Enchanted Library - Dragon Arc Thoughts + Future Stuff · 9:38pm Sep 13th, 2016
This arc was something, wasn't it?
I waited a week to write this because, admittedly, when the time came to post this chapter, all I could think about was how much I never wanted to write the word 'dragon' ever again in my entire life.
The Dragon Arc.
I've always been one for transparency, as I believe it's interesting to share the writing process with my readers, so I can honestly say I've been referring to this Arc as "the arc that nearly killed EL". There are several details I went about the wrong way with this arc, and it took a great deal of stress, planning and crying to work around it. I don't really want to say what the mistake was, though I hinted at it during my meltdown in June, but this entire ordeal has taught me a lot of valuable things.
It's actually a bit... In retrospect, my fear of writing Chapters 18 & 19 was so intense, I preferred cancelling EL than trying. I didn't know how to fix this mistake I'd made, and truth be told, in retrospect, maybe it wasn't even a mistake. But still, I feared it and I did, in fact, cancel EL for a day, and two months after the fact, I can safely say that I've never felt such a powerful sense of failure and disappointment with myself than the moment I hit the cancel button.
Writing is a terrifying affair, and fanfiction writing particularly because there's no barrier between you and the readers. In the same way that they might tell you they love it, they can easily tell you how much they disliked it. As such, it's so easy, so horribly easy, to fall prey to one's own inner thoughts and fears. A few months ago, I exchanged letters with the ever wonderful Cynewulf, and referring to his big 400k fic, he said: "Writing is hard and when you get past about 60K of story or so it suddenly hits you that, oh shit, this is hard and you're not a hotshot anymore, you're just you and it's so big and everyone is watching now."
It's funny, in a way. I could have written this blogpost saying everything went off without a hitch, and no one would think twice of it. Maybe some think it could have gone better, maybe they like it, maybe who knows, but this is a writing haven and it's important to learn and share our learning with others and the void.
So, before I continue, I'd like to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone still with me. This was probably the most difficult mountain I've had to climb, and we survived, kids. If we survived this, I'm no longer afraid for EL's future.
Speaking specifically of this latest chapter, I probably shouldn't say this because it reveals my hasty writing methods, but whatever! I want to do it.
So, originally, Rarity and the others were going to escape by flooding the caves in this hilarious parody of "A Little Glass of Water Please". It was something I'd been planning for a looong time now, and ChaosMagic!Discord was supposed to be the setup for it. Rarity was going to ask for a glass of water because she was so thirsty, only a river could calm her thirst, and then CM!Discord would be like LMAO MY TIME HAS COME.
And then, my house flooded, and I drowned, spent a week in the hospital, and you should have seen the anxiety attack I had when I sat down to write the scene two weeks after the fact. Needless to say, I had to start from scratch.
And see, that's what I realize I'm good at. I'm good at fixing stuff and using the available tools AND ALL BECAUSE OF MY NEEDLESS DETAILS.
See, because I realized I had to use Chaos Magic since I built up for it, and I wanted to use it, but I couldn't figure out any badass for Rarity to leave. I mean, she couldn't just walk out of there, right?
And then I remembered the chaos magic attacking the book, and originally I only had the chaos magic attack the book because I wanted to show its hatred of Celestia! And more than that, the reason I came up with the protection spell so long ago was just to cover myself from the inevitable "HOW COULD BOOKS HAVE SURVIVED 1000+ YEARS", aND IT ALL CAME TOGETHER.
See, folks, that's the thing about writing. Happy coincidences that you pass of as IF YOU PLANNED IT ALL ALONG AND YOU LOOK LIKE A GENIUS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Not to say that everything in EL works this way, because 70% of was extensively planned but the other 30% is a mix of last minute decisions and happy coincidences.
In other topics, this week is Mexico's independence day! The 15th, to be exact, which means it'll be exactly two years since the drunken get-together that resulted in the core concept of Enchanted Library. I'd love to have a new chapter out by then, but my work makes this a bit difficult though I will aim to TRY and have the interlude posted on the oneshot's anniversary on the 18th. This next interlude will continue the story of Apple Fritter a month or two after the events of Interlude IV. So, if you didn't skip that interlude, you'll know what this means o:
Anyway that's basically it o:
I just wanted to give you all a big thanks for sticking with me so far ;u; <3
Thank you, Monochromatic, for taking the time and care to write us this amazing story. There's so much in there, so many great moments and little cute ones, and I'll certainly hope for many more. So, congratulations, Mono, and congratulations EL and Mexico.
So the celebration chapter should have furious dork kisses rightI'm gonna keep throwing "Don't worry about it"s at you for as long as it takes for one of them to stick.
If I haven't already said so before, thank you for sharing this wonderful story with us. And feliz cumpleaños, México!
(And EL too, I suppose)
I'll just say that I love EL, and nothing will change that.
Also, you turned me into raritwi trash. Thanks.
No, thank you for not giving up on EL ( technically you did but, that's besides the point) and you are welcome. I love all your (Rarilight) stories.
It's amazing how many cheats I've discovered as I've started writing. One of my favorites is "I don't know how to write this scene and make it come out right, so I'll skip it and have the characters talk about how it all worked out it afterwards!"
The fun part is reading other writers and realizing that they're using some of the same tricks I do
Besides, it doesn't matter how you got there, but whether or not it works in the end. And that worked. So, it's all good!
Also, obsessing to the point of making yourself sick over some little detail of your story that other people may or may not notice? It's more common than you may think. If nothing else, it's a sign that you take the story and your audience seriously, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.
I just want to say: thank you so much. Even starting a fic like this takes courage and some dedication; you've done this with an amazing spirit. That you've stuck with it this long is a hell of a testament to yourself (not to mention writing it so very well).
Cheers! o7
Jesus, I did not know we almost lost you. Glad your well mate.
In my headcanon you really did plan it all along and are actually a genius.
EL means a lot to me, I usually re-read some of my favorite scenes and feeling the emotions are just as pure as the first time I started the journey, like the whole world has finally stopped at that moment, beautiful.
Thank you, for everything.
Yay, you survived the Dragon Arc (which was lovely, btw)! Smoother sailing from here.
Always interesting to read the process! I'm looking forward to reading the Apple Fritter-y interlude!
Well done man, hope you don't end up conflicted about how the story should go again. It'll be interesting to see how the spike/twilight thing ends up, as well as more raritwi fluff
Ha... ha... h... *Looks at his 141,557 word story* What he said is way, way too accurate....
I am glad you didn't cancel it forever, becuase honestly EL is one of my favorite stories. I don't even really like Raritwi, and this story makes me love it! And also, I understand not wanting to write the flood scene after what happened, hell the next chapter I have to write in my story involves funerals (Because a lot of ponies in the Royal Guard's day and night divisions died in my story) and I've just been to two in the past two months. I've had to put writing that entire chapter on hold because I've been so absolutly emotionally numb that writing it seemed like a very bad idea...
Also, happy Mexican Independance!
Not sure what to add to what's been said here, though another voice of support is good, right? Writing... it's a labor of love. Labor speaks for itself... and love... well, love hurts, sometimes.
To quote David Eddings on writing: "Keep working. Keep trying. Keep believing. You still might not make it, but at least you gave it your best shot. If you don’t have calluses on your soul, this isn’t for you. Take up knitting instead."
...He was a bit of a curmudgeon, but he made a lot of good points. Hang in there and know you're not alone.
"Viva Mexico!" i guess. And of course "Viva EL!". Thank you for your hard work, Mono.
That's hilarious! I think what you came up with in the end is better, but the idea's still really funny. (Uh, no offense to you and others who've been given little glasses of water in RL.)
This reminds me of some of those DnD stories I've read. A PC will get one over on the DM by taking some of the cool little details of the scene together and doing something clever and unexpected with them. So if this chapter was a tabletop game, you the DM would be doing a great job including all those "needless" details to flesh out the world and stuff, and other you playing Rarity would have pulled off an awesome by doing the book thing.
I guess I'm saying you played yourself, but in a good way?
Well, glad you powered through it. I think you might be a little worried about people turning on you (if they say it's a bad chapter, then you can just take it down and revise it) , but then I'm not putting fanfiction up on the internet, so I don't know the pressures.
I will say the mind link amulet made it much easier to read a long story-arc away from Twilight's Library than it had been in the past, since she was still in the picture.