Raeligath

Okay, that makes sense. I can start by working with scenes, then build up to short stories if I feel like it's working. So yes, thank you for the idea! And I'll keep the movie in mind if I can. It's not often I find time to sit down and watch something for too long nowadays, but if I have a moment and can find it I'll check it out. It sure sounds like an interesting premise. Hmm... I think I get what you're saying. Basically, if you play around with a bigger idea, you might find a way to make it easier to break down. For example, if you were to take a serious epic adventure and change it to focus more on humor, you might be able to break it down into an almost episodic format, while maintaining some of the same content and themes. That way you can have your big idea without having to be daunted by the big picture, so to speak. Is that what you mean?

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the movie, and I'm not quite sure what you're describing. Is it like a series of semi-related short stories set in the same continuity, or a series of stories within stories, each one acting as frame to the next one? As for the suggestion, that sounds like an interesting way to go about it. Is the 'slice-of-life description' meant more for writing entire short stories, or just single scenes for practice? Well that does sound like a challenge. Although I suppose, like most things, it's something you get better at with practice. I'll try to check these out soon to get a feel for what such mini stories even look like. Anyway, thanks for the idea and the clarification. I'll definitely have to give this a go sometime!

Thank you very much for the advice. Agh, I'm just sorry it's taken me so long to get around to a proper reply. One of these days, I'm going to have to sit down and give this thing a try. Was the original challenge ever to write a (very brief) story in the 30 minute time limit, or only to plan one? It could be interesting to see what kind of story, or even just a scene, one could write in such a short period of time, though I worry that it might take longer than that just for me to 'get in the groove' for writing, so to speak.

I've had a problem lately that's keeping me from getting any writing done: I have too many 'big' ideas. That is to say, I can't seem to come up with any small ideas to get started with, and instead am only getting ideas in my head for these big, novel-length monsters. The problem is, while they seem like good ideas at first (some of the time anyway), I soon remember how daunting of a prospect working on a large story can be. This, in turn, leads to me getting overwhelmed when I try to start writing, and thus I never get anything done. Unfortunately, this also means I'm not getting any practice. This makes me sad. I really want to get back into writing so I can improve, but I'm struggling with how to get going again. One idea I had was to try to start writing short stories, but to do that I need to learn how to 'think small', so to speak. Does anyone have any advice on how to think up ideas for short stories? Or at least just prompts for practice? For that matter, does anyone have any advice on how to keep ideas from getting out of control? Other than that, I am open to suggestions for other ways to practice. My main goal is really just to practice writing again, and to get feedback on that practice so I can improve. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

From the title of the thread, I know the feeling. I'm pretty sure every writer hits that point sooner or later. In my experience, this often comes from comparing yourself and your ideas to others, or otherwise just being so critical you never let your ideas see the light of day. That said, it's great that you're willing to share and discuss your ideas like this. This sort of feedback and brainstorming should be a good way to combat that vicious cycle of doubt and self-criticism. Now, if I were to offer my own two cents on this discussion of the idea itself... First off, I like the idea overall. The villains in FiM are definitely some of the more interesting characters to explore, at least in my opinion. Now as for how to portray Luna and Nightmare, I think you're onto something with a theme of self-acceptance. One idea would be to make sure there's some sort of emphasis on how Luna rejects the parts of her that make up 'Nightmare', either through denial or fear or both. For example, you could show her, early on, berating herself for feelings of jealousy or spite. To my understanding, these sorts of thoughts are common in people who are struggling to better themselves, or who have lingering regret over something they once did. They can become obsessive and nitpick their own behavior. This could be especially impactful if she were to freak out over something really minor and benign, i.e. that she felt jealous over the size of her sister's crown. Then later you could show how this was just a small symptom of a much greater inner conflict. To me, it sounds like the goal of your story is to show that even if it's easy to vilify these 'bad' thoughts and feelings like grief and jealousy, they're still healthy and part of who someone is. So I say that it would probably be a good idea to illustrate how these can be healthy emotions before building up to the inevitable big battle and Luna-Nightmare merge. Another idea is to show in some more literal sense that, without Nightmare, Luna is just a 'partial' pony. The relationship of Nightmare Moon and Luna is very allegorical, and you could do a lot by just building on that. A few examples come to mind that would also play against the fight vs. Chrysalis. Perhaps she has been physically weaker or even sickly since rejecting Nightmare, or she is unable to cast offensive/combat spells due to so thoroughly rejecting the emotions and thoughts they typically require. Of course, all this is just brainstorming. It's your story, and I'm just trying to give suggestions to help you get your own ideas rolling. Whatever you decide, you've got a good idea to start here, and I'd love to see what you do with it ~

Rainbow letters and music? I feel the warm welcome all over again. Thank you! Also, cool, I never really expected someone to recognize me from elsewhere. This feels weird. Good-weird, but still weird. And of course, thanks, regarding Masquerade. I wasn't really sure how well she'd be received. Glad to know her zony-ness is a likable concept.

And a-thank you to both of you, too! I'm sure I will!

Thank you! I just hope I can live up to some of this writer/artist hype ~

And a-thank you to you! I'll have to keep you in mind for questions and chatting as well. Also, nice welcome picture. Cheers ~

Thanks twicely ~ Thank you! I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's a pretty refreshing change from some places I've found online. Refreshing, just... I guess a bit jarring. Not in a bad way though, of course.

Thank you, thank you! And that is quite an adorable Dash. That's good to hear, though it might take a little getting used to. I mean, by all means, "Yay friendliness", I'm just not used to people being very well-receptive towards getting messaged out of the blue. Thank you for the welcome, the advice, and the well-wishes! I certainly hope I'll keep drawing so I can keep sharing. Thank you, thank you ~ One day, I will have to solve that whole blank-flank issue. Whether with a cutie mark or [x] number of posts or both.

Phew, that's a lot of welcomes. Let's see if I can get some replies done in bulk, save on spam... Thank you, for the welcome and compliment! And I'll be sure to keep that in mind. I take it people exchange PM's pretty regularly here? I know it's different from site to site, from one community to the next. Ah, yes, I remember you ~ If your warm welcome is any indication, I think I'm gonna like it here just fine. And again, I'll keep that in mind, about the questioning. (Actually on that note, I figure I might as well ask: What's "brohoofing"? Is that basically a pony-fied "like" button like on social media sites?) Thank you for the welcomes and such! I'll ask you as well, does that mean that spontaneous messaging and profile comments and all that is pretty common around here? Oooh, and favorite pony to draw? That's a tough one. I've drawn all of the mane 6 a lot, plus some of the more popular background ponies like Lyra and a few of my own characters... If I had to pick (from non-OCs to make it simple), I think I'd have to say Applejack or Twilight. Thank ya, thank ya! I'm sure I will, on both counts ~ Thank you's all around! And I'd believe it. Just in this one thread, and in the span of like an hour or so, I'm already seeing a bunch of different and interesting kinds of people.

My Favourite Mane 6 Pony: Rainbow Dash How did you find MLP Forums?: I... Google? Sorry, I really don't have a story behind this. How you became a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: A bunch of my friends became fans before I did and started talking about the show. A lot. I was still initially skeptical, however. After I saw the art style of the show, however, I was a little more intrigued. So I decided I'd give it a shot. Long story short, I loved it, and I've stayed hooked ever since. Hello, hello, and all that jazz. You can call me Raeligath. Maybe just Raeli. Or maybe something more pronounceable and pony-ish if I can ever figure out a cartoon horse for my self. Whatever works for ya. I fancy myself as a bit of an artist and writer, though I've been far too busy and/or distracted for the last month or so to be that productive at either. Still, when and if I can get in the mood for it, I like to draw and write about ponies. I used to do quite a bit more, but then college happened and I figured it was kind of important to focus on that while I could. I'm hoping I'll find some new "spark" of inspiration, motivation, or both soon that will get me all creatively productive again. Especially if it's the kind that means I just have fun creating, no matter what comes of it. That's just the best. Or, you know, I might just need to make myself take a break and come back to it. I don't know, I'm no expert on these sorts of things. For most artstuffs, I've got a Tumblr blog thingy. For most writing stuffs, I've got a (still pretty bare) FiMFic page. (One day, I will update these with some sense of regularity. Unfortunately, that day is not today.) Anyway, the main reason I'm here is to try to be social and get to meet and chat with other pony people. And hopefully to get a little more involved with the goings-on of the general pony community. So once again, hello everypony! Hope I can find some things to do, people to meet, and friends to make while I'm here! And of course, I hope you all have a wonderful day ~