• Week Two National Pony Writing Month Pep Talk

    Are you feeling burnt out from SO MUCH PONY!?

    Siraj has some words for you. Word just BLEEDING with motivation.  You can find them after the break.

       Hello my little writers, Siraj/Noble Cause here! It's the end of week 2! How's everything going, hmm? I bet a few of you have hit writer's block, others have caught their stride, and others are wondering where they can expand on sections.  I know the feeling(s), believe me.

         Word count, as of today, should be in the range of 23,350 if you're looking to keep pace.  I know Avery Strange in the comments last week was barreling towards 22 K at that point, but he's insane and prolific.  That's how the writerly drive takes some of us.  Me? I've put in maybe a thousand words since last week.  Real life decided to make me one unhappy filly with pesky job hunting and things like that.  That being said, that's just fine too.  There's participants that are gunning for 10 K, some that are hoping for 100 K.  This is all meant for fun anyway, and I hope it's staying that way.  If it's fast becoming a CHORE to write? Back off.  No, I mean it.  Don't worry about the word count.  Don't worry about the days remaining.  If you're not enjoying what you're doing, then take a break.  Go outside, play some golf, hit the arcade, fire up Steam or a game console.  Don't be shy about taking a breather if you're just slogging through just to make the word count.  That's not the point of this, and it never has been.

         Now that that's out of the way, time for another mini-faq, since I've gotten a few more queries.

    Q. What about season 2 coming up? Won't that destroy my work?
    A. Potentially, but so what? This is YOUR fanon, started before the second season did.  If the new canon works for you, and even gives you an idea on how to proceed, that's fine.  If it doesn't, then it's canon discontinuity.  We are working on developing 'Season 1' and 'Season 2' tags for fic, if that's any consolation.

    Q. Won't new pony cut into our writing time?
    A. Sure, but doesn't everything? Moderation, everypony, that's the key.  Me? I plan to watch the new episode twice.  Once on the Hub itself (hay, when you have a 100" projector screen, you make use of it), and likely once later the same day when the episode pops up on Youtube.  No need to get burnt out on new pony either.  Enjoy the episode, sketch down a few ideas during the commercials/pause breaks if they come to you, and resume your bliss.

    Q. Can I start on this late?
    A. I caught this question in the comments last week, and frankly? Yes! You can do this any time you desire.  This was just going to be a bit of fun for the EqD writerly types, or those that were looking for a reason to give writing a try.  When I get bit by the writer bug and get an idea that may (read: won't, but it'll still have a decent word count) result in something akin to a NaNo, I just go for it.  One free app I've picked up on my ipod is WriMoDemon.  Likely, there's an Android version as well.  It keeps track of word count, can reset at the beginning of a new month if you desire, and you can even set the word count beyond the traditional 50 K if the mood strikes you.


         That's all for now.  Any questions, ask in the comments, and I'll be happy to reply there!

         - Siraj/Noble Cause

    43 comments:

    1. I'm over 27,000! If anyone is interested, I've been posting my fic as I go over on ff.net.

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    2. Phew!

      Good to know of this, guys. I have a seven parter Sci-Fi fanfic starring Twilight and an OC on the works (I am working on the OC, taking away every single Mary-Suey element). At least I know you guys will be okay with it. On to more working! But first, I gotta finish comissions X_X

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    3. 100k words... that is A LOT of words, mhm.

      But people shouldn't simply push themselves to write whatever if they're not feeling it just to achieve a certain word count. That often leads to a decrease in quality. And I like to think quality over quantity.

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    4. 30k here, and still going strong. I'm less worried about count then I am content at this point. Come hell or high water, I will finish this story.

      Remember that tomorrow is the halfway point! Keep at it, bronies!

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    5. I'm nearing 24,000, should at least reach that by today. I had a bit of a struggle of where to take the story (or rather, how to get where I wanted to take it) the last couple days, but now that I'm at the point where I get to turn things grimdark, I'm a Happy camper.

      Also, with the story I've written, I've found a way to work it PERFECTLY into anything Season 2 does, so there's no worries there.

      For everyone else who's working on the story, good luck! If anybody's interested in a little teaser to mine, you can find a very short intro I wrote for it here :http://mlplexicon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mlpff&action=display&thread=903

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    6. Cool, though I hope some of you ponies don't write epic length stories(100k+) cause there's no way I will have the time to read such a thing.

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    7. I'm hanging in there, still a bit behind the ideal pace (I'm at around 17k words at this point) but I'm close enough that a couple of really good days of writing will have me back on target. Regardless of where I am when the month is finished, I'll be finishing the story. I hope to even get some of it posted up on EqD before the end of the month, it just depends on how confident I am in having enough to lay a good foundation for others to read and hopefully get hooked enough to stick with it.

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    8. Little Twilight in a bookfort...suddenly all my exhaustion is gone.

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    9. HRRRRRNNNNNG! Adorable Twilight brought me here!

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    10. @Alexstrazsa

      Arguably, Irene dumped HOW much water on your place, buddy?

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    11. "Word just BLEEDING with motivation"?

      Seth, you need more sleep.

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    12. Started 8ish days ago, on 12k now. First fiction I've ever written outside school, and I'm having a blast.

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    13. Agh
      I just realized
      I have a birthday party / sleepover to go to on Friday. No ponies.
      ;~;
      NO PONIES

      the sacrifices i make for my friends

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    14. @Paper Crease
      "Dear Princess Celestia,
      Today I learned that sometimes, your friends can take a backseat and fucking deal with it because PONIES.

      - Your faithful student, NDupree93

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    15. I'm only at 6k. Stomach infections suck! Aiming for 20k.

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    16. I have written well over 50,000 words so far. Roughly 30,000 of which are related to school work. Unfortunately, I only have a large collection of half-finished short stories.

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    17. Man did I need consolation from the first question! Now I feel inspired. I've been working on my first MLP story for over half the summer (no joke). I believe I'm up to 32k.

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    18. I'm at 25,000. I really enjoy doing it, and I have been managing well, but real life is starting to catch up to me. Seven AP classes, and a college application due on the 30th as well are what may keep me from hitting the mark. I will do my best to finish though. Sleep is for yellowbellies.

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    19. Aaaaaah! Who knew that putting your mind's work into words was gonna be this difficult? I've only hit 300 words -_-

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    20. Just broke 4K today; RL just stinks sometimes. That, and the story decided to change itself on me (silly me, listening to different music while writing).
      I seriously doubt I'll have it done in time, but I will still finish it and ask to have it posted here once completed...that is, if anyone would be interested in reading it...if you don't, that's okay to.
      On a related note, I think that after Season 2 begins, Discord will become the MLP Troll while Celestia takes a breather from that position. Besides, Celestia always struck me as an 'all-knowing Batman' character anyway.

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    21. @Hivemind

      There was one year of NaNo where I didn't have any idea of what to write until the final week. I cranked out 8,634 words in three days. Something will come to you, my friend.

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    22. @Hivemind Well, don't try to force it! Just like, relax. If you're having some trouble getting an idea to start with or where to go next, maybe just like go do whatever you do for fun, and have a notepad with you. Never know when that great idea will hit!

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    23. "We are working on developing 'Season 1' and 'Season 2' tags for fic, if that's any consolation."

      Good to hear, that's about what I expected.
      However, you may want to go a bit deeper than that, with something like: season 1 AU, and season 2 AU tags. You may also want -compliant tags as well.
      It'd be similar to how the HP fanfic writers sometimes like to mark their fics with stuff like: GoF-Compliant or DH-Compliant.
      Essentially you may just want to create tags so that it's easier to separate fic universes.

      So the tags may work something like this:

      +AU: Completely AU, pretty much ignores all canon save for characters. Would probably apply mainly to fics set before the canon and those fics that completely replace the main canon with their own.
      +Season 1 AU: AU set partly in season 1.
      +Season 1 Compliant: Fic set after season 1 ends but before season 2.
      +Season 2 AU: AU set partly in season 2.
      +Season 2 Compliant: Fic set after season 2 (and possibly a season 3). If there isn't a season 3 this may be beneficial just to separate those whose fics agree completely with season 2 and those who set them partway through.

      Maybe I'm overthinking it though . . .

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    24. I plan to make a Minecraft and Pony crossover. I haven't began yet, but my inspiration is brewing.

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    25. hmm, I'm behind again...

      Oh well I have lots of free time this week that I haven't for quite some time.

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    26. @Cloud Canter

      If you haven't seen it yet, here's one another person's started: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-mine-little-pony-crafting-is.html

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    27. Way behind here. Only 6k, lol. Oh, well, it's all for fun.

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    28. so its ok to start my fanfic now!?! YAY NO MORE CRAZY FLANK DREAMS ABOUT... well ponies. im so happy i could just ...just yay
      now on to finish my coloring

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    29. Also real life got in the way and I'm barely past 30K. Reaching a turning point in the narrative though so I'm hoping for some smooth sailing ahead.

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    30. Heh, I chuckled at the Season Two question. I conned myself into starting a crossover longfic. (Because, taking a page from Applejack, real pros bite off more than they can chew! :3) I'm motivated enough to see it through to the end, but at the rate I'm plugging, I'm worried about what Season THREE is gonna do to my casting decisions lol. But in the end, you can't sweat the stuff that's outside of your control. And besides, if it doesn't line up with certain details or include certain new characters, so what? It can still be a great story, and that's what matters.

      Truly, at this point my greatest fear is that somepony else is working on the same crossover that I am, and will do it better than me :P

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    31. Im just staring at the picture making dawws

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    32. @Avery Strange

      Sorry, my mistake with gender! I should know better...

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    33. Okay, I'm officially joining, although I'll be aiming more for 10-20k words, since I'm doing most of the creative work in a notebook while my teachers aren't watching and then typing and editing at around midnight. Hopefully I can at least hit that limit. (Also, while I'm turning in my unfinished work at the end of the month to be counted, I'm definitely continuing unless I somehow finish the entire thing in two weeks.)

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    34. I'm slacking in a bad way. Only got 3000 words. I did start a week late though.

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    35. @Daisymare
      You think that's bad? If I have over a thousand words I'll be surprised.
      Still, doing better than last year :)

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    36. Only started yesterday, after a simple idea I conjured up. Already ten thousand words.

      I shall make this deadline...

      ...Even if it kills me.

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