Working on Harmony Theory · 2:55pm Sep 26th, 2012
I submitted Harmony Theory to Equestria Daily, but got rejected. Apparently the issue is that my prologue doesn't do enough to grab readers. This is fair. I mean, it IS a lot of talky-talk with no action until chapter 1 (after which it's three more chapters of talky-talk before something action-y happens again).
To the end of improving my prologue I've done some edits to it. It's not significantly different, and all the information and dialogue remains unchanged, but I've added a few things to break up the bigger paragraphs and make it a bit more dynamic. Still two ponies talking to each other for seven thousand words, but hopefully it's more gripping than it was before.
The next chapter will come out friday or saturday, depending. It revisits everybody and is about the aftermath of the Everstorm, so expect more talky-talk. And one or two mythology gags.
Remember to review, and please enjoy reading!
-Sharaloth
That sort of reasoning sounds arbitrary if you ask me. I was hooked by your prologue, and doing world building early on sets up the slow burn and immerses the reader in your universe such that they are intrigued as much by the universe its self as they are with what the characters do in it. HT has a few dry spots, but I'm not sure they are worthy of "rejection," particularly since you've already got several chapter up and those would presumably debut with the EqD post.