Status · 5:06am Apr 20th, 2012
Sometimes, when I am approving "stories" I have to wonder... do these guys really want to write a story? Have they ever read one?
I mean... you just need to glance at a novel to have an idea of formatting. Maybe... maybe they're all trollfics and I just don't realize it. That would both, give me hope and really depress me. 
So, yeah, maybe this makes some of you think I'm a stiff because I want properly formatted stories (unless the messed up formatting is intentional) but I look at it as love of reading and writing. 
Anyway, new 'Lyra's Quest' is out! Go read and vote! 
Since people keep asking me, I've added a bar for 'The Moon's Twilight' as well. You might notice the progress bars on the left Shiny!
Anyway, progress on TER is going well, I know I keep saying that but trust me: you don't want me to give you forced scenes. I hate forced scenes. They don't read well and are pretty insulting. The final confrontation is... well, I don't want to promise and not deliver so I'll just say I'm trying to make it as interesting as possible!
There is a lot to cover and while the Epilogue will be easier to write I don't want to ignore stuff and have suddenly appear there. So... yeah. A bit longer than expected, but a better chapter, me thinks.
Shiny progress bar
I have no idea what you have to go through looking through these fics.
I mean 90% of the time just looking at the front page makes me want to take a power drill to my eye sockets, I can't imagine having to peruse the content.
Your Notifications
Wanderer D commented on your story, 12:28 am
Wanderer D posted a new blog entry asking whether certain mysterious third parties have any idea how to actually write a story, 1:03 am
Yes! TMT gets a progress bar... and it's not empty!
76935 I wouldn't fave your story if it wasn't awesome.
Trust me, you're not the one I'm talking about when I'm complaining.
76951
I figured, but I just couldn't not point out the irony
Wanderer D, I wish I could tell you that yes, they are troll fics, but sadly, I am more and more certain each passing day that they are legit trying to write...
And it breaks my little pony heart.
My best guess is the following:
25% are true troll fics
25% are good
25% have no grammar skills or are not native English speakers who are using google translate.
20% are done half-assed
5% are written by people who are drunk
There are tons of people for whom fanfiction is their first attempt (or first attempt in years) of writing anything fictional. And a lot of these just plain don't read stuff. Sure, they may follow blogs and toss of text messages and tweets and e-mails to their friends, and chat with people... but they don't read actual books, and thus they have a very poor idea of how you write a story.
You keep directing me to the left, and I keep seeing nothing there. Am I going insane...?
I've read over 10 million words (jeez that's a lot
) since getting involved with this fandom, yet I'm still not sure about proper formatting.
Could be something wrong with me I suppose, what exactly do you think is 'proper?'
The only thing I was never certain of regarding formatting was... that thing where the start of a new paragraph is pushed some spaces forward. I see a lot of the pros do it, but is it necessary?
And yay for shiny new progress bar! Oh, and TER, of course
I need to work on my formatting. What I have is functional enough, but it still feels a bit... I don't know, amateur. Needs moar indents.
77067 I guess I'm not being fair, I don't think I follow pro-formatting either
but, you know how you do line breaks and separate stuff into paragraphs? That basic stuff. Just so that people can read your story 
77086 I have it on good authority that indenting is not necessary for online work... I guess it makes it optional.
77066
yes!
"maybe this makes some of you think I'm a stiff because I want properly formatted stories"
who doesn't want a story that's easy to read...i almost go crazy when i see a story that doesn't have proper formatting, it interrupts the flow of the story considerably, some stories which have formatting problems i cant even finish cause its not enjoyable to read a story which doesn't flow properly
"Since people keep asking me, I've added a bar for 'The Moon's Twilight' as well. You might notice the progress bars on the left Shiny!"
(yay) to authors falling to pressure from readers! 
"Anyway, progress on TER is going well, I know I keep saying that but trust me: you don't want me to give you forced scenes. I hate forced scenes."
although to be frank; some of us will probably have to re-read a lot of the story; cause i (and probably others as well) dont remember many details anymore 
....
we do trust you and we do not want forced scenes...
76935
sadly; this made me laugh
Oh Wanderer, you don't know how much I agree. If someone can't even write a description properly, then you know a story's going to be really crap. However, there are a lot of good fanics out there, so I guess that levels it out for me.
77086
It's called indenting, I think only the real pros do it. Achieved by pressing tab once :P
77103
If that's the case I think I have pretty decent grasp (certainly not the best mind you
) But I've heard people complain about line indentation and things like that, and I'm still wondering how that works.
If you disclude the fics which are obviously trollfics, these kind of people are in a minority, I think. Not really sure if this is something I can comment on, though. I read a lot of fiction but don't write. I would, if only for the privilege of complaining about this sort of thing, but I don't want to suffer the irony of screwing up the formatting.
I do think people should consult a damn dictionary every now and again, however.
I did a half assed fic it was approved but I later deleted it
My guess is that a lot of the fics you get WD, are ones that are written then immediately submitted. The author is probably still in that hazy time where they think everything they write is gold. It's a blind guess but I would put money down that there is truth to it
Random Question but how the hay did you get those progress bars? They're so.... Shiny....
Edit: Nevermind. I found them, my precious!
77784 there's a link at the bottom of that section to the DA of the person that made them. They should be in their scraps folder
77796
Okey Dokey Lokey!
Really looking forward to your denouement for 'The Empty Room', when you feel it is ready!