Stories Cut Down To Size · 2:39pm Aug 12th, 2020
Blog Number 88: "Feeling the Heat" Edition
First of all, in case I might reach someone who hasn't noticed yet, long-time author Novel-Idea (of the Wavelengths Timeline and the SunLight Sliders series) is in dire straits and needs help ASAP. If you can, then please do.
All the details about the situation can be found here.
Secondly, myself: writing has picked up a bit. Currently at 13,460 words.
Which is a clear improvement over last month, but still not much compared to June and May. To that end, I'm aiming to pick up the pace once I've found some idea or ideas I'm confident in.
Some of the advice seems to be working, though an unfortunate side effect is that I've got yet more not-insignificant dead ends on my hands. Hoping to have at least one project finished and published by the end of the month (Fingers crossed!).
Thirdly, to pre-empt a question: no, I'm not watching Pony Life, and neither am I interested in doing so. Frankly, I had trouble feeling invested in the second half of Friendship is Magic, to say nothing of a super-zany-looking fluffy spin-off.
Instead, I'm currently revisiting various FiM seasons, though admittedly mostly for research on certain background ponies. Well, that and revisiting other shows, books, and video games as and when whim prompts me to. I tend to hop around a lot.
Fourthly, as to what I'm writing:
My focus at the moment is on writing notable background foal protagonists and giving them character and backstory, which of course means extrapolating the hell out of random appearances (Dinky, for instance, is surprisingly scarce in this regard).
Thank goodness for mlp.fandom.com, or this'd be a much more fumbling search than it already is. Although I also have an advantage in that I've already possessed some years-old ideas and concepts for some of them, which gives me a bit of a head start.
See, I'm trying to keep to short stories, as per previous blog post. I feel producing a lot of them would make for a good "default state", and then, like having a base of operations, this "default state" could provide the foundation for increasingly more ambitious campaigns.
Hit a snag, though: they've always been hard to do without just turning in a scene and pretending it's a story. Even with last blog's messages in mind, this still doesn't seem substantial enough to me. Some kind of structure and progression needs to exist, right?
The way I see it, my best short story strategy at the moment is "keep everything to a minimum" (e.g. one character or two, one setting only, one plot point or two). Trouble is that's easier said than done when it feels like another addition (and then another and then another) would help it work better or seem less bland.
And then, before you know it, you've written Act One of a much longer story and suddenly realize cutting it would kill the story structure. Damn is that like hitting your head on a low ceiling you didn't even spot.
Then, it's back to the old drawing board. I'm not worried too much about that, since I am at least writing more, but sooner or later it's going to bug me something fierce.
Unless... anyone would like to offer some more hints and tips, if I may ask? Because I wouldn't mind receiving some here when it comes to short stories. Between my novel-reading habits and my novel-writing ambitions, I think I'm too primed to do anything shorter easily without immediately feeling an urge to complicate it. But I'm open to learning a few new tricks.
Fifthly and lastly, the heat here in the UK is unbearable, and it's all I can do to keep cool. Summer really is the worst season.
Otherwise, all is mostly well and most of what's going on is all well and good. Till next time!
Impossible Numbers, out.
So, question? Why does it have to be a "story" with a traditional narrative? There are other forms of writing which are just as valid. In this case, what you describe is known as a "vignette" -- that is, a short scene or descriptive sketch that captures a single moment or a defining detail about a character, image, idea, or other element, which contain little or no plot or narrative. These can be just as interesting as a narrative story if well done. There's also the "character study", which is an in-depth exploration of a character, that may or may not use a traditional narrative to accomplish the exploration.
Either way, the key is just to narrow your focus, concentrate on the essentials of the scene/detail/plot, and understand that it's okay to leave some things vague or unexplained.
I always say:
With short stories, "Come up with a beginning, a middle, and an end, start in the middle, and race as fast as you can to the end." But that might not be entirely helpful...
Of the 33 stories posted on my Baal Bunny page, though, only 4 of them are longer than 10,000 words if you want to look at some examples. "Cleanse" won first place in its Writeoff round last year and manages to get multiple characters and scenes into the mix in just over 5,000 words. "Epitaphs" is a couple years old now, but it's still my most popular, getting all six of our heroines into things in not quite 1,500 words. And "Discontinuity" runs Discord and Applejack through a series of multi-dimensional shenanigans in just over 4,000 words.
Mike
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I'm aiming for a balance. At one extreme is expecting myself to write intricate novels, which is too rigid and demanding a target. But I'm also wary of the other extreme, which is to write very simple scenelets, because that seems too loose and easygoing.
It's no secret: I still want to write novels in the long run, which skews in favour of working with a narrative structure. If that can be combined with regular engagement with shorter story formats, then I'd kill two birds with one stone: become more familiar and more confident in my writing with regular shorter projects, while also getting in some good training for the bigger, more ambitious work.
And... all right, I might as well admit I've been conditioned in that direction by critics: e.g. I tend to submit to Equestria Daily, who in turn tend to prefer that kind of thing.
This might be a dim question for me to ask, but: Do you still recommend vignettes and so on, even in that context? I will confess to a bit of reluctance, but not total reluctance if it can help.
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Interesting. It seems starting rigidly at the beginning is not the way to go. I usually try to write my stories in strict order (sometimes with a full plan in mind ahead of time), so this might explain a lot. Along with the vignettes/character-study/etc. approach above, that's something to look into, especially with examples for reference (thanks for that, Baal).
And to give you an idea of what stale hell I'm in weather-wise: I can easily feel uncomfortable when it's only sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
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Writing short works such as vignettes, character studies, sketches, etc. is always a useful exercise; at least according to my creative writing instructors. Focusing on the craft of setting up a scene, describing a character, developing a mood, can only improve any kind of fiction writing you care to attempt in the future. It's all about developing basic skills. Similarly, writing short homages and pastiches can get you a feel for different styles of writing, how different artists use their tools.
It's the same as with visual artists doing simple sketches or "studies", or musicians practicing scales and arpeggios -- study and practice the simple building blocks, and once you've mastered them you'll be better able to construct the larger works.
And writing in a strictly serial manner from beginning to end is rarely the best way to construct a story for most writers. For myself, I generally start by writing scenes, and then writing the bits needed to link those scenes into a coherent story. Outlining can also be a useful method for setting up the basic plot elements and story beats, so when you do start writing the actual story you'll have a better idea how things should work together. I don't usually do that for small pieces, but definitely find it helpful for larger works.
This is a good bit of info on the idea of a "study": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_(art)
It's about visual art; but the principle applies equally well to literary or other forms of artist endeavor.
Sir, you managed to catch my attention. Funny, just today I thought about talking to you and asking you if you ever tried writing a story for a background pony who no one has written before. Because it's easy writing for a background pony many others have already written before, stories that you can use for inspiration. Writing for a background pony no one knows or is interested in and having to study that pony and learning who they are and how their life is, that is a different caliber. I did that twice, so far, and definitely want to do it more often.
And now I'm home from a trip that was supposed to be relaxing, but became dangerously exhausting at the end, and you suddenly talk about doing exactly that. Telepathy exists, prove me wrong.
I am awaiting these stories with eager interest.
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I'm not sure I've ever pulled this off. The closest to a candidate I can think of is White Lightning, since I was the first to use her character tag, and even then I might have been beaten to the punch by someone who included her in a fic not specifically about her. Impractical as it is, it's hard to prove this kind of thing without trawling through all the fics on-site.
If nothing else, I'm hoping to increase representation for all those characters below the radar. When the big ones have been done to death, the little underdogs are where it's at. And the nice thing about it is that the lack of attention gives you more freedom. It's like having the office all to yourself!
Oh, not in my experience. If anything, I tend to ignore other people's depictions of background characters precisely because they can get in the way of my own vision.
One of the reasons I didn't go for the more popular ones (like Octavia, Derpy, and Doctor Whooves) for so long was because of all the preconceived ideas running around. The odds were that they would run straight into whatever I'd developed by myself over time.
If anything, obscure or rarely used background characters are much more inviting because you've pretty much got the field to yourself. Or are sharing it with people you at least know better.
I do agree, though, that there's some enjoyment to be gained out of picking key moments for an underused character in the show and making your own version out of those tantalizing scraps. It's like taking a quick sketch and then painting rich colours and shades onto it. Incredibly satisfying!
Amen to that.
I'm sorry to hear that. Generally, if I want to relax, I remain at home. I only travel when I want to do something to get the blood running. This makes more sense when you know I'm a creature of habit... and of creature comforts, come to that. I travel for the excitement.
I'm less sure, but in any case, if it does then by golly do I wish it was far more consistent. It'd save me a bucketload of problems if I could get around the clumsiness of spoken and written language more often, just by beaming my thoughts directly to people at will.
And some telekinesis would be nice too. Actually, I could do with most of the known psychic powers in my life...
It'll be a while, even in the best-case scenario. I'm still stuck at the "wrestling myself into doing anything" stage of story production, alas. Working on it.
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Sorry I took so long to respond to this. I want to assure you I have been thinking it over, at least, and while changing my habits hasn't happened overnight, I'm at least growing less reluctant now. This "study" idea for honing separate narrative components could be useful.
In any case, thank you for the good advice. The last couple of weeks have been... thought-provoking, and a bit of an eye-opener for me personally. I'll get back to you if anything else occurs to me.