Almost there... · 7:19pm Aug 12th, 2019
Sun and Hearth is finished and the epilogue is with the prereaders now. Barring major rewrites, it should be published by the end of the month.
All said and done, it will be around 120,000 words -- 50,000 more than planned. And it will be finished about two years and two months later than expected. I'm not good at estimating.
When I'm ready to sign off on it, I think I'm going to release a chapter a day, so that folks who like to stay current don't have 30k to swallow at once, but people waiting for that complete tag don't have to wait weeks for it. Plus it lets me post my ending credits playlist.
I'm not sure what to do about the fact that it's been a year and a half since the last update. The options I can think of are:
Nothing, and let people deal with it however they want.
Post a several paragraph "previously on" that offers a reminder of the events as they stood at the end of the last posted chapter.
Post a one or two sentence summary of all the chapters, with the idea that it will jog people's memories, and if there's something they can't remember at all they could skim that chapter.
...let me know what you think is reasonable, because we all know people aren't going to rush off and reread 86,000 words of fic they've already read (and in many cases, weren't crazy about.)
That being said, that would be optimal. I think this fic really suffered from not being published or received as a novel, and I think anyone who sits down to read the whole thing in one go will have a really different experience. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.
Either way, my part is almost done. We'll see what becomes of it.
I think a "Previously on..." blog would be advisable. Looking forward to the conclusion!
I think you might need to bite the bullet and tell people to reread the thing
Depending on how complex the plotting and foreshadowing is, that is! If there are clues they need to pick up on or a vibe they need to be immersed in, then absolutely.
5104606
It's not so much plotting, though foreshadowing comes closer. It's more that some ideas and themes are explored in different ways throughout the book, and taking one chapter at a time without a good memory could lead to very different conclusions about those things or the characters involved in them.
In my defense it does cover 2000 years of Equestria's history and focus on the ponies who built and ran a country during that timespan. There's a lot going on.
5104615 Yeah, things like themes are such subtle, chapter-spanning things that I'm not sure a recap will quite convey that in the way you're wanting, so I'd suggest at least including a recommendation that people ought to reread it if you do a recap
Yea! (And people complained when *I* had a six month pause in releasing chapters for Royal Exam)
For what it's worth, "Salvation" went through a similarly long stretch of inaction towards the end of its run and during an emotional climax to boot. Cold in Gardez, I believe, wrote a single short blog post explaining what happened - about the delay and his life, not so much about the story - and then went about his business. If people complained, and I don't remember if that even occurred, then they complained. Afterwards, they either left or did what the rest of us did: refamiliarize ourselves with the story and push on. And that was the end of that.
You've already talked about the delay and how it's been handled. I'm not sure anything else by you is needed. Let the readers deal with it in the way that works best for them. Those who were never truly engaged in "Sun and Hearth" in the first place have probably already left. I'm not sure a "previously on..." or a chapter blurb summation will bring them back. I'm not sure those options would even work for those who are engaged. This fic is dense, and I mean that as a compliment. There are a lot of important moments, referenced in the narrative of historical Equestria and by the characters themselves, that build upon each other. I would say it's almost impossible to summarize everything in this story without inevitably leaving something meaningful out. And that would be a disservice to anyone who restarts your story based solely upon these summaries. It would create exactly what you're trying to avoid: people drawing conclusions based on incomplete information
Personally, I plan on rereading the story. But that's me and my opinion, and maybe others will choose to do different.
What lucky prereaders to get to see it first
Hm, I think I'm in agreement with 5104848.
I want to thank you for all the effort you put in to finishing this for us. A kid Trixie's age is, like, two point five full-time jobs, and to think you'd spend what little energy you have left over writing horsewords for us is a really humbling thought.
I'm looking very much forward to rushing off and rereading 86,000 words of this epic masterpiece!
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I appreciate the sentiment from both of you. If you do end up rereading it, I hope you'll drop some notes about your thoughts... I'd be interested to know if anything comes across differently with some idea of what comes later.
If you have time, of course. No pressure!
5104889
I don't exactly write for you guys. I write because the characters keep talking to me. Sometimes they stop when I'm really busy or stressed, but I usually know things are going to be okay when they start up again. But I have entire stories I have no plans to ever publish that exist because some characters got themselves in trouble inside my head.
I do publish stuff for you guys, though, which includes the annoying parts of writing. Obviously the going is slow there, but I do what I can because I want to stay part of this community.
I’m gonna need popcorn