Taialin

Alright, thanks! Give me a few days to prepare this thing, and I'll send you a link.

Does it? Looks like I found the right person to pre-read my story, then! One more question, this one a bit more personal: Are you averse to reading mature fics, Eloquence? My entire foray into romance has been something of an experiment, and one thing I've also been trying to do is write original . . . well, y'know. Romance, mature? It's more than just the action of it, though, and this idea might make even less sense than the one I just discussed.

@@Eloquence, Well then, if you're willing to do it, I may need someone to do some pre-reading for me! There's actually a rather original idea that I have, and I've done some writing on it, but I'm concerned that the idea is original to the point that it doesn't make sense anymore. Classical romance ideas are cliché and overdone, but at least they're conservative, and they work. Originality is adventurous, and at least in my stories, may require leaps of logic and suspension of disbelief that readers aren't necessarily willing to provide. This is what I mean by original and adventurous: When's the last time you've seen a romance fic wherein a heterosexual and homosexual somehow fall in love with each other? By its very definition, this idea doesn't make any sense, and I'm trying to somehow convince you with words that it does. You willing to do a little pre-reading on this subject?

Sorry, CP, but I'd actually not recommend starting like this. At least, that's not how I start! I guess that everyone has their own method for starting songwriting, so I'll just share mine. The most important part of the song—to me, at least—is the inspiration for it. You need a good idea for a song for it to be worth doing. Nice thing about the fact that smartphones have become nearly omnipresent is that you have a microphone on you at all times. If at any point during your day, at any time, you find the inspiration for a song in the form of a melodic nucleus, or a rhythm seed, or anything like that, record it. I find that inspiration is a fickle, effervescent, ADHD thing that will escape your grasp if you don't put it somewhere first. People will look at you very strangely for singing into a phone while on the subway, but if it means that you have your idea somewhere other than your ADHD brain, then that's a good thing. And besides, if when you get home, you find that your idea sounds awful, it probably wasn't a great idea to begin with! After that, expand on your nucleus a bit, and reflect on it. A melody alone does not a song make. What would complement your song? Is it original? Why are you writing this song? Only when you're sure about these questions do you continue with composing your song proper. The reason why I don't start the way that it seems CP does is because the things that she mentions seem like semantics and ancillary information. Generally, when I start with a song nucleus and build off of that, the genre, tempo, time signature, and instruments follow. (The key signature doesn't matter a whole lot. Pick C, F or Am if you don't like sharps/flats in your key signature, though.) If your melody is in 4/4, so be it. If your melody is in 6/8, so be it. If it sounds good, and you're willing to do it, then it's a good idea. No offense, Coco. Just ringing in with what works in my own experience!

Sorry about this, but I'll have to beg to differ. I like the world-building that you've done with Dark Mist, but I have to ask a question: why? Why is Dark Mist fighting the two of them in the first place? I understand that Dark Mist is a former student of Luna's, but that's not really a reason, just a relationship. I understand that the fight itself will be a significant portion of the story, but until you can answer this question and answer it in your story as well, readers will find your story to be nothing more than an opportunity for you to pit your OC against Princess Celestia/Luna. There's really nothing wrong with this concept as a whole—I actually quite like the fact that Dark Mist does not win against Celestia and Luna—but make sure that the story is actually a story and not just a combat and skillset exposé.

Oops! Maybe I misphrased this a little bit. I've actually already moved past the whole verbal confession trope because I know that's a genre that's been killed with an overabundance of fics, brought back to life, then killed again. I mean to say that the very action of one pony discovering another has affections for them—however it may happen—is overdone and unoriginal. In my mind, there are only three (two-and-a-half, really) ways that this can end, and all of them have been done to some extent: (I'll just use some Flutterdash here since I don't want to say Pony 1 vs. Pony 2.) One: Fluttershy "confesses" love to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash reciprocates, claiming that she loved Fluttershy all along, and they live happily ever after. Sound familiar? Two: Fluttershy "confesses" love to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash has never thought of Fluttershy that way, but is willing to give dating for a while a shot. Not quite as pervasive as Option One here, but still fairly overused. It doesn't help that these stories tend to be constructed exactly like Option One stories, in any case (except for the very end). And-a-Half: Fluttershy "confesses" love to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash has never thought of Fluttershy that way and, for one reason or another, feels that she cannot give Fluttershy what she needs and rejects her affections. I say this is a half-option because few writers actually choose it, and for good reason: it's sort of original, but it's not satisfying. You don't really want to go into a romance also expecting it to be a tragedy, right? So that's my problem, here: to me, writing romance is like placing yourself between a rock, a hard place, and a crying-Fluttershy-cliff. I mean, I'm rather good at making Fluttershy cry (Literally every story I have published so far includes Fluttershy crying to some extent. I'm so awful.) but I'm not that cruel. Yet. That's why a lot of the things I write are friendshipping: I don't need to answer this question. That being said, I'd like to write some full-fledged romance, but I've shirked the genre so far for the very issue that I'm discussing right now.

Hello, Eloquence! Here's my question, though I'm not sure if you'll be able to answer it: in your perusing of the romance stories that float around in the MLP community, is there any facet of it that bleeds of originality? I say this because I'm writing a few romance stories now, and to me, it is astoundingly difficult to come up with a romance plot that includes the progression of friendship to romance that's even remotely original; the very fact that the story includes a confession seems to make it inherently unoriginal, and by extension, rather boring.

I'm an avid shower singer as well, and I've sang in choir and musicals before, so I guess I can ring in here. I've actually filled into all three male voice ranges (bass, baritone, and tenor) as required in choir when other people needed help, and I think my voice range reflects that. Last I checked, it was E2–D5 or so, not including falsetto. Not sure how high my falsetto goes, but it sounds bad enough up there that I don't bother. Oh, and not sure if this would interest anybody, but I wrote a (not really) scientific paper on who in MLP:FiM has the largest vocal range based on what we've seen in canon: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/397117/the-highest-voice-in-all-of-equestria Turns out the answer is Fluttershy, and by a huge margin: B1–A5.

Yeah, my story is not exactly the one that you would tell to your kids on a snowy night. Your neighbor's kids, maybe! This really isn't my usual fare when it comes to writing; I'm much more of a mushy romance fan than anything else. That's why I can guarantee to prospective readers that though my story may be tragic, it never gets dark. Anyways, a huge thank you to anyone who read my story, and an even huger thank you to everyone who helped make it happen (whether they read this post or not!). This project was originally just a song idea I conceived of when I started hearing those awful holiday songs on the radio and in stores. That is, around October. :okiedokielokie: (The songs really wouldn't be so bad if you weren't dead tired of them when the holidays actually rolled around!) All I wanted to do was to write a pony-related song that I didn't cringe at every time I listened to it. It was just an idea back then. But around the beginning of December, the idea got completely out of hoof. I found a co-writer and co-musician, found some story inspiration, learned audio engineering and mastering myself, consulted with a professional mixer on my song, found some English majors to proofread my story . . . all during Finals week! It was a busy, stressful, all-nighter–filled time for me. But, you know what? I'm glad that I did it. Because this project has been one of the most fun, invigorating, and audacious projects I've ever done. And it was, without a doubt, the most rewarding. So, thanks again to everyone who read (or listened to) Bonds of Glory. And of course, thank you, Batbrony, for placing it. Oh, and hey, this is my first post here ever! Hi everyone!