Random Ramblings CXCIV · 10:45pm Jun 2nd, 2017
IN WHICH I AM REMINDED MY CAR IS OLD
I have owned the same car – a Honda Accord that I named Tohru (props to you if you get the reference) – for fourteen years. I went in today to get her a much-overdue oil change and general checkup -- I am not competent enough to do much except change tires. Over the last many years, I've had several parts replaced (only one of which was due to an accident on my part; I accidentally smacked a side mirror into my garage), but she's still been my loyal companion for 130,000 miles, and I have zero interest in replacing her if I don't have to. Especially since she's not only fully paid off, but due to her age and mileage I no longer owe property taxes on her (yay).
Anyway, that was my day. Due in part to my… issues, I can't do much peopling before I'm peopled out for the day. Now I'm back home and about to sit down to writing. And I am at a conundrum. If you'll please follow me below the jump, I'll explain.
My usual second pair of eyes, CoffeeMinion, is heading off on a grand vacation with his wife to Ireland for the next couple weeks. I wish him the very best and hope he has a blast in the land of my maternal ancestors.
However, there is a very high probability I will finish at least one of my two remaining Recovery Arc stories that need some lookover help while he's AFK. As I like to believe that he and I have established a good working relationship, I'm tempted to just wait until he becomes available again, and use the interim to work on some stuff that's been sitting on my backburner for awhile. The downside to that, of course, is that it pushes back the publication of the completion of Sunset's Recovery by up to a month. SO. Here are my options.
1) Finish the Recovery Stories but Try to Find a Different Prereader – I know there's a place here where one can seek such a thing, but I'm not very good at asking for help, and I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best at taking harsh criticism. I also don't know if it'd cost me (I am cheap), or if any decent writers would be willing to work with me. I'm also loyal and prefer to work with writers I've already established a good rapport with; there are only a few here who fit that bill, and many of them are busy.
If I Just Wait for Coffee to Become Available Again:
2) Write A Burritoverse Story – It's been months now since I've done a Burritoverse story. They're difficult to write except when they're not. I've had "ideas" but nothing truly concrete. I started the setup for Maud's (heh, "concrete"), but I'm not sure where to go with it. I also want to write the "Final" entry in the saga, where Sunset and Sonata meet again. I put final in quotes because I reserve the right to write Burritoverse stories after that when and if inspiration strikes me.
3) Finish Mayor's Break Time – I regret that having Mayor Mare and Spike commiserating over drinks has not given me as many ideas as I'd hoped. At the moment, I only have one more fully-formed idea in me for that series, and it would serve as an ignominious ending to the whole thing. Again, like the Burritoverse, I could always pull a "Home Is For the Weak" and just add a chapter after the end if a new idea ever comes to me.
4) Work On My Greatest Failure – There's a story sitting in my published works that's meant to have three or four chapters, but I only wrote one before stopping because I hit mid-development hell. I'd like to finish it, and I think I may finally have the writing chops to be able to do it. Hell, I may take this route anyway. I hate leaving things incomplete.
5) Work on Some Backend Things for Future Stories – This would be either trying to write more "weeks" of Blooming Friendship (I already have three completed), or work on sprucing up that old Pinkamena story I teased earlier this year that a few of my readers have expressed interest in. There is one person in particular I would love to have preread it… although given his excitement over the concept maybe he'd prefer to just read it normally. I have thought about releasing the Pinkamena story once I'm through with Recovery, as it's almost entirely written except for the final part and the rest merely needs cleanup and splitting into chapters.
Well, that's that. Sorry for the long blogpost, but I think I've said everything I need to. I've certainly got my Pony work cut out for me this summer; hopefully I can do even half of what I want to. I really really want to hear your opinion on what course(s) you think I ought to take. I care about my readers and take your feedback very seriously.
Peace out!
Options 4&5 sound interesting. And I'm sorry to leave you high and dry; timing in general has seemed to be iffy for me this year.
4556492 - Don't worry about that; you just enjoy your trip. Like I said, I'm looking at this as an opportunity to attack some projects that I've been putting off while working on Recovery.
If I do Option 4 and finish that, EVERYTHING (at least on my Equestria side of things) will make more sense. I've alluded to that story's contents in the very first fic I posted to this site.
As to Option 5, I'm more likely to move on Pinkamena than Anon-A-Miss simply because the former is much further along. I can work on making the story coherent in the interim, then start posting it after I've finished Recovery.
4556513 To me that argues pretty strongly for option 4. Anytime you can get that much lift out of a single move, it's worth considering!
4556557 - You've got a point. Finishing that story is the most personal goal I have, seeing how long it's been sitting unloved. I want to at least complete the initial drafts of Rejected and Recovery before picking up anything else. Even going at this story full-bore, it may still take awhile due to its being a 1st-person AU Adventure fic – not exactly my usual milieu. In other words, you may be back from Ireland before I finish it.
It may not get any readers even once it's completed, but finishing it will satisfy me, which I guess is what really matters.
Honestly, it might not be a bad idea to pace yourself. Finish what you can, have something ready for 4556492 when he comes back, and turn your attention to something else that needs TLC in the meantime.
I'd offer my own services, otherwise, but I don't think I could fill CovfefeDad's shoes, or match the chemistry the two of you have when working together. And I'm already well behind on an editing project for my own editor.
EDITCEPTION
4557369 - It's funny you mention covfefe. Earlier this afternoon, I was looking over the latest chapter of a friend's story and he used that word as a gag to see if his cowriter would notice. He used it to refer to something bizarrely sexual I'm not sure I'm able to describe.
Anyway, I've decided what's best for me will be to finish the Recovery stories as best I can but not send them off to a different prereader. While Coffee is gone, I'm going to work on an old story that needs some love. If I finish all that, then I'll write the last Spike+Mayor chapter. If I somehow finish all that before he gets back, then I'll move on to the Sunset+Sonata Burrito story.
I envy the fast writers.
Okay, it just registered for me that you named your car after the dude from Jackie Chan Adventures.
4557369
NUUUU! OUT I SAY!
Though I acknowledge CovfefeMinion would be sorta funny