FSA, and More · 11:52am Sep 10th, 2012
Which do you want first, the possibly bad news, or the other news?
Possibly bad news? Alright
From Skies Above
This story. This bloody story. I don't know what to do.
From Skies Above is a lot of things to me. A great deal of fun and a very informative learning experience most of all. I've improved so much in my writing since I started this project. But now, after all I've learned, I can't help but notice how flawed it is. When I look back, inconsistencies, poor characterization, and a lot of bad decisions stare back at me. Just thinking about previous choices leaves me feeling I could have handled that so much better.
Ultimately, it brings up questions like: What have I accomplished? What could I have done better? Do I want to keep writing this?
Today, I don't see From Skies Above in the same light as I used to. I see stupid mistakes that could have been easily prevented, I see unreasonable actions clearly put in place to get some dramatic kick out of impending violence. In all honesty, I'm somewhat ashamed of what I've let the story become. Some readers may enjoy this, but I don't. It's just repetitive blood lust about a technologically powerful race bringing death upon several lesser equipped creatures over a few misunderstandings and stupid decisions, all held together by a pretty weak plot. This isn't what I had in mind when I set out to write a story.
I suppose you could say I've painted myself into a corner, and I'm only left with a few options:
1. Scrap the story completely. This is something I'm not keen on. There were times during writing that where I considered giving up, but I pushed by them an kept going on. It'd do me no good by giving up.
2. Scrap the current story and rewrite it. This would be the best option for the story itself, but it is something that I personally hate to see authors do. It puts a lot of work on my shoulders, and leaves you waiting a long time to see a conclusion.
3. Continue as is and get it finished. This is the option will leave the story in its 'damaged' state, but allow me to at least get it finished.
In the end, its a toss off between two and three. I'm not entirely sure what my course of action is going to be, and I still have much to think about.
On a lighter note I'd also like to point out the new module on my page. Projects and Progress is exactly what the name suggests. It shows what I'm working on and how much work has gone into it. I try to update it regularly when I work, so you can just stop by there to see how things are going.
Thanks for sticking with me this far,
-Sparklight
I'd say option 2 for FSA, especially as that's your preference. But there was one story I know of that was going to have that happen months ago, but it hasn't reappeared yet, so there are some risks. If you know exactly what you're going to do with it though, you won't have to worry about that as much.
All in all, whatever you do, don't get rid of it entirely. It's too good fo that, regardless of what you might say.
Why destroy it? Even if it is flawed, if your fans like it, why get rid of it entirely? As authors, do we write for mostly ourselves, or our readers?
Well that sucks. I liked it when it was about to make the turn into the actual war. (unnecesarry swearing online) The ponies are fucked, the griffons were gonna get fucked and every single being will get fucked. Now you may see this completely un original and dark, BUT THAT'S THE FUN. There is only a small amout of dark HiE and even LESS destruction and death, but you were about fricking ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING .Some people may not like when their favourite purple unicorn thinks that it the very instrument it used before and worked find out that it's practically useless and becomes a wreck and thinks about suidcide, but for SOME people it's THE BEST THING EVER. WHY?. Well because it doesn't happen alot and it's fun watching fans of Twilight or Fluttershy get all scared and get wrecked when their favourite character WON'T DO SHIT. And as I sayd many times, there are only SOME I only know about 2 fics that do that. However I think I speak for everyone when I say we will be happy with anything you do.
This Uninspirational speech is provided by Yours truly.
Whatever you want to do is cool, man. It's your story, after all.
You could always do what Kriegor is doing with 'Machine and Might', which is just rewriting certain parts.
Though that might not work if the things you're wanting to alter change the whole story...
Personally, while I feel this story has been one 'bad first encounter' scenario after another, it's still been a ton of fun to read. So don't sell it too short.
If you want, I could help with pre-reading if you end up rewriting any or all of the story if it'll take some of the weight off your shoulders.
Just keep in mind, I'm only semi-useful for spotting grammatical or spelling errors.
349722
I don't intend to go for option one. I've worked too hard to give up now. That's actually what I did with my first published fiction, stopped writing on the second last chapter.
That said, I really hate when authors decide to halt their fic to do revisions. Machine and Might, and Flying High, Falling Hard are both perfect examples, as both have done it more than once. In the case of Flying High, I just couldn't be bothered to read all the rewrites.
349727
One of the contributors has been the increase in criticism over the subject. By continuing on this path I fear I'd lose even more readers. That's not going into my own opinions over the flaws.
349732
If I did change it, the dark would stay. Not to the extent that it is now, but still there. I just want it to feel more natural rather than forced and repetitive.
349734
I was thinking more of making changes to particular event, which would effect the later events. As for your offer as a pre-reader, I might contact you about that when I've come to a decision. Thanks.
349743 Actually, Slinky's idea of a partial rewrite would probably work out for the best. Again, though, your story so your call. But it could pretty much elevate the story to an even better level if it works.
349743 Ah, I see. I hope this works out well for you, then.
349748
I'm not so sure. I was thinking making changes on the scale Ryan not dying.
Alas, sleep beckons. I'll address any other comments in need in the morning.
Good night!
349755 Oh, yeah! I forgot about Ryan somehow!
He definitely needs to not die this time, no matter what else you change.
349755 Ja. That was a little bit. . . abrupt last time.
349755
I completely agree with that.
While it came out of nowhere and really surprised me (I actually yelled "What!?" out loud), I don't know if it was for the best...
If you feel that the story is flawed than by all means rewrite it. But don't make the mistake that some authors make when they rewrite something. What they do that really annoys me is that they delete all of the chapters in the story before they're finished with the rewrite so we have nothing to read. I say leave the current story up so that people can come back and read it if they want to, then replace it with rewrite when it's done.
Finish it. I can vouch for first hand experience when it comes to rewrites, that once you get started, it can be absolutely soul sucking to try get it all redone, especially when it comes to redoing characters. As it is the story is interesting and to the point, and if there are flaws? So what? Finish this, then start something new. Something better.
A good artist doesn't repaint his canvas, he finishes and starts a new one. That's what I'm trying to say.
Number 3, finish and then rewrite.
I don't see much problems with the story, only those that want 120% military accuracy and some deep philosophical drama in MY LITTLE PONY FANFICTION.
YO AUTHOR
Ignore what everyone else tells you do what you want to do its ur story
If you lose readers then you lose them
you aren't perfect
you cant make your story perfect
and hay
I will stand by your decision no matter what you make
u scrap it then you scrap it
u rewrite it (though it makes me a bit annoyed I dont really care) then hay you frikkin rewrite it
again its your story and no one should tell you what to do
from a story that I found very intertaning
"The muffin sees all but understands little"
I personally thought the story was very well done on the beginning, but the continuous violence just is annoying. I'd leave the first few chapters alone (besides fixing mistakes) and rewrite the chapters closer to the end. My personal opinion.
Personal opinion?
I like the idea of a partial rewrite. The story is good and has a good premise with interesting developments, there were a few cases where I was left thinking "Oh great..." like Ryan's death. All in all however no story deserves to be scrapped because there is always an audience that enjoys it, even the really bad ones. FSA could benefit from some re-writing, but ultimately it is your call. Keep up the good work!
I'll definitely be along for the ride for a rewrite.
Personally, I'd rather you stuck with it the way it is. I don't really have any particular reason you should do so, but I like the existing story, and I'd like to see it finished.
After reading the previous comments, as well as your thoughts in the blog post, it seems your best bet would be to rewrite. But rather than actually changing the story completely, make small changes that have a big impact, and then add to what already exists. It makes the rewrite process less tedious for you, and usually results in a more entertaining story for the readers.
I definitely agree with the posts that say Ryan should live. After his death it only gets referenced a few times before the final showdown, so that shouldn't be too hard to retcon. You can still have the assassination attempt happen, just have it fail. Make a guard notice the poison, or have a new recruit wonder what prison food tastes like and sample it or something. Not to mention that keeping him alive would give you more scenes with him and Twilight's interactions, a point of contact for the marines with the "native peoples", and if you have the marines arrive at Canterlot before they get to the Griffin city, what little Ryan has learned about the creatures of Equestria, and his ability to somewhat communicate with them, should be enough to keep them from wiping the Griffin out.
As for character development, there hasn't really been much chance for it in the story so far. What you have put in has been really good. The little bit with the dragons, Twilight's conversations with Ryan, the scenes with the Griffin leadership, all of it was very well done. And honestly the lack of development on that front so far seems logical and fitting. Everyone involved is still basically running around going, "zomgwtfbbq is happening here!!?!" Keeping Ryan alive to open communication can be the catalyst to make everyone calm down for a second and move into more of a calm, logical state of mind so things like personality and interactions beyond instinct and self-preservation can happen. It would change the tone of the story slightly, but since that seems to be one of the things you want to change anyway that's not a bad thing. And you can still have the Griffins try to get their war, but with them believing the humans have sided with the Equestrians they would have to resort to more....subtle....tactics. Or you can take the story in a completely different direction if you want to get away from the whole war thing. Regardless it would basically give you a "reset" button in the middle of the story without having to actually reset the story so you can do whatever with it.
But that's just my two bits. I'm not a very good writer so do with that what you will.
I'm going to guess you just winged it the entire way making it up as you went along and not planing out the basic plot developments at least...
3 then 2
3333333333333333
please?
If that is the way you feel, then I would recommend the partial rewrite option.
Just know that we all will stand by you with whatever decision you go with.
I'd say 3.
everything seemed logical - when people panic, they don't think.
I want 2 but i don`t blame you if you pick 3.
option two, definetly option two
it IS your story after all, if you don't like it then i say start over
I say option 2, but you should leave the original up so other can read it while you do a rewrite.
Also, I dont mind authors doing rewrites, it's when they do it multiple times that gets me.
Personally, I'd say a mixture of 3 then 2. Finish the story as best you can and then go back and rewrite it, don't just leave the people that have stuck with you this entire time hanging. And don't be a douche and pull the chapters down entirely, that just pisses people of in general. Plus as the rewrite goes we can see the improvements and give suggestions.
If your tallying up the votes on what people want you to do just stop right now cause this is your story and in the end it will be up to you how and what you make it. Remember this as well, fan fiction is supposed to be just for fun and if your not having fun then there
might beno, there IS NO POINT.You tried submitting this fic to EqD, didn't you?
I'd go for option 2, there's nothing worse than writing on a story you don't enjoy anymore, it makes the quality suffer.
357836
Don't worry, this isn't a vote. It's entirely up to me.
357897
Nope. EqD had nothing to do with this.
357902
Good, I've seen far too many good authors lose their spirits because of that place.
KEEP GOING!
I vote rewrite. The story is good, but it can always be better. I suggest a rewrite system where you take every chapter, rewrite it, and post before moving onto the next one.
Glad for that little explanatoin, cause your last chapter left me confused.
I vote for 2 or 3, cause i like this story too much to see it scraped.
I really liked how the story was going but if you feel it needs a rewrite then go ahead it's your story. However just don't completely change what made this story so much better then other attempts at human aliens in equestria. The humans here were dangerous and powerful aliens, and the ponies and griffons actually acted like normal creatures. The greatest thing I felt however was the ponies weren't a race of Mary Sues and actually made mistakes and had weaknesses (no *lol we got magic gg*) which is something 90% of all fanfics do and is extremely annoying.
You know, I would actually prefer you to choose option 3. It would be a good exercise for you to find a way to get out of the corner you've painted yourself into. Granted, there's not always a way out, but most of the time it just hasn't occured to you yet...
Well I really like the story. As far as where it could go from here, I think you could take a few diffrent routs. Personally I would like for you to finish the story with a chance for peace before the humans go off to do whatever it was they were doing before getting to Equestria. I really hate re-writes because I get the same story, just slighhtly diffrent. I feel like I get less out of the experience. Your choice man, I'll keep reading either way.
357991
That's one of the reasons against going down that road. I hate rewrites for exactly the same reason, to the point where I've just given up on the story because the author didn't like how it turned out. That's why this is a difficult decision.
That said, if I were to rewrite it, there would be changes that would have a big effect, e.g. Ryan not dying.
Option 2 at least, I still want to see the conclusion. The fact that you can look back and recognize mistakes means you can just improve future chapters. Perhaps when it's done you can go back and edit it to be more fitting to what you had meant it to be. Just keep trying, I don't want to give up.
Yeah, this never popped up in my notifications. Was the story marked on this blog post?
If this were a vote, I'd vote whichever one you feel would be best in the end, no matter how long that end took to reach.
And yeah, I always felt that Ryan's death was a bit awkward.
I'd like to know if you choose to continue to write this version of the fic (the damaged version), than how many chapters do you think are on the way 'till the end? If you only have to write 2-3 chapters to finish it, than go for it! I'm enjoying it very much as it is now, there is no reason to just drop it now. Anyway I like it when someone give 'man' supremacy
. It make me feel empowered, this way I know if we ever actually make contact, than we would not be the ones invaded, but them destroyed 
. I say...continue.
most authours i see who feel that way you do try to rewrite/edit their stories.
just don't scrap it, i'd like to see how you end it. :D
I vote 2
I was wondering when I'd see a blog post like this one from you. Certainly, this was earlier than I'd anticipated. Good job.
I'd suggest a total rewrite, but then, you've seen my thoughts on the fic already.
358467
Earlier than you'd anticipated, maybe. You weren't the first to post views like that, in fact I'd already been told pretty much everything that you pointed out.
Much as you hate it, option 2 seems like the best choice, given the direction this fic has (and is) headed.
Do a bit of a rewrite. That is all.