Midnight Musings · 8:58am Dec 17th, 2015
So, I'm sitting here reading over the bonus chapter for Sunset of Time I'll be dropping Christmas Day, and I'm thinking, in a non-egotistical way, that I wrote a pretty good story to be honest. It still stands as my proudest work.
But, thinking through it in my head, and thinking about my future as a professional writer, I'm really starting to think about converting it to an original fantasy story.
The idea really sparks something within me, but there are a lot of hurdles I'd have to overcome. The biggest one would be filling in the backstory that the show provides. I'd have to make a completely new setting, or at least change the names and some of the geography of places. Changing the characters to human is easy enough, but the story would lose some of its charm with them not being ponies.
I'd also have to recreate a lot of the characters so they aren't blatant rip-offs of the main cast, give them different backstories, and naturally integrate them into the plot. The book would also have to be broken up into two or even three parts because publishers don't like accepting stories over 100k from new writers.
On the other hand, I'd get to write it all over again from a fresh perspective, while still having much of the ground work laid out. And, having to create additional backstories for places and characters could allow me to branch out and tell an even bigger story with character development for everyone. I could also pull in ideas I never got to implement in the original story as well as improve all the broken parts. Just by changing the names, I could make the Vesper/Sunset reveal an actual plot twist!
I'd probably have to go over the time travel mechanics again. Sci-fi nerds would probably jump down my throat about the linear time thing, but that's what I need for this story to have the impact it did. I'd also have to completely rework the magic system... in that there'd actually be a system.
There'd be a lot of work to do, but... I don't know, this sounds like something I could potentially make happen. What do you guys think?
I of course haven't read any of the story myself, but just as some advice, from what you said here, if you do decide to redo it, add a few chapters to the beginning purely for the characters. It may slow down pacing some, but that's part of writing your own world, unless you're doing enough with them for the concepts and such to be instantly recognizable. Just my thought.
I can't believe it. One of my favorite authors is going the way of Twilight Fifty Shades of Gray.
I'll confess to being unable to give any good advice on if you should or shouldn't, but if you do, what is the future of the pony version of Sunset of Time?
I'd read it.
Reading Sunset of Time with another characters with different backstories and a whole new world?! Do you want me to die?! Why must senpai make me suffer like this?! Why do I have the need to throw my wallet at him?!
I'm all for that! :D
That story was always my favorite from you and could DEFINITELY hold it's own as an original novel. Heck, I remember once telling you that you should have it sold as an actual novel like "Past Sins" has done in the past. It's THAT good
.
(honestly, I think I'm the only person who never picked up on that Vesper/Sunset name thing. I guessed at who Vesper was, but not because of the name
)
Do it.
Whatever you wanna do, man. It seems pretty cool, but it's still up to you.
I would definitely read it as well! And I think it'd be awesome if you truly turn it into a real fantasy novel!
I'm not a writer, so my opinions may not make sense, but maybe you could fill in the backstories slowly? Perhaps shift from the 3rd person perspective to a 1st person perspective? I think maybe by doing that, we as the readers can catch snips/glimpses of various characters' background/history through the eyes of our sunny protagonist?
And speaking of the setting, would it be more a medieval kinda setting (like the usual fantasy stories?)? Or a somewhat modern or even a futuristic setting? And yeah, the time travel magic thing would be confusing. And placing it in an original story may lead to the question "why does it exist" that may or may not answered. Then again, I might just be overthinking things again. In that case, don't mind me!
Actually, the more I think about, the more interested I am in reading this story of yours!
Since there's a possibility that the story will be broken into 2-3 parts (meaning, 2 or 3 books? Did I get that right?) then maybe each part (book?) can deal with the retrieval of 1 of the 3 ancient artefacts! Maybe this will allow more interaction between the characters. Then again that depends if the timeline in your story. I'll stop overthinking about this now.
ANYWAYS, I think it'd be an awesome story! I really enjoy your works and if you are gonna make this a reality I'd be rooting for you all the way!
Pardon me, I'm going to reread the Sunset of Time.
... It's a quite... Shimmering Tale... Just seeing the title makes my eyes Sparkle.
I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself.
You should totally do this. It would be like writing another book just to rebuild the story world though.
3624040 Aside from the bonus chapter and a dramatic reading, not much. I wouldn't change anything or take it down. The changes I'd have to make are drastic enough that anyone who hasn't already read it, wouldn't know what it's based on.
3624223 Unfortunately, switching from 3rd to 1st person in a story isn't a good idea, you want to stay consistent with you POV style. I'd probably keep it 3rd person limited and maybe just give a little more emphasis to Twilight's character and make her more aware of the world around her. I probably would keep it medieval fantasy with maybe a touch of steampunk. And since there are no alicorns, I'd have to change what the Regalia is or does.
Thinking over it again, there are a LOT of changes I'd have to make. But it really an interesting idea.
...Go for it. I'd buy it. :D
There are some fanfictions I've read before where I thought "Why is this a fanfiction? It's so different from canon it might as well be it's own story." Sunset of Time was not one of those stories, but between all the world building you did and the fact that the version of Sunset Shimmer in it was essentially an original character with a familiar name and face, there were times when it came close. (Incidentally this is in no way a criticism - often these original stories masquerading as fanfiction are among my favorite stories.)
So I think an original-story version of Sunset of Time could work really well.
As far as needing to change the time travel mechanics, I don't think you would need to - or if you did need to, I don't think you'd need to change them very much. I've read/watched/played enough time travel stories that I can usually understand the rules a story uses, and I tend to be rather critical of stories which violate their own rules or have rules that make no sense; however I don't recall having any issues with the way you handled time travel in this story.
Incidentally, while you probably do need to change the characters into something other than ponies, you don't necessarily have to make them human. You could have them as some other form of animal (real, mythical, or something of your own creation) or as multiple species of animals; you might even be able to find something cute enough to maintain the charm that their being ponies brings. (And if you establish this to be a world with multiple species of talking animal, you could probably even keep the griffons as griffons.)
I definently wouldn't mind it!
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If this ever does happen, I'll buy it, gift it to one of my friends and wait until they finish. Then just tell them that they read an MLP fanfiction.
I'd say you can do it.
It turns out a lot of writers started off writing fanfiction and moved onto original content. Most of them just won't tell you that. :P
You have the skill to do this, no doubt. Try not to be discouraged when your readership initially gets a lot smaller though: that always happens to work outside of a fandom.
Let me know if I can lend my talents to make cover art or something for you. Is that a thing original writing uses?
3624729 Turning them into other animals could be a potential idea, but I have no idea what. Any suggestions?
3625608 I'm not sure. I think publishers dictate an artist to the story after they accept it, but that's mostly speculation. If not, I'd love to see some cover art somewhere down the line!
3625612
What about instead of ponies....
Make them horses!
I think you should do it if you want to. It's eminently possible, after all, and you wouldn't be the first. Plus you'd know you were guaranteed at least some sales.
Having given a bit of thought to this myself, then I think the worldbuilding is going to be the thing you most need to put effort into, but since you already have the plot written this actually gives you an advantage in that you can tailor the setting to the plot. For example:
The magic system will need to allow for time travel, since time travel is central to the story (incidentally, don't worry about what the science, this is a fantasy novel, after all)
Celestia is crucial to the backstory of Sunset and Twilight, and so she will need to have an analogue within the new setting; Luna, on the other hand, doesn't do that much and so her role could probably be combined with Celestia's.
Whatever you turn the ponies into will probably need to take into account the three different races and the possibility of ascension to some equivalent of alicorn-ness. Some fics could work with all characters being turned into one race, but I think that the distinction is important for your story: the plot of searching for the alicorn amulet/tempest crown/earth pony thing whose name I can't remember requires three at least somewhat distinct races with different abilities, while ascension really drives the plot and motivations of the characters (Twilight has ascended, Vesper wants to ascend and so hates Twilight and Cadance etc).
Although you would have to rewrite all the backstory from scratch, that would allow you to simplify it somewhat. So Twilight's ascension could come after something to do with the alicorn amulet, for instance, rather than being two separate incidents.
Anyway, it might be a bit of work, but I'm sure you're up to it and I'd love to see what you come up with.
I would definitely buy it. My only fear is that it probably won't be translated into my native language, which means I won't find it easily in bookstores over here. In other words, I'll have to buy it online. And I'll have to wait, always hoping the book arrives.
It'd really be worth the wait.
I'd say
take my moneygo for it!As much as I enjoyed it when it came out, chapter-by-chapter, I think it is lacking in the overall structure. Not necessarily because of anything you did wrong, just due to the nature of publishing a story this way. An event or thread that you thought would take a paragraph now occupies two entire chapters, and bits you thought would be important early on just turn out to be unimportant, and ultimately get discarded. Things like that. I think Sunset of Time went off the rails for a few chapters in the middle, just because of this. They weren't bad chapters. They just didn't seem to fit. They were off, somehow. Tone, pacing, theme? I'm not sure.
So when you go through and provide background on the world, re-imagine each of the characters and then introduce them to us, you also need to go back through and tighten up the overall structure and pacing.
In other words, you're taking the basic idea behind your story, and completely re-writing it. Just be aware that you're completely starting over - both in terms of how much work you're doing, and in terms of what kind of story will come out the other side. I understand that you love this story. That's why you wrote it - it spoke to you. I get that. But if there's another story in your head, it won't be any more work to start from scratch on that one than it will to de-pony this one.
3624570
I see. It's not simple switching point of views, then?
Medieval fantasy with a touch of steampunk? Dude, that sounds awesome!
I'm not sure how magic and steampunk would actually work together, but you gotta admit that sounds cool! Just a suggestion, but perhaps looking at some manga/anime might give you an idea for the whole world/theme thing? I think there might be something with that kinda flare there. Or maybe that movie Treasure Planet, I think? I really haven't watched it, but from the few parts of it I saw looks like a steampunk kinda thing. Tech's kinda advance that it sorta looks like magic?
Good point about the Regalia, but maybe it would become clearer after establishing your world. And maybe it's purpose in the story.
If you're going with a magic-steampunk world, then maybe the Regalia could be like an magical ancient steampunk thingamajig.
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Horses would be the most obvious choice (with the added bonus that the Unicorn Ponies and Pegasus Ponies could become regular Unicorns and Pegasi) but if you're trying to distance the story from MLP, it wouldn't be the best choice.
The next thing that comes to my mind is rabbits, but that might be a little too cute.
You could always go with the "all animals can talk and there are no humans" trope (it worked well enough for Redwall, and that was a fairly serious series), but if you'd prefer there only be one (or a small number of) sapient species I'd say go with whatever your favorite species of four-legged animal is (unless that's ponies, obviously) or if you have more than one favorite try to picture the story with each species and see which fits the story the best.
3626473
There's no reason not to write both.