A Survey Concerning "Grief" and the Editing Thereof · 5:41pm Mar 9th, 2020
So if you've been following my blog for awhile, you've probably caught wind that I've been working on a sort of "final edit" of "Grief is the Price We Pay." To clarify, this edit would leave the core plot of the story mostly unchanged (so yes, the ending and the events concerning it would remain largely the same), however, it would:
- combine together some of the shorter chapters (for example, the first three chapters would be merged into one)
- fix a number of typos and rephrase clunky sentences
- cut out superfluous words/phrases to try and lower the fic's overall word count (the goal has been to try and get it under 500,000 words total at least)
- rework a few select scenes to either add or remove content in an attempt to improve them overall (for example, chapters "Stratagem" through "The Grove" were to be almost completely reworked).
At present time, I estimate I'm about two-thirds of the way through this final edit. However, much like the original fic, it's taken far longer to do than I had originally planned or hoped, and the longer it goes, the more I wonder if it'll really be worth the effort.
"Grief," after all, has been out of the limelight for over a year now and its readers have moved on to other, newer, works as they should. Now of course I wasn't expecting this final edit to really bring it back into the limelight, but I also know from past experience that the longer a fic goes without change the less likely readers will be to be drawn back in, because like me, you guys all have lives outside of fan fiction too. And having gotten the impression that most readers have been walking away content enough with the fic as-is, its made me wonder if readers would really be all that interested in a final edit, and if not, if my time wouldn't be better spent moving on to other projects.
So here's the question I would like to ask you guys:
Would you really be interested in seeing this final edit of "Grief is the Price We Pay" be finished?
- Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit.
- No, I'm not interested in seeing the final edit.
- I'm indifferent one way or the other.
- Other (in which case, please elaborate)
If it turns out there's not a whole lot of interest in the final edit, then I'm thinking I'll just abandon it and move on to other projects I've been planning.
Comment below accordingly, and thanks in advance for your comments. 
Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit.
And give us a sequel! Reee!
XDDDD
Other (in which case, please elaborate)
Before going on, let me address this part.
Now, don't come away thinking none of us come back to rereading Grief! i've reread it at least three times since it's finished just because it is that good. Did my interest in the show die down? Yes. But I read it because it's like picking up a book I've read before. Just because it is fanfiction doesn't mean I won't reread it, and some fan fiction at better than the novels currently coming out!
About the final edit: I'll be honest. I'm hesitant because I love the original so much. I remember so many little details from each chapter and will probably download an HTML or PDF version before you change it because of such. I don't think a final edit is needed, but there would be one reason I would be very interested in seeing a final edit if you were to self-publish the story through Lulu or something. That would be totally worth it for me. I already have several Fimfiction books on my shelves, and it'd be really cool to see Grief is the Price We Pay as a book also. Not sure if you're interested in such a route though.
No, I'm not interested in seeing the final edit.
I'm not the type to re-read a fic unless a new chapter or sequel happens, and I need re-read to get back in the proper brainspace before enjoying it.
Sorry if that rains on the edit parade
I'm really indifferent to it overall, your edit doesn't warrant me telling you to stop. But I put "not interested" because it's most accurate, I suppose.
Other (in which case, please elaborate)
Not saying that I'm never going to come back, as this was an amazing story, but it was also incredibly long. And I'm just glad I started reading when you first published, or I may not have had the will to read the whole thing in one go (though I have done it before for recommendations, and if I feel inclined, this might be one of the ones I come back to. I just have SO MANY stories in my other Read Later lists
).
THAT SAID. There are plenty of readers who do do that, and any new readers that may come about and see your story that are willing to jump in and binge (or go at their own rate, whatever the case may be) would definitely benefit from seeing a new-and-improved version of the story. Heck, there are times when I see people adding some of my stories from ages back into bookshelves, and the same will likely happen with you. Just because a story isn't in the limelight anymore doesn't mean it won't be appreciated again in the future by somebody else.
Gist, I say finish it up. You already put in the effort for the first 2/3, may as well do the rest.
Yes, I am interested in seeing the final edit
HOWEVER, not as a replacement. A remaster, special edition, whatever you want to call it. But leave the original available somewhere.
Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit.
Let's just say I'm a sucker for different edits.
Yes I’m interested in seeing the final edit.
I’m interested in seeing the difference.
I've read the story once, and I'd LOVE to see the changes.... but it might take me awhile to get to because my reading list is LOOOOOONG.
I guess this falls into the "Other" option.
I like the story the way it is now, but if you proceed with making the edit, I'll end up reading anyway it because I have a tendency to re-read stuff I like, and the edit might even get me to do the re-read sooner than I might have otherwise because I'd be interested to see the changes, whether or not I think I'll like the end result. Just, you know, tell us if you've made the edit because I sometimes do the re-reading from the downloaded html versions rather than from the site directly.
Also, is it possible to turn make this in printed form as an actual book if you get what I mean (I'm pretty sure such a thing can't be done where I live, but I got the impression that you live in USA (correct me if I'm wrong) and maybe such a thing exists there)? I'd love to have a physical copy if you're selling it
Edit: Any chance for the final edit to include a bonus chapter with the Nightmare Night-related idea that you described in one of your blogs? Or maybe as a separate story? I'd jump at the chance to read that!
OTHER
I'm interested only if you have some kind of timeframe (even vaguely), and if this edit is going to replace the current posting.
I stopped reading about halfway through (for some life reason, idr), and have recently been thinking about coming back and finishing, though after this long, I would have to reread from the beginning. Obviously, I'd rather not have a bunch of edits come popping up in the middle of that!
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), but this way we can keep as much of a record of people's past comments and the such as possible because that matters a lot to me (though there will still be some loss--because some chapters are getting combined together, the edited version would have fewer chapters overall, so some would need to be omitted so to make up the difference, and that'll take any attached comments with them).
The edited version absolutely would replace the original. I most likely would do it by just opening up the posted chapters one by one and replacing the old text with the new. FIMfiction probably wouldn't even send out new alerts to watchers (but if I were to do this, I'll definitely post a blog post or something alerting that it's happened
The reason for this is mostly just because I don't think the edited version would really be different enough to merit needing reposting as a separate fic, nor do I see a need to keep the old version around where it'll confuse new readers of which they should be reading when they see what appears as two of the same fic in my library.
I thought for a time about reposting "Grief" over on FanFiction.Net (which I have an account on, way older than my account here by about half a decade if I remember my years right), but FF.Net's posting system is...very involved, and "Grief" is...rather big. I didn't relish the idea of the lengthy and tedious process of reposting the WHOLE thing on there, and the last time I tried, my MLP fics generated notably less attention than they did on FIMFiction, so it didn't seem worth the headache anyway.
But yeah, that's basically the plan for that as it currently stands. If I do this--survey's roughly half-and-half at the moment, so I guess it's still anybody's race, so to speak.
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I've heard of people self-publishing their fanfics before (I understand "Past Sins" got that honor once sometime back), but I was always a little leery of trying it myself, both for the rather shakey legal ground it'd be done on, and because it always struck me as kind of vain, pretending your internet fanfic as an actual legit book. Plus there's the lengthy process of putting it together, advertising it enough to make it worth my while, paying my end of the related expenses, shipping it out, etc. and I just don't think it'd pay off for me in the end.
Though admittedly, it probably doesn't help that I've long been biased against self-publishing on a whole. Sure, there have been people who've found great success through it, but I've found that, statistically speaking, your chances of getting a real winner with the public are no higher than if you had gone through a legit formal publisher--in fact, if anything, your chances are even less because you don't have the benefit of the publisher doing all the advertising for you. That's all on you, and if you aren't up for the task, then frankly your work's going nowhere. Plus, I've always thought self-publishing is a bit of a cheat, trying to bypass the legit publishers who wouldn't take your story so to just do it yourself, when I've seen plenty of self-published books that were...well, let's just say I can see why the legit publishers didn't want them. Have an aunt who had that problem, but let's not get into that.
And this wouldn't even be all of that. This would really just be a service for a few select fans because they think a physical copy would look pretty on a bookcase. Which, I can certainly appreciate, both that I have fans that dedicated to want such a thing and because I'm appreciator of physical books on a bookcase myself. But it'd be a very niche thing with not a lot of pay off for me, the guy that'd make it all happen.
If I were to formally publish anything, I'd want it to be an actual original story entirely of my own creation and done through a legit publisher...unless it's a small, throw-away, in-between, thing of an original idea in which case I would probably publish it as an e-book (it's cheaper, so less loss for me if it doesn't break even), so there wouldn't be a physical copy anyway.
Sorry if that disappoints, but that's probably not happening for "Grief" or any of my other fanfics.
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I have plenty of ideas for a sequel, but nothing's currently on the table to write. This is mostly because the idea of doing so admittedly daunts me quite a bit. "Grief" turned out very much to my satisfaction, but it was a beast to write, and it very nearly burned me out entirely by the end. So I gotta admit...haven't been too eager to put myself through that again, not for a fanfic at least.
It's partly why many of the fics I've written since "Grief" have been so very much shorter by comparison.
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I actually have been looking for ways to do that as a separate fic (In fact, you all nearly got that instead of "A Slimy Nightmare Night" this past Halloween), but it just hasn't worked out. Oddly, it doesn't work as well as a fic set in a separate universe from "Grief," but if it's in the same universe as "Grief," it requires so much more additional context for readers to appreciate everything that it gets too bogged down trying to fill them in and set the scene. It's weird and sort of frustrating how that's worked out.
And I'm on the fence on just adding it back into "Grief" on a whole because...well...there was a reason why I cut it out in the first place--it derailed the plot for a sequence of events that affected nothing of the overall plot on a whole, and I felt the story needed more focus. It already has more of a wandering focus than was probably wise as-is.
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No one says it has to be the same length XD
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Oh, it absolutely wouldn't, if only because none of the ideas I'm considering would even need to run that long.
But most would still be a lot of work to make it happen, work I can't just dedicate to at the drop of a hat (as sad as it is to admit, I have to be choosier about what fic ideas I commit to making happen and which ones I don't these days.
)
Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit.
It was already an excellent story, remastering it would be amazing.
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I don't think it's vain in the least. Mostly because most of the Fimfiction authors who do it for no profit of their own. (Mostly because shipping and such are handled by a website such as Lulu itself. Manufacturing and everything is also.) Usually they just set the price to the cost of manufacture of Lulu, haha. I can understand not wanting to even touch a prospect. but what I was talking about is not really a formal publication of any kind for most of these fanfictions either.
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Well as long as it doesn't become... maklunky.
Loved the story, but it was long (which was good), but I'm not sure that would be enough to tempt me to read more right now
I really enjoyed reading this fic as it was coming out years ago, and going back and putting on that final polish can really make re-reading it live up to how it feels to see it unfold in real time, realized to the best of its potential.
Good luck with it! Maybe we'll see a printed version someday.
Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit
As another person said I have a loooooong list of stories I need to read. However, I think at some point I would come back to read this so, sure!
Personally I'd love to see the final edit. The only thing I would change is Luna and Spike's conversation in But Now I See. As is it feels like Luna is coming in as a moral authority to tell Spike he isn't allowed to think/feel how he is and he should forgive her because if he doesn't he's bad. This later makes it seem like he's given up on himself and Thorax, siding with Twilight and saying she was right, and forgiving her not because he actually forgives her but because he is enotionally broken by abandoing his anger and grief instead processing and moving past it.
Now obviously that's not what you intended, but from that point on the story just feels too different and it makes the ending feel less genuine. That's just my opinion on it though.
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And I agree, a sequel would be most welcome. The stroy is quite compelling after all.
No, I'm not interested in seeing the final edit.
I've already read the story once...reading it a second time would be wasted effort. I also don't like the idea of a flat-rate replacement of the original work; speaking of which, I guess I'll go download the HTML of the original now.
As for the comments about a print-run; Honestly I'd feel guilty if I didn't buy one...but those print-runs, those printed fanfictions, are very expensive for what they are. It isn't like the printed copies are truly valuable, they just seem to be exclusive to the eye. Physical books are expensive to keep, store, transport, and are time consuming to care-for. Most of those printed fanfictions are printed for contemporary novelty, and I don't see them lasting very long.
If a printing begins, then I fear I won't be able to say 'no' to buying one myself, because I do know for a fact that this story is on my best-est bookshelf.
I would like to see the new rewrite but am not sure I want to lose the original so maybe make a new story called rewrite or something.
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From OP's comment a few down.
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Yes, I seem to recall discussing this with you before...
Assuming the edit proceeds forward (I'm probably going to give this a full week so everybody who wants to has plenty of opportunity to pipe in before I definitively decide), I imagine this'll get addressed in some shape or form, though I couldn't tell you how just yet--a lot of these edits are as I come to them. Maybe I'll get struck with inspiration as I'm editing that scene, or some other edit I make before or after it will limit what I can do. So I won't promise anything, but I definitely would look into it.
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Well, rest easy then, because there are no plans for a print run of any sort. I don't really think that's something I'd pursue.
I will choose the other option, I love Grief, and I have read the story at least 3 times, in fact I'm currently rereading. I would love to see an improvement in the wording and the spelling but no changes to the story itself. I think it is a wonderful story and a work of art and is my all-time favorite fic on this entire site. I have read over 1000 stories (most of them involving Spike fics)and I would like to think I've become a wonderful judge, and Grief is the only one to make me laugh and cry in the same sitting. The story is wonderful and I think it should stay that way it is. Fix spelling and wording though.
Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit.
Please
Yes, I'm interested in seeing the final edit.
I really enjoyed reading the original as it was being published, so I'm interested to see what the differences would/could be between the two versions. (:
I'm indifferent one way or the other
But I'm still curious about the final edit and what it would do