A Strange Happening

by TheReddPony

Preface (Updated)

Preface:

August 2014

I’ve spent quite a bit of time on this Fanfiction, and been through all sorts of odd happenings to get it where it is today. At one point, the jump drive I had the story stored on died. The link between plug-in and the card was severed somehow, and I just recently found a strategically hidden PDF, and I had already rewritten everything. Not like I hadn't done that before, but it was still a pain. I started working on this story in March of 2012. As of right now, that’s over two years ago. I had been walking home from school, and had recently read a Slendermane Fanfiction on Equestria Daily (Still my favorite Fanfiction, and will probably always be.) and I was tossing around variations of dialogue in my head. I eventually decided on a rough short story, and when I got home I typed out about four hundred words. I cross applied my Slenderman knowledge that I had gained from my rather odd… obsession I’d had with the whole thing, and out came the very first draft of my first chapter. It wasn't much, but at the time I thought I’d written quite a bit. I obsessed. I took my idea and researched Slenderman and My Little Pony more than I ever had before.

About two weeks before school got out, I set it aside, and didn't pick it back up until the last third of summer vacation. When I saw the story I had so far, I rewrote it. And added quite a bit of story. I still didn't meet the one thousand word requirement for publishing, so I crammed a short preface on the beginning of the story. I resubmitted it four times before it got accepted, and I had a lot of editing help to get it there. When it was published, the one thousand word count requirement was met exactly. I set the story aside yet again until school started.

Once school started back up, I re-read what I had written, and was appalled. I deleted it, and rewrote it from scratch. I continued to rewrite it again and again, occasionally adding more to the story. About that time, I read World War Z, a book that inspired me to try something different. I added the interview aspect of my story, and quickly had an idea unfurl in my head. I knew I had to be careful with this, if it felt like a script, the site was sure to have my story taken down. So I began my tedious work. The story I had submitted originally, frankly, sucked. It could be called a summary at best. I had my work cut out for me. I stripped it down, and rewrote it from the ground up. About two months into the school year, I took another break. I didn't pick my writing back up until March of 2014.

In late May, after almost three months of hard work, my jump drive died. As I said earlier, it was a hardware problem. My story, I thought, had died with it. Luckily, one of my more recent drafts had been printed. I blocked out my plot, so I would have something to write around, and I began to finalize chapter one. The rewriting I do has become so routine, that it took no time at all. I added details I’d never even thought of before. I started to notice flaws and gaps, plot holes and incongruities. I fixed them.
This is bound to be an interesting ride. I have a final destination in mind, and a very rough path to get there. Frankly, though, I have no idea where we’re going. I haven’t the first clue how many words or chapters this journey will take. I will get my rating changed (the gore in my writing has improved.) My hope in this is one thing: that I will write it until the end, and someone out there will enjoy it. Thank you, reader, for setting aside time to read my work, and try to enjoy it!

-Crimson Sky