Critical Mass Update · 6:45pm Aug 8th, 2017
Hey, guys! Ready for some news? I'm sorry to say that it's not the best news. It's probably not the worst, either, but still.
I'm struggling with motivating myself to write Chapter 6. I wrote 1.5k words in it the other day, telling myself that "Once you start, it'll be easier to write the rest of it." Which is true. I just sat down for about an hour and wrote around 1k words. Maybe not even that much. That is a terrible amount for me. I'm really not feeling up to writing it right now. With luck, that will change tomorrow, and with more luck, I'll be able to get back on track. There's definitely the possibility that I'll miss my scheduled update for this Saturday, though. It's most likely that I will, but of course, I can't say that for sure.
I'm really not motivated to write it right now. I have mood swings, and right now it's on the low end, it seems. On top of this, as it goes on, I'm struggling more with Critical Mass than before. I feel quite demotivated by it.
The whole story is, more or less, being written for the last couple of chapters. Which, without spoiling too much, include Rainbow and Luna rescuing Twilight, Twilight recovering, and then a short end chapter with cuddles. On the topic of cuddles, I miss how much cuddles Reaction had. I really, really miss that. And then there's the general feel of Critical Mass in comparison. The writing style I am using with Critical Mass is probably not the best choice. Long, detailed chapters, with an extra large dose of depression. Shorter chapters would work out better for it, but I don't want to break from my tradition I set with Reaction...
And of course, Critical Mass is, as I've said before, "Not for everyone." I don't want to ruin the story, or Reaction, with Critical Mass, and I'm highly worried than I am, simply by writing it. I'm picturing two more, maybe three more scenes with Twilight in Chrysalis' clutches. And of course, Chrysalis wants to break Twilight. Twilight is kind of more or less already broken, though. I'm not entirely sure how to handle that.
Most notibly, however, is that it feeds into the second to last/last chapter, in a particular scene I've envisioned for a while. And that's one of the scenes that is one of the major reasons for writing Critical Mass.
TL;DR; I'm demotivated and don't want to write, I am struggling with writing Critical Mass, and I am second guessing myself because of a combination of the nature of Critical Mass and the fact that the story isn't "for everyone."
If you have anything you want to comment or ask, please do. I may just be jumping to conclusions or making too big of a deal out of it, but I really don't want to ruin Reaction by writing Critical Mass. Another thing that's bothering me is I've realized that Critical Mass really isn't necessary, since the planned sequel could be read with only reading Reaction, and it'd be just as good, but you would be missing some context that could add to things...
Personally I really enjoy critical mass. I don't feel as though it's ruining reaction, but I do see that it's not necessary to read in a way. However, I believe that it adds more to the story. The problem with reaction as an end point is that it left me without much of a conclusion. Yes the main issue was resolved, but I don't remember if there was a proper send off. I'll have to read the ending again as I could be wrong. All in all I think you do great work and I hope this doesn't get the better of you as I would love to read more critical mass.
Edit:
I just had a look at the end of reaction and it seems that I was wrong in some ways. There is a proper send off but there are some sub-plots left unexplored. Primarily the issue of the sabatoge of the nuclear plant being left untouched by the story. This is where I feel critical mass holds its strength. As for how to deal with twilight being already broken, I don't really think I could provide good insight as my story development skill are rather abismal so I feel like I would do more harm than good. Also based on the like to dislike ratio I'm guessing that many of us like this story as well
4628569
I probably could have ended Reaction better. I don't completely remember why I chose to end it as it was, with a sense of things getting better but not completely fixed. It's kind of a somber ending since Twilight's struggling with depression. One part of that is that I didn't want to simply go the whole "finding love cures depression" route since, at least to me, that seems unrealistic. It might mask the depression, but it's still going to be there. And the root of Twilight's depression is, as I've said before, either neurological damage or valuing her horn/magic too much. I haven't decided completely on which yet, I'm leaning more towards it's stemming from her loosing her horn since that makes the most sense.
I guess Critical Mass does have that it sort of addresses the reactor sabotage, but it doesn't really seem to address what happened and all of that. I suppose that could be a good idea for another story- writing a one-shot showing what went down, but then again, leaving it to imagination might be best.
And for handling Twilight dealing with Chrysalis, there are two routes which I'm considering. One, where, given that Chrysalis is an external threat and recognized as such, Twilight actually handles it quite well and starts to recover from her issues because she knows Chrysalis is lying, or, two, Twilight tries to fight it off mentally only to give up because her own mind is against her.
Maybe I am just overreacting and or dealing with mood swings. Yesterday I felt really depressed, and today I feel pretty good, and I'm wanting to write three one-shots today... I definitely suffer from mood swings.
4628764
I think that reaction had a good ending for the relationship. The realistic approach of it not being all sunshine and rainbows is a fresh breath that we don't see much of the time. I swear I'm gonna get diabetes from a good 95% of the stories I read that have something to do with shipping.
As for seeing what happened at the plant itself, I do think that that specific part should be left alone as it gives the reader the same knowledge as the protagonists. I did find myself wanting to know more about what was going on in the investigation after reading reaction, which was fixed while I was reading critical mass.
On to twilight with chrysalis. The two options you've put forward makes for a tough choice for yourself I'm sure and when I think of what I'd do if I were writing I wouldn't know either. The one where twilight gives in is, I feel, the realistic approach that follows the meltdown series track record. On the other hand, the option where twilight rises to the challenge is a little more satisfying and offers a change of pace that shows a light at the end of the gargantuan tunnel. The second option I stated seems to be the best, but that might be my need for a clean cut ending talking.
Hopefully you don't feel extra pressure from an audience because I know that can make it even harder to find the drive to write a story. As I always say I love your work and will always be here to read it.