I need to figure out a name for the whole thing (though maybe I'll think on that once the whole thing is done), names for the chapters (or decide if I'll even name the chapters), and what I'll do with Team Rocket, Gary/Green, Koga, Jeanine (sp?) & Lance (They are giving me a hard time in terms of what role they'll have in the story).
If you could tell me what you think, give some kind of advice as to what to do with characters that are already in the game universe, or if you want to be a part of my little project, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance (and sorry for the long post).
First of all, don't be sorry for the long post. XD It's better than a short post, and there are quite a few people here who tend to talk a lot in one sitting, myself included. :3 So don't worry about it.
Now, names--how you get them can vary and they can be real buggers when it comes to getting them. Heck, sometimes a story might not have a name until it's almost finished (although it's usually a good idea to have one if you're going to be posting it as a WIP (work in progress)), but that's okay; you want to wait until you have a fitting title rather than giving it something that doesn't suit.
*is obsessive about names and naming things*
So. Um. I'm not sure what to say about naming the story as whole; that depends a lot on the story. It would have to be significant to the story itself for some reason, but like I said, don't be afraid if you can't think of anything. Plus, sometimes the title you choose can actually affect the storyline itself (which is what happened with mine; the story only started to reflect the title's theme after I'd named it).
There are a couple of ways to choose chapter names... themes, like Jax said. Song lyrics can be good. I have a fondness for using paraphrased proverbs which relate in some way to the chapter--those can also work well for one-shot titles.
Note that, usually for any kind of title and especially if the story's in a series, you'd want to keep them consistent. So if the first story in a trilogy has a one-word title, then it's a good idea for the rest of the stories to have a one-word title too. Same with chapters, although they tend to be more flexible.
Uhm. Yeah. ^.^;;; Hope that helped, a little.
As for the roles the characters are going to have in the story--well, it depends on what kind of plot you have and how close to canon you want to write it... for starters.
First step, seconding Jax here: it depends on which game you're going with. Unless you want to go somewhere in-between the two games and tell us what's happening in the three years the Rockets were gone or something--which would actually be really interesting.
....gah, no, plotbunny alert! >.< Out, out, evil spirits!
*cough* Anyway. Depending on which game we're talking about, their roles are going to be different--so if it's GSC then Gary's a gym leader and he's more likely to act under the authority of the League and take orders from those higher than him, etc, as opposed to wandering around freelance as a trainer like he does in FRLG.
...as a nitpick: Gary is anime. Green is manga. Since (I'm assuming) you're basing this off the games, the game rival is neither Gary nor Green, and your story should reflect that in both name and personality (although the game rival is still arrogant anyway, but it means you can put your own spin on it).
Then, like I said, it depends on how close to canon you want it; it doesn't necessarily need to be exact (still assuming game canon here!). Take the manga, for instance--leaving aside the fact that it's published (which is what makes it canon), it
is based off the games, and yet the author has taken quite a few liberties with the universe. Like Giovanni--in the games he's the only famous TR member, but in the manga he's not. So if you wanted to do something similar and divert from game canon, then TR's structure is going to change.
Uhm... yeah. ^.^;;; That's all I got; hope some of it makes sense.
If this is FrLg, then Team Rocket's the bad guys, Gary's an annoying twerp, Koga's a Gym Leader, Janine's a little girl, and Lance is an E4 member.
Not really that little. :3 Her artwork's always looked at least late teens to me, and FR/LG
is only three years beforehand, which would make her somewhere between 13 and 15 at the time.
...then again, we
are talking about a world where pre-teens go out unsupervised to hunt animals that could conceivably roast, freeze or fry them to death, and where said pre-teen females tend to have breasts more suited to a fourteen year old, but go figure.
Why do you use Pokemon nicknames?
Mostly because it's a matter of characterisation for some people to name their pokemon, but also, as Dragonfree said, to differentiate between members of the same race (which hasn't happened for me yet, at least not with trainer-given names, but has happened with actual names).
How important is the title of a fic?
Well, really important. XD Not much to say that hasn't already been said, but most people look at the title and cover of a book first, and since the cover doesn't exist on a forum that means the only thing luring people in is the title--unless they scroll over it to read the excerpt thing that pops up, which usually only shows the Author's Note anyway.
Who/What inspired you to write your fic?
Uhm. Not sure.
Of course, I got the manga not long beforehand, so that inspired me to add some elements from that until I'd created a strange world of manga/anime/game canons. XD Some of my more recent fics have been inspired by lines from the game, or just the sheer existence of some concepts... I'm fascinated by the Dragon Clan, for instance. The myths of the pokemon world are also interesting... I'd love to write something about the unown and the Ruins of Alph.
So yes, some reading, some watching, some playing. :3 Mostly I get ideas and inspiration just by daydreaming about what I already know and playing with what I can change... unfortunately that makes it easy to get lots of ideas and never know which one to sit down and write. >.<
...okay, wow, those topics were so dead already... >.< Meh. :P