, but not today.The future of /Final Solution/ -- writing the ending · 12:11pm Oct 16th, 2016
Uh-oh, a blog post on the 16th, this can't be good.
Yes, well, about that.
Short version: I need to draft the final chapters of FS, and won't be able to post much (if anything) during this process. This will take several months.
Long version: Endings are hard. Too many story lines to tie up, too many loose ends. I need to write the prime thread through to the conclusion (Fusion/Grav), then fill in with side scenes. The upshot of this is that any chapter I post now will be incomplete and sub standard. This, combined with the reduction in my writing time due to Real Horse, means that the best thing for the story is to stop posting until I at least have a framework in place (there are some outlining techniques I plan to try that may help). How long will this take? Who really knows, but I'm guessing somewhere on the order of 20-50K words left. Time is my real problem, but I'm still writing every week.
So, I'm sorry for the interruption to regular service, but I feel that pausing now really is for the best, so I can sort out how everything fits together. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress.
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In other news, I now am up to riding accident number six (only one more until I'm a 'real' rider!). Galloping down a beach on a borrowed horse (riding holiday) when the two riders in front of me suffered a failure-to-brake. Horses being horses, mine suddenly became unstoppable and chased after them. One of those riders started to zigzag to reduce speed, and my horse jinked sideways to dodge. I did not.
Hit the ground at 25 mph (that's 40kph for non Americans), about the same as jumping off a 25ft (7.5m) platform. Was very lucky and didn't get more than a (massive) bruise. Every time I get on another horse, I realise how fortunate I am to have Real Horse!
I guess now would be a good time to catch up on chapters I haven't read.
Sorry to hear you got thrown.
Oooo... Ouch. Glad to hear it was mostly just pride that got hurt.
So how are you and Real Horse getting along? Any signs of chafing under The Blessing yet?
Ouch! Glad that you're still with us.
Uh I always heard it was getting thrown three times made you a real rider.
Hhhmm cant recall how many times ive been thrown. More then three for sure...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still, it's worth it to make sure things get wrapped up well. Knew we were close to the end but that close?
Well, figure Seraphim gets unleashed, the Sisters kick it's ass showing Buer just how OP they are, and they go with their plan B, and well... thing just spiral out of control til we have the Equestria we know.
Take your time! The story deserves the best ending you can give it.
Also, sounds like this will be a good time to catch up with the story (I'm something like ten chapters behind...
)
Ugh, I don't think I can resist. I have to start on final solution after I finish applejack trapped on an island.
So you're saying that horseback riders are masochists?
Thanks for being so understanding, folks.
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4258055
We have the occasional argument, but persistence wins. That, and treats. Extremely food orientated, that pony. Training is a combination of 'pressure' and treats; she picks up pretty much any task within three goes (crossing a stream was the latest victory -- the first time I had to get off and lead her through). It's a mixture of joy and frustration (but I'll take the frustration over fear any day).
4258062
Me too! I still shiver about what might have happened; I distinctly remember my foot being all the way into the stirrup when I came off.
4258064
Some folks say a hundred, but they are just show-offs. Never actually been thrown (I try really hard not to get on horses that don't want me to be there!), but I've been on a few that buck out of excitement.
4258076
I could have posted another, but that was a bit cliff-hangery, so...
4258514
Sorry! On the plus side, when I do finish the posting rate will be far faster than one per month.
4258564
There is a certain bloody mindedness, I think. Looked at objectively, it's a really dumb sport. Climbing on the back of a flight species, fine tuned through millions of years to run at the slightest hint of danger. They also seem to have the emotional control of a two year old human. A half ton toddler with hammers for feet.
4258574
Oh that should be fun... and it'll go up when I've got like, half an hour before I gotta go to work too, won't they?
4258574
Take your time, man. Some people "discovery-write", and these people tend to concentrate on the trees so much that they completely forget about the forest.
On the other hand: Don't you think that a roof of 50K words is a little low, considering your small mountain of unresolved story objectives and open plots?
4258895
Hard to say, but with the stones getting thrown around in this story, it doesn't take many of them to kill a lot of birds.
Just dont give up. for the future of dogs and ponies you have to stay determined!
4258895
Even if it is, it feels like there must be a 3rd book. Unless the true ending isnt supposed to take us to the logical conclusion of the current form of the civilization.
4259071
Well, Lunatic has said that he doesn't want to do a third book. Final Solution was supposed to be the final instalment.
4259017
I still say that there's just too much. Here we have a world spanning civilization that won't bite the dust in just a handful of chapters. And the degeneration of ponies from lesser alicorns to severely underpowered midgets would deserve some 20K words on its own. Never mind the re-emergence of Agent Salrath.
4258674
Yep!
4258895
Yeah, that's me. As for the word count... probably. I originally thought I could write the whole story in 50-100K. What a noob. I still have the original story plan for Wasp; it makes for interesting reading (mostly along the lines of "what the hay was I thinking?!")
4259059
It may take longer than planned, but I do intend to finish this monster. I also want to read the ending!
4259205
True. The end point won't be Equestria as we know it; there's just far too much stuff. I have a future Equestria book waiting final edits, and there's a vague plan to fill the space between the end of Final and the start of season one with a scattering of shorts. We'll see what happens.
Well, good luck with your endeavor.
Take your time, I shall be waiting. I am patient enough.
At least I like to think so.
For a minute there I thought Real Horse was a way of saying horseback riding, but now I'm pretty sure it's the name of your horse. Anyway, take your time. I look forward to the conclusion.
As long as you didn't land on your head! (SO many stories, and I only rode or about 4-5 years!)
Though it sounds like you are brave than I! Don't think I ever got the courage to gallop...though now I wonder if I did and my trainer was just using midwest jargon.
Sad we have to wait, but I know whatever you come up with will be awesome in the end.
4259445
I named Real Horse 'Luna', but tend not to use that name here for reasons of (even more!) confusion.
4260140
Yeah, helmets are a must (certainly in the UK; you can't ride on a rented horse without one). Also good boots, gloves and body armour (saved my ribs on at least two occasions).
I'm not sure 'brave' is the right word...
You can normally tell when a canter ('lope') goes into a gallop, because it gets too bumpy to really sit to the horse's motion and the way the wind starts to whistle past your ears. Not sure if the Western riding tack is really suited for gallop; you really need to be able to come off the saddle to be comfortable (and I seem to remember Western stirrups are placed quite low). You've got me curious now, I shall have to ask!
I was wearing a helmet the one time(Actually almost all the time. Think the only time i went without was whimsical bareback sessions in the field when I could catch the suckers.) Unfortunately, we didn't have a small enough saddle for the one pony we borrowed, and he took offense to an extremely loose cinch. My head was the first and only thing to hit the ground. Thank heavens we always practiced in dirt arenas. Or maybe that was the time when we were practicing Gymkhana(Speed races) and another borrowed horse decided jumping over the pole was for losers. She sidestepped; I kept going over the pole.
I hated my mother, and 4H. Honestly think the horses were a last ditch effort to keep us in 4H. Course, she only bought a horse for my sister, while I got to borrow for the first 2 years. Let's see, there was Keeta, the high strung bitch (she flipped herself backwards. On blacktop. With a saddle on. While being led by an older teenager.), Thunder, then I got Susie, whom I loved, until she broke mother's arm cause she spooked while exiting the trailer with no lead rope. Mom got rid of her after the fair. Then my last horse was a pregnant Blue Roan. Very pretty, but wanted nothing to do with me.
I have dystonia, which affects my feet, so I DON'T want a horse to respond to pressure. Flat out told my mother I was done training horses. And now I have had brain surgery, so I wouldn't even dare ride anymore, even if I still had horses.
4260568
Yeah, sounds like you are better off out of it. I sometimes wonder why I do it; I'm normally quite risk averse. My first horse very nearly destroyed me (mentally, if not physically, although he had a go at that, too). This one is far more sensible -- more a 4-wheel drive than a sports car -- and I can do things with her I'd never have dared with the other one. She won't be jumping 5ft fences or going 40mph, but that's just fine by me. I'm late to riding and never did any as a child, so I'll never match the teenagers in the yard (I also heal far more slowly).
Never broke anything, but there's still time for that.
do yo thing, s'all cool by me.
You have to pinky promise not to let this die. All the best with your real horse!
I WILL WAIT.
I am a very patient man... a very patient man... a very patient man... a very patient stalker...
Just wanted to drop a quick note of encouragement. Hang in there; I'm sure the wait will be well worth it.
Hope all is well with Real Horse.