The Plot Bunny Thread

[Bay Alexison]

Neiko Star, bobandbill already said what I wanted to know more about your idea, but quick question. Is it going to be moreso like a guide kind of thing, or those books are some kind of plot device? If it's the former, looks like you got a lot of rules to write. XD If it's the latter, seems interesting how those summon books will play out. Sorry if I misunderstood your idea. I'm a bit confused. ;

Also while I'm at it, I have a quick suggestion about your plot idea dilemma. I know you said you're lazy plotting out your ideas, but doing an outline of sorts helps. You don't have to plot out the whole story, just figure out a beginning, middle, and end. Also, if you can, figure out how you can mash your ideas together into a story. I would have a thousand story ideas, but I was able to come up with a way to have them connect to one another usually.

[Eeveemaster9]

Just like to add this in.

If Pokemon are the animals of the Pokemon world, would that mean they'd eat eachother too? I mean, sure...You didn't see May's Eevee getting eaten by some Charizard, but really! Wild pokemon can't just eat leaves and dirt. Neither can real animals. Some can only eat meat. So, why is it that you don't see a Ninetails trying to catch a Rattata for supper?

[Azurne]

Originally Posted by Eeveemaster9

Just like to add this in.

If Pokemon are the animals of the Pokemon world, would that mean they'd eat eachother too? I mean, sure...You didn't see May's Eevee getting eaten by some Charizard, but really! Wild pokemon can't just eat leaves and dirt. Neither can real animals. Some can only eat meat. So, why is it that you don't see a Ninetails trying to catch a Rattata for supper?

Actually, I believe Pokémon do feed off each other. For instance, in Pidgeot's original Pokédex entries, it was said to 'skim the surface of water at high speed to pick off unwary prey such as Magikarp'. They just wouldn't show something like that graphically in the games or anime, so that's probably why you haven't seen it.

Also, just my two cents, but I've always thought that both animals and Pokémon coexisted.

[Eeveemaster9]

Originally Posted by Azurne

Also, just my two cents, but I've always thought that both animals and Pokémon coexisted.

I believe that too...Perhaps not every type of animal and bug, but maybe a few that can thrive in the Pokemon World?

[Azurne]

Originally Posted by Eeveemaster9

I believe that too...Perhaps not every type of animal and bug, but maybe a few that can thrive in the Pokemon World?

Well I don't see any reason why only a few would thrive. Why not all of them? It makes for a crowded planet, but we're not ever really shown just how big the Pokéworld is.

[bobandbill]

The anime has been known to have shown non-Pokemon fish, and I believe iirc a dex entry for Spearow mentions it eating small bugs or possibly worms?

As for how big the Pokemon world may be, well we know Kanto/Johto/Hoenn/Sinnoh make up Japan (mostly) and Unova is based on NY in part, so there's a possible way to look at it.

[Iqid Loopz]

I had these on my mind for a while but haven't committed on doing these stories but here they are.

Plot Idea 1 - The story is about a man name Ricky a secret agent but disguised as a police officer went to heal his pokemon at the pokecenter. But once seeing the Nurse Joy at the desk. He pulls off a Brock and falls in love. As soon as he can seduce her. Her shift was over and quickly went to the washroom. And a older Nurse Joy took her place. and Ricky gets turned off. He waits for a few more hours but she never returned..

One day later, he goes back to the same center to talk to the Nurse Joy but instead of seeing the young Joy he sees a old Joy. And asked where the Joy he spotted was. In reply she went to the Nurse Joy Convention in Goldenrod City for the weekend.

Thus him and his Pokemon companion Marowak travel to Goldenrod and go to the Convention. Using his Agent skills to seeks out the Nurse Joy he fell in love with and comes across a few major problems while at it.

Plot Idea 2 - This is about a noob trainer name Maxy, who received his first Pokemon at Professor Oaks lab. Oak runs for washroom to take a dump and warns him NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING. But he does...He finds a machine with one capsule on what side a a small platform for a poke-ball. He then activates it and go into the capsule . The machine does it's stuff and teleports Maxy and his Pokemon into the Poke-ball. He is teleported into a world full of mazes and other things. And has to find a way out.

Oak in the other hand comes back from the washroom , lost on where Maxy is then puts poke-ball that Maxy is in into a bucket full of other...wait for it...wait for it...poke-balls!

Yay, out of my mind yup yup LOL...

[AdvancedK47]

Originally Posted by Iqid Loopz

I had these on my mind for a while but haven't committed on doing these stories but here they are.

Plot Idea 1 - The story is about a man name Ricky a secret agent but disguised as a police officer went to heal his pokemon at the pokecenter. But once seeing the Nurse Joy at the desk. He pulls off a Brock and falls in love. As soon as he can seduce her. Her shift was over and quickly went to the washroom. And a older Nurse Joy took her place. and Ricky gets turned off. He waits for a few more hours but she never returned..

One day later, he goes back to the same center to talk to the Nurse Joy but instead of seeing the young Joy he sees a old Joy. And asked where the Joy he spotted was. In reply she went to the Nurse Joy Convention in Goldenrod City for the weekend.

Thus him and his Pokemon companion Marowak travel to Goldenrod and go to the Convention. Using his Agent skills to seeks out the Nurse Joy he fell in love with and comes across a few major problems while at it.

I want to comment on some of these ideas. First on this one, this beginning sounds a bit of a cliche situation. I'm going to assume these "major problems" would be the plot and conflict, which is actually what would be more important than this scenario you laid out. Depending on those conflicts, this story might be alright.

Plot Idea 2 - This is about a noob trainer name Maxy, who received his first Pokemon at Professor Oaks lab. Oak runs for washroom to take a dump and warns him NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING. But he does...He finds a machine with one capsule on what side a a small platform for a poke-ball. He then activates it and go into the capsule . The machine does it's stuff and teleports Maxy and his Pokemon into the Poke-ball. He is teleported into a world full of mazes and other things. And has to find a way out.

Oak in the other hand comes back from the washroom , lost on where Maxy is then puts poke-ball that Maxy is in into a bucket full of other...wait for it...wait for it...poke-balls!

Yay, out of my mind yup yup LOL...

Quick comment, you shouldn't word your plot so 'meanly' :) Also, I am not exactly sure what kind of canon mechanics you're working with, Anime, Manga, Games, or something else. It sounds like an interesting story, but try to bring a bit more of a conflict. But one thing that bothers me is that it doesn't make sense that there would be mazes in a Poke ball.

[bobandbill]

With number 1 - I do wonder at the relevance of him being a secret agent - would that job come into the story in any way? Using 'Agent Skills' just to find someone sounds a bit odd too seeing people can use their....normal skills to try to find someone. =p If you mean more by that than do tell, along with the 'major problems'. The idea could work as long as you plan it well and make his interest in this specific Nurse Joy (as they all look the same) believable...

As for the 2nd idea, I do agree that it seems a bit odd for there to be a maze in the Pokeball for some reason - is it a special pokeball, and if so... why is there even a maze anyway, and why was it in the machine anyway if he just puts it in a bucket? Also you say that 'he and his Pokemon' get sucked into the Pokeball... but yet also say he went to get his first Pokemon from Oak which is contradictory. Did he somehow get it first? Oak suddenly having to go like like does sound...unprepared for Oak as well, tbh, especially that he doesn't notice that the machine had been used as well (because I would think a machine that can do that would at least make some beeps and boops and show some indication it did something).

[IanDonyer]

Rock band "The Glorious Gengar" is successful; they've got a few smash hits under their belt, are being asked to do gigs left and right and are making tons of cash from it all.

But their happiness comes to a halt one day when a group of "loonies" decides to kidnap one of the band members and the remaining three are told not to inform authorities, and instead follow the captor's demands.

Capture the three legendary beasts: Raikou, Suicune, and Entei.

The story will follow the three bandmates with their introduction to Pokemon training, their attempts at learning disguise in order to be out in public without being mauled by groupies -- one of the objectives given by the captor, how they catch their various Pokemon, the search for the three beasts, and eventually a climactic showdown: Band versus Captor for the life of their bandmate.

Characters that will be involved--

The Glorious Gengar Band Members:

1. Maya Krauser (Drummer)
2. Emily Pattin (Lead Guitarist)
3. George "Scooter" Allison (Bassist)
4. Christopher Evans (Vocalist)

The bad guys:

1. Richard "Richie" Rancure
2. Victoria Durham (right-hand woman to Richie)
3. Various grunts

So, what do you guys think? Please feel free to give suggestions, or ask for clarification on any subjects you might have found vague.

[Bay Alexison]

Hm, quick question. Why those group of loonies specifically want to kidnap one of the bandmembers and what is their purpose for wanting the legendary beasts? Actually, why won't those loonies just get the beasts themselves? I don't know, but I'm thinking they could have just get those legenaries themselves to make things go faster and I don't see how a few bandmembers with little Pokemon training experience will be able to do that kind of work better.

[Astinus]

Agreeing with Bay here. I mean, it might be interesting to see older characters learning to be Pokemon trainers. But with what you have currently, you have the plot hole of why do these people kidnap a band member? And why is the ransom the three Gerbits? If you remove the entire Pokemon part of the plot, then you're left with a mystery as to finding out who these people are and why they kidnapped a band mate, and there's also the thriller part of if the band mate can return safely.

If you want to include the Pokemon half of the plot, then you're going to have to answer the questions: Why don't the antagonists steal the Gerbits themselves? Why do they go with this plan? Why do they target the band specifically?

[Willer]

So I had an idea for a fan fic before, and after revising I think I'm ready to pull it off. Without giving out too much...

The story is about a gang of Pirates, the Sea King Pirates to be exact. The story takes place in a Pokemon only inhabited by Pokemon, like in the mystery dungeon games. The plot is set off when the world council ( an alliance of the political leaders of this world, the central Government) strikes a deal with these Pirates. On their end of the deal they must do what they do best, and hunt down the greatest treasures in the world, The Essences.

Why are these lowly sea thieves chosen for the task? In addition to many little political details, this pirate crew was the first to do something many thought were impossible; they've actually managed to find one of these treasures and now have it in their possession.

And that's the basics of it. It'll be very action and adventure oriented with plenty of crew bonding.

[IanDonyer]

Worry not on those fronts; they will be answered later in the story. Just wanted to do an overview there with as little spoilers as possible.

[Chamomile13]

So, recently joined and seeing this forum has got me in the mood to start writing again. And then I remembered a very curious story idea I had a year or two ago, which I think I may finally follow up on...

While playing Pokemon Red (again), I started dreaming up a totally new plot and setting, and radically altered several of the characters, and even the basic premise. There are no Pokemon in this version of Pokemon. Instead, the whole game revolves around martial arts. The main character ("Red") and his starter Pokemon (a Charmander, which means Misty ends up being harder than the Elite Four, but oh, well) are the same person. The other five Pokemon are a team of other fighters the main character picks up along the way.

The Indigo League is no longer just a competition, either. Centuries ago, the people of Kanto and the rest of the Empire it is apart of decided to start a martial arts tradition that would put a stop to the incessant succession wars that raged across the archipelago. Although wars still happen on occasion, they are much less frequent due to this new tradition.

According to this tradition, for one year after the ruler of any of the three kingdoms has passed away (including the Ice Kingdom to the north, the ruler of which is also the Emperor of the entire archipelago), his heir shall not take the throne. Instead, any noble who wishes the throne for themselves may journey to the residence of the king (in the case of Kanto, this is the Indigo Palace) and challenge the current heir to a traditional mock battle between their two Namaka's, small bands of trusted friends, advisors, and fellow warriors. The winner of this battle becomes the new heir apparent. A year after the death of the king, the current heir apparent becomes king.

There is another tradition by which one may join the nobility. In this tradition, one must journey to the stronghold ruling noble of each of the eight cities and fight a mock battle with them. Simply gaining entry to the noble's palace often requires a test of loyalty to the city and the Empire to which it belongs. After defeating the noble's Nakama, the leader of the group shall receive their Seal. The bearer of all eight Seals is made a Knight of Kanto and, thus, is eligible to make a bid for the throne at the Indigo Palace.

There's more to it than just that, of course. Each city has its own sub-plot, sometimes tied to the events in the actual game, sometimes just made up from the kind of trainers who're out and about in the area. There's a character dynamic between the main character, as yet unnamed, and the rival, whose working name is Gary Stu. The main character's Nakama is a whole host of interesting personalities on top of that. A shy, quiet thirteen year old nicknamed Silent Hill who turns out to be a real demon in combat, and her less competent older brother, Noisy Hill. The Tiny Baron, a fiery sixteen year old girl of questionable ethics and impulsive wit. Max Goldberg, a fugitive on the run from the Viridian City Guard who's out to liberate his city from the iron-fisted rule of the Marquis Giovanni. And more, but this is really far too long already.

Now if you've made it through all of that, I'm hardly in a position to ask more of you, but I would like to know if you're interested in seeing this story written out. So, please respond!

[Bay Alexison]

OKay, first off...

The main character ("Red") and his starter Pokemon (a Charmander, which means Misty ends up being harder than the Elite Four, but oh, well) are the same person.

I'm totally confused over this part. You think you can explain it a bit more?

As for your idea, to tell the truth, I think it'll work more as an original fic instead of a Pokemon fic. With Pokemon fics, you have to have the basic canon elements in it (the characters, towns, the Pokemon themselves) and not change too much of what's already in the Pokemon world. From what I'm reading, you're actually changing the characters, towns, etc. to make the story fit the plot you wanted. For example, you rid of Pokemon/Pokemon training and have martial arts thrown in. Granted, not all Pokemon stories have to deal with Pokemon training, but that's one of the things common in the Pokemon world and that's one of the ways you're already altering it to have what you want in your plot. I know you already said some events from the game will tie in to this plot, but not sure how that'll work.

And one more thing. I know Gary Stu is a working name, but I advise not to use that name if you're going to make this story a serious one. XD

[Chamomile13]

Originally Posted by Bay Alexison

OKay, first off...


I'm totally confused over this part. You think you can explain it a bit more?

Each member of the band of heroes is analogous to one of the Pokemon from the game, which is why the band (inexplicably) never has more than six people in it. So, the role played by Charmander in the game (i.e. fighting things, typically the most powerful Pokemon in the group) and the role played by Red in the game (i.e. the main character) are fulfilled by the same person.

Also, I'm not advertising this as a Pokemon fic. It'd be an original fic, with lots of names/places/geography lifted from Pokemon (the eight ruling nobles are directly named after the Kanto gym leaders, their cities' names and locations are lifted straight from the game, Team Rocket's activities in Mt. Moon, Lavender Town, and Saffron and Celadon Cities are all exactly the same). Because of the obvious ties to the Pokemon world, I decided to pitch it here to see if anyone would be interested in reading it (if it was a Pokemon fic, I wouldn't pitch it, I'd just write it and see how the first chapter goes, since I know people on a Pokemon forum will be interested in reading a Pokemon story).

I could go through and rename everything in order to cut ties with Pokemon completely, and just hope that no one notices that the geography of the world, the activities of the criminal organization, and the basic "defeat eight people so you can defeat four more people so you can be a champion and also your rival shows up a lot" are all copy/pasted. Even then, though, where would I post it? There's not much market for original fiction of non-professional quality, even when given away for free.

[JX Valentine]

Originally Posted by IanDonyer

Worry not on those fronts; they will be answered later in the story. Just wanted to do an overview there with as little spoilers as possible.

I'd hate to rant here, but why do people keep doing this? To put it simply, when you write up a concept for us to judge, the main point of doing that is to figure out whether or not it'd be good. If you leave out something pretty important (even by not using the spoiler tags we have for your convenience), the people you're asking will write it off as a plot hole and say your idea won't work.

With that being said, yes, I'm one of those people who are tilting their heads a little at your concept. It's a pretty cool idea to have a band be the main characters, but it doesn't quite make sense for an evil team who wants the legendary beasts to send someone outside of their organization to do it. And the people they're sending have apparently no training experience, either, so it's like sending a drunk frat boy off to perform brain surgery. I'm sure you've got an epic explanation behind why they chose to do this, but without it, it shouldn't be surprising that your proposal strikes a number of people as a little iffy.

And that really goes for anyone who posts an idea in Writer's Lounge/this thread. If you're going to do it, make sure you provide as much information as possible (even using the spoiler tags if necessary) because, really, if you don't, you're not going to get the answer you're looking for.

Originally Posted by Willer

So I had an idea for a fan fic before, and after revising I think I'm ready to pull it off. Without giving out too much...

The story is about a gang of Pirates, the Sea King Pirates to be exact. The story takes place in a Pokemon only inhabited by Pokemon, like in the mystery dungeon games. The plot is set off when the world council ( an alliance of the political leaders of this world, the central Government) strikes a deal with these Pirates. On their end of the deal they must do what they do best, and hunt down the greatest treasures in the world, The Essences.

Why are these lowly sea thieves chosen for the task? In addition to many little political details, this pirate crew was the first to do something many thought were impossible; they've actually managed to find one of these treasures and now have it in their possession.

And that's the basics of it. It'll be very action and adventure oriented with plenty of crew bonding.

It sounds like an interesting premise -- one that reminds me a lot of The Pirates of Dark Water. (Screw One Piece.) And I'd hate to be brief, but for once, there's nothing I can suggest beyond what I've told you in your villain thread.

In fact, in light of this, I encourage you more to think outside the box and figure out a villain who doesn't stereotypically scream "villain." The reason why I say this is because your premise is (despite the fact that it reminds me of something else) pretty original, so you'll want to avoid a cop-out by going with a predictable villain (read: a Pokémon people think is evil). Of course, the villain is all up to you, and as I've said, you'll want to aim for developing the role itself before figuring out which Pokémon would fit it best.

Good luck, and I hope to see it in the main forum soon.

Originally Posted by Chamomile13

Also, I'm not advertising this as a Pokemon fic. It'd be an original fic, with lots of names/places/geography lifted from Pokemon (the eight ruling nobles are directly named after the Kanto gym leaders, their cities' names and locations are lifted straight from the game, Team Rocket's activities in Mt. Moon, Lavender Town, and Saffron and Celadon Cities are all exactly the same).

Considering the fact that your concept is essentially completely original (besides the structure of the league -- which, really, won't necessarily ring many bells in your reader's heads if you put enough creativity in masking it), it would actually be better to just drop all the names. Otherwise, if you label this as original fiction and attempt to use the canon characters (or their names), you'll still be called out for a lack of creativity because people will read that as you stealing characters for your original work.

Beyond that, it has a very Ranma 1/2 feel to the structure, but I get the feeling it should be interesting as a serious fic, too. A little like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. It will be interesting to see what kinds of techniques you come up with in this new form of martial arts, particularly to make the battle against Misty difficult (considering you've mentioned that one in particular).

There's not much market for original fiction of non-professional quality, even when given away for free.

Yes, there is. You just have to look in the right places.

[Chamomile13]

Originally Posted by JX Valentine

Considering the fact that your concept is essentially completely original (besides the structure of the league -- which, really, won't necessarily ring many bells in your reader's heads if you put enough creativity in masking it), it would actually be better to just drop all the names. Otherwise, if you label this as original fiction and attempt to use the canon characters (or their names), you'll still be called out for a lack of creativity because people will read that as you stealing characters for your original work.

I pretty much am stealing and expanding upon what little characterization people get in a Pokemon game. The biggest reason why I wanted to pass this off as a psuedo-fanfic, though, is because that is an epically massive amount of names to come up with. I hate coming up with names. Probably a good idea, nonetheless.

Yes, there is. You just have to look in[the rightplaces.

Yay![/nappa]

[Bay Alexison]

Originally Posted by Chamomile13

I pretty much am stealing and expanding upon what little characterization people get in a Pokemon game. The biggest reason why I wanted to pass this off as a psuedo-fanfic, though, is because that is an epically massive amount of names to come up with. I hate coming up with names. Probably a good idea, nonetheless

Actually, a lot of the characters in the games do have personality. You just have to be a nerd and pay attention to their speech, what actions they did, and what others say about them.

And actually, I don't think it's a good idea like that. Having an original concept and use the names from a game/tv show/book/ etc. will cause people to say that character is recognizable only in looks and not personality. You're better off taking the time to think names for characters. May I suggest the website Behind the Name to look up at some names if you're stuck in that department?

[Willer]

It was brought to my attention my Pirate idea isn't really a Mystery Dungeon fan fic as I had thought because it doesn't follow the "Exploring and Rescuing" Formula, though the exploring is 100% still there, there's pretty much no 'rescuing", asides from rescuing crew members. But what you said it right, which is why I haven't started yet. I've planned out the entire crew, the 'good guy' antagonists , the list of 'boss' fights (not including villain fights) and the order they happen but I really want to work on this villainous group alot more to where they're not just doing it for the giggles.

[Astinus]

Originally Posted by Chamomile13

I pretty much am stealing and expanding upon what little characterization people get in a Pokemon game. The biggest reason why I wanted to pass this off as a psuedo-fanfic, though, is because that is an epically massive amount of names to come up with. I hate coming up with names. Probably a good idea, nonetheless.

It probably would be. Because if you want to use the basics of the characters from Pokemon in your original fanfiction, then why not just write Pokemon fanfiction? That way, you won't be accused of stealing characters, you won't have to think up names, and you'll have a built-in audience.

But if you want to write original fiction, then you're going to have to put in the work of thinking up names and personalities for your characters. Otherwise, it would just be weird to read about a character named Red from Pallet Town in Kanto who wants to defeat the Elite Four...and not have it be about Pokemon. Everything else about your story is different, though. So that's good.

See, that's one reason why people write fanfiction. Because they want to explore more of a character's personality than what was given in canon.

But yeah, try behind the name which has a random name generator for names.

[Chamomile13]

Note: Having now finished this post, I realized that I'm basically taking several paragraphs to say absolutely nothing, since I've already decided to convert the thing into an original fiction and hope for the best. So unless you're really bored and want to hear me rant about the peculiarities of the status of my story as not quite fan fiction or original fiction, feel free to skip this post in its entirety.

Originally Posted by Astinus

It probably would be. Because if you want to use the basics of the characters from Pokemon in your original fanfiction, then why not just write Pokemon fanfiction? That way, you won't be accused of stealing characters, you won't have to think up names, and you'll have a built-in audience.

I considered it, because almost all of the characters are lifted directly from the game, and then fleshed out a bit and occasionally repurposed slightly to fit the altered theme of the world. I could've just altered things back, and changed the Pokemon universe only slightly to facilitate the plot (the biggest change being that the Leagues aren't just a major sporting event but a method of asserting political power, in order to keep the main characters' motivations intact).

But that would also mean drastically altering the party dynamics of Red's team. In the fiction I've ended up outlining, one of Red's biggest roles is that of keeping the party together even though all of its members have different motivations. This falls apart completely if they're all Pokemon. Most of their motivations just don't apply anymore. It doesn't make any sense for fully half the time to be so concerned with personal wealth, fame, or status if they're Pokemon, and Silent Hill's motivation revolves around her parents having been imprisoned for being political dissidents against Giovanni's iron-fisted rule of Viridian City. This stops making sense in context of Pokemon. Pokemon are typically loyal to their trainer by default, and even if I made it an AU where this isn't true, Red would still be more controlling his Pokemon through sheer force of will than manipulating them into sticking together to chase after a shared goal. Not to mention, adapting Silent Hill's motivation to her being a Pokemon is going to sound like a cartoonishly preachy statement about cruelty to animals.

Everything else about your story is different, though. So that's good.

Erm, no. Looking back, it sounded like that, but only because I spent most of my time explaining the differences (or really, the one big difference) between normal Pokemon fan fiction and my story. My story is literally just the Pokemon story with nothing but surface details changed. The main plot and the characterization of everyone outside the main party are exactly the same, and that's because the main party doesn't have characterization in Pokemon. Red's literally a blank slate for the player to project on, and his Pokemon are characterized solely by a two-sentence Pokedex entry.

Really, that's the whole problem. This story exists in a sort of a twilight zone between original and fan fiction. It's not just the names that would need to be changed, since the plot and 90% of the characters are also unchanged. I plan to just ignore that completely and hope people don't pick up on the similarities, but anyone who noticed one similarity, just by chance, would probably pick up on the rest very quickly.

Of course, all this could be solved by just taking the original parts of the story and changing the details. Altering the geography and order the cities are visited in, moving certain gym leaders/nobles around, changing the activities of my Team Rocket expies to reflect the newly altered geographic and political landscape...

But I don't really want to go through that much effort, to be honest. I'm still kind of recovering from the burnout that followed from an aborted collaborative writing project two months ago, and I'm honestly looking for an easy project to get me started writing again. Finally putting this odd little idea of mine down into writing seems like a really good idea. The structure of the plot is already written down for me, and I already have a bunch of interesting characters with differing and often conflicting motivations, including one who's dedicated to making sure the whole team doesn't fall apart. All I really have to do is stick them in Point A and watch the protagonist try to get them all to Point B, personalities bouncing off of one another and character growth happening all on its own, without any forethought on my part.

Anyways. /rant I hope anyone who ends up reading all of this gets something out of it all, because I'm worried it may have ended up sounding a lot whinier than it was supposed to.

[Azurne]

I'm sorry, but I'm really confused now... What exactly did you want to do with this fiction? If i'm reading all of your posts correctly, you want to make a fanfiction with no Pokémon, but stealing the storyline and simply altering it? Can you clarify that for me?

For something that is only supposed to get you back into the groove of writing, you're throwing a lot of problems in for yourself. If you want to write it as you've said, go for it, but I don't recommend posting it here. I just don't see the point since you're ripping out the backbone of this franchise and only slightly altering the story. I can't see anyone reading it because not only are you removing what made this fandom (the Pokémon), but keeping the story mostly the same, ergo we pretty much know how it ends.

You're better off ditching this idea, if this is essentially what you're doing. If you don't want to put a whole lot of effort into a story, I'd recommend simply brainstorming for about five minutes and writing a short story about Pokémon.

Bottom line I suppose is, if this isn't something you want to put a whole lot of effort in, keep it to yourself in a word document. Then when you feel up to it you can work on whatever it is you really want to work on. I just don't understand the point of posting a story where you didn't put your whole effort into creating it.

I don't mean to come off as cold, I'm just slightly baffled. XD

[Chamomile13]

Originally Posted by Azurne

For something that is only supposed to get you back into the groove of writing, you're throwing a lot of problems in for yourself. If you want to write it as you've said, go for it, but I don't recommend posting it here. I just don't see the point since you're ripping out the backbone of this franchise and only slightly altering the story. I can't see anyone reading it because not only are you removing what made this fandom (the Pokémon), but keeping the story mostly the same, ergo we pretty much know how it ends.

Pokemon didn't have much in terms of plot to begin with. The interesting part of this story would be the character drama, which is the interesting part of pretty much everything I write. And also the easiest part for me. And, if past experience is anything to go by, the character interactions are enough to sustain a good story.

You're better off ditching this idea, if this is essentially what you're doing. If you don't want to put a whole lot of effort into a story, I'd recommend simply brainstorming for about five minutes and writing a short story about Pokémon.

No good. If it's not a story that I'm personally interested in, it won't help me get started again. It'll probably just make things worse. I could try to force myself to write something just based on existing audiences, but it'd probably kill the muse just after she's come back. I need a group of characters that I like, and I already have that. I just need a plot to give them.

Bottom line I suppose is, if this isn't something you want to put a whole lot of effort in, keep it to yourself in a word document.

Also no good. I cannot write without feedback from other people. Not for very long. I pretty much always give up on a project if I have to write more than ~20 pages of it without hearing at least one or two people tell me what they thought about it.

Then when you feel up to it you can work on whatever it is you really want to work on. I just don't understand the point of posting a story where you didn't put your whole effort into creating it.

Well, you might say that I am putting my whole effort into creating this. It's just that, being in recovery from severe burnout, my whole effort isn't nearly as much as it usually is.