The Ash of Fallen Stars · 8:07pm Sep 11th, 2018
I’m getting started on “The Ash of Fallen Stars” and I’ve finished the first few scenes. Progress has been slow. But I’m holding off on posting what I’ve got for a few reasons. Firstly, I want to get ahead in the story in case I come up with a kick-ass framing device or something. (”Mask of Despair” was a very different story before I came up with the framing device.) Second, I’m not entirely sold on how I’ve done the first scenes. They are… functional? I guess?
Sigh… I need an editor. And a cover. (Although I know exactly what I want, I can’t art to save my life.)
Anyway, I feel like talking about some of the choices I’m making about how the story is going to be set up. It starts slow, the first couple scenes don’t have much actually happening. It’s supposed to be a bit thoughtful, but as I said above, I’m not sure it works in getting this across. This is quite the contrast to “Mask of Despair,” where I started by resolving the crisis and then immediately launched into the telling of the story.
Also unlike “Mask of Despair,” I’m going to have several points of view. In MoD, the entire story was told from Twilight’s POV, and this worked because it was literally her telling the story to her friends. Ash of Fallen Stars tells a very different story which I don’t think I can pull off telling without moving from one POV to another. One thing I do think is cool and different is telling Sable’s story, as seen from the points of view of ponies other than him. It’s very much Sable’s story, it’s about him and how he interacts with the world, but we don’t get to see through his eyes. (well… we sort of do, but that’s spoilery and complicated) We’re also going to get new characters and settings, Luna is a main character (and initial POV) for instance, and Sable moves to Canterlot. (spoiler? Not really, it’ll be in the story description)
Back when I was finishing MoD and didn’t know how I was going to continue the story, one of the ideas I was considering was asking the readers what they thought should happen. Would Sable deserve to keep his Alicorn body? What about the memory overlay, did it work? What did you think about Twilight’s feelings for him, or his for her? Did the world of ash continue to exist, what happens to that Sable? That sort of thing. I was going to let the fandom have a say on where I would go next.
Clever? Interesting? Different? Maybe?
How arrogant I was, to assume people would A: read it, and B: respond to said questions. (If you want to speculate or suggest, the comment section is below. Feel free to prove me wrong.) (of the 19 comments for MoD, nearly a quarter are explaining what a “Shoryuken” is… not exactly riveting discussion.)
Back on topic: It’ll be a while before I put anything out for “The Ash of Fallen Stars” but I am working on it.
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If I asked for encouragement, would I get it?