Journals37
Newest
A Long Overdue Update
7 min read
It's been far too long since I updated anything, and, given the title, there is an upcoming update. In this instance, I'm updating AppleShy. Now, I'm not simply going to post a new part and then disappear for months before I post the next chapter in the new arc. No, not at all. I'm posting the entire arc... and then probably disappearing for months.
The new arc is simply called, "The Trial". Yes, my uncanny skill in devising the most boring titles still lives on. You'd think that I would gain some skill in that category, but, given that I only have three "series" going, I don't have much to work with.
Either way, I will post the new chapters tomorrow morning. Of course, since it is so late, you'll probably find them all posted before you spot this journal. In that case, I hope you enjoy it. I found myself enjoying writing the trial itself, even if I believe that I came up short. There's a lot of dialogue and very little action. I don't mean fights and such, I mean there was little room for character movement. In the hand of a better writer, it would have worked great, but that is not me. I did what I could, and I am content with it.
Changing topics, though still in the world of writing, I found out something rather curious. I like to aim each part to hover around 10k words. I'm certainly not bound by that number, as I believe that the story always comes first.
Still, I keep hearing professional writers discuss how much they try to get written every day and most go by page count rather than word count. I decided to look up what the average page count is, and it is 250 words per page. That is the most common, but I have seen 300 words per page.
This new arc is just shy of 29k words. So doing the math, that comes out to 116 pages. For me, in an odd way, that feels like I managed to accomplish something pretty cool. I know that these numbers really don't mean much. It's just a nice bit of information that I wanted to share.
That about wraps up this journal. I look forward to sharing the next arc in the AppleShy Series.
Also, the next and final, for real, arc is called "The Long Road Home".
Update: For some reason I can't edit the description for the chapters, so I can't post the link to the next chapter. I'll post the links to all the chapters here as well as post it at the end of each chapter. It's a pain, but until I can figure out what I'm doing wrong, it'll have to do.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Um, me.
Yup, I am now a published writer. It's part of a writing contest, and I'm glad I took a chance on it.
Anyway, and this is the part that's a tad awkward, I would like as many people as possible to read my little story. A Not So Easy Decision and vote for it. You can find the voting link here: shortfictionbreak.com/f… and search for my name, Robert Slaid.
If you get a chance to check out my story and send a vote my way, that'd reek of the awesomeness.
On to future news. On the personal side, I'm doing well. Working hard with school and work, but I'm getting back into writing. Not sure where I will go with my writing, but I'm learning to write something every day. I have written at least one thousand words each day. Sure, almost all of it is utterly worthless but it's writing, and it's getting done.
I hope you're all okay and remember to stay awesome!
Yup, I am now a published writer. It's part of a writing contest, and I'm glad I took a chance on it.
Anyway, and this is the part that's a tad awkward, I would like as many people as possible to read my little story. A Not So Easy Decision and vote for it. You can find the voting link here: shortfictionbreak.com/f… and search for my name, Robert Slaid.
If you get a chance to check out my story and send a vote my way, that'd reek of the awesomeness.
On to future news. On the personal side, I'm doing well. Working hard with school and work, but I'm getting back into writing. Not sure where I will go with my writing, but I'm learning to write something every day. I have written at least one thousand words each day. Sure, almost all of it is utterly worthless but it's writing, and it's getting done.
I hope you're all okay and remember to stay awesome!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Post Birthday Update
5 min read
It's been far too long since I was able to put anything down on paper as it were. I've been trying to figure out what is wrong for a long time. I figured that I was just being lazy. That's a nice and simple explanation, but I don't think it really covers it. I was talking with my friend, Dexiom, 
, on Steam and he said something that struck me.
He said that I was a good writer.
At my most arrogant, I'll probably say that I'm competent at writing, but I never saw myself as being actually good. That was when I realized that I was just scared. Let me explain.
My latest and final, part of the Trials and Tribulations arc of my AppleShy Series is practically finished. The issue I have is getting a big fight scene right. Now, the practical thing, in my opinion, is to get it done and hand it over to a pre-reader for some input.
That's the part that's keeping me from finishing it. What if they tell me it's absolute trash? What if the changes they offer pretty much calls for a complete rewrite of the chapter?
I would think about these potential responses and cower in terror. The thought of failing so miserably brought me to such a stall that I couldn't do anything.
At first, I thought that as long as I kept my writing on the screen with no one else seeing it I would be fine. The problem was that when I would write, my own inner critic would start hacking away. I found myself thinking that if I keep the stories in my head, in an ethereal state, I would be perfectly safe from the harshness of criticism. And here we are.
I'm am sick of doing nothing. I'm still scared of being told that I suck harder than a black hole, but right now I need to get my writing out there. Writing is the only thing that I feel I can do with even the tiniest bit of competence, and I have to look at the potential criticism and learn from it. If I get a response that says that what I write is garbage, I have to ask what it was that made them feel that way. The reader and the critic are not my enemy. They are my audience, and they deserve my respect. Respect that I have denied them. For that, I am sincerely sorry.
I will be posting new short stories along with updates to my MLP series. These short stories will not all be MLP related since I think I might have accidentally painted myself into a corner. I could be wrong but I'll never know until I throw out some, shudder, original work.
Moving on to my stories.
AppleShy Series
This section will be rather short since I know the solution for Storming the Mansion. This will be the final part of Trials and Tribulations. The biggest concern I have is the time between updates. Instead of making everyone wait for a part, I decided to not post anything until I have the entire arc written. This will also help me ensure that the entire arc flows properly. For the time being, the next arc's title is "Trial of the Moment".
PinkieShy Series
This one is more of an issue. I love this series, but it's taken such a darker turn than I intended. I wanted this to be essentially the opposite of AppleShy. A cute, fun, and fluffy series about to adorable ponies in love. That isn't what I wrote.
I have two options. First, I press on. Continue the series as is and see how things turn out.
Option two, I scrap everything from Start Spreading the Word onward. With this option, I'll have Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie reveal their new relationship to the other ponies one by one. This will help me keep the mood as light as I need it to be. There is always room for serious moments. I really enjoy Applejack's concern about Pinkie taking a romantic relationship seriously, and I could use that as the serious issue for the two. Or not. I could send them on an adventure together and have fun with that.
On this topic, I would really like your thoughts since both options are viable to me.
The interesting positive of the second option is that I can still use the ruins story. It'll be very dark, and I have a lot of ideas for it. Most of them are bad, but that's part of the fun.
And that's my post birthday update. All is well, and I'm determined to get this writing done. Tonight I'll post a flash fiction to get the wheels going. Fair warning, it won't be ponies.
Stay awesome everyone!
, on Steam and he said something that struck me.He said that I was a good writer.
At my most arrogant, I'll probably say that I'm competent at writing, but I never saw myself as being actually good. That was when I realized that I was just scared. Let me explain.
My latest and final, part of the Trials and Tribulations arc of my AppleShy Series is practically finished. The issue I have is getting a big fight scene right. Now, the practical thing, in my opinion, is to get it done and hand it over to a pre-reader for some input.
That's the part that's keeping me from finishing it. What if they tell me it's absolute trash? What if the changes they offer pretty much calls for a complete rewrite of the chapter?
I would think about these potential responses and cower in terror. The thought of failing so miserably brought me to such a stall that I couldn't do anything.
At first, I thought that as long as I kept my writing on the screen with no one else seeing it I would be fine. The problem was that when I would write, my own inner critic would start hacking away. I found myself thinking that if I keep the stories in my head, in an ethereal state, I would be perfectly safe from the harshness of criticism. And here we are.
I'm am sick of doing nothing. I'm still scared of being told that I suck harder than a black hole, but right now I need to get my writing out there. Writing is the only thing that I feel I can do with even the tiniest bit of competence, and I have to look at the potential criticism and learn from it. If I get a response that says that what I write is garbage, I have to ask what it was that made them feel that way. The reader and the critic are not my enemy. They are my audience, and they deserve my respect. Respect that I have denied them. For that, I am sincerely sorry.
I will be posting new short stories along with updates to my MLP series. These short stories will not all be MLP related since I think I might have accidentally painted myself into a corner. I could be wrong but I'll never know until I throw out some, shudder, original work.
Moving on to my stories.
AppleShy Series
This section will be rather short since I know the solution for Storming the Mansion. This will be the final part of Trials and Tribulations. The biggest concern I have is the time between updates. Instead of making everyone wait for a part, I decided to not post anything until I have the entire arc written. This will also help me ensure that the entire arc flows properly. For the time being, the next arc's title is "Trial of the Moment".
PinkieShy Series
This one is more of an issue. I love this series, but it's taken such a darker turn than I intended. I wanted this to be essentially the opposite of AppleShy. A cute, fun, and fluffy series about to adorable ponies in love. That isn't what I wrote.
I have two options. First, I press on. Continue the series as is and see how things turn out.
Option two, I scrap everything from Start Spreading the Word onward. With this option, I'll have Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie reveal their new relationship to the other ponies one by one. This will help me keep the mood as light as I need it to be. There is always room for serious moments. I really enjoy Applejack's concern about Pinkie taking a romantic relationship seriously, and I could use that as the serious issue for the two. Or not. I could send them on an adventure together and have fun with that.
On this topic, I would really like your thoughts since both options are viable to me.
The interesting positive of the second option is that I can still use the ruins story. It'll be very dark, and I have a lot of ideas for it. Most of them are bad, but that's part of the fun.
And that's my post birthday update. All is well, and I'm determined to get this writing done. Tonight I'll post a flash fiction to get the wheels going. Fair warning, it won't be ponies.
Stay awesome everyone!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
NaNoWriMo Fun
4 min read
There's a fairly standard saying, at least I think it is, that says, "The best way to kill a story that you're writing is to talk about it."
For myself I find that to be quite true. Though, to be honest, I talk to myself, but I still think it counts.
In spite of that saying, I am going to talk about what I'm writing about. Kind of.
Actually, I'm going to talk about the fun I am having writing a terrible, nothing new from me, story that I hadn't planned.
There are stories that I need to finish, and I know just where the problem lies. I need to delete a pretty large chunk of a chapter, and I really don't feel up to it. Another story, I have to give serious consideration. On one hand, I know that it's gone way off track from where I started, so I think the best thing to do is scrap it and start over. Still, I still like where the story is headed, so I'll keep on thinking, and not writing, about how to fix things.
It's the not writing that's getting me down. Every day when I would sit at my computer and stare at the blank mocking screen, I cringe. I don't write. I feel like a failure. Sure I call myself a writer, but I'm not doing the writing.
Then November rolls around and I see it as a time to make a choice. I can either crank out the 50k words in thirty days or not. I want to be a writer. I think that I am one, but yet I kept putting off the actual writing. It's like a musician who never touches an instrument.
Though only the first week is through, I feel very optimistic. The average daily word count to make the goal is 1,667 words per day. That'll leave you with ten words left over. I managed to get roughly 2,400 words per day, and, this the best part, that number has climbed steadily daily. I think I'll be able to reach 3,500 to 4,000 words per day by the end of next week.
I'm not sure if people have talked about this aspect of NaNoWriMo, but I think a big bonus is that it lends to building a habit writing consistently.
If you get through the entire month, then you've managed to set time aside to do the writing without disrupting the things that matter. Hopefully anyway. The past two days I reached my personal goal of 2.4k words before I leave for work. Looking back on it, the time I spend writing would have been spent goofing off rewatching youtube videos or watching Netflix.
If I manage to keep at this, it looks promising to get a solid rhythm going and make writing a part of my day instead of a thing that I feel obligated to do.
But enough of that, how about that story?
Well, as I suggested, it would be best to write my story than talk about it, but I can fill you in on some of the details of how I'm working on it.
For starters, I'm very lazy. I didn't outline. Pantsing it all the way. Sure, I told myself that by doing nothing with the novel until November first, I was keeping true to the spirit, but I'm just lazy.
This story has no outline and no thought out direction, so it's going to be a stinker. I decided to add to the pile.
I'm accustomed to writing in the third person, so I'm going to write in the first person.
Lastly, I need a tense. Well for that I have one that I've never done. Present.
Let's recap: no outline, a POV that I'm not used to, and a tense that I've never written in. This is a trainwreck that will end in a spectacular fireball.
Or a resounding "meh". Either way, I'm loving the experience, and I can't wait to write more.
On a side note, once I have a day off, I'll give that chapter the needed attention. I think that once I cut the part that's bothering me, it'll be much smoother to finish.
As usual,
Stay Awesome!
For myself I find that to be quite true. Though, to be honest, I talk to myself, but I still think it counts.
In spite of that saying, I am going to talk about what I'm writing about. Kind of.
Actually, I'm going to talk about the fun I am having writing a terrible, nothing new from me, story that I hadn't planned.
There are stories that I need to finish, and I know just where the problem lies. I need to delete a pretty large chunk of a chapter, and I really don't feel up to it. Another story, I have to give serious consideration. On one hand, I know that it's gone way off track from where I started, so I think the best thing to do is scrap it and start over. Still, I still like where the story is headed, so I'll keep on thinking, and not writing, about how to fix things.
It's the not writing that's getting me down. Every day when I would sit at my computer and stare at the blank mocking screen, I cringe. I don't write. I feel like a failure. Sure I call myself a writer, but I'm not doing the writing.
Then November rolls around and I see it as a time to make a choice. I can either crank out the 50k words in thirty days or not. I want to be a writer. I think that I am one, but yet I kept putting off the actual writing. It's like a musician who never touches an instrument.
Though only the first week is through, I feel very optimistic. The average daily word count to make the goal is 1,667 words per day. That'll leave you with ten words left over. I managed to get roughly 2,400 words per day, and, this the best part, that number has climbed steadily daily. I think I'll be able to reach 3,500 to 4,000 words per day by the end of next week.
I'm not sure if people have talked about this aspect of NaNoWriMo, but I think a big bonus is that it lends to building a habit writing consistently.
If you get through the entire month, then you've managed to set time aside to do the writing without disrupting the things that matter. Hopefully anyway. The past two days I reached my personal goal of 2.4k words before I leave for work. Looking back on it, the time I spend writing would have been spent goofing off rewatching youtube videos or watching Netflix.
If I manage to keep at this, it looks promising to get a solid rhythm going and make writing a part of my day instead of a thing that I feel obligated to do.
But enough of that, how about that story?
Well, as I suggested, it would be best to write my story than talk about it, but I can fill you in on some of the details of how I'm working on it.
For starters, I'm very lazy. I didn't outline. Pantsing it all the way. Sure, I told myself that by doing nothing with the novel until November first, I was keeping true to the spirit, but I'm just lazy.
This story has no outline and no thought out direction, so it's going to be a stinker. I decided to add to the pile.
I'm accustomed to writing in the third person, so I'm going to write in the first person.
Lastly, I need a tense. Well for that I have one that I've never done. Present.
Let's recap: no outline, a POV that I'm not used to, and a tense that I've never written in. This is a trainwreck that will end in a spectacular fireball.
Or a resounding "meh". Either way, I'm loving the experience, and I can't wait to write more.
On a side note, once I have a day off, I'll give that chapter the needed attention. I think that once I cut the part that's bothering me, it'll be much smoother to finish.
As usual,
Stay Awesome!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
An embarrassing mistake
3 min read
Short version: I forgot to add the link to Trials Part 8 in the description for Trials Part 7.
Just in case here it is:
Long version: I updated my AppleShy series back in June, and I made pretty big error.
I had a sinking feeling that I screwed up, and, when I checked the description for Part 7, sure enough I neglected to add the link to Part 8.
I feel like such an idiot for neglecting such an important step, but I fixed it.
As for why I'm posting this basically useless journal post, It's just my way of sharing the link to part 8.
I hope to have the next part up soon, but I will be needing a pre reader for it. I'm not looking for one right now, since the chapter isn't finished yet, but I will make an announcement when the chapter is finished.
Just in case here it is:
Trials and Tribulations Part 8.0“Shining Armor, are you certain?” Rarity looked at the Guard Captain and asked, “Could it be possible that Pinkie made a mistake?”
Twilight shook her head, “I doubt it. Pinkie remembers the name of everypony in she has ever met. I’m not about to question her memory, especially on something this important.” She brought a hoof to her chin and stared at the parchment.
Rarity shuddered and asked, “But why would anypony want such a spell?” She glanced at Twilight and nudged her.
Twilight snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face Rarity, “I’m sorry. What was that?”
“I asked why anypony would want such a spell? The very idea of using a spell to...” She paused and said as she looked over the spell again, “How does it work? I always thought the Princesses were immortal.”
Twilight nodded, “They are. As terrifying as the prospect of a spell that can kill an alicorn, I don’t see how it-
Long version: I updated my AppleShy series back in June, and I made pretty big error.
Thanks to killermidget42 . They asked when the next part was coming out. A good question, I'm currently working on the tentatively called "Storming the Mansion" but it's slow going, but what stood out was that the comment came from Trials Part 7.
I had a sinking feeling that I screwed up, and, when I checked the description for Part 7, sure enough I neglected to add the link to Part 8.
I feel like such an idiot for neglecting such an important step, but I fixed it.
As for why I'm posting this basically useless journal post, It's just my way of sharing the link to part 8.
I hope to have the next part up soon, but I will be needing a pre reader for it. I'm not looking for one right now, since the chapter isn't finished yet, but I will make an announcement when the chapter is finished.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In