//------------------------------//
// Syn3rgy's Note to the Curious Reader 
// Story: The Life and Death of a DJ 
// by Syn3rgy 
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Index:

In the Making

My Purpose

Triumphs and Tribulations

Cool facts





In The Making:

I must admit, finishing this book has been a truly momentous experience for me. The whole journey has been something else, really. 

I came up with the idea before the summer of last year even started; originally, my plans were to write a similar story about Vinyl, Octavia, and a world without music. As I developed this story though, plot holes and inaccuracy’s sprung up, and I, being the particular guy I was, knew that so long as those sorts of problems were around, I’d not write. 

Events in my life around the time really allowed me to develop the story into the way it is now. For starters, my much loved grandfather had died, leading me to ponder life, as his end was untimely and harrowing. I asked myself ‘what was the point of living, when in the end, everyone dies?’ This question was answered after I read My Little Dashie, that story by ROBCakeran. I admired how My Little Dashie, a simple snapshot of a random brony’s life, could evoke so much emotion and intrigue. This brony was no one special; he could be any of us.

Following that discovery, I became very interested in the simple concept of Life. How it’s infinitely intricate, and how without death, we’d never put value in life. That short 80 years-a fleeting glimpse in the grand scale of things-is all we have to live for; we should make the best of it.

So I began taking my old concept on the whole Vinyl and Octy deal, changing it into the story you all have read. I found myself torn between writing the life of Octavia, Or Vinyl… in the end, I decided Vinyl. Why Vinyl though? I’d imagine it was because she was a DJ, a musician of the more electronic variety, which appealed to me more than traditional classical music.





My purpose:

What I wanted to achieve here was the absolute rendition of Vinyl Scratches’ life, from her early beginnings to her timely end. At first this task seemed daunting, but as I pushed on, it became so much easier to write; all I was doing was telling a story in the end, and I suppose I’m good at that sort of thing.

I wanted to portray the fact that a simple life could be exiting, and that it didn’t take some superstar or ruler to give a good show. Vinyl was a foal, then a busker, then in school, then out of school, then a mother, then an elder; nothing special, yet at the same time very special indeed.

Another thing that I strove to do, was break away from the well-crafted fannon surrounding Vinyl, and tread my own path. I looked at a whole mess of Vinyl stories, taking notes as I went of the common themes in each. When I got down to fleshing the story out, I took note of all those stereotypes, and then strove to break them: Vinyl was not paired up with Octavia, Vinyl was straight, and so on and so forth.

My overall purpose was to tell the story of how Vinyl became, well, Vinyl. I explained the meaning of her stage name, the significance of her tinted goggles, the significance of her mixer-and later on- her piano, and her appearances in the MLP season as the episodes pressed on. 





Triumphs and Tribulations:

Out of anything I have written in the past, this particular story has impacted my life the most. Here in front of me, I have rendered a life, in all it’s complicated beauty; in all its triumphs and tribulations. What’s more, this story, ironically enough, affected my own life as well. 

Prior to the publishing of this novel, I’d been writing for ten years. Recently, I tallied up everything I wrote, both offline and online, and the numbers came in at an upwards of 18 completed short stories, and 7 uncompleted novels. That’s a lot of incompletion, which leads me to the next part of my little ramble here. 

Prior to the publishing of this novel, I’d not completed a story. I just couldn’t commit, or my opinions would be changed before I could finish it. For me, Life and Death of a DJ was a massive milestone; a story I actually completed, totaling in with 110 (excluding the author note here) word document pages, 48 thousand words, and 22 chapters (Including prologue and bridges). Wow!

Not only did my story act as that milestone, it also was a catalyst in developing me to be a better writer. Some of you might remember my struggles with Equestria Daily, how the pre-readers rejected my story 6 times before regretfully letting me go. For a whole two months, I was constantly editing, learning, and rewriting parts of my story so that I could accommodate their particularities. I think in all, I’ve edited this damn baby of mine for a total of 34 hours. I now have an editor, who is wonderful, might I add, and he does all that stuff now; the thing is though, in that time I was forced to brush up my work, I greatly increased my abilities as a writer. I wouldn't have wished it any other way.





Cool facts:

-I never planned on getting Vinyl hooked on Buck; this detail came on later in my story, while I was at my cottage and wondering what a really good twist would be.

-In the beginning, my first five chapters were in third person. Some wise (If not albeit harsh) words from my first EqD pre-reader made me decide to change the whole thing into first person.

-A debate broke out on my story between my editor and another individual, who began arguing over what instrument Octavia actually used. I’d called it a violin, which was wrong. According to them, it was either a double bass or a cello. I had to re-do all the parts in my story where Octavia or her profession was mentioned, three times in a single day. I ended up picking the Cello.

-The notorious ‘Wolf’ was named the way he was because I was poking fun at the prevalence of wolf fursona’s in the furry fandom (where I was before joining this fandom).

-I was told by my last EQD pre-reader that I had broken a record on Equestria daily as the most returning author since the three strike rule was initiated (three strikes and three non-strike rejections)

-Vinyl was meant to marry Cloud Chaser (the young foal from the orphanage in chapter one), instead of Orrick.

-The name ‘Rorrick’ was from another story I’d planned on writing, where I wanted to redeem Gilda in the eyes of the fandom as she finds and then raises a foal in the griffon world, covering up his pony name, Raindrop, with the more masculine one, Rorrick.

-The last paragraph in each of the journal entries on the final chapter outlines some aspect of me or the philosophies I lead by in one way or another.

-I dropped numerous Fallout Equestria references throughout my story





Thanks for the read you wonderful people/ponies!

~Syn3rgy