"Krastos" Update #2 · 1:46am Aug 29th, 2016
Scene 1: Done
Scene 2: Done
Scene 3: In Progress
Upcoming Zecora Dialog: Dreaded by the Author
Horizon uses the term "Adulting" to describe the annoying-but-important chores that take up time one would rather spend on hobbies. The good thing about being a bachelor is that you can clear your schedule by periodically going on heroic Adulting binges. At least I hope that works, because progress is now proceeding in small starts, and I don't know whether this will be fast enough for the late-October release I have planned.
The good news is that my boss has agreed to reassign me to a less strenuous job in about a week. While it is not impossible to fit a little writing in around a full-time job, mine is so physically tough that I'm often too tired to write by the time I get home. I wasn't a good fit for it anyway.
Writing these early scenes, it becomes clear that my personal style is very much informed by short stories and stage plays. Out of all the things that happen in the story's world, few are actually shown, but they are shown in such a way that we get the gist of what happens elsewhere. This technique has yet to fail me, but will it work on a story as long as this one? And if I ever want to write a novel, will this be a habit I have to break?
In any case, we're going to find out if I can write Zecora-speak without embarrassing myself. Hoboy. 
Here's hoping nothing unexpected springs out on you in the near future.
As for Zecora dialogue, remember: Count the syllables, watch the emphasis patterns. If you can maintain rhythm, you're already doing it better than the show staff.
Rhymezone is your friend, friend. If you want to look particularly clever, have one rhyme set up another.
I dreaded it in the first chapter of A Darkened Land where I wrote dialogue for her, but now it's not so bad.
If you need a help with the rhymes, I am a die-hard stickler for them...
Writing the second rhyming phrase first sometimes helps, since that's the one that mostly carries the meaning of what's being said.
I find that's easier.
Glue, glue, GLUE!
Good luck, oh faithful Horse of Voice:
If Zebra dialogue's your choice,
Said choice appears through practiced eyes
Though unrewarded, not unwise.
Persist obsessed through best and worst
And sometimes write the last line first:
Don't let yourself become alarmed
And you'll get through your chore unharmed.
And lastly, though Ze's worth a look,
Don't let her talk the whole damn book!
I can help with the rhymes if you like.
Re the switch from short stories to novels: I've always found that it's much harder to be concise than lengthy. The only problem I've ever had with novels is the stick-to-it-iveness to get the whole thing done (and the everpresent temptation to get bogged down in edit cycles instead of creating new content). If you can do shorts, and you have a plot that can't be resolved in short-story length, just jump on it and keep writing and I think it'll unroll easier than you expect.
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Excellent; I'll check it out. Having tackled her first scene today, I find you're right. It just needs a little patience.
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This is one of the most beautiful posts I have ever seen.
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"Forewarned is fore-armed." I appreciate the tips, 'cause they'll be useful someday--count on it!
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You guys are the best. But I prefer readers and critics to go into stories blind, and spoilers may abound if I show more than a few samples. The first thing is to get the number of syllables right, and I seem to count eight or so per line. As for emphasis, I'm sort of winging it and hoping I'm a natural talent. Here are a couple of samples, written today:
"There is not one who'd make this joke, among these honest ponyfolk."
"Culprits aplenty there may be," She said at last. "You have many an enemy."
These were easier than I expected, and that worries me. Am I doing it right?
4181032 Beautiful. roundstable.com/forums/images/smilies/milkshakes.gif
You got this man, we believe in you!
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Well, my zebras snuck into the last few books, especially when an OC zebra stallion fell in love with my Fluttershy. Zecora was already involved, and had bailed Shy out of a terrible situation previously. So that's two of 'em rhyming away, and then they went to the zebra homelands to talk to the Elders, and they go into elegaic meter when serious, and full-on epic verse when addressing their zebra village, and sweet CELESTIA don't you ever do this. After a couple books of that, a blogpost is no big deal, especially in simple tum-te iambic tetrameter.
And the Kirin talked only in prime numbers of syllables, like some extended haiku…
Don't show off, kids. It will just make you tired and jaded
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4182797 Yes, but it might still be worth it
Honestly, when I write these books I have to work SO hard on foreshadowing the storyline and the thematic arcs that you'd not stay lost for long. It would more be a matter of, 'oh, apparently Fluttershy is a vampony with these various relationships and this past, which is being referred to VERY tangentially'. Except that a continuing reader would've been through many chapters dedicated to those points and would not need a more detailed explanation.
You're welcome to try if you like. The book where Zecora and male zebra Dursaa travel to the zebra homelands is 'Adorable Monsters' (quite late in the series) and there are things about it you'd probably like. The Kirin is only in 'Precious'.