Slow Progress on Chapter 13 and a Smidge of Self-indulgent Bragging · 3:23am Jan 8th, 2015
Silly me, I thought that the holidays would be a time where I could make significant headway on Sunset Shimmer: Element Bearer and manage to complete at least two or three chapters. Attempting to juggle work, house guests, family obligations and serving a brief period as Santa Claus destroyed that illusion rather quickly. That said, I am glad that I was able to publish Chapter 12 and ecstatic that it has been received positively. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I'm not so happy about my progress on Chapter 13. It's all mapped out. The "bones" are there, as are a few finished dialogue pieces, but I just haven't been able to craft much in the way of significant prose during the past few days. I guess this week seems to be one of those periods where the balance has to shift towards other things. A few commenters had expressed concern that I wasn't updating as regularly, but I'm much happier with the quality and length of the chapters I'm producing now (in contrast to the rapidly published October chapters).
This weekend, I managed to add more detail to the outline for the remainder of the story and identified some implausible plot points before I invested too much time in developing them. I had a lot of help - and thank you - you certainly know who you are...
I'm confident that once I get moving on Chapter 13, it will nearly write itself. Still, I can almost feel Aria Blaze tapping me on the shoulder with the baseball bat she borrowed from Fluttershy to tell me to get to work in her own insistent way. But first, I need the non-writing parts of my life to calm down enough to allow that deep dive.
Now, for the self-aggrandizement! For a brief five-hour period last Friday, Sunset Shimmer: Element Bearer graced the Feature Box here on FIMFiction.net. It rose as high as the eighth spot on the list before falling out of the Feature Box. Thank you very much for all of your interest in the story and personal support over the past three months. I realize that this is a huge milestone and a significant honor and am still a little shocked. As a result of being featured and because of the new features embedded into the site, readership has exploded. As I write this, the story has 2,640 user views, 181 up-votes and over 19,200 story views - all attributable to your support and encouragement.
Stay warm on this cold winter's night (at least where I live) and thank you once again!
Hey, don't fret about Chapter 13. The more you outline and think through plot points, the less you'll end up having to rewrite.
And again, congrats on the feature!
Oh sweet Celestia, that Sunset fan art is too adorable.
No need to rush anything bro take ya time and do what ya have to, man.
What the other two below me said so far! And an additional thanks! It's a bit cold for me too, around -7 (or 19F, not sure which system people use anymore)
Thanks for the story, and for the extra art! Yay Shimmer
Just wanted to let you know that the bottom 3 slots on the feature box are reserved for stories that are updates. The remaining slots above are for initially published stories.