Interview with Syke Jr. · 6:56pm Nov 15th, 2020
Interview RP Format
Nailah as Snow Heart
Syke Jr as Sunburst/Silver
Snow Heart
Snow Heart looked up to the pony she had stumbled into, her violet eyes lighting up. "Oh my gosh...Sunburst?" she asked as she had been writing with a pony over at the Crystal Empire about her writing and he was giving her tips on how to improve. There was no way she just happened to stumble into him here. That would be so cool. But then what if he doesn't like her? What if he doesn't like her because she's a bat Princess? She shivered, and shook
Sunburst/Silver
"Wait, am I?" He looked down at a white hoof and blinked. "I forgot. Let me just... wait, how do you know me as Sunburst?"
Snow Heart
"Um..." snow Heart blushed* "I've been writing to him on how to improve my writing. He's a very intelligent pony, and I am always eager to learn. Wait, your not Sunburst!" Snow heart gasped, and stepped back shocked.
Sunburst/Silver
"No, no, I am!" He paused. "Sort of. I mean, I'm the pony you've been writing to. My name just isn't... actually Sunburst." He laughed nervously. "You're Snow Heart, aren't you? So you want to go talk somewhere? I didn't know you lived in Ponyville."
Snow Heart
Snow Heart blinked, and stared at him. Not Sunburst? She was confused. "I'm Snow Heart yes! That's my name." She fidgeted nervously, don't say your title, don't. "Oh I don't actually live here anymore, but I used too. I was going to visit my parents. They live here in Ponyville. Sure, we could maybe get coffee? Or tea?" She loved her some coffee.
Sunburst/Silver
He smiled. "I'm always ready for tea." They headed together for a nearby cafe.
When they sit down, Sunburst fidgeted and said, "I guess I should take off the disgui-- uh, the costume." His horn glowed, and in a flash was transformed into a silver unicorn with a black mane. The hoodie and glasses were gone, and his green eyes were a little sharper. "I'm Silver Star. The Sunburst thing is just a Nightmare Night costume. And, uh, my persona in our little writing community." He looked over Snow Heart, smiling now. "It's great to meet you in person!"
Snow Heart
Snow Heart seated herself across from him, as she glanced over to him, while he spoke. He seemed nervous too. She felt a slight hint of a smile pursing at her lips. Smiling was hard, but she was getting better. "Oh! That's really cool. I don't disguise myself as Rainbow Dash, even if I would love to be her!" She let out a screeee, excited. "She is how I got into ponies! What about you?" She asked curiously.
Sunburst/Silver
"I started out editing people's stories a long time ago," Silver replied. "Eight years." He thought about it. "The first big project I had was working on an epic called The Powers Of Harmony, by CyborgSamurai. It was never finished, unfortunately. Then I decided to physically publish another great fantasy epic by TheUrbanMoose called The Stranger and Her Friend. It's still technically up for sale." He paused. "I didn't really start writing myself until a year ago, when I read a story called Friendship is Optimal."
Snow Heart
"Oh, I see! The first pony story I remember reading was a oneshot about Rarity and Applejack. It was short, sweet, and full of feels. I wanted my writing to reflect that. I can be very shy and awkward, and writing is a tool that helps me overcome that." Snow Hear admitted, rubbing the back of her forehoof against her hood of her hoodie, making the back of it fall down to her back* "I have a lot of respect for ponies that can edit, because I have trouble with editing, there's so much I don't see it don't understand. Basically, I'm still learning which is why I'm so grateful you offered to help me! Ponies are so kind to me. I wonder..." She paused. No don't say it.
Sunburst/Silver
"I love being able to help," Silver grinned. "When I read someone's writing, I can see everything it could be, with a little time and work. There's no such thing as a bad idea, just one that needs some thought and time put into it with the help of someone who knows what to do."
Snow Heart
"Oh, I'm not sure there's any fixing my first attempt at a story..." she blushed darkly "Back when I was just a unicorn, I saw lots of writers writing nsfw, and thought oh this must be what I should write to be noticed. I was so ashamed of it once I realized this wasn't the case, and took it down from the site." She tilted her head down. What if he didn't like her now? She fidgeted more nervously.
Sunburst/Silver
"You know a secret? I deleted my first story on the site, too." He grinned again. "It was about Twilight Sparkle dying of old age. Pretty ridiculous now, huh? That was... seven years ago, I guess. I even..." he stopped. "When you were 'just a unicorn'?"
Snow Heart
Snow Heart froze in her seat. Sugar! There you go letting out your secret! What are you kidding? Everyone knows. She sighed. "I'm...I'm Princess Snow Heart." She admitted, slipping out of her hoodie, and showing him her bat wings. "That's sad. I don't like sad stories." She stated, matter of fact like. Though, if it wasn't for a sad story, she would have not met Azure. She looked to him* "Um, I hope you will still like me despite my wings..."
Sunburst/Silver
Silver laughed. "They're super cute! I had no idea. Don't be embarrassed." He noticed his untouched tea, and drank it all in one gulp happily. "And yeah, the story was sad. It was only supposed to be the first chapter of a story about Philomena, but I never finished it. That's why it's gone now." He yawned a little. "Last year, reading Friendship is Optimal just... awakened all my inspiration again, out of nowhere. Most of the words I've published have been FiO stories, and the rest are all speedwrites from our little community. I don't know how many you've read; I think a lot of them were written before you joined us...."
Snow Heart
Snow Heart blushed deeply "Thanks, they're awkward, and I hear ponies don't like Princesses..." She admitted. "Honestly, the only story I have read of yours is Mason Jar. But I plan to read more! Just I tend to protize stories I review. I'm a reviewer, and we'll a leader of my own group. I never thought I could lead anything, but when my fellow reviewers encouraged me to be empowered, it was like the door was opening. And now I'm here. It's super scary, but I'm not looking back and embracing a bright future. Oh! I'm rambling. What inspires you to write? I mean technically you just told me, so maybe this is redundant?"
Sunburst/Silver
"I don't really know what inspires anyone to write," he replied thoughtfully. "It's not as simple as seeing an idea you like and trying to put your own spin on it. Inspiration comes from somewhere deep." He paused. "That's actually the point of a contest I ran, called The Kaleidoscope. It actually... made a lot of people mad, that contest, since it kind of flooded the site. But a lot of really great stories came out of it. Mine ended up winning." He chewed his lip. "The Mason Jar is my best speedwrite, for sure. I think it's my best story overall. My other contest pieces, the ones for Imposing Sovereigns 2 and Autumn TF, were also well-received, and fans of the Optimalverse seem to like those stories. For me, inspiration just takes root in my subconscious, and I think about a story for a long time before I end up writing anything. But I write fast once I get started."
Snow Heart
Snow Heart shifted a wing to grab her notepad, to scribble down notes, as he spoke. His words were so enlightening, and powerful. She had heard of that contest, and giggled. "I imagine it was crazy! And not in a good Krazy." She winked at him.* "I joined the speedwrite server to get better at writing! I'm really not sure it's working... I felt really good about my Alternate Universe story, Try. But it didn't place. It got fifth. Which I know is not bad, but it's just I hoped for more... selfish huh? Tell me what advice would you give a new writer?"
Sunburst/Silver
"What a new writer should do more than anything is read." He looked a little ruefully at his empty teacup. "And I don't mean just read a lot of stuff, I mean actively study stories that you like, and might want to emulate. What makes a passage powerful? What's the tone of the piece, and what specifically sets that tone? The descriptions? The prose style? When the story puts an image in your mind, which words or passages are doing the most work? What is written between the lines, and how do you know it's there? Good writing is the practice of saying as little as possible, but communicating as much as possible at the same time. It's very very important to remember that the reader's imagination is the writer's most powerful tool. Learning to manipulate what the reader thinks and feels without spelling everything out blatantly is the most important skill you can learn. So read stories over and over. Figure out what makes them work. Take notes. And try to copy their style, their techniques: don't worry if what you end up with feels like a cheap clone at first, because the more you do it, the more your own style will develop. The trick is to not think of yourself as a storyteller, but a manipulator of emotions. Telling a story is easy, but making a reader care about it is where the writer's craft lies." He rubs the back of his neck. "I could lecture about this kind of thing for hours. But that's the basic idea."
Snow Heart
Snow Heart scribbled down rapidly, as she took his words into her mind. Thinking, she reads a lot herself. Maybe her note taking needed work! Maybe then she'd actually be successful at placing someday. She never thought of speedwrites as something to win, but more a tool to improve her writing, but she kept this to herself. "Oh! Who is best pony?"
Sunburst/Silver
"Luna."
"I've only written one story about her, though. Souls and Silicon for Imposing Sovereigns 2."
Snow Heart
"Luna is a good choice! You'll never ever guess my favorite." She giggled.
Sunburst/Silver
Rainbow Dash?
Snow Heart
"Yep! How'd you guess? Was it the fact I have Rainbow everything in my room, or the fact I used to look like her?" She giggled like a school filly.
Sunburst/Silver
"It's more that you said it about two minutes ago." He grins.
Snow Heart
"Oh! I forgot." She stated still giggling. "I forget stuff all the time. That's why I take notes. " She finally calmed down. She could get quite excited. Stay composed. Do not scare him off.* "So um this might be awkward, but is there anything about the you as a writer you'd like to say?"
Sunburst/Silver
"Hmmm." a few moments pass. "I guess all I can say is that writing has changed my life. In ways that I can't explain without revealing too much about my life. But just know that putting yourself into your writing is extremely important, and will lead you to learn things about yourself. Sometimes very very important things. The Optimalverse is really meaningful to me because it makes you ask those important questions of yourself, and I would recommend it to everyone who likes to think deeply about how they would deal with being thrust into the world of a story. Without having written my Optimalverse stories, I would be a very different person today, and there's no way I would be anything like as happy as I am now. So if you have things inside yourself that you don't know how to express, just start writing. Write without a plan. Put your soul into it without worrying about how it turns out. That's what I did, and what I will continue to do; I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month. I write to connect with people, and I want other people's writing to connect with me. We all get to know a little of each others' souls when we share stories with each other. So I guess that's what I'm trying to do before my time on Earth is up."
Snow Heart
"I see. I remember my first attempt at Nano, it was crazy. I was in college at the time, and my ex's grandmother was very religious, so I didn't have internet at home. But thankfully, I did have open office, an off line writing program. It was very close, and there were a few times I thought I'd fail. But I pressed on, challenging myself to finish on time. I finished the very last day by the fur of my hooves!"
Sunburst/Silver
Silver smiles. "Congratulations. It's nice to just barely finish on time. It's the only way I ever finish everything." He yawns. "Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?"
Snow Heart
"Oh, nawhz. That question is always hard. I mean I would not know how to answer it, without rambling. Let's see now." She looked to her notes "You mentioned Optimalverse inspiring you, so excluding that is there any story, even non mlp that has helped you? Or one you'd like to mention?"
Sunburst/Silver
"Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Far and away my favorite book, and very meaningful to me philosophically. Vonnegut's writing has influenced my style heavily, as you can probably tell in some of my work. My other big influence would be Terry Pratchett; the entire Discworld series is amazing for pure reading pleasure. The only other book I can think of that's inspired my writing particularly is another Vonnegut book, Timequake. I've never felt like I knew another writer as well as I did when I read that, and not just because it's partially the author's memoirs. Like I said, your soul is revealed in your writing if you let it steer you, and you should. I think Timequake is the book that taught me that."
Snow Heart
"Hmm...I see! Well the first book I remembered that inspired my writing career was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone. I wanted to be just like J.k. Rowling. So I guess that would be mine. But fimfiction wise, it has to be Enchanted Library by Monochromatic. She inspires me. " Snow Heart realized she was rambling again. She sipped at her coffee, as she pondered what to say now.* "Hmm...I know I've been rambling on, but let's flip the table here. Is there anything you'd like to ask me?"
Sunburst/Silver
"I guess all I would ask is what are you writing for NaNo this month?"
Snow Heart
"Rarity and Applejack, romance! Within a western setting! I love trains, and horses and it has been an old idea I never got around to Writing, because honestly my head is jam packed full of ideas! And sometimes I lose focus. Well there's not really anything else to ask you, but I really enjoyed doing this! Is there anything you want to say to them?" points to her fans.
Sunburst/Silver
"I'd assume a lot of them are writers, or at least would like to be writers, so... I would say to publish. Publish whatever it is you've written, and write whatever it is you're thinking about, but haven't. You could spend years wishing you were a good writer, or you could start becoming one now, and the first step is to publish. So do it! Join us during NaNoWriMo and just... make yourself publish something of any length or quality. It's the first step, and if you never take it, you'll never know how good you could have been." With this, Silver Star's horn glows, and in a flash he's in his Sunburst disguise once more. turning to Snow Heart with a grin, he says, "You know, it's Nightmare Night. Ponies will think your wings and ears are just a costume; you don't need to hide tonight. Or ever, really. But see how you feel tonight, huh?"
Snow Heart
"Yeah, that's really good advice! Sorry for thinking you were so quiet. I rarely see you speak, but I guess letters can only convey so much. Thanks for coming though, listening to me, and answering my silly questions. I always get asked why I do these things. It's simple, I want to promote other authors. I used to want fame in my early days of the site, but once I realized it was more fun to simply write, I found I enjoyed myself a lot more! And fans will come. No matter what, write what makes you happy. And sappy, fluff is what I adore to write! For its a dream of mine to find it. Or perhaps I already did!" Hearts circled above her head. Whispering "Oh, Azure." She looked back to Syke, reaching out and petting his head.*
"Keep being awesome, my friend!"
Sunburst/Silver
"Will do. Now, I have a Nightmare Night contest to win. See you!"
Link to Syke Jr's profile page:Silver
"If you want Snow Heart to interview you, get in touch - and be sure check out Nailah's Reviewer Mansion"
