Aaaaaand finally got that shit done · 9:43am Oct 12th, 2015
Not gonna lie guys, I'm kind of exhausted.
As much as that entire super-arc was a slog wearing down Handy, it was a slog to write. But you guys have heard me bitch about the previous chapters before so I won't repeat that shit here. Much. I will be honest, I was not having a lot of fun writing most of those chapters, having trouble almost right from the beginning with the Deer arc, an arc I had been so excited to write on its own and one in which I had to sacrifice so much just to move the plot along because Handy could not afford to loiter when he had shit to do.
This was a damn shame and shows a weakness in my foresight and something I shall endeavor to not do again.
You see by engaging and dragging out the changeling super-arc I had effectively put what was supposed to be a more free-form adventure story onto a kind of railroad. Which is not bad if the entire story was JUST this one plot thread, but it isn't. I know you guys really did seem to enjoy most of the work I've done and I'm glad for that, truly, but that doesn't really stop the problems I developed over that time from being a problem.
We're, what? Nearly two years into the story now (real time)? and we're only just now sorting out the Chrysalis bullshit. The entire point of the arcs was to be like the side quests that you encounter along the trail of the main quests in an openworld game (a poor analogy but effective for now), self contained, excuses for the character to learn, grow and become stronger so he can fight the real boss on an equal level come the endgame. Arcs are not suppose to be subserviant to other arcs. They are excuses for me to throw Handy into other parts of the world, letting me explore and to build while entertaining you guys and surviving the main plot in increments. Now it feels like its been so long now, longer than it should feel since we had Handy deal with the Mistress, and the problem is I can't have him deal with the mistress right now, the man is fucking wrecked. Physically, emotionally and mentally and he needs some time to recover before I toss him into the grinder again, I can't just have Discord snap his finger sand fix him up or some other deus ex machina, he has earned the rest and he needs to be shown having it for it to be believable.
The slog made it so much worse for him than Arcs ordinarily would, because after each one before the tournament arc, he had a period of rest and recuperation,a time to reflect. He has not had one such period of rest in a long ass time. And all the while I had been writing this while feeling I had trapped myself, committed not to arcs which I enjoy, but committed said arcs to a predetermined path which I did not enjoy and it contributed to my fatigue and melancholy over these past months.
That kinda changed when I finally got to lepidopolis and sat and actually fucking thought about the direction of my characters.
Handy's downward spiral was always supposed to come to a point where he realized he was far removed from the better man he was at the start of the story, (he was still a bastard back then, but he was more willing to do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing), which was part of him staring at the result of his actions at the start of the story and trying to figure out just what the hell compelled him to take such a stupid risk before he was even a vampire.
Though it wasn't directly stated in the story, part of his realization, apart from the fact he was acting like the monster he was trying not to become, (slinking in the shadows, living amidst filth, preying on people), was that he had let fear rule him. Fear of discovery by the ponies, fear of capture, fear of magic, fear of his own monstrosity, fear fear fear fear fear.
This was as much an in character realization as much as it was one for me as an author, because all this fear had accomplished for him was to make him less than what he could be, especially now with the powers he has at his control, and the proof was staring him in the face out of the empty eye sockets of a dead dragon. Having him realize this and turn around on, admittedly, shaky reasoning (which I had him admit to himself in character) I ended up having the most fun writing a chapter than I've had all year. And had him do all he did without ever worrying about breaking his character, which was my own biggest fear if I ever hearkened back to the over-the-top adventurous shenanigans of the start of the story.
Another huge problem, and one I feel less confident in my abilities to address, is the fact everything I write now is REALLY FUCKING LONG, I pack in so much detail its kinda crazy and while I know a lot of you guys love that, looking at it from a writing perspective it is sloppy and unnecessary, even if it does add to the story and your enjoyment of it, it wouldn't cut it if I did this shit in a published novel. Seeing as I am still treating this story as a means to hone writing skills, this is something I need to reign in under control. The last chapter was fun as hell to write but it was not supposed to be anywhere near 22k by my projections. Shows what I know. JBL told me I should've split the chapter and had the kissalis scene in the second chapter which would have divvyed up the impact of both major scenes and lessened neither, I should've listened to him. This has been a consistent problem for a long time now, my unwillingness to divide chapters is a huge problem for me and the weird thing is: It definitely wasn't always like this. There's been far too much unnecessary walkin' and talkin' going on.
My first 'huge' chapter was way back in the first arc, when Handy and Joachim were down in the diamond dog mines as slaves (AKA chapters 1&2), I got to a point, realized I had hit 9k, and just decided to cut it there, rewrite the ending of chapter 1, and save the rest for chapter 2 and ended up creating peoples' first true taste of Bad Mondays' goodness and succeeded in divorcing it from the usual HiE traditions (but it wasn't until chapter 9 that shit really got going). I've seemed to have lost that sense of things and that, more than any other reason, is why you guys are still waiting two weeks for each chapter. I dunno, something to think about for the future.
I think it'd be worth investing into so I can avoid writer's fatigue, I don't have the free hours anymore, (8 and a half hours of work + 4 hour commute = Fuck the World), you guys are lucky I manage to pump out anything at all, but if I don't figure out something soon something will have to give. This is also why the other Bad Mondays extras have taken a back seat, its why there's no Handyman Can't Draws lately (even though I'm still drawing Rust his gift. Yes Rust I'm still doing that), no more riddle ciphers and no more maps. I want to do this shit and I enjoy the hell out of it but I fucking can't. And when the weekend rolls around I am too fucked to do anything other than just lie down and stare at the ceiling. Yeah I know, I need either a new job or to move closer to work. But £10 an hour is the best pay I've ever gotten but I still cant make enough to make moving into the city halfway affordable in comparison to traveling, and there is no work to be had around, I'm lucky to be employed even if my contract is shit and they've extended my probationary period for 'working too fast'. (BITCH, do you even know how many documents land on my inbox every day? Working too fast, this is some soviet era horseshit, I work my own pace, bastards)
Its all well and good for you guys to be patient which I am grateful for and tell me to work at my own pace, but its my pace that's the problem. I used to reread my own chapters after finishing them, but now that 18k monstrosities are the norm, I don't. I'm too tired to read over them and have to trust my editors when they tell me to change stuff. This is unprofessional but its the way things are. I need to learn to cut shit out otherwise this story won't be fucking over by the time this current generation of pony is over.
And to think: I was musing over ideas of a possible prequel.
After the winter break chapters I think it'll be time for Handy to go solo adventuring again. See if things are different.
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What the hell kinda job do you have where "working too fast" is a problem?
3464278 Law firm.
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3464355
Til the pones realize he's alone.
Swiggity Swooty, Stellar's comin for that booty.
3464115 Goddammit it, Nappa!
3464428 Just what Handy needs, another angry mare hassling him.
I have to disagree with you on this. I will admit that there is definitely a major push away from intimate detail among fanfic writers, but I have always thought that was a bad thing. Tons of great authors go into extensive loving detail in their work and it really adds a ton to the story so I feel like trying to cut it down like this is really the mark of an amateur. Great authors know how to strategically use details to really bring the world to life with lots of little details without killing the pacing, so you should be proud of the fact that you have picked up that skill, not ashamed of it. You should look into people like James Michener who can spend a large paragraph describing the sky without loosing the reader and embrace your own use of detail rather than shunning it.
That said, you could definitely stand to cut more chapters in half to make them easier to write, edit, and read.
3464469 Oh, she's going to be doing a bit more than hassling him.
Let's just say there will be beatings.
Such savage beatings.
They're going to beat it till they drop.
Your more important than your horse words! Please rest and take care of yourself. We are grateful as always for your labors but don't sacrifice what's really of value to you. FIM will still be around later.
:(
Do whatever you feel is right Handy. This story is such a blast to read, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down.
I can't wait to see more!
Don't loose your detail, please. Breaking them up is great, though. This is one of my favorite stories ever. We'll need to work on your romance writing, though.
Everyone who has ever written a published book feels your pain as the product of their blood sweat and tears is gutted and whole arcs are torn down, plot threads are ripped out or cut short and the whole thing is ‘streamlined’ to shorten the space between covers. And Incidentally One of the biggest problems of open world games is that they can rarely get the pacing right, which often lead to reviewers making cracks such as (the world is in jeopardy and our 'last hope' is seeing how fast he can run up the side of a building).
The world is a big place and Handy is just one man. At their tech level just getting somewhere in a world like that is a story in and of itself (which Handy even lamp-shaded). Your story isn’t too long because you take the time to show rather then tell in bullet points like is the standard in fan stories. And the truth is, everyone who has ever created anything always looks at their own work and find it lacking. Us on this side see and love what's there. You see it for what it 'could be' and it will never be good enough in that regard.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a picture in my head, started drawing and wound up with something that the person I was drawing it for loves, but looks nothing like what I set out to draw.
(If the problem lies with his decision to not go back to the griffins before he's done with the mistress, and the obvious consequence of that decision being the perceived need to back hand her post haste. You could always show that he wouldn't be able to win against her as he is as he is now (or have him come to that realization himself the next time he gets a moment to think). Which would force him to go back to the griffins but not stay too long through fear that she would come after him there. That airship of his should help with getting bogged down in travel except where its needed. And he could finally clue his griffin friend to what the hell's going on when he says he can't stay.)
do what ever you fell for man its upp to you and your story. I have enjoied read this story and i' intrested how it will end.
but what materes the moste is that you dont puching your shelf to hard. and just take your time if needed cause your helth is more in portan then the story.
3464612 ...It took me longer than it should've to get the joke. >=[
3464279
Unless you’re a paralegal and they think you’re just rushing through shit without actually doing your job… that’s what their complaint is, isn’t it? They’re not used to someone who’s competent, dedicated, and quick. Reminds me of the bullshit with my brother‐in‐law and the Council; he could get two streets done on his own in the time it took a three man team to do one and they ended up harassing and eventually firing him.
Well. Arcs CAN have other arcs in them. If you look at many long running animes. Naruto, or one piece. Their is an overall goal, andd the path to get their is often long. Training arcs, travel, adventure. But usually each of these arcs have bits of the main arc in them. Anyway, love your stuff. Hope you rediscover your joy that you make us experience whenever a chapter is released. Also. I've never understood the though that a chapter is too long. Too short is a thing for sure, when you end a chapter you can't just stop, you have to put some sort of end. Well when you start the next chapter it's alot easier to just skip stuff between the end of one and the begigning of another, I feel like unless properly managed you can lose some great world building and character depth by just stopping because its long.
Also I would maybe read some of Brandon sandersons advice on writing. That guy is a prolific monolith of writing. He puts out like a book or more a year, from different series. Most are quite long.
Sanderson's First Law
"An author's ability to solve conflict satisfactorily with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic."
While originally created as a rule for magic systems in fantasy novels, Sanderson has specified that this law need not apply just to fantasy, but is also applicable to science fiction. This Law was originally defined in Sanderson's online essay "Sanderson's First Law". In the essay he qualifies the two extremes of design as being:
Hard Magic
Magic/technology has well defined rules that the audience understands. As a result, one can use this to solve conflict more easily as the capabilities are cleanly defined. Sanderson classifies this as "Hard Magic". C.L. Wilson in her essay Worldbuilding 101 - Making Magic advocated this method of creation, stating, "...create your rules, then follow them."
Soft Magic
Magic/technology has unclear or vague rules, or none at all. This allows for a greater sense of wonder to be attained for the reader, but the ability to solve problems without resorting to deus ex machina decreases. Sanderson classifies this as "Soft Magic". Lawrence Watt-Evans specifically advised "The trick is to be a benevolent and consistent deity, not one who pulls miracles out of a hat as needed."
Sanderson's Second Law
"Limitations > Powers"
Or in other words, a character's weaknesses are more interesting than his or her abilities. It was initially set down in Episode 14 of the podcast Writing Excuses.
John Brown, likewise looked to Sanderson's work in his own essay involving magic systems, noting "What are the ramifications and conflicts of using it?"Patricia Wrede likewise noted several issues on this topic ranging from magic suppressing other technologies, to how a magic might affect farming.
In explaining the second law, Sanderson references the magic system of Superman, claiming that Superman's powers are not what make him interesting, but his limits, specifically his vulnerability to kryptonite and the code of ethics he received from his parents.
Sanderson's Third Law
"Expand what you already have before you add something new."
The Third Law implies that the writer should go deeper with worldbuilding before going wider.
Sanderson points out that magic does not take place in a vacuum, a good magic system should be interconnected with the world around it. It is related to the ecology, religion, economics, warfare, and politics of the world it inhabits. The job of the author is to think further than the reader about the ramifications of the magic system. If magic can turn mud into diamonds, that has an effect on the value of diamonds. Sanderson states that readers of genre fiction are interested not just in the magic system but how the world and characters will be different because of the magic.
3466839 I think you misunderstand the problem I was outlining. I agree that arcs are supposed to serve the overall main goal of the story, thats the way it should be done. My problem was I was having the arcs not serve themselves and the main storyline but serving another arc instead. It'd be like the Arancarr arc in Bleach serving not its own ends and that of character development (which as far as I can tell is the only end goal of that interminable series). Actually Bleach is a good example of the kind of problem that creates with its filler arcs. The problem was these arcs were supposed to be arcs on their own, I put plenty of chekov's guns in practically every chapter I write that can be fired off later in other arcs, but never before had I really forced myself through and arc just to get to another arc, thus doing it a disservice.
And while I was unaware Sanderson had codified his laws, I had been basically following them consistently, especially his second law when it comes to the real movers and shakers of the world of BM (Alicorns, Discord, Greater Spirits, Archmages, The Mistress other creatures besides) as well as Handy himself whose own humanity is a limitation on his, frankly, absurd potential as a vampire. And his one known shit-wrecking weakness is a vital element of daily life, namely fire. I have the magic system well in hand and I apply the hard magic rules to it, but I am playing with what is and is not magic in this universe so I cant say one rule applies universally.
Other than that I have been following these laws more or less consistently, with a spin on the last one, since its less how different this already alien world is because of magic but, startlingly, how similar it is to ours at times in spite of the presence of magic. IE: The fact that magic has utter shit-wrecking potential yet nonetheless mages don't rule everything.
3464605 I dunno about that, I pretty much waffled unnecessarily with the description of Manehatten, that was embarrassing.
3464675 Heresy.
3466287 Frowny face at the idea of a pre/sequel?
3466407 You're right, Thorax and Jacques romance was pretty bad I should work on that.
3466479 The problem isn't with getting back to the griffons, I want him to get back there quickly so I can justify him resting enough before I throw him to the wolves again, the mistress is part of the endgame and isn't due until roughly about then. Handy is not trying his luck against her now, he's had success with her minions so far but isn't under any illusions as to how out of his depth he was when he first fought Thunder. I want him back to the griffons so I can rest him up and get him that airship of his (which was originally purposed as a means of getting around this damned continent relatively quickly and not have to worry overmuch about travel details)
I guess I shouldn't say its the detail that I hate doing, because I can easily lose myself in my own worldbuilding I guess its knowing when to stop.
3466540 My job title is Legal Professional but its basically no different from a paralegal position.
3466535
3466902 Oh. I thought the problem was you felt you had written yourself into a corner because you established that Handy doesn’t want to go back to the griffin Kingdom until he pimp slaps the mistress and doing that as expediently as would seem reasonable would end the story.
If your problem is your habit of going of on world building tangents and fits of detail then you're talking to the wrong person because that shits my cocaine.
3466902 It might be a good idea for you to check out some of Michener's work to get some perspective on this then because I thought your descriptions were great. I highly recommend The Source which you should be able to find in a public library and was probably my favorite of his books, but they are generally all great.
3467127 You would probably also love Michener then (assuming you are not already familiar with him). He is amazing for the kind of intimate detail we love.
3466843 I have seen his laws before, but I feel like it is important to take a minute to reread and acknowledge it specifically here because it is absolutely fantastic advice.
3466902
Frowny face at the idea of there NOT being a pre/sequel. That's what I thought you meant...