Author's Notes for Aria Steals A Burrito · 7:02am Jun 16th, 2016
IN WHICH I BID A FOND FAREWELL
Sixteen months ago, half-delirious from lack of sleep, I crapped out my second fanfic for this site, Sunset Shimmer Buys A Burrito. Much to my surprise, it was moderately popular, gaining me a few followers and inspiring me to continue writing in this universe. But nothing lasts forever – the completion of "Aria" marks the end of the Burrito Saga. Follow me across the jump for more thoughts.
I'm always happy to see people enjoy my work. It makes the occasional time I put into this seem worthwhile. I almost feel bad reading comments saying that they want to see more (of "Burritoverse", I assume), since I decided two months ago that "Aria" would be the last story in this vein. Why? It's simple – I've taken this concept as far as I can. If I try to do any more, the end result would suck. Hell, I think I was pushing it by writing "Adagio" and "Aria".
In fact, I never planned to write ANY of the Burrito stories except Sunset's. After that story took off in popularity, I thought maybe it would be cool to see the story from Sonata's perspective too. I was pleased with how that story turned out. Unfortunately, it was much harder to write. In fact, each successive chapter became more difficult to write in some way or another.
I only wrote "Adagio" because I thought I had an idea funny enough to follow up on. Turned out it was much less funny once I wrote it down, but I tried. And I got a reading! So yay. After that, I figured it wasn't fair to Aria to leave her out, so I hammered out a concept for her too – given her personality, she was always going to steal; the question was who from? After I wrote the introduction and sat on it for a month or more – during which time I became increasingly embittered by events in the real world – I finally realized there was only one person from whom Aria could reasonably steal a burrito: The Donald. After that bit of insanity popped into my head, the rest of the story practically wrote itself. Because of The Donald's involvement, this is easily my angriest story, even moreso than "Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!"
My biggest regret about this series is that, going back and rereading "Sonata", I discovered that story lacks a Beatles reference, though there is an oblique shout-out to the Earthworm Jim cartoon… which could also be a reference to Weird Al and/or They Might Be Giants.
As I wrote more installments, I felt the need to throw in music references. "Aria" has by far the most, but "Sunset" and "Adagio" have them too. With "Sonata", I was tempted to throw in a Nick Drake reference, but I didn't because (1) I couldn't find a song that fit, (2) he's rather too depressing even for the Burritoverse, and (3) chances are high none of my readers know who he was. In hindsight, there are several Beatles songs that would have dovetailed well with Sonata's story, but no point thinking about that now. Save for one typo, that story's fine as it is. The others are too. Beyond little things here and there, I'm relatively pleased with how all four stories turned out, at least on a technical level.
It has been argued that using The Donald cheapens "Aria". Well, yes, it does. It's the coward's way out. I don't deny that. I guess it speaks to my own being tired of this setup, at least for the time being. Were I a better writer, I could have found a better mark for Aria's theft, but I'm a hack and I know it. Hey, there's four stories; one of them has to be the weakest. May as well be the one I put the least amount of effort into. By the way, the one I put the most effort into? "Sonata".
I think CoffeeMinion (awesome dude) is right; I really should ask someone to read my stories before I post them.
So what next? Like I've said before, it's now time for me to get down to business with "Lows & Highs". No promises on when it'll be completed, but I hope you like it. I hope I like it.
After that, I might write another chapter of "Mayor's Break Time", or finish "Antonovka" (if I don't then maybe I should just delete it?) or some other story I don't know about yet. Once that's all over and done with, it'll be time to finally get down to business and write my murder mystery starring Sunset Shimmer.
As always, thank you so much for sticking with me over the past year or so. Y'all rock. Woo-hoo.
Aww, you're too kind.
My only words of wisdom are to write what you want to write. Nobody's getting paid for this stuff, and it should ideally be more fun than not. Beyond that, I hope any pre-reading you seek will be a positive process that helps you continue to build your skills and confidence.
I disagree somewhat with your assessment of Aria, though; I thought it was stronger for its structural differences from the other Burrito stories, and the conflict was timely and humorous. It really feels like it's Aria's story, which it should.
4026287 - Huh. It's difficult for a writer to be objective about his own work, but I consider "Aria" to be structurally nearly identical to "Adagio" and "Sunset". "Sonata" is the odd one out due to its lack of headspace rants and no music references.
Although the antagonist in "Aria" is easily identifiable, I avoided naming him in an attempt to not be too topical. He could've been anyone. The conflict ultimately rests within Aria. Like with Adagio, I see Aria as being in denial over her situation. That's why they both say multiple times, "I'm fine on my own. I don't need them," yet can't stop imagining how the other two would react in a situation. They're not trying to convince you or me; they're trying to convince themselves. Compare to Sonata, who clearly misses her 'sisters' but is coping a bit better, because she believes she can still make friends.
One thing consistent across all four "Burrito" stories is that I try to make them denser than their short lengths suggest. Whether I succeeded or not is up to the reader.
You wouldn't have liked "Aria" in its original draft – much less internal rambling, thus less character spotlight for Aria, and much more calling everything "the worst". To fix that, the words I had her use next were too big for where I wanted her character to be. So then I just said "fuck it", had her cuss, and upped the rating. I think it was the right decision, especially since I already mentioned her foul mouth in earlier stories.
So that was the Donald that Aria stole the burrito from.
I'll say this, she was always the ballsy one.
Just reread the Sonata thing. I think Northern Sky would've fit in there nicely.
4147584 - Hmm… that's a good one. I think "Man In A Shed" might fit even better.
4147827
I like the sound, and god knows she could use a friend, but it's a bit too shippy for my taste. Hazey Jane I?