Coming back to old things... · 10:30pm Apr 14th, 2018
Started re-reading What They Expect to Give in an attempt to re-familiarize myself with it. Thoughts below.
Since I managed to finish other writing goals, I decided I'd try and get back in touch with WTETG aaaand... y'know? Time is just such a weird thing.
I started writing that fic in the midst of a really difficult time with family. When my living situation changed, the family drama lessened, and somehow WTETG got left behind too. I'm not going to lie, I had to skip the prologue and the first chapter just to get to where I am now (Chapter 17! The romantic dinner at Sugarcube Corner.) I skipped the prologue because it was such a nasty reminder of that unpleasant time in my life. The first chapter on the other hand, I skipped for entirely different reasons--I hated how it was written! I actually had my head in my hands and moaned aloud, "What the hell was I thinking!?" I kept cringing when I read Rainbow and Sass' first dialogue. All the telling my narrative was doing instead of showing! And why in the gods did I think Rainbow tripping over Fluttershy would work?? I guess I was going for some kind of "meet-cute" scenario, but I had to keep from throwing my computer out the window reading over it again.
Mind you... WTETG was me shaking the cobwebs off of not writing for a long time. I mean, yes, technically the fic I published before that (Chasing the Briny Neighsayer) came first, but it was so brief that it hardly represented where I was creatively speaking.
And man! I really took my time getting Shy and Rainbow together! The dense plot didn't help, but if I recall correctly, I was REALLY anxious about sex scenes. It wasn't until I wrote Her Collar, Her Love that I started to get over that. There is a constant current of sensuality though that I like.
Once I started Chapter 2 the story flowed much better to me. It makes me concerned. I mean, I did an entire blog series where I reviewed stories based on the merits of their first 3k words. By my own fucking standards I would have tossed WTETG onto the 'do not read' pile.
I definitely want to finish WTETG, and maybe I'll just be focusing on getting it across the finish line first, but at some point, I gotta polish the damn thing. Bobdat did a great job editing, but I still see plenty of room for improvement. I'm actually thinking I could entirely cut out large portions of the prologue and first chapter. It really is my belief that WTETG doesn't start to shine until Chapter 2 onwards...
Sorry if you guys were hoping for news on an update. This is more like... an announcement that I intend to update still? And I'm actively working toward that.
EDIT: Oh, and yeah. I'm frustrated with Blaze--both his depiction and the kind of role he plays in the story. I don't know how to fix his function as antagonist short of rewriting the entire story.
