Paul's Belated New Years Post · 7:49pm Jan 8th, 2017
It's been a long year, with all sorts of ups and downs. At last, it has come to an end and we get to look forward to a new number on our calendars. What do we see when we look back? In my case, I produced 207 reviews (not counting Round Robins, so add another 20 or so) and wrote a whopping 329,485 words worth of material, and finally managed to breach 900 followers (you're all awesome!). And yet, somehow, I only created two new stories for all of 2016. Weird how that works. Ah, but with all that productivity comes burnout, and I think we can agree that I burned myself out a few times.
So the time has come for my own New Years resolution. I don't usually do those, but I think this year warrants it. My resolution is to not take my work so seriously, even if I'm enjoying it. I will no longer be following my stats on a weekly basis, because really, what good did it do me? And while I still intend to run my reviews on a schedule, I have added into that schedule required off weeks in which I will be doing no reading or writing whatsoever! It's time I learned to relax.
This resolution will also apply to my old writing schedule, and this is where the big change comes in. From here on in, I won't be keeping a schedule for my writing of stories. Instead, I will be designating days of the week to work on stories, and if a story doesn't get worked on for that day, well... tough. I won't be fretting over deadlines and missing them, but instead will have something to work on every day should I feel like doing so. This is highly unusual for me given my sense of rigidity, and there is of course the lingering fear of "what if I never work on story X?" But that's exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to not fret over anymore, so I'm ignoring that voice for now. If it really bothers me so much that progress is going slowly, I might actually choose to write on those days.
Which brings me to my major announcement: my chosen stories! For now I have seven of them in mind, and I will work on one of them for each day of the week. That might seem like a lot, and yes, it means updates will be slow for each. But it's a temporary measure only, as I intend to steadily whittle that down to only three stories. Some of them will be stories you may recognize, whereas others are entirely new. They include:
Sunday: Songbird
The changelings have been defeated, and Celestia is at last free to rule her kingdom in peace. Equestria has become a true land of harmony, where everything is exactly as she wanted.
So why does she feel as though something is wrong?
I aim to release Songbird only when it is finished. for once, I would like a story that is concise from beginning to end rather than from chapter to chapter. The editing process is going to be intensive thanks to my chosen editors, so this one may be a long time coming.
Monday: The Silence
Without warning, a shadow of corruption has fallen across Equestria. None know from where it came, but all have been dragged into its dark influence. Can somepony figure out the mystery before darkness consumes all?
My tribute to Silent Hill, which was started in 2015 and came to a stop when my attention turned elsewhere. I don't like starting something I can't finish, so I aim to get back to this one at last.
Tuesday: Derp
Beige Beaker is a chemist, and that's what she always wanted to be. She's got a loving husband, an adorable daughter, and a research project that will make waves in the world of agriculture.
That all comes to a screeching halt when something terrible happens to her eyes.
A background story for Derpy Whooves. While this one is set to be sad, it is also only the opening act of a much larger story.
Wednesday: No Heroes: Life of Pie
All her life, Pinkie has managed to keep her secret. The only pony she has confided in is one who suffered in a similar way. But now Pinkie wants something more from Fine Crime, and before she can get it, he wants to know the full story. If she goes to face the past, will she be doing it for him or for herself?
The direct sequel to No Heroes: Beyond the Everfree, in which Pinkie's true history is revealed at last.
Thursday: Needs of the Few
A sickness is spreading across Ponyville, and it seems none are safe. Twilight rushes to find a cure, but the cause is a lot closer than she ever imagined.
A story that's been in my head ever since Twilight's Kingdom, and one I look forward to finally publishing. Will probably be released as a one shot, but that depends on its final length.
Friday: Bulletproof Heart
Things have been hard, but Rarity tries her best to survive in her small town. Ponies need her services, and that's good enough. But when a band of rowdy drunks start stirring trouble for her assistant, Rarity will soon find herself aiming higher than she'd ever imagined. It's no longer a matter of being satisfied.
Now it's all about surviving.
This one is set to be very different from my usual story. Partially inspired by Fallout: Equestria, starring a character I've never focused on, in a setting I've never tried, and utilizing one of the only tags I've yet to utilize, few stories have garnered my interest as this one did when it first popped into my head. It's still in the brainstorming stage, but at the moment I'm thinking of making it a three-parter.
And yes, for those of you wondering, the title is a reference to the song by My Chemical Romance. No, the story will have nothing to do with it. Nor will it have anything to do with Fallout; the inspiration is purely thematic.
Saturday: Order of Shadows
Equestria is a dark, dangerous place, filled with civil unrest, racial strife, poverty, hunger, and so many other things. But Celestia has promised to set things right, as she has for a thousand years.
Fine Crime is out to do what she won't. He's going to need a lot of help.
My long-ongoing set of stories that brings out the background of Trixie vs. Equestria's universe. By now it is at least halfway finished (I think). I stopped working on this because I'd been doing so for over a year and needed a break, but it's long past time to get back to it.
And there you have it, folks, my plans for the coming months. I put the stories I'm most interested in working on on the weekends so I'd have more free time to do so. Bulletproof Heart is the one that I have the most interest in, but I set it on Friday anyway because Order of Shadows is too big to ignore and Songbird will take the most work from an editing perspective. Realistically speaking, I think Derp will be the one to come out first, as it's going to be a one shot and won't have any serious editing work done to it. It's also the one I'm closest to finishing, as I did a ton of work on it right before my big end-of-year break.
There was so much more that I wanted to say, but now that I'm at this point I can't think of anything more. I suppose that's just my mind saying "get back to work!" So for now, I wish you all a Happy New Year! May 2017 treat you well, may we all read and write new, better stories, and may this fandom continue to be a good thing in all our lives.
I used to worry about not working on my writing. But I eventually realized that when I did work on a deadline, that I wasn't really a fan of the things that resulted. The quality of my writing was inversely proportional to the amount of it I did. (For an example, look at Think Pink!: It doesn't show it now due to site bugs, but each of those chapters was written and posted on each day of a single week.)
Creativity isn't a faucet, to be turned on and off at will. That's also why I stopped working on a different story while waiting for editors to look over something.
I hope your new system works out for you. And if it doesn't, then you can always try something else
I've started to admit that I turn out about five times more story ideas than stories. It's difficult, but I'm accepting it.
Sounds like you're starting the new year off right!
I should do a 2016 retrospective blog post of some sort too... I've been holding off in hopes of hitting a follower milestone of my own, plus that means bumping some quality author-Rarity banter off my user page
I'm excited for your stories! And I think your New Years resolution will be good for you. Schedules are one of those things that all published writers recommend that you should have (whenever those published writers make a "How to Write" book) but usually the schedule is hourly, not word-based. You tell me to write like 2,000 a day and I'll have no social life or enjoyment in it. You tell me to write for three hours a day... it's much more doable, but inconsistent. Relax, bud: you're still one of the most prolific writers on this site, and it won't change any time soon.
I see this post about future plans and I kinda chuckle a little to myself because apart from the comfort of knowing there is still activity going on, this does not concern me much at all. I got on the train several years after it started moving, and I have all the reading I could ever want both from your large collection, and anyone else on this site if I decide to do some branching out. The point I'm making here is that there is a ridiculous amount of things to read and more being made all the time. It's just wired to think that I could throw myself into it whole heartedly and not even scratch the surface of what there is.
But it's good that your re-organizing your schedule, I noticed that a lot of your blog posts contained some form of concern over the amount of writing getting done for one reason or another, so it's probably for the best to get some change going. Granted I've only been around for a little while so maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about, but it seems to me that you'll still get plenty done. Sure my standards of plenty are probably a lot lower than your standards, but still.
Sound like good resolutions. If nothing else, thinking about your writing differently (and being willing to let go on that tight control) gets you a different perrspective that can help you differentiate between the organization that helps you and the organization that's a time sink. I can't imagine how much of your time, for instance, goes into compiling all of the running stats, which I only occasionally sort of glance at.
Oh Shit! The Silence. Damn.