Random Ramblings LXIII · 3:24am Jun 19th, 2016
IN WHICH I HIT A (metaphorical) WALL
You ever find yourself writing a story, and then you get caught up on one little detail, and you can't continue until you've gotten that detail exactly right? Well, that's where I am right now. Follow me below the jump.
I'm working on Lows & Highs (finally!). As is my wont, the beginning consists of a detailed description meant to set the mood of the piece (in this case, bleak). It's Sunset Shimmer's apartment. My headcanon regarding Sunset has always been that she lives in a low-end cheap-as-shit apartment somewhere within walking distance of CHS. It has one bedroom, two sets of windows – one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom – a living area, tiny kitchen, and a bathroom that may or may not have two entrances.
I've had friends who live or have lived in one-bedroom apartments, but none of those layouts quite fit what I envision for Sunset.
Logically, since Sunset had no friends until recently, she should probably be living in a studio apartment that does not have a separate living area, but I don't want Rarity to find Sunset immediately. Also, Canterville doesn't seem like the type of city where studio living would be much of a thing. Manahatta (a.k.a. NYC), sure.
Looking up apartment floor plans for ideas, and it seems that 400ft² to 550ft² is a good size, probably toward the lower end. If I had a copy of The Sims (and a computer capable of running it) this would be easy.
Why do I care about this? Well, because to me, Sunset's apartment is a VERY important setting, playing a role not only here, but in at least two more Sunset stories I plan to write. It helps speak to how I see her as a character. So I want to get it right.
The oddest things can trip us up, sometimes. At least in this case it makes sense to want to have a good, consistent setting you can keep reusing.
For me, I've been sitting on a story outline for over a year now that just won't come. I might've figured it out, though: It wants to go waaaaay darker than my original vision of a comedy. Otherwise there isn't as much reason for there to be conflict.
4046404 - Darker than what's standard for a comedy? Yeah, that's what ended up happening to me the first time I tried it. I originally intended "Sunset Buys A Burrito" to be comedic, and I thought it was pretty absurd, but people got onto me for how bleak the whole thing was so I changed the tags. It took me months before I was able to write something that could be funny. Good luck.
It's weird. Starting off as a cartoonist 17+ years ago, my comics tended to the absurd, even when I did editorial work. But transpose one of my comics to prose, and suddenly the whole thing ended up a lot darker. Comedy is hard to pull off with just words, and I admire people who can do it.
In terms of sitting on outlines, I've done that more times than I care to count. Not just for MLP, but for other universes as well, including original ideas. Chances are most of the worlds in my head, some of which have been kicking around for over 15 years, will die with me because I can't write them down beyond the vaguest words. I consider myself lucky to be able to successfully write anything (non-academic) at all. But I like to believe it's getting better.
Let me know when you finish it. I like your stories.