Future story ideas (and also maybe looking for Beta-reader?) · 8:43pm Sep 6th, 2022
Greetings to anyone who decides to read this. I now have 3 stories published on fimfiction, 2 of which are active (although clouds hasn't been updated in a while.) But anyway, I have a lot of story ideas that I really want to try writing. However, I do not want to just create a new one and end up not updating my existing stories. Therefore, my idea is to write one in the background. That means that it will be written, but won't be published straight away. My already active stories will continue to get updates as I complete new chapters, but my other ones will remain in the backend so I don't feel too pressured to rush out updates for them.
While this may result in slightly slower update times, I do get most of my motivation from comments and feedback on my stories and as such, that should mean I'll remain more motivated to work on my active stories. But, I would still like to hear your opinions on the 3 story ideas I have lined up. These 3 out of all my other ideas are probably some of my more developed ideas. All 3 of my current stories were published with very little planning other than the base idea, so the new ones should hopefully be more structured long-term.
I will now list out the three story ideas I have and ask that you choose your favourite (you may also put forth your own ideas or simply vote for me to keep my focus on one of my already active stories):
(Marked as spoiler in case you want to vote off only the title without reading the description.)
• Forest Brigade
This would be a light slice-of-life / small scale adventure story where each chapter is it's own stand alone 'episode'. There are three main characters: Terra Leaf (Zebra) | Violet Crescent (Bat Pony) | Forest Flare (Kirin).
They are each one of the sub-categories of the three main tribes (earth,flying,magic). Each of their base characters have been defined as well as some basic lore of the area they live and the first two 'episodes'.
Forest Flare's name is NotYetFinalised since using the name 'Forest' in a forest could get awkward. An alternate names could be Spring Spark. Basically anything related to the Seasons, Forestry or Fire.
This is not a HiE and takes place entirely in Equestria. While it would follow canon, there would be little interaction with canon characters except if in small cameos.
• Airship HiE thing [NameNotFinalised]
A HiE where three human friends go sailing on a lake. The next morning, they wake up with four legs and their newly bought boat (The Hippogriff) is now flying. However, one twist will be that the species they become do not line up with their personalities.
Jaden (female) who likes being out in nature and believes in hard, physical work becomes a unicorn!
[NameNotFinalised] (male) who put the most money towards the boat and becomes its pilot becomes and earth pony!
[NameNotFinalised] (male) who is a bit of a nerd, gets airsick and seasick, is scared of heights and complains a lot becomes a pegasus!
They appear just outside Equestria's borders and at some point along the way meet a Gryphon.
• Poison joke thing [NameNotFinalised]
Yes I like stories with alicorns, as you would see looking at my published list. Anyway, in this story, a proud earth pony works as a forager, collecting flowers and herbs in the forest. One day, she gets an especially rare order for the Rainbow Flower (Spectrus Harmonius). Unfortunately, this just so happens to be in a precarious position over a field of blue flowers. She manages to collect the flowers, but trips on the way back. The next day, she is no longer an earth pony...
So, what are your opinions on these ideas? Should I write them? None will be published until they reach a substantial number of chapters.
One last thing. I am considering looking for a BETA-reader. As a BETA-reader, you would have (commentator) access to the planning/writing (google)document. I am looking for help with filler ideas, catching any continuity errors, quality control and potentially helping with characterisation. Since these chapters will not be published, I'll have time to go back to do major rewrites, changes or backtracking on the story if I end up doing something that I am unable to continue at a good level of quality. Having people read and comment on my unpublished stories will also help keep me motivated to work on them.
Note that not all of the above need to be fulfilled.
If you would like to volunteer as a pre-reader for any of these stories, just drop me a PM along with one reason why you want to volunteer.
Well, I like your current stories, but if you're the kind of person who can handle multiple concurrent projects then go for it.
As for the options, I think they all sound interesting, but if I had to pick one, the airship one checks the most boxes in my personal 'would I like this story' checklist.
The airship seems like the one I would read. Forest Brigade is a great choice for your strengths...
I do not wish to be a beta reader. While I might have complaints I do want to see your vision for your stories. Helping spot plot holes is one thing but helping with characterization and dialog is another. I also having a spotty record of walking the walk (I'm thinking I'm not cut out to make pony works) so I question my own suitability.
If you want some 'training' I recommend the YouTube channel "Terrible Writing Advice". He actually does give terrible advice but it is done as a parody with good advice being the text on the screen (I hope you're not blind with text to speech running). Though if your aim is to make something to be made fun of it is best to take his words at face value.
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Thanks for your feedback. I'll have to check out that YT channel, it sounds like I might find it enjoyable.
As for BETA-reader characterisation stuff, I do not request that any one person helps in all listed categories, so I might modify the blog to better clarify.
Sounds like the airship idea is most popular so far, but I am curious about how you think the Forest Brigade option lines up with my strengths.
Because there is at least two things you are great at; Making great descriptions and putting emotion into those descriptions. I struggle to think of a better place to place your "camera" than in an eldritch forest of horror. Did you know the animals take care of themselves?
(Ironically nothing actually does happen to anyone in that forest.)
It will also mitigate a small weakness; even if they are only mildly military their sentences are likely to be clipped/short until the stress starts getting to them.
The airship does seem like a great drama and, depending on where they are, can still feature great descriptions. If it wasn't for that last sentence my head cannon would be; trapped over the southern jungles being blown by trade winds into the dessert. Which provides an antagonist (the wind), stakes (finding water/food) and more!
I think the human story could be fun read.