I am alive. (Don't all gasp at once) · 3:07am Nov 30th, 2012
If you'd like to hear the juicy details on all the sources of anxiety which piled up and made me have to step back from this for a couples months, feel free to message me and I'll be happy to explain myself, whether one person or five hundred people ask; I will happily reply to each and every one of you who is interested in what's been going on with me.
I'm not even sure if that is necessary though, since I think only three folks have actually commented on my absence anyway. This would normally prompt me to just explain right here what's been going on in my life, but the unfortunate drawback of the internet is that sadly, any attempt to sincerely explicate personal problems or real-world conflicts is usually dismissed as whiny angst. I meant to write this two weeks ago but I was afraid to because I was convinced no one would even read or take my apology for update tardiness seriously. I already felt bad about scene 7 because I changed perspective when people were expecting an immediate followup on Rainbow Dash and Twi. (I really didn't get good comments on my last scene, or worse, no comments lol)
As far as the story itself: This story, believe it or not, is somewhat complex for me to tell and it may be because of how I want to tell it and not necessarily the subject matter itself. Or it may be both. Either way, I've written three or four versions of the last chapter for act one before feeling my brain implode. My stress from quality assurance is also something any of you should feel free to private ask about, because again I don't want anyone thinking I'm just writing this to complain about my life.
The next inquiry I'm about to ask are some that I'm not even sure if I deserve to ask, or if it will be just like the majority of my other blogs in which less than 3% or so of the viewership of my story actually respond. But I'll ask anyway, and if I hear enough feedback I'll know what people want to see out of this endeavor.
I want to hear what you guys think about the perspective changes. I write chapters for characters so you get the whole story, but I don't want to create the same issue that happened with scene 7 in which people wait for a month for a 1500-word update and it's an unexpected perspective on a side of the story they may not be most excited about. Don't worry; I'm not adding any more perspectives! It's just Trick, Twi and Dash. It would be totally awesome if I got a good amount of opinion and feedback on this. I've been tossing ideas around for choosing either Dash or Twi and following their POV for the remainder of the story, or each chapter showing a couple perspectives so you don't miss out on what Dash is doing while I progress the antagonist's POV, etc.
And finally, my editor is getting busier with her goals and personal life and I don't want to be bothering her forever. So there may come to a point in which she allows me to stop bothering her (as little sense as that makes), and if that point comes I'll need another editor. I don't need one now, though. But I may. But maybe not. Okay, you get the idea :)
I will say one thing about my stress to close all this. I care about the quality of what I'm posting for W2FA1 which is a source for quite a bit of the stress buildup. This story is my baby and I've already goofed up several things about it and in spite of all that's going on with me I don't want to put this on hold any more than I have to or worse, cancel it.
Here's a song to describe the pressure I felt.
Good song choice. Also feel free to message me. Also. I enjoy the viewpoint change
If the perspective changes help you tell the story you want to tell, by all means do it. Personally, I'm neutral to them, so long as I get a fulfilling story.
I theoretically could edit for you, but iunno how good I'll be.
You shouldn't have to worry about explaining any pressure or absences. Some people on the internet will chalk it up to whining, but most of us (the ones that usually say nothing) totally understand that real life happens, and people need to have a life outside the internet (blasphemy!).
Take your time, and write it the way YOU want to, not the way you think everyone else wants, and we'll enjoy it for the much better story that it will be.
I'm mostly neutral to the perspective change. Though I think it would have been a little less jarring if you made Cheap Trick have a bigger part while in Twi or Dash's perspective. You know, actually made people interested in his and Trixie's relationship. People didn't know that much about him, nor did they care about him, and suddenly they were in his perspective. A little more character development and a little more dialogue between him and Trixie would have helped a lot, before switching over to his perspective.
After thinking about it some more, I came to this conclusion. After I skimmed over Scene 6, I realized anymore character development and dialogue may have ruined the flow. It may have been wise to have a sort of transition chapter, to get people a little more used to Cheap Trick. In the scene he was in, he was treated as a villain, so people didn't really care about him much. But the chapter flows so well, it would have been bad to have too much more character development and dialogue. Maybe a chapter where Twi and Dash, or just one of them, and Trixie and Cheap Trick all interacted together, without some crazy stage performance going on.
Maybe Twilight shouldn't have gotten forced on stage, and instead was forced backstage and then onstage. she could have witnessed some interactions between them, before being forced onstage.
I don't know... I should probably devote this much thought into my current story... I don't even know how much of what I said helped, I don't even remember the order in which things happened. If I remember correctly, Twilight was at the stage, when Trixie kind of forced her up there, and then pretty much asked her out? And then Dash comes along and Cheap Trick tries to prevent Dash and Twi from leaving together? Tell me if I forgot anything, but that's how I remember it.
If you ever need an ear to bend, I'd be happy to help out a fellow brony.
As long as it is clear whose perspective it is i dont really mind if it went back and forth. But it shouldn't jump around a lot.
Thanks for the responses guys! Looks like I got my work cut out for me based on the feedback. I appreciate all of you taking the time to read this blog, because like I already mentioned, I was afraid to even try to talk about this on any level.