On the Current State of Affairs · 2:33am Sep 29th, 2015
Hi, guys.
It's been a bit of a while, hasn't it?
I mean, three months is nothing to scoff at, but at least I can come here today to tell you all that I am, in fact, alive. So first things off, I'm going to answer the question that many of you probably have: "When's the next chapter of pony.exe?" Nowhere near anytime soon. I'm maybe 10% through the next installment, tops. Yeah, I know, disappointing. You see, the thing is, after the summer break started and I found myself going on vacation for two weeks it's hard to get in the right mind to write anything. And right afterwards, well, I had a lot of things to think about. I had to think about my future and put my future first in front of, uh, pony fan fiction writing. And that lasted until the end of August, where by then I had figured out everything I needed to but took so long to do so and procrastinated so much that I had completely forgot about My Little Pony. I finally did remember, but that was because of an obligation to an author I had that I was one of his editors for his story, and he hadn't heard anything from me in two months and he needed his next chapter out. Oops.
Needless to say, I told him I couldn't help him anymore, and was completely prepared to not look back. I gotta be honest, I don't feel like writing anything related to pony.exe. At all. You know, this isn't the first time that this has happened, with my old story Chronicles of an Unknown World getting a whole year hiatus after I had stopped caring for it until a certain point, so it's not like I'm leaving forever. My interests in different subjects and arts change every two months or so, and I've only been able to keep up with the draw until two months ago because I was a bit attached to writing and improving my writing skills. But now? Now that I've gone along and had to take a break to figure stuff out in my life and create a new path for me forward, it's insanely difficult to go back to it. I'm going to university and I have a job and at the end of the day, I don't want to sit down and write some more. That's the last thing on my mind.
Sorry to say guys, but writing takes work. It takes work and time and sometimes feels like work and I can only write when I truly have that passion and drive burning inside of me. Otherwise, there are plenty of other things I would be rather doing other things with my free time that know I'll enjoy and I know that they'll relax me and I know that it won't feel like something else to the ever-growing pile of things to do in my life. Sometimes, writing feels like a chore. I'm not being cold, I'm stating exactly how I feel. And right now, writing something pony-related just isn't in my radar. The closest thing would be the next chapter for Dreamweaver, a story which I'm actually pretty passionate about, having written a bit of it when I had the chance during the summer, but ppshh, who the heck cares about that story? Everyone wants to know the fate of pony.exe, not that thing that's obscured off in the background!
...I'm sorry, that was a bit facetious of me. Nevertheless, in terms of writing I'm slowly progressing away from fan fiction and more into original works hoping that one day I can actually get good enough to publish a work of my own. Of course, that'll take time and progress, and I do recognize that fan fiction is a great medium to get feedback on your writing from, but at of right now I don't want to write anything pony related. It doesn't mean that I've lost interest in participating in the fandom and reading pony stories and checking in once in a while. It doesn't mean that I'm quitting FiMFiction or disappearing altogether or heaven forbid, dying, it's just... I dunno, I just kind of want to lay low for a while.
Not have anything too involved going in on my FiMFiction life.
Not have to worry anything about fan expectation or the time I need to spend on something that sometimes just feels like work and not fun at all.
I like writing. And I like ponies. But right now? Well, I don't have to tell you yet another time do I? You guys are smarter than that.
And that's the current state of affairs. Take it as you may.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
And before you leave? Yes, I will resume writing on pony.exe. Someday. You'll just have to wait.
Well, that kinda sucks. I have to say, I know what you're going through as a guy who left a whole lot of his early fiction on the backburner. These days, though, I'm trying to break the habit with a self-imposed deadline of one new chapter every two weeks. So far, I've mostly done so. (One chapter was a day late.) But I also know how it is when you're trying to write and study AND work AND live your life.
Still, I don't think of it as work. I think of it as what I look forward to when I come home from work. And I think I will do something original in November for NaNoWriMo, but I'm happy to write things and read all the great and intelligent comments from those following the story. I hope, when you get the time, we'll see more of this interesting little tale. But in the meantime, take care, and thanks for the head's up!
I can truly understand and sympothises with life getting in the way of the important things (like ponies and free time). I was wondering if you had an end game in mind with pony.exe or if you where just stringing it along as you go. I only ask because if you do decided to put it down I have seen some other authors just release notes on where the story may have gone and was wondering if you where thinking of doing that? Or if you want to keep your directors journal secret I can understand that.
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I definitely had an end game clear in my mind. When I start these kind of things, I always make sure I had a solid start and finish in mind. I know a proper start is essential to get people hooked on to the ride, and well, I've seen a lot of stories get botched because of a shotty ending. My issue is the in-between. What do I put there? Is it relevant to the story? Did I just waste four hours on what might be accidental filler? How can this chapter be better? Good lord, this is gonna take forever!
That sort of thing.
And I mean, I am going to finish it at some point. It will only be left unfinished when I say so, and I haven't said that yet. I don't want to shoot yet because I have to save my ammo for later.
3428787 "Sir, it's someone smart enough to know... if you're hunting with one bullet, you wait for a clean shot" from Air Force one
I agree I just thought I would ask because I know the end is going to be worth it with this story
Wow. Except for the job part, I can completely, 100% relate with you right now.
Speaking both as a reader of 'Pony.exe' and as an Equestria Daily pre-reader, I'm hopeful that you'll finish it, eventually. I know all too well how writing takes drive and passion. You have all these story ideas in general, you get home, you sit down... and writing is the last thing you want to do.
But, despite all that? I'm not going anywhere. I enjoy your stuff too much to just ditch out.
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Aww. Thanks man. That really means a lot to me. Brought a smile to my face.
I see lots of writers that get slammed by life here, likely because most of us are college-age employed individuals still trying to figure out our lot in life. Would be a lot simpler if we got cutie marks, no? Anyway, I can imagine how stressful it must be to feel obligated to update your stories that you don't want to write for fans that you love.
Unfortunately, there just isn't an easy answer to all this except to try to sort out your life issues first. If you do resume writing, I would try to keep the stories shorter so that you finish them before you lose interest. Some people just don't enjoy writing longer stories, even if they find it fun at first.
You could also pass this story off to another author so it at least gets finished. Of course you could give them your outline or tell them the general direction you want the story to go, the major plot points and etc, then let them do the hard work while you sort out your life.
Salient words, written from the heart. Putting the mind to a task and following it through is difficult. Writing can be an enjoyable release, but I often compare it to lifting weights or putting in time at the firing range. You have to have the time. Also, since "all writing is editing", you have to have the time to read and re-read your work until you are sick of it but satisfied that you have converted the concept in your head into words that a reader will understand. It ain't easy, and a story that starts out as a casual release can turn into yet another source of stress.
You're not the only one with this problem.
Not sure if it's a comfort, but I know how it feels. I had to put one of my FiMfiction stories on hold for almost a year due to work sucking out all my creative energies. However, a few weeks ago when I started it back up, I discovered that many of my old readers came right back. The moral of this little story is simple. Focus on what's truly important in life, and when you once more have an abundance of time you can put on the work gloves again. As you wrote back in April, closure is important. This is true for both writers and readers!
Oh, and a piece of advice. Keep a little "NOTES" textfile in the directory where you keep this story's chapters. Every time you get an idea about this story during the "pause", pop the file open and jot a note. (I used post-its, but you might not have that option!.) By doing this, when I returned to my story I already had a ton of content jotted down and ready to be edited together. This allowed me to sift through them and choose the "best" to fit into my previously written outline. Little one-liners for characters, references to the Wizard of Oz, and callbacks to earlier chapters can be troubling to think of when you're sitting at the computer writing. That's why it's really handy to collect them as jotted notes for future reference.
You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Keep focusing on the things that matter most. Ponywriting will be here when you have time.