• Member Since 11th Jun, 2018
  • offline last seen Monday

Novella-


Several twinkles short of a glitter

E
Source

Novella struggles with her self-worth as she wonders if her talent really makes her special. With the help of a mysterious pony, she learns that every story written is as unique and valuable as the pony who wrote them.

Cover art by AureliaCharm

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 13 )

I haven't read this yet, but I like your cover art!

JackRipper
Moderator

I know it’s not the main point of the story, but every author ever has been down this road, and this story was a nice little shout out to all of us.

Goddamn, if that isn't beautiful. And yes, like Whinnifree, I know that this was probably never the main point of the story but as someone's been here, well I can't help but identify with Novella. But goddamn, I'd like to punch Sunbeam and that other pony in the face.

That was a lovely story, and it was so well written. :twilightsmile: It was easy to sympathize with Novella's situation, and it was wonderful once "Amberhoof" got the chance to put her own two bits in. :raritywink: I rather enjoyed reading this. It was nice! Thank you kindly for sharing! :pinkiehappy:

Enjoyed this story. Actually, it inspired me a bit to promote stories that need to be given more readers.

9291754
Saw your blog post about this story. Yeah, it was a good story that didn't get the attention it deserved the day it came out.

9291754
I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write about my story! I think it’s a wonderful thing you’re doing and a great way to help and promote the little folk. Thanks again!

9293741
I liked this story in particular because it reminded me of my own experiences. My first story I wrote got virtually unnoticed when it was published. Whole first month it was out it got 88 views and 6 upvotes. I felt like your character in your story. My little story wasn't perfect, but it was my first time putting my work out there and no one was reading it. I had no name for myself.

Since then 5 out of the 8 eight total stories I've written have hit the featured box. I haven't got the following some authors do, but I've built up a small one. That first story had me about ready to quit though, and it took months for me to try again. I had never even attempted to write before that story and then having it seem completely ignored hit me hard.

On a side note, that first story I wrote is still my favorite story I ever wrote. I hope to see more work from you in the future.

I'm glad I got to read this. I liked it a lot. :twilightsmile:

"A...." Uh huh I know who you are :) This was great! Halira promoted this on her blog so I read it and I really liked it! Its hard for me to even get writing a story. Any bit of this is helpful to me.

First of all, it's very good, no doubt about it. A bit of inconsistency here and there, like this one:

She looked like I had just smacked her across the face. "No! Book should ever be thrown away!"

...when it the exclamation mark could've been replaced with a comma or the latter sentence could be, "Books should never be thrown away," or something like that...but, at this point, these are common mistakes all of us have fallen into now and then. On the grammar side of things, you're pretty much golden.

On to the protagonist, Novella: I was surprised to learn this was your "main" OC. I must've been pretty absent-minded because—for context—I put it in my one-shot bookshelf when it first came out for later perusal.

Why did I bring that up? Because Novella doesn't act or sound like a typical OC. Granted, this may be the one and only time Novella will ever be seen in your stories (though you're free to put her in your next one anyway!), but she doesn't come off as half-baked. Seeing her destiny realized and then her dream being crushed for the moment before picking it up again—all of that was done realistically. While the story's description just about gave her destiny away, seeing the subtle hints of that destiny during the beginning was a nice touch—how it's not all that obvious. I'm reminded, therefore, of Chip from Forever Filly; you portrayed filly Novella like that, and that's good.

Present-day Novella is just as good, if not better. From the rationalization over a colt disgusted at her book through her breakdown as she ran from the bathroom through how she treated her book and her very destiny as trash to having that writing spark revived by story's end...sorry to be repetitive, but it's good and realistic! I don't have much else to say, really.

Now, there were a few ponies who would've well suited the job of bringing Novella back on track (Twilight, for example), but having Amberhoof or A.K. Yearling, considering her personality/history, was a surprise to me, really. To be very frank here: Having a disguised Yearling relate to Novella her own struggle and then share her lesson was genius. The only nitpick I have here is how Novella doesn't recognize her since Yearling is an established personality, but I guess it's probably because she's not a fan of Daring Do.

Finally, the lesson hits home. I'm astonished that your fic hasn't been featured (or was it? I'm not sure.) This is the story that a lot of people could relate to because of how similar Novella's situation is to them—and, I confess, I'm one of them. I still don't give my fics the love they deserve, and it's gotten to the point that others love them more than I do, so many flaws and all.

It's a very interesting choice to have this as your first fic here. I don't want to pretend that I know a couple things about you, but I get the feeling this fic subtly conveys your feelings about taking your first literary step here. True, it does feel like almost everyone else around you is better, and the numbers game of checking a story's ratings and the author's follower count is a tricky thing to avoid for some people (including me, I must confess once again). However, the lesson still rings true:

"Then you should be proud of what you've created, even if no one else is. You are a special pony, Novella, I can tell. Don't give up. You have a gift that needs to be shared with the world."

You're going to inspire others with this fic, but you know what will be very interesting to see? Seeing yourself get inspired by this fic to strive on. That'd be cool, to say the least.

Anyway: It's good. It's pretty good! May you continue on your journey to whatever you'll write! :twilightsmile:

9322321
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this! I appreciate the feedback and am touched by your kind words.

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