6-Star Reviews Part 41: Changing Octaves

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When I was studying voice, we used to have a saying: "Sing like no-one is listening.  Practice like they'll show up in ten minutes."  I imagine there's a way to tweak that so that it relates to fanfic authors, but it's not coming to me.  Oh well, sage advice regardless.

Pen Stroke's Changing Octaves, after the break.

6-Star Reviews Part 40: Creeping Darkness

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And now, back to your regularly scheduled reviews.  Pen Stroke's Creeping Darkness, after the break.

Here, Have Some Stuff to Read Over the Weekend

Turns out I don't have a review ready for today.  Sorry.  There are three reasons for that, but I'll start with the most obvious one: Creeping Darkness is really freaking long.  However, if you need your pony fanfic fix and don't know where else to turn, I've got a few suggestions.  And wouldn't you know it, they just so happen to be related to my reasons for not having a review post today!  Look below the break for more.

6-Star Reviews Part 39: Spark

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Am I the only one who thought Cranky Doodle Donkey's story was incredibly tragic?*  I mean, it's not clear how long he spent looking for his sweetheart, but given what clues we had (the old-timey appearance of the flashback, the hair loss, etc.) the length must have been measured in decades.  This poor guy wasted most of his life searching in vain, and only found his true love in his twilight years.  Are they still young enough to have children, assuming they want any?  And what happens if it turns out that the girl he spent one night dancing with all those years ago isn't quite as perfect as his memory made her out to be?

And even if things do work out between them, they might not have long together.  There's obviously a tuberculosis epidemic in Ponyville (first Bon-Bon, now Rose.  Who's next?), and the elderly have weakened immune systems.  One or both of them will probably be dead within a few weeks.

...Or maybe it's a children's cartoon show and I'm overthinking things.  In any case, my review of Avery Strange's Spark, after the break.

*I still can't believe that I wrote that sentence with complete sincerity.  Confound these ponies, they drive me to take seriously the trials and tribulations of a cartoon character named Cranky Doodle Donkey.

Writing Fanfiction: One Man's Techniques and Practices

Over the weekend, I received an email asking me what my process is for writing fanfiction, and asking if I had any advice for a budding fanfic author.  I sent back a response of course, but this is about the dozenth time I've gotten such a request.  Since it seems to be a common question, I've decided to make a slightly more in-depth answer to those two questions and post it here.

I must confess to feeling like something of a charlatan for writing this: while I like to think of myself as a competent author, I'm quite certain that there's not a single person who would point to me as "the best author in the fandom," least of all myself.  As such, offering advice on how to write seems to assign me undue importance.  Nevertheless, I've done my best to provide some relevant and hopefully not too conceited insights.  For anyone interested in writing, and especially for budding authors, I hope there's some useful information here.  Below, my thoughts:

A Few Observations About EqD's New "Three Strike" Policy

BREAKING (TWO DAY OLD) NEWS: Equestria Daily officially instituted a new policy recently whereby stories which are sent back to the author for revision twice and still fail to meet posting standards will be permanently rejected.  Although it wasn't exactly a secret that this was coming, the announcement has generated a lot of talk--and with it, plenty of drama.  My two cents on the whole affair, after the break.