Writer's Block and Interruptions
"Three hundred sheets of parchment? Check. Quill? Check. Extra Quill? Check. Extra Extra Quill? Yes. Ink? Check. Extra Ink? Check. Extra Extra-"
"Twilight, what are you doing? We're not writing any reports, checklists or schedules today, so why do you have all that... stuff?" Spike asked, while walking down the wooden stairs of the tree library.
Twilight was floating all her writing supplies onto her writing desk, neatly placing them next to each other. "Ah good, there you are Spike. Lock all the doors and windows, plug up the faucets and drains and put up all six of the closed signs outside. I want no distractions!" She commanded, taking off the lid of one of her ink bottles.
"What, why?"
"Because, Spike! I'm writing a book! I need it to be completely silent so that I can get all my ideas flowing through my brain."
"You're writing a book? Why? Is it for Princess Celestia?"
"No, I just want to write something. It's going to be a novel, maybe a series if I'm really good at it. I've never written anything besides short stories and reports for the Princess, so I decided, why not? Now if you're done asking questions, do like I told you, and once you're done, just...take the whole day off! And don't come back here until sunset!"
"Well, I guess I could go help Rarity...I'd do anything for her. Well, good luck on your novel or whatever Twilight." He took a handful of corks and stuck them into all the sink faucets, including the shower hose. Then he took a couple of foal books (that Twilight didn't really need), and dumped them onto the drains. He then hung up several closed signs, one on the door, one in front of a window, one behind the other window, one on the balcony, one on the outside of the tree and one on the board with a book on that was stuck in the ground in front of the library.
"Well, that's it then. I guess I'll go. Bye Twilight!"
"Bye Spike! And remember, don't come back until sunset!" He nodded and opened the door, slamming it behind him. Twilight watched from the window until he was fully out of site before double locking the door, and pushing a table in front of it. She then then turned to her writing desk, where here future novel awaited her.
"Finally! Now then, let's brainstorm before beginning the story; it's always a good idea. Taking her quill with magic, she dipped it in the ink container and began scribbling.
Story Title: Running from Home Dawn's Journey The Journey of Sunset
"Hm, good enough."
Protagonist: Sunset Glitter
Antagonist: Sharp Claw Akioa the dragon.
Description: When the evil dragon Akioa steal Sunset's precious book on the secrets of dragons, she goes on an epic journey to get it back, by going through jungles, gorges, canyons, swamps and rivers.
"There we go. Now let's see, what else to brainstorm...ah ha!"
Companions: Orangejack, Purple Cake, Scarcity, Color Bolt, Flitter Timid.
Side Characters: Sharp Claw the dragon, Drac the winged serpent, Yodi the frog.
"There! Done with the brainstorming already! Now I can write the actually thing!" She squealed. Putting the brainstorming sheet aside, she dipped her quill again and floated it over the fresh piece of parchment. She was ready to write, slashing thousands of ink strokes across that paper, but instead she just stared at it, thinking.
How do I start this story? She thought. A simple idea flashed in her mind.
It was a bright and sunny day in Canterlot as Sunset-
"No, no no! That's way too simple. Maybe if I started with an action..."
Sunset Glitter rushed across the streets of Canterlot, her saddle bag banging against her as she leaped over a cart of daises, the owner scowling at her. Ignoring the mare, she continued on, desperate to get back home and read the ultra rare book she had just happened to get her hooves on.
Twilight had just written these words when she heard a soft and gentle knock on the door. Growling, dropped her quill and unlocked it, flinging it open, prepared to give whoever was there a good ranting.
"We're not open! Can't you read?!" She shouted, before realizing that it was Fluttershy, who whimpered and stepped back.
"O-oh, I'm sorry, I'll just come back later..."
"Oh, Fluttershy! I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to explode like that! I'm just really busy writing my new book, and I didn't want to be interrupted. But I'll make an exception for you.
"I don't want to be a bother, I-I can leave if you want..."
"No! It's fine, really. So anyway, why'd you come here in the first place?" Fluttershy lit up.
"Oh, right, Twilight, if you don't mind of course, I really need to get a book on animal first-aid! One of my little birds is hurt, and it's an emergency, so if you could please just grab it for me I can leave and you can get back to writing your book."
"Of course!" She went inside the library and scanned the shelf of animal books, before grabbing one with magic and handing it to Fluttershy.
"There you go! I hope your bird is okay."
"Thank you so much Twilight! I'll be on my way now, oh, and good luck writing!" She took the book and ran off. Twilight slammed the door shut, re locking it and returning to her writing station.
"Now then, back to my novel!" She picked up her quill again and stood there for a moment, trying to grasp the right words for her story. She decided not to fuss over it, since this was only a rough draft.
She climbed the many steps to her apartment, where she could read in silence, without any pony distracting her from her amazing find. She reached the third floor and fumbled over her keys, taking the right one and stabbing it into the lock, furiously turning it. Once unlocked, she swung it open and galloped inside, closing it with a mighty kick.
"Finally! Now I can read my book!" She exclaimed, dropping her saddlebags onto the floor. She dug inside them before finding her ancient book, and ripped it out, ready to devour its contents.
"The Ancient History of the Dragons!" She squealed. "Oh, I can't wait!" Throwing her saddlebags aside, she levitated the reference book onto the table and turned over the cover, then the title page.
"Introduction." She read. "The ancient history of the mystical creatures known as dragons is very private and contained indeed, as it is awfully hard for any pony to observe their trait and rituals, and even harder to convince one into explaining the glorious history they hold. Luckily, I just so happened to meet a very polite dragon, (rare indeed,) who was willing to let me in on some of their secret past."
I assure you that you will be one hundred percent glued to this book, as interesting as it is. I also advise that you read this quietly and do not attract much attention, since every single copy of this book is probably being watched by some silent dragons, who want nothing more than to prevent you from learning of their past."
"It is filled with war and blood, terror and horrific events, yes, but is also filled with many legends, much romance, and some truly epic tales.
Twilight stopped there. She had nothing left. No ideas of sentences, no words came to mind. She had wanted the dragon to enter, but she didn't know how.
"Ugh, what now? I can't just stop; I've already got a few paragraphs!" She tapped her quill on the desk, the rhythm helping her think. She raised her quill to write, but lowered it, still not knowing what to write. After about five minutes of confusion, she got up to take a good break, helping herself to some lemonade and a couple of Spike's delicious cookies.
Once she was done, she put her cup in the sink and went back to her writing desk, confident that she could think now that she was refreshed. She lifted up her quill, quickly reviewed the last few paragraphs she had wrote, corrected some errors, and returned to the blank bottom of the page, prepared.
"Alright then, let's do this." She finally got some words into her head, and scribbled them down.
Suddenly there was a loud and sharp knock on her door, and as she rose to answer it, a sharp claw bursted through the wood, startling her. She yelped and grabbed her book, putting a small piece of paper in as a bookmark and placing it into her bag. Then she made a run for it.
A small clack echoed in the empty library as Twilight put the quill down again. She didn't know what to write again. Sighing, she read the paragraph she had written over and over again, hoping something would come to mind.
Twilight was about to raise her quill when there was a pounding on her own door. She groaned and opened it to find Rainbow Dash, panting and looking awfully worried.
"Twilight! Oh Twilight, we really need your help! A dragon's gone loose and is coming this way! There's no time to explain, you have to come with me NOW!"
"WHAT? Rainbow Dash how did-"
"No time for questions! Come on!" She grabbed Twilight's hoof and took off, dragging Twilight along. When they reached the edge of Ponyville, surely enough, there was a big, yellow dragon charging towards them, with two colts running frantically in front of it. They came closer and were identified as...
"Snips and Snails! Those two dumb heads! I thought they learned not to confront any monsters after that Ursa Minor incident!" Rainbow shouted. "But Twilight, please, you gotta help us! Just banish it or something!"
"I know Rainbow, I know." Twilight was baffled; she didn't know what to do.
Taking a deep breath, she charged forward, crying out. "AHHHHHHH!" She cried. She passed the two terrified colts, who thought she was crazy. As she ran into the golden dragon, she grabbed one of Pinkie Pie's emergency balls out of a tree and threw at the dragon. It hit it right in the eye, catching its attention as it glared at Twilight, its teeth barred.
Twilight gulped before running through its legs and out, avoiding its spiky, swinging tail. The dragon turned around and chased her, ignoring Ponyville. As they went through the Everfree Forest, Twilight saw a familiar cave; it was the cave Spike had gone in two years ago.
She ran inside, hoping that maybe the dragon might lose her, but it followed her right in. Twilight ran into a big room filled with all sorts of gems. The yellow dragon stopped for a second, mesmerized by the gems, before shaking its head and going for Twilight, who was backed up against the rock wall.
"Heheheheh." She chuckled nervously as the growling dragon as it walked towards her, big clawed feet thumping. She closed her eyes, awaiting a dreadful snap of its jaws to end her.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAR!" She snapped her eyes open to find a huge green dragon at the foot of the cave, roaring at the yellow dragon, who turned around. They clashed together in combat, clawing and biting at each other, and Twilight carefully walked around them. Suddenly, the green dragon stopped, staring wide eyed at the yellow one, who was still snapping its jaws at it, but stopped after a few seconds.
They stared at each other for a while before the green dragon smiled, and started nuzzling the yellow one, who nuzzled back. Soon they were cuddling in the nest of gems, a shocked Twilight staring at them.
"So the yellow dragon was a...girl?!" She exclaimed. "Unbelievable!" Deciding to leave the new couple alone, she exited the cave, sighing.
Back at the library, Twilight grabbed a drink before heading back to her waiting writing desk. She picked up her quill and continued writing, now filled with new ideas.
"That experience will keep me writing for the rest of the day!" She muttered, spreading ink across the paper.
Sunset went for the emergency exit of her apartment, the dragon still tearing apart her door. "It must want the book!" She cried, opening the window and climbing out. The dragon ripped through the wood and into the room, roaring at the light pink mare. He was a green dragon with purple spikes on him. She frantically jumped down to the ground, falling hard but unhurt. Sadly the dragon had quickly flown out, and was outside as well. She tried to run away, but the dragon was too fast, and shot straight at her, causing them to collide and fall in a tumble. The dragon quickly got up and-
There was a knock on the door, and Twilight dropped the quill at the sound of it. Growling, she stomped over to the door and flew it open. "CAN'T. YOU. SEE. WE'RE CLOSED?" She shouted, furious with all the interruptions she was getting.
"Oh, hiya Twilight! Sorry about that, I actually didn't see all the closed signs everywhere." Twilight face hoofed. It was Pinkie Pie. "But anyway, I was just here to give you this invitation!"
"What's it for?" Twilight asked.
"It Lyra's birthday tomorrow! And I'm throwing her a party! It's gonna be great! There's gonna be games, and punch, and cupcakes, and cookies..." Twilight waited for her to finish, but she wouldn't. She just kept talking...
Five minutes later, Pinkie finally stopped and said goodbye to Twilight, giving her a small green envelope. Twilight, still kind of moody, slammed the door shut, and threw the envelope aside, which fell somewhere. Returning to her writing desk, she found out that thanks to Pinkie, she didn't know what to write next. Groaning, she dropped the quill and pounded her head on the paper, a bit of ink smearing and getting into her mane.
"I give up..." She moaned. But a little voice in her head won't put up with this.
You can't just give up! It protested. You worked so hard to write this, and you're gonna finish it! Or at least chapter 1. That's good enough!
"But it's too hard...I keep getting interrupted and getting writer's block."
You have to keep trying! You'll get a surge of inspiration, I know you will!
Twilight rose her head up, sniffling. "You really think so?"
Yeah! Come on! You can do it! It cheered.
Twilight smiled. "Okay. I'll continue." She got up and grabbed her quill with magic, and put over the paper. She thought hard about what to write, but she couldn't think of anything. She tried to remember what she had wanted to write before Pinkie had came, but she still couldn't write.
She decided to check one of her books on Writer's Block, hoping that it would help her. Levitating the book off its shelf, she opened it and magically turned the pages before finding a list of tips. She crossed out what she had already done, or what she knew wouldn't work.
If you have Writer's Block:
• Take a break. Have a snack!
• Read through what you've written so far.
• On a separate piece of paper, write anything you can think of. Anything!
• Visit your friends or family. Do something together that may inspire you.
• Read a good book. You might get ideas from what you're reading!
"Hmm, I guess I could try. After all, I have that new book about griffons." She put the book aside and searched the shelves for her new griffon book. Taking the yellow and red book, she flipped it open and began reading, determined to forget about her novel for an hour or more.
Seven pages in, after reading about how they hunt, Twilight finally got some ideas. She throw the book over and ran to her writing desk, grabbing her quill and dipping it in ink, and-
Knocking. There was more knocking on her door. Again. The quill Twilight has been using dropped to the ground, ink staining the floor. She listened to the sound of hooves on her wooden door, hoping whoever was there would read all the closed signs and leave. But it wouldn't leave.
Twilight shook a little, waiting for the knocking to stop. But it stayed, tormenting her with ever loud sound. She made a loud growling noise. "WHAT. DO .YOU WANT?!?!" Her mane and tail bursted into flames, her coat changing to a cream color. She stomped her way over to the door, the tree shaking as her hooves pounded on the ground. She kicked the door of its hinges, and it flew all the way across the street, landing in between two very surprised ponies. She glared, her teeth bared and her fiery mane blazing in front of a terrified orange earth pony.
Applejack gulped. "I think I better go." She turned to run, but Twilight sunk her teeth into her blonde mane and pulled her back.
"OH NO YOU DON'T. You came here and interrupted me for something, didn't you!? What do you want Applejack!? Can't you read all the CLOSED signs around here?!"
"I-I just n-needed your help...but I guess I can ask some pony else." Twilight's eyes widened.
"Help?! That's all you needed, help? There are hundreds of ponies in Ponyville you could ask, and of all you come to me...? Ugh..." Twilight calmed down, realizing that being angry at her friend wouldn't help the situation at all. Her mane was extinguished and her coat returned to normal. She collapsed and lay there depressed.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you Applejack...It’s just that I've been interrupted all day and...Can you ever forgive me?" Applejack rubbed her burnt mane, a smile on her face.
"Of course sugar cube. We all have outbursts once and a while. It’s just that Big Macintosh is gone for some business and I needed help on the farm. I just wanted one of ma best friends to help me with it. I understand if you're busy."
"Thanks Applejack. Sorry again for exploding at you. Sure I'll help! Just give me a minute, I have to do something." She entered the library and stared at the half filled page staring at her. Sighing, she ignored the voice in her head that was yelling at her.
Twilight grabbed the two pieces of paper she had worked on and crumpled them up. She then dropped them on the ground and stomped on them several times. When she was finished killing the evil writing, she stuffed them in the trash can. Happy that she was free from her, "novel", she went outside to meet her friend, muttering to herself.
"I will never try to write something like that again..."
Meanwhile, sitting on the roof of one of the Ponyville houses, where two mares, one of them very happy, and the other angry.
"Ha ha! Our sister had failed what these ponies call, 'a bet.' You must give us your bits!" A dark alicorn said, grinning, her hoof in front of the other mare.
"Ugh, no. I still believe that my faithful student will return and pick up where she left off, Luna." She grumbled.
Luna's horn glowed, and a single message rung in both of their ears. "I will never try to write something like that again..." was played over and over again. The white alicorn groaned.
"Oh alright! Have your stupid bits. I'm a ruler, I shouldn't be worrying about this. I have thousands of bits." She dumped a pile of gold coins into Luna's hands.
"It is not just the money you have lost, Tia, it is a part of your pride as well!" Luna snickered.
"Oh, shut up." And with that Celestia flew away.
