Can Glide, Can't Fly, a.k.a. The Old Lift Problem Again... · 12:12pm Aug 15th, 2022
Blog Number 181: Runway Problems Edition
The good news is: I've planned out my Fluttershy-Rainbow novel, and a role for Scootaloo. It's a detailed plan, and I love it.
The bad news: writing stopped a few days ago. 
Cos I'm torn between two competing impulses.
Stuff this, maybe I should quit and become a singer.
Now I just need to learn how to sing.
😎 Ah. Quite peaceful, now the heatwave's melted away...
Anyway, to go into more explicit detail about this novel plan:
Not every bit of the Fluttershy-Rainbow novel plan has been worked out in total detail, but I'm confident I've got enough to get me started. I've worked out a twelve-part arrangement, basically twelve chapters plus room to add more if I need to expand any later.
Even the weakest tend to have "X, Y, and Z Character, Locations 4 and 5, Plot Points Gamma and Delta, Insert Major Action/Drama Mini-Climax IV here" formats filled in, though barely a broad strokes level of actual plot structure connecting them all. I at least know what direction I'm aiming for when I get to them.
They're thankfully not much of a problem for the first act (which is basically chapter-by-chapter pinned down), I know what climax I'm ultimately aiming for, and how Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are going to anchor all this at each step to stop the plot wandering off. I've even figured out which co-star pegasi are going to be present, where and when, and most importantly why (generally for thematic reasons, though there were some logistical considerations too).
So basically... you know what I'm gonna say...
Best of all, I even figured out that Scootaloo would work really well as a third party member after all, and once I figured out her role, everything almost immediately clicked into place. Triangulation is the oldest trick in the book. For whatever reason, things really work when they come in threes.
It's everywhere in fiction, and adding Scootaloo to make this effectively a Fluttershy-Rainbow-Scootaloo novel did me a lot of favours in fleshing out and disciplining the plot structure.
Plus, it's Scootaloo. "Sleepless in Ponyville" became a classic for a reason. I'm not biased, you're biased. 
I honestly would like to go into more detail than that, but I'm wary about jinxing myself - psychologically - and I don't want to spoil it. For now, take it as a given I have the overall sketch down and just need to modify the detail or colour it in.
The problem?
It didn't take long for another project to start tugging at my consciousness.
My general situation for years has been this: I don't have problems coming up with ideas for stories. My problem is that my brain just won't stop.
...they just won't stop, they just keep coming, they just won't leave me alone...
So there I was, adding prose flesh to the story bones, when I start wondering about another character dynamic on the side. In this case, Fluttershy-Gilda. What started off as a seed of an idea then became, for a brief period, me just opening another Word Doc and writing a scene about the two of them having been (eventually) persuaded to meet at the Ponyville Hayburger because Gilda's all redeemed now and Rainbow thinks it'd be a cool idea to start everything anew. The only problem is the two don't actually get each other, especially since one was a bully to the other, so despite having changed more recently, in each other's presence they start regressing and feeling awkward and making attempts at conversation that dry up or ruffle each others' feathers, etc.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill a sec! Wasn't one Andrea-Libman-voiced pony bad enough?"
It amounted to just shy of a couple thousand words, but it became clear pretty quickly it was little more than an interesting scene, not a satisfying story. To achieve the latter, it'd need an expansion pack.
So I ignored it and concentrated on my Fluttershy-Rainbow-Scootaloo novel. I'm backing one horse and sticking to it.
One is devoted to the cause.
The trouble is, since then my brain's been drifting off in that direction: the Arimaspi post a few days ago wasn't entirely random. For another example, I mentally worked out and even started planning a scene where Gilda - more to please Rainbow Dash than because she herself wants to - invites Fluttershy to see Griffonstone. In the meantime, I started neglecting the Fluttershy-Rainbow-Scootaloo novel.
At this point, I backed off from planning (writing had dried up a few days prior) and distracted myself with other things for a bit. It's not even the only fic idea that's been creeping up on me. My mind keeps going back to projects I've been obsessing over for years.
But, since I said I'd report in more often, and "weekly" seemed a reasonable amount of time to do so, here I am.
"Look at all that organization, Spike!" "Er, aren't you supposed to build something with -?" "Shush! It counts as work!"
I'm really not sure what to make of this. Simply put, it is insanely tempting.
If I could just pull off this one trick...
...oh, that doesn't sound good...
CRUD, CRUD, CRUD, CRUD, CRUD, CRUD, CRUUUUUD!
One game plan that I kept toying with for years was the idea of having two parallel types of project. One type would be the novel-length project, the central reason I devote so much time to getting this writing malarkey off the ground. The other would be much shorter projects, operating in tandem as a combination of morale-booster (or checkpoint) and test case.
The upside is that each reinforces the other, granting me the benefits of both the short form and the long form. Not only does productivity remain high, but it becomes - in a sense - mutually supportive. There's also the advantage of having an experimental outlet alongside a committed project, as well as the ability to switch to one form if the other (hopefully temporarily) starts to flag.
And frankly, I find that vision immensely attractive.
Besides, who wouldn't want to put on a good show?
The downside is that it's expensive. It takes a lot of time, effort, and stick-to-it-ive-ness to try something like that, assuming it's even feasible, and it seems more likely to me that one project would simply eclipse the other. If that keeps happening, I end up with what I've been spitting out for years: a lot of projects falling by the wayside and being abandoned.
The other issue is that the definition of "shortfic" is uncertain: 20,000 words is "shorter" than a novel, but it's still potentially a gruelling prospect in its own right, and I have no idea how to write the really short stuff without trying to clarify and elaborate and do justice to it and eventually just flat-out expand it beyond its barriers. To say nothing of quality control.
Besides, who wouldn't want to put on a good show which was good for the right reasons?
Basically, should I try both longfic-shortfic, or just one, or what?
If nothing else, I want to see where people would draw the line. Or if they know any decent tricks I could use instead, because "force yourself to write..." feels like a recipe for trouble.
(Also, I apologize in advance if this has come up before and people are thinking, "Not again! Geez, haven't you figured it out yet?" I have a terrible memory and I do sometimes end up going round in circles. Plus, this is an internal debate I've kept coming back to over and over. For all I know, I might have brought it up somewhere before now and then forgotten it).
Even more basically, I'm kind of stuck and would value some recommendations, please? I kinda want to move past this so I can get to where the action is and start producing properly.
In the meantime, I'll just practice my singing.
The neighbours will understand.
That's all for now. Impossible Numbers, out.
Oh, go on then. One more Scootaloo pic. I'm not made of stone.
Here's the thing, right?
Every project is expensive, even the shortest one. Each thing you write takes commitment and energy, and you will find that there may be a point where you cannot put as much in as you did when you initially started.
But you kind of have to if you want to get things done. You have to force yourself to write and even accept that the story will be bad at times, because you have one duty to the first draft - completing it. Editing will fix it up later.
For the story I'm currently writing and editing, I wrote the first draft within a few months by hand. It had its moments but it was definitely going through several rough patches, and I was sorely tempted to stop and take up another project. But I decided simply to press through with what I had, finish it, transcribe it, and start editing it. Those other ideas I have are still written down somewhere, and I know I can come to them when I want to, but disciplining myself to this one thing allows me to complete it much quicker than anticipated.
I would say, then, for this particular problem, you'd benefit from focusing on finishing the first draft of the novel idea first. Try to get that done, as sloppily as you can. Write somewhere else the idea or ideas you have for another story, but don't add or contribute anything substantial to them. Finish the first draft of the novel first.
Then, take a break after you've finished that novel. Start taking those other ideas and spend some time drafting it. Some writers spend a few weeks after writing one first draft to write another story's first draft, or part of one, anyway. Others spend a few months.
Then, after whatever time you feel is appropriate, stop drafting and go back to the novel. Start editing. Only edit that. With time, you'll come to it fresh, and you'll be able to polish it to the point where it needs to be, free of distraction. Let the other ideas simmer in your head--let them naturally coalesce.
I've seen many writers here who think that they can manage writing multiple projects at once. They certainly can, at times, but this often leads to a lack of discipline or cohesion between stories--or rather, a messy blend of ideas and concepts that becomes all too apparent when read together. It is better for the practicing writer to focus on one thing at a time, in as brief a period of time as possible, because doing so lets the writer solve the problem of the first draft and prepare themselves for the second or third.
In other words, as perhaps harsh as it is to say, what you need is discipline and commitment in order to offset the inherent expensive nature of starting any project. It's like budgeting, I guess. You have to focus on the priority - which in this case, is the novel - and let the other ideas exist as fragments on a page for now. They'll always be there when you're done.
Ooomph. I definitely feel ya on the "planning something out- oooh shiny" impulse.
I don't really have much advice to offer other than... "follow your heart!" Because I feel like all I have is platitudes anyways. But, like, if it's not possible to try and squeeze Gilda in to the novel (which I feel like if you already have it this planned out disrupting it seems a little eh) then why not like, make the Gilda-Fluttershy fic set in the same universe or whatever? Like, a (much much much much much) smaller scale triptych continuum. the RD and 'shy in the gilda fic are the same ones in the novel, but you don't have to read the novel in order to understand the shorter fic. that way you could also probably get the short story out first (and get the brainworms out of the way) but if you like, throw in a reference like "we just went to X last week and did a lot of stuff!" "oh you'll have to tell me about it" or "they were going to go to X location next week" or something then you could also leave an author's note like hey... novel incoming... hehe...
I have no idea if that was comprehensible but
rooting for ya!!
This is probably something you’ve heard of before but a lot of authors do in fact have two stories being worked on at once. The idea is that when they have writer’s block on one story they switch to the other. When they slump on that story they switch back. The hope is to always feel productive while reducing the risk of burnout on either individual story. Kudzuhaiku for one claims it was a key method to his ridiculous output before his health problems forced him to stop.
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I must apologize for my late response to your comments. I appreciate them, I really do: take my long silence as a combination of me still wrestling with the points therein and me wondering how to do these comments justice in return.
All I've got at the moment is a collective "thank you" and an assurance that I'm thinking about what you said.
Sorry if you were expecting more: I'm trying not to bog myself down with overlong messages online. I'm trying to cut to the chase instead.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, for now. Just wanted to assure you the effort you spent was worthwhile, and I'm chewing over the advice, not ignoring it. Thanks again for your help!