves that story. It's called Homelands. Here's a snippit. Unedited and raw, but what's rattling around in my head.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14rRa7hjcWJEMuf2kjWgKOgqy0Mf9sXHRKNKeayMnWao/edit?usp=sharing
Idea 2) Writing a prequel that involves Bastard's first mission in the wasteland. It'd be set before PH and not have anything to do with it at all. In essence, Bastard wakes up 200 years later, takes a while to realize what's going on. Here's a link to that idea. Again, unedited and raw but still in my head.
https://docs.google.com/document/..
Idea 3) Writing a FoE that's more survival horror, but in a much smaller location. It takes place after sunshine and rainbows, and after Gardens cleans up a lot of mess. In essence, Bramble is a colt taking care of a sickly mother and younger sister. His father is a caravan guard who hasn't been home for 2 years, and everyone thinks has abandoned them. His mother needs expensive healing magic, but there's no way he'll get the caps.
Near the settlement of Kettle, there's a road nopony goes down: the Greenbriar road. Most kids go a few hundred feet, then run. A few make it half a mile before chickening out. Only three have gone as far as the old fishing shack at the bridge crossing the river. And nopony has crossed that bridge and returned. But all that changes when a dozen salvage teams land on Kettle with the intent of going down that road and salvaging what lies at the other side. Bramble plans on being a good boy and stay home, but when a pegasus drifter puts bomb collars on his mother and sister, he finds he has no choice. He has to go down the road and discover what it means to be a man, and a monster.
Idea 4) continuing the story Broken Accords. Essential, Stormy Skies learns what caused her amnesia and what is really going on. The story is a little bit stale at this point.
Idea 5) An original story. Essentially set in a steam punk fantasy where a fantastic metropolis produces a magical substance called Dyne that is extremely powerful and dangerous. Sadly, since a coup 15 years ago, things have gone downhill severely. Not that a researcher trying to write her thesis on the coup would know. She has a lead that a member of the dynelords who used to run the city survived the coup. This kick starts the adventure when they seek out the theoretical lost dynelord and in the process, set the whole city, and world, on a path to destruction or salvation.
They find the lost lord, who has absolutely no desire to rule anything, and are immediately beset by assassins, killers, and the magically augmented Dyneguard. The scholar and Dyneguard are joined by a murderous thug who takes pride in his work. Professional, like. A prisoner and research subject that wants to tear the whole city down. And an investigator with some very unsavory personal habits.
Idea 6) This science fiction story takes place in what is intended to be fairly hard science ficition. A ship is dispatched to a hostile system before war has been declared to destroy a shipyard. A journalist is sent along as a war correspondent. This man discovers the ins and outs of space combat, and discovers that the side that his on might not be the good guys in this fight. He discovers he's only along because the mission was intended to be a one way trip, and though the captain doesn't want to die, she will do anything she has to in order to slow the Terran advance.
Idea 7) Kat is a urban shaman trying to make ends meet in San Francisco. She's homeless, near destitute, and trying to escape notice by the authorities. She can also see and interact with spirits who've shown her some pretty messed up things. Got put in a mental institution. Nearly committed suicide. Now she's just trying to balance life in the real world with life in the supernatural. When some one from her old school tracks her down and asks for help solving a murder, she discovers some one is using spirits as attack dogs on her turf... and that this murder was just the first. Also in this world are other supernaturals such as vampires, therinthropes, exiled fae, angels and demons (some of whom are much more intimate than you might expect), and other creatures. And Kat is going to have to navigate them all, as she's added herself to the killer's hit list.
Idea 8) Newest one. Game of Thrones IN SPACE! Sorry... but basically it takes place in our solar system a century or two from now. Earth is dealing with 3 disasters: the ecological collapse, WW3 that arose from it, and WW4 that arose when the lunar and space colonies used lunar mass drivers to curbstomp the earth into submission. Now, 100 years later, the Space Defense Force is an unquestionable force to be reckoned with. The Moon, Mars, and Venus have all been partially terraformed, and humanity has spread out and diversified. Then the SDF's main hub and first Lunar fleet is destroyed. The SDF splinters, and soon admirals and planetary leaders get ambitious.
The story protagonist is a boy named Lucent whose father designs mecha interfaces and is perfecting a revolutionary design. On the day of the attack, their research station in the Belt is attacked. Lucent's father and brother are killed, but Lucent is able to get in the mech and get away. He's picked up by a decomissioned warship named the Arclight, which manages to get him to safety. The ship picks up a number of other pilots and will be an independent force investigating the cause of the outbreak of war. Yes... It's Game of Thrones meets Gundam... ugh... and I've barely even watched Gundam.
You guys give me money for horrible writing. What should I write?
I'm all for the Scotch Majina and Pythia story, seeing as how we don't really know much about Pythia aside from 'follow BJ into giant monster fights for the funzies'.
As much as I want "Homelands" for reasons of further PH closure, I really think you should wait a while. At least until you've finished uploading PH to FIMfic. Give stuff a little time to feel new again before you go jumping back into that world.
Personally, I'd prefer you get back to working on Broken Accords. I do love a good mystery, and I'm enjoying the story. I agree it had gone slightly stale, but that's because a lot of it feels like "point-to-point travel", if that makes any sense. I think there's still plenty to flesh out with all the unanswered questions such as who's really behind the lightning smuggling and, as you mentioned, Stormy's amnesia problem.
I'm torn between 1, 2 and 5
I'd personally love a story about Scotch, Majina and Pythia visiting and exploring the Zebraican wasteland. I personally haven't found many stories dealing with the zebra lands and it's the story concept that has most of my attention for the time being.
But on the other hand a story about Bastard and his reaction to waking up and finding a desolate wasteland is also tempting.
The steampunk story sounds interesting and it's defiantly something I'd love to read.
Though in the end what you write is up to you and I'll gladly read any of the stories you have planed out.
Though I hope these stories have a more manageable size to them than PH.
i think Idea 3 look the most fun
Not only am I not done with PH, but you're going to write more? God, I'm not going to be done with this until I'm an old man.
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What Robo said.
I certainly would love to see more of Broken Accords.
I like 2 and 3 because it sounds cool.
Personally I like the #3 quite a lot. I've always wanted a more horror centric fallout story rather than the typical action semi-horror stories.
I'd be interested in that.
// Sphex
Dr. Wolf says I should try floating between multiple projects, but I don't know how wise that is.
I just need to write. I need to get stuff out. I need to be read. I need some progress.
Way back when, before fimfiction I think, you were writing and uploading a story to EQD. Was that Broken Accords?
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I'd also like to see Broken Accords be finished as well, you've already got a good start to a story here Somber.
You've got some excellent ideas for more FoE related fics too, though I worry about the potential burn out in writing them. Staying in the same universe for too long may cause one to grow apathetic toward the setting. It might also cause issues in the future, kind of like actors getting typecast, you might be seen as an author who can 'only write FoE' fics no matter what you do. On the flip side of the coin, you're still immersed in the universe so continuing to write stories in it would be easier than creating a whole other 'verse or switching to a different one.
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I think RoboRed has it right with:
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I'm not a writer myself, but I can't imagine bouncing between multiple projects would be good for one's sanity. You'd need to find editors for each project, or editors that could take the strain of handling multiple stories. You'd have to also be pretty good at multitasking to generate the intricate plotlines for each and keep everything straight as you write each story. Depending on how much time you have to write, the chance for author burn out could increase as the pressure to get chapters done would double.
However, despite all that, It is a good challenge, and would be a good way to grow as a writer as it develops and improves the skills needed to handle multiple projects along with one's creativity. It also lets you work on the multiple ideas that you have in your head, instead of putting them on the back burner. Bringing more content to your fans is always a plus as well.
Overall, I'd say if you feel that this is something you have time for and agree that it would help you grow as a writer - go for it. Though I would suggest limiting the 'multiple story projects' to two and see how it works out. You can always put one story on hiatus and focus on the other if it becomes too much.
god its like looking into my own mind O.o so many ideas so little time.
Ideas 1, 3 and 7 sound the most interesting to me.
1 - it's more of PH, so I don't have to elaborate on this.
3- I was always a great fan of the Stalker and Metro games and this short description kinda reminds of my first hours in Shadow of Charnobyl.
7 - shamanism and spirits in modern times? Sounds kinda like he stuff Neil Gaimann did with "American Ghosts" - consider me hooked u!
Honestly, I want more Broken Accords.
although...
Query: have you considered a thing in Shadowrun?
3421988 No, it's not shadow run. The time is contemporary. There's a masquerade, though it's enforced more by skepticism than ancient conspiracies. The government does try to manage the supernatural, poorly, but there's no legal protection. Shamans interact with spirits and deal with the spiritual ecology that affect the material world, plus occasionally ghosts that don't pass on. Vampires exist, though they're much more individualistic as the method for creating more vampires is unreliable. Vampire feedings result in corpses most of the time, and vampires know that capture will probably result in flaming combustion when they're transferred from the jail to the courthouse. Therinthropes are humans that have had animal spirits merge with their souls. Faeries are exiles from the dreamworld that stayed too long and became attached to humanity rather than their dream selves. Wizards are people who by merit of their bloodline to ancient Atlantis have the ability to change the universe by will, though most have to employ rotes and gimmicks to make their concepts work. The Order of Clark tries to promote bleeding edge 'technology' that will be effectively magic. Angels and demons exist, but the more time they spend around humans the less good and evil they become. Angels tend to become jaded, or at least aware of the complexities of mortal life. Demons tend to sympathize with the misery of human condition. Demons also don't care so much about tempting evil (modern marketing is FAR more effective than anything demons have come up with) as they are with tempting honesty and foiling hypocracy. Angels just want to alleviate suffering.
Maybe continue Broken Accords, it'd give you more time to consider what you'll write next and it won't let a story unfinished.
About FoE, why is everyone focusing on the ground? I've never seen a fic taking place in the Enclave.
Anyway, in the end the decision is yours, Somber.
Personally I'm against the idea of leaving the MLP universe.
maybe you should pick three that's your favorite and focus on them when you have free time, don't try to do all of them at once but take time between each to work on finishing them.
Personally I'd opt for going into something different before returning to FoE, after the giant that is PH, either by finishing off Broken Accords or going for one of the original story ideas. Personally if I had to pick one I'd go for number 5, but I'll be interested in reading whatever it is you end up going for.
1, 2, and mostly 3 all sound cool... but maybe you should do something other then FoE for a bit. You do very good in that world but doing the same thing has got to burn you out a bit, right?
6 and 7 also sound interesting.
1,2, and 8 are what I voter for.
Somber
While I would love for you to finish Broken Accords (I wish I had seen a new chapter hadn't been posted in about a year before I started reading it or else I wouldn't have, I hate to start things that aren't/won't get finished), I would not want you to continue writing something you don't seem invested in(the whole stale comment). It would only hurt the quality of the quality of the new chapters.
Given the other options, I would probably prefer 1, 2, or 3 (as the others don't seem to be ponified)
Whatever you choose, keep up the good work!
My personal want is screaming for me to say 1. But i still feel like it would benefit from you taking a little brake from not just FoE things bust post apocalypse setting in general. Ugh now i'm feeling all torn myself! Not helping at all!
1, 2, and 3 are my votes. That being said, maybe something in between to switch it up after the awesome run with PH?
I personally enjoy 1, 3, and 7, but I'd read any of them.
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I didn't mean that it WAS Shadowrun, I just asked if maybe you've considered Shadowrun separately.
I think that the second and the fiveth ones can be interesting.
The first sounds awesome, an the last got me interested.
They all sound pretty cool to me, but ideas 1,2,3, and 8 seem the most interesting.
I like 1 and 5
I'd like to see what happens to Scotch Tape, you've built up quite a bit quite a lot of lore behind the zebras all ready. It'd be interesting to find out more from the other side of things. Especially if the story is told from Scotch 's perceptive.
I think I like the sound of Broken Accords and the steampunk one best right now. As Robo said, better to wait on more PH until PH is fully done with. Besides, seeing more outside of FoE would be nice.
I'd totally read #7.
If it's not too late to chip in, I really love idea 6 and I like 7 right after.
I like 7 bunches.