Takka Takka Takka: March 2017 Word Counts + Babscon! · 10:27pm Mar 31st, 2017
So it’s in fashion for authors to do a monthly review of their work. Seen a few folks do it. I think I’m going to start one of my own. It’ll help when I’m feeling discouraged about progress for my stories. In case you're working, the "Takka Takka Takka" is the sound of fingers on a keyboard. I'm 'borrowing' it from Diane Duane's Twitter Account profile pic.
I’m happy to report that March 2017 is my best month to date for word count!
Word Count: 46,139
And that's counting today! Heck, it’s more than both January and February combined! Now how in blue blazes did that happen? Probably because I’m completely insane and took on way too much this month.
Also, the events which eventuated ended up with me doing a lot of writing. 
And just for kicks, here's the last line I wrote in today's session for my current story (without any context whatsoever):
‘Archmage Sunset Shimmer cheats on Princess Twilight Sparkle with Twilight’s unicorn counterpart from another dimension!'
March’s Writing Bookshelf:
A Study on Chaos Theory - Complete at 41,000 words
I finally finished my first draft of this novel, the first major novel of the Infatuations and Other Lies Arc. This story will finally reveal what happens next with those awkward moments between Sunset and Twilight… and maybe develop on a particular something Sunset noticed in Tactics of Snowbound Unicorns. While this story was done a lot in February, at least 10,000 words were completed in the first week of March, including most of the key chapter surrounding a certain event involving two ponies.
And a Sky Full of Stars - Complete at 15,000 words
This one was so much fun to write. I finally got to throw caution to the wind and just go nuts in a crazy action/adventure story with epic battles of epicness. And I finally have my first SunLight story! Written for Entry for FanOfMostEverything’s Imposing Sovereigns Contest with the prompt of Princess Sunset Shimmer - Warrior. This went from written to edited to published in less than a month.
SunLight Sliders - My Parts: About 3,200 words - In Final Edits
For the final edition of the story, Chapter 1 is now expanded to help set things up better for the later chapters. Don’t worry, you’ll like what’s happening. Let’s also not forget the last-second addition of the Encore Round too. That was rough to do in three days, especially as it was right when Sky was coming out. And don’t worry, we should have everything together for the final version soon!
[REDACTED] - Third Draft Complete at ~8,000 words
I’ll say that the word count for this isn’t accurate, but I want to put something vaguely close. This is actually my entry into this month’s Writeoff Association and since the Prelims are still happening, I can’t talk too much about it because Writeoff entries are required to be anonymous.
It was a challenge for me to write (and in many ways a pain in the flank). Once it goes live on FimFiction, I’ll talk a lot more about it. This will get a polish before release though, but I’m putting Prerogative ahead of it in the queue.
On the Brewing of Saddle Arabian Teas - In Progress at ~2,000 words
I had some serious trouble starting this story. I’m still not sure if it’s even going to work, but I’m going to try. I’ve really only written for about a day in this story, which occurs immediately after the events in Chaos Theory. Thankfully, Beltorn was kind enough to do a fast readthrough of Chaos Theory to tell me if that story was solid enough, because that had to work for Tea to work.
The Fallen Tower (Working Title) - In Progress at ~9,000 words
As everyone read in [Halt], some personal stuff has come up in my life. Really hard stuff to deal with. It’s ironic that I started playing with this idea one or two days before all of it went down. Still, I think this story has a lot of potential.
First of all, it’s an Equestria Girls story, set about ten years after Legend of Everfree. Right now, the concept is that Sci-Twi—having drifted from her friends in the last few years—ends up in an accident that throws her entire world into chaos. She reaches out to an old friend who gives her an option she never considered. So yeah, a lot of what I’m going through right now is being funneled into this story. It helps me think.
...wow, that’s a lot of stories, isn’t it? Jeez. I almost hit NaNoWriMo word counts this last month!
April’s Writing & Event Docket:
Babscon 2017
First and foremost, I’ll be going to Babscon for the first time! I’m both excited and terrified. I’m weird about conventions. It freaks me out to be meeting people I’ve only known online… and there’s going to be a lot of them. Still… a chance to actually watch the Season 7 Premiere at an MLP Convention? Yes please! A special thanks to Ramm and AJNRules for helping me make this possible, as well as the Equestria Daily team for arranging things (yeah, I’m actually going to be hanging out with EqD Staffers. No, I don’t know how I stumble into these things either).
And by the way, I’m not doing any GoE stuff at Babs. I’m just going as a normal attender. This is nice, since I don’t have to worry about anything other than having fun and normal convention stuff!
If you're attending Babs, let me know and let's figure out a way to meet up! I'm more than happy to meet some folks in person!
Let’s Talk about The Mare Who Once Lived In The Moon - Final Polish Edits
My review/follow-up for this epic story is finally complete and formatted! It still needs a bit of tuning to get it up to snuff, but I’m pretty happy with it. Also, this thing is freaking huge. It’s almost 30,000 words including the quotes from the book itself. But MrNumbers did an incredible job on this story and he deserves every word. Since it is so very long, I’ll likely be releasing it in installments over the course of the month. I haven’t quite figured out how best to do that yet.
How Not to Use Your Royal Prerogative - Second Draft Editing Phase
Okay, I know I’ve been teasing this story for months, but you folks know how freaking demanding I am when it comes to the quality of the stories I publish. And I have an editing team who is just as vicious as I am. The first draft of this story was completed back at the end of November of 2016.
The truth is, I have some character issues in this story. Since the story revolves around Coco Pommel and Coloratura (both characters with very little backstory), trying to nail these characters is actually pretty damn hard. However, this story is going to be the first time you actually get to see members of the Mane 6 (aside from Twi) in Wavelengths! You’ll get to see the (current) fates of two of them! But I still believe in my motto: “Do it right and do it with style.” So, while I hope to start the release this month, I’m not sure it’s going to happen, but I’m going to try. And as soon as this is done, we’re going into A Study on Chaos Theory.
The Fallen Tower (Working Title) - Current Writing Project
I aim to complete this story next, but honestly, I don’t know where it’s going. This is one of those stories where I’m on full discovery mode. So, I really don’t know what’s going to happen here. You will probably not see this until Prerogative is complete, mainly because I want the Wavelengths Editing Team to be focusing on that story.
SunLight Sliders - Slated for Publication in Early April
SunLight Sliders will finally go live early this month. I’m current awaiting the final edits from the Wavelengths Editing Team and SciSetDaily/Little-Tweenframes has kindly offered to do a custom cover for us. After I do a final pass and we have those last pieces, I’ll be publishing it all in one go (no waiting!). Here’s the thing though: please remember that SunLight Sliders is a collaboration project! If you like a specific chapter, make sure to go check out the author! This is not my story! I’m just publishing it because I was the organizer… among other things. 
Just a Couple of Ponies Finale Rewrite - Slated for this Month
With Tchernobog's permission, I'm going to be rewriting the end of his hysterical Just a Couple of Ponies. It'll finally have an ending. Now, I'll be honest. It won't be nearly the same scope as his original idea. But it'll be fun. I hope. This is a huge challenge... because I need to emulate his style. My goal is for readers to actually think he wrote it. I know, I know. I'm crazy. Deal with it.
On the Brewing of Saddle Arabian Teas - Slated as the next Wavelengths story
Ayep. As soon as The Fallen Tower is complete, I’ll be working on this.
Unnamed Wavelengths Story - Conception Stage
I’m playing with the idea of expanding the scope of Wavelengths and letting you get a better picture of the where the canon Mane 6 are in this timeline. My current idea is about Dash. She’s got an interesting life in Wavelengths, and you’ll get to see a bit of it in Prerogative. But that’s just an idea rattling around in my head.
Finally, just for fun, I’m going to start doing a monthly story recommendation! I’m going to focus on stories I think haven’t gotten nearly as much attention as they deserve.
We’re going to start out with Summer Island by Bachiavellian. I actually did a follow-up on this story a while back that you can check out here if you want, but you’ll want to read the story first.
Here’s my blurb on the story itself:
"It seems like this story was made up of a thousand small delicate brush strokes that made the masterpiece and each one was handled delicately and with intense care and attention to detail."
This is a fantastically unique take upon an Equestria of the near future with Scootaloo as an airship pilot taking a world-weary pop star Sweetie Belle on an escape from civilization.
The reason this story didn’t do as well as it could have was the original synopsis didn’t do the story justice. I’m happy to say I helped out just a little with that. But it is definitely worth a read!
Well, I think that about wraps it up. I'll confess, I've considered stealing a page from The Albinocorn's reviews and starting to have Wavelengths Sunset do a little commentary (I can't use his since he's mean and won't share his interdimensional portal technology with me. But I did start SunLight Sliders, so maybe I can borrow a Talisman...). But at least I beat him with word count this month, so there! 
Maybe next time.
Have a great day folks!
-NI
Yeah, March was a pretty great month for writing this year, I think (so much of that is on FoME, though- major props for that contest). Here's to a productive and satisfying April!
46k?!
Holy crap that's a lot! Even if it was due to certain circumstances...dang, that is something to be proud of.
Woo, I'll be at Babscon