Let Us Talk About Failure · 3:03am Jan 5th, 2017
Don't ever commit to updating a story whenever you're "feeling in a good mood." Because odds are it will never be continued.
Just because an idea or setting or mood to a fic is a major source of endorphins for you, it doesn't mean that that same joy and enthusiasm will translate to everyone else. If you're gonna be impulsive in uploading, then be twice as impulsive in updating. If not... then don't bother uploading at all. Keep the inside joke inside, and the Internet will be better off.
Also, if you're only half-educated at best concerning a fandom that you're writing for, then put in more conscious effort before attempting to tackle something that's considerably long-form. Don't attempt to surf on the sensationalism of crossovers for crossovers' sake.
If all you're going to do is ego-stroke, then don't half-ass the delivery in a mock attempt to be humble. Let individual stories be individual stories, so long as you finish them.
Also, work on your commissions you goddam waste of sperm.
Don't ever... ever pretend to cast polls for "next story" unless you have the intestinal fortitude to follow through with it. Sometimes the best kind of hype is no hype.
Also, if the niftiest part of your story is an introductory chapter that could just as well be a standalone... then just write the standalone and forget the rest. Best not to waste anyone's time--or worse: anticipation.
Be conscious of what is or isn't a risk. If something doesn't have a snowflake's chance in Hell of reaching the Feature Box, then simply don't aim for it in prideful vain. Write for the story's sake itself... which means taking your sweet time and not uploading it as incomplete. If you have a thorough idea for what would otherwise be a bleak, meme-tastic story, then tackle it as the whole and let it speak for itself... confidently and in full display.
Also, if it's a story you really want to continue... then just ride that feeling. Stop punishing yourself by being stagnant.
What defines a joke? Primarily, it's something that is short.
When making an April Fool's fic, don't go for broke. The feature bar isn't worth it. Even if the "story" makes you giggle, let it live and die out like a glorious flower... instead of lingering in darkness like a mushroom. Just because you can "go back to it at anytime" doesn't give an excuse to just let something wallow in obscurity... especially when its essence is pure obscurity to the 11th degree.
If you're going to make a promise for someone you care for, then for the love of Nietzsche get on that shiet super early. Don't delay out of excuse of fear or trepidation or simple laziness. Familiarize yourself with the material. Live in it. Allow more than your enthusiasm in a friendship to be the defining trait in how you tackle a story.
Learn to roll with the editing process if it's something you're going to take seriously. Don't take criticisms to heart--only to text. If there's going to be a clash between what is objectively good about a story and what is subjectively required by the original author of the concept, then decide super-early how to go about achieving an equilibrium.
Finally, don't hype something so much that the hype itself overshadows the story. In the end, you're only making a hole for yourself. A shadow colored by regret and failed dreams. Don't stress. Just execute. Let your actions be judged beyond the limits of your legacy, and fill the gaps in between now and then with material... more and more and more material.
If a story is super simple... and you love it... and the readers love it... and the reaction to it is consistently and overwhelmingly positive...
...then why abandon it? Ride that enthusiasm, because it's a precious commodity that you'll run out of sooner than you'll think. And there may come a time when you'll go back to the story and find it distasteful for things that you were too blinded by charisma to notice at a time. Ignorance may not produce quality, but it can produce quantity. Think about how judgment comes later. Or, better yet, just don't think at all. Write.
Don't get so full of yourself that you commission cover arts to unwritten or unfinished fics.
Crack fics should be short and simple. If they're not, then don't bank on them being more popular than you can prove them to be. Don't upload in pieces and look for a positive reaction. Finish it all and then post it all. Especially when the story is trash and you know it's trash.
If you know that a story is going to have nothing going for it save for thinly-diluted absurdity, then at least try to be consistent in updating it. Aim small day by day and don't expect anything big.
Also, if you're posting junk at the tail-end of a relatively high quality pretentious fanfictional career, try to graduate your audience into your newly-desired tone with light-hearted oneshots instead of epic abominations. It'll break the ice better... for you and for them.
Everything that has an end has a beginning.
Memory is often seen through a rose-colored lens. Material that was once considered "spectacular" may in fact be--at best--"mundane." More often than not it is actually plebeian, amateur, pretentious, and bloated.
Don't define yourself by how you begin, but how you evolve... how you change... how you innovate.
Pursue what you enjoy--whether it be what makes you comfortable or what challenges you. If it means making new and different stuff, then that's better than beating your head against a thick wall and expecting flowers to bloom between the concrete fissures. People will judge you negatively, but you'll always be your own worst judge. Know which sting is worse than the other and allow yourself to become numb to it. It's better than being trapped in one place, at least in spirit.
Learn to live with failure, but don't let it be the one thing that defines you. We are all results of mistakes, and we'll someday deposit our own separate essences back into chaos. Allow the brief light we enjoy in between the spastic bookends to be the thing that resonates, that transforms, that bends to our uniquely abridged giggle in space and time.
No, you may never be that which you once were... but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Let what's dead be dead, and march on past the decay. And as for broken promises: welcome to the human race. Anyone who has ever said the road of life is paved in gold was lying--and it doesn't matter how much blood or tears have been spilled in the futility of sealing an utter fabrication.
Live long, and dash apples, for it's a futile thing too. But sexier.
-SS&E
4.bp.blogspot.com/-cleREvd5beU/UYK0XBmtDHI/AAAAAAAALno/I9msPiMii8I/s1600/pouring-out-liquor.gif
Guess it had to happen someday...
(I don't suppose those of us who were fans of the dead elephant in the room could get some closure on how it was supposed to end?)
Everyone changes somehow at some point. Nothing left to do and nothing that can be done but move forward.
You have pretty much encapsulated my fiction writing career at the moment.
So.... is this goodbye or what, I'm confused.....
...
blog.gentlemint.com/media/photos/labeuf-slow-clap.gif
With those failures are also many successes, Skirts.
Keep going strong.
cool advice that i will think about, but im confused about the why...
4369797
I don't think so, (I certainly hope not), but it looks like he is finally deciding to cancel a lot of old story's that were on hiatus.
4369788
4369797
Unless I am totally misreading him... I think he's just acknowledging that he's had failures and is trying to move on with other stories despite them.
4369810
I think you're right. I hope you're right. Skirts is one of the best authors around.
4369797
I'm almost positive this is him admitting that the stories he just posted about, hence the cover arts, are never going to be finished; and how he feels he could do better in the future.
4369817
The last one of those ones listed was a story he's had on hiatus since 2011 (and I've been waiting for it to update for a long time). It got switched to "Cancelled" (as did most of the other fics referenced in this post) shortly before this blogpost.
4369824 Right, but some of those on the list merely got switched to hiatus from incomplete. This is a man going through his freezer for fics on ice, determining what he wants to throw out, albeit with regret.
4369824
I have to admit I haven't really cared about EoP for quite some time, I figured it was cancelled long ago, but if there was a planned ending he had in mind; and he wishes to share, I really would like to know what it would have been.
4369823 Well, not in all cases. I think some he still intends to work on. He put three stories on this list on hiatus instead of cancelled.
4369830
Ah ok, I hadn't gone to each of them so I missed that.
4369827
Probably some with less regret than others.
4369828
I wonder too. It's quite possible we may never know...
At least the last arc (Dredgemane or Petra Kaizo, depending on your preference) had it leave off on an awesome note.
4369835 Agreed. EoP was a bit of an opus for him, the rest were not nearly as important I imagine.
I'd like to second what 4369828 said:
If you have officially put the final nail in EoP's coffin - which, unfortunate as it is, I suppose I'd mostly just assumed was the case and made my peace with it for some time now - then would you maybe consider giving us a run down of what you had planned for the remainder of the story, even if only in summary?
4369824 Going to cry now... A few tears for what has been lost, though I've been expecting this result for quite some time... Very well then. Take care guy's, I'm off to clearer waters, and hopefully land. Cheers.
Though I have found myself reading unfortunately little of late, which I hope to change when I finally get my behind in gear and finish Ynanhluutr and start Utaan, I think I'm always gonna have a special spot in my brain-space for your works. I only had any form of investment in The End of Ponies, and as much as I wish I didn't have to see it go (as I would think you'll not be going through with the whole "Volume 2" idea), I believe I get why you are letting it fall away. A somewhat-proper burial, rather than letting the body sit about, I can agree with you on.
I'd also like to toss my name in the hat of votes for a summary of your plans for The End of Ponies, if you would consider it. If not... Well, I'll just have to fill that little nook in my mind with other stuff.
As much as this blargh makes me all kinds of sad and wistful, it is one of your best blarghs by far. A lot of this is really, really solid advice when it comes to serial writing.
Some good advice here, but as you said IC, don't take to heart, rather take it to text.
I'll keep this in mind
This is really enlightening me about how much of a total 'new fan' I am.
And now I'm off to read some old cancelled stuff with interesting cover art. Good to know you always knew how to engage the reader.
Also, I'm actually going to bookmark this, just because you've constructed a very good general list of 'Stuff Y'all Probably Shouldn't Try, Trust Me It Don't End Well'.
Good on you for having the humility to admit mistakes, the courage to share this with us, and the dedication to keep on trucking.
Still here, still willing to hear what the end goal of some of these things were, unless they were literally stream of consciousness. Then cool! Good to know.
as probably one of the longstanding fans of end of ponies hoping you would continue it, I don't hold it against you. Sometimes things don't work out. And it's more tragic to force yourself to work on it than to let it die, because it's gotten agonizing.
4369797 Skirts is not going anywhere, he's just resolving some dangling threads that needed resolving.
4362814 Oh, come on!
Now I'm forever going to feel like this was my fault.
Even though it really was dead a long time ago...
But Austraeoh's not in that list. Happy three months.
"Anyone who has ever said the road of life is paved in gold was lying"
Naw, it is paved in gold -- that is why it hurts so much when you fall down. If it were turf, one could get up easier.
Life is a precious commodity that you use and can never get the days back once you progress past them.
You aren't allowed to stop and try to pry up bricks. The gold is there to taunt you.
Look at it this way -- your life is worth like $5 million when it comes to liability etc. Yet nobody is going to just give you $1 million(although if you start adding up the cost of education over the formative years ...)
Some interesting revelations you lay down for us here Skirts about your past work, and good advice for other writers. I look forward to seeing how these revelations will effect your future work. It gives me a heavy heart, though, to see End of Ponies marked as cancelled as there was always that hope to see that great fic finished in some way.
4369839
4369879
I would also like to express interest and support of seeing where EoP and other cancelled fics were planned to go. It could make for a pretty neat blog post.
And here I was thinking you were bashing another author who seems to only write apology-blogs nowadays...and then it turns out this is about yourself.
Post Rapture is Now.
Definitely a good move, not holding on to things unfinished and letting them beat you down by pretending to be your failures. Those unfinished works still helped make you who you are now as a writer, and have been part of what has allowed you to change and evolve. I'll miss a completed proper end to EoP, but I'm thankful for the experience these past five years has given me because of it (it's the reason I joined FimFiction, met many people, started audiobooking, etc).
Like they say...
But I still enjoy EoP. At least as of the reread at beginning of last year.
As of right now, you are my favorite person.
Writing is an art form. Like any artist, a writer cannot create that which they are comfortable with or excel at without the presence of muse. And muses are mercurial, and territorial. Once a particular muse is gone, all that is left is the hope it will return, because no other muse can replace it.
I notice you're also still down on yourself over your writing style and its fluffiness or purple goodness. Which is something I've always enjoyed about reading your stories, so from my biased opinion please don't feel the need to change that.
Fantastic advice, all the same. Something a lot of people need to take to heart.
Being a writer sounds kind of terrifying. I'm starting to feel glad all I wrote was a few crappy short fics four years ago.
Very mature. If this was an episode, this speech would earn you a cutie mark, or you would be explaining this to an angry mob of south park residents.
all of the failures help to fuel success in the bloody and visceral we... wait, what was that all about?
not a big deal, move on and be happy. I bet I am happy for stuff you wrote 
it will be interesting. I even have bookshelf for stuff that would never be completed 
because its brilliant nonetheless
ok, some stories won't be finished EVER
Also it looks like I missed 527k opus magnum. oh well, even if its officially cancelled
Shit happens. You have already entertained the majority of us far more than most, if not all, other authors on this site. Be proud of that.
Oh my. Quite the internal monologue there. Lovely, strongly worded, to the point, and wise by experience.
Doesn't mean being human won't still happen, despite our all too fleeting moments of steely resolve. But we humans keep on humaning... whatever that means.
4369788
>I don't suppose those of us who were fans of the dead elephant in the room could get some closure on how it was supposed to end?
I think it's best to leave it dead. Having known at least one of the plans for the end, it still had a long way to go before it had a cohesive conclusion, and an even longer path just to arrive there. I'm not sure the closure would be worth the crushing effort of resurrecting and retraining the elephant only for it to be killed a hundred miles down the road for its ivory. I love it too, but I think it's dead.
Time for rose-tinted lenses.
That which is dead may never die.
You've still produced like 100x as many horsewords as me. I look forward to the ones which come.
Hard-earned lessons that we can all take to heart. Thank you for sharing them.
That sounds like a goodbye letter.
Don't you dare to stop writing ponyfics..... You leaving is the last thing the ponyfic community can need now.
4369830
Four were put on Hiatus:
A Pair of Rare Shies
Bestial
6s & 7s
Because Ponies Are the Size of Cats and They Love to Cuddle
Six were cancelled.
Now I understand what all of this really means, but I'm still terrified..... Please, please, PLEASE, by the love of Luna, don't cancel "The Daughter Doo" and "The End of Ponies", please!
Those two stories are too good to let them die like this, please sit down and think of something!
I know how the pressure feels of having unfinished stories sitting around for a very long time, but this is different, you came so far with these stories, as the expert author you are, you just need to find a way to finish them!
Please set your mind to those stories again, read them again, get into their spirit again and continue them, one after another.
You might have doubts you could to this, but you are one of the few authors here who got more than 50,000 views with a story, if there is one who can continue a fic that's sitting around for years then it's you!
Please do anything to salvage those stories, I beg you, and tell me if you need help with anything (I would even pay to see those continued!!!!!), but please, don't let them die!
4370140 didn't see 6s and 7s, might have changed since I looked.
All things must end someday. Shine on, you crazy disco ball.
Well I suppose I had to have seen it coming, but it still hurts to have the elephant officially cancelled. End of Ponies has always had a special place in my heart, as it was the first fanfic I ever read on this site and in this fandom. I remember I had been binging on Fallout 3 and was feeling a little odd so I searched for post apocolyptic horse words and ended up reading EoP, sometime during the writing of the Dredgemane arc I think. Eventually I made an account and, well, I'm still here today, so thats something. So thanks for all that.
Anyway, its sad to see it finally go, but its good to see you accepting your shortcomings and moving on. I'll still make sure to continue to reread whats there every year or so as I still think its one of the best pieces on this site. Though I would love to hear your ideas on how it all would ultmately pan out.
Dont you fucking cancel EoP. God damn it, not when im rereading it, and WORKING on a fan comic of it. I still appreciate you adding my fan art of Lyra for Background Pony though. But again , for fucks sake dont cancel EoP please. I have spent too much time reading it over and over and waiting to see how it ends, for you to decide to just cancel it. -__-
4370140
In other words, there's a tiny chance that there might be more of A Pair of Rare Shies? That'd be nice. That story was adorable, and I rarely find fiction adorable. (In the show, I've found Fluttershy cute like twice and none of the others.)