Opinions and Thoughts on Next Story. · 1:53pm Feb 13th, 2019
Okay, y'all know the drill by now. Story got posted, kind of petered out and fizzled. In fact, all my recent stories have been duds compared to my older work. I haven't had a big hit since Rumble's Big Day trilogy, though admittedly that got three stories featured in a row. That was two years ago now.
I'm not sure what to make of that in terms of continuing on, but I'm continuing nonetheless. Which brings me to the topic at hoof: what next?
The String Bean fic, where Apple Bloom meets a unicorn colt who is strangely reminiscent of Flim and Flam, has its first few scenes done in rough draft. It'll involve the usual show-like morals you've come to expect from me, as well as some interaction between Apple Bloom and Grand Pear. It takes place at a farmer's convention in Vanhoover, so it's a nice opportunity to write her away from home and upholding the family name in front of strangers. Concept's been slightly re-worked, to make it more believable and her more sympathetic. Finish this first and follow that straight up with another Apple Bloom story?
The next part in the Bastion series? I still have the rough drafts of some of the interviews I'd planned to include, I still have the outlines for the re-worked version that has Bastion be more active in it, but still no idea on how I'll approach the series, or if I even want to make it a series. Details here on the current episode idea, details here on the now questionable series plans.
Something new and up to date with the Seasons? You might have realised (or, if you're a regular, read) by now that I have serious issues with procrastination, issues that have gotten worse every year. Part of that problem involves getting myself to just watch what I like. I don't watch pony that often, even though part of me wants to. Same with anime, btw: I've been trying to force myself to watch Uma Musume for ages. As unprofessional as it sounds, I feel like I'm continually starving myself of ideas whilst at the same time consuming creative energy to the point I'm running on fumes. Anyway, one of the consequences of that is most of my fics take place at older points in the series, or focus on events from older Seasons. That's just not what people want, it doesn't get the numbers it used to, and I need to adapt to that. I don't have any solid ideas yet, though, not for a oneshot, aside from one weird idea involving Sweetie Belle and a swan in a bottle. Lots of vague ideas, though.
Something even more old-timey than what I've been doing? A John the Fearless adaptation could work.
I could focus on re-doing the Pharynx fic and submit it to EqD again. I could also just drop pony writing altogether for a while and focus on the Niko fics I'd been planning or the original project I've been doing on and off for the past four years. But if I do that, you'll all be waiting for even longer than you've already been.
Tl; dr: I don't know if I should do what I've been doing or try something new or just not do anything pony-related. Now that I've quit writing M-rated fics and toned down everything to show level, it's getting harder and harder to write something that feels both 'good' and 'me'.
I want to make it clear that I'm not asking 'What do you think I should write?' I'm asking 'What would you like to read, if anything?' with the caveat being that I'm not doing adult material anymore. I want to stay as professional as I can over this, but it seems I can't dodge the elephant in the room, so there it is.
Cracker out.
I enjoy your stuff no matter what you put up, though I will say that String Bean fic sounds intriguing. Especially the Apple Bloom/Grand Pear interaction.
Edit: I'm stupid.