Fanfiction Lounge

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Anybody want a review? I am truly bored.

Yes, I would appreciate a review, thanks :)

On topic, my current fic has a prologue/intro, but I'm not sure if every chaptered fic I write will need one.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

Or having a babel fish.

Ooo. That gave me a fanfic idea O.o
What if someone had that power for as long as they could remember because of something like a fish pokemon and they lost it forever when the fish got eaten :3 ?
It's not so much an anti-mary sue element fic as it is is just a fun idea... I mean most fic authors seem to make poke-speech like the 3rd arm of the character :P

As a reviewer, what is your absolute least favorite explanation for a character that understands Pokemon outside of "miraculously able to for no reason at all"?

"The plot would'nt make sense if she could'nt understand pokemon." or " How am I suppose to make the pokemon major characters and not pokebots if they can't talk to her?"

 

[Divinity_123]

How do I choose my teams?

Eh, depends on the character, and I set personalities for future pokemon without actually knowing what pokemon Imma add sooo. . .IDK, it depends on the type of pokemon. It'd be really ironic if you had a nice Gyarados. . .

 

[Percy Thrillington]

What do you think the easiest tense to work with is?

 

[Act]

I don't dare step foot in SPPf's fanfiction section, in the meantime, as many fanfics there, from what I hear, are very similar to one another anyway.

Well, it was that badly phrased line which made you seem hypocritical and detracted from your overall argument. ^.^;; But yeah, generally, judging on the basis of what you've seen as opposed to what is present isn't a good idea... that was the overall point of your posts, right? :3

Well, if what she's seen and what's present are one in the same, then what? She shouldn't say anything because it might offend people who worry they're guilty of the same thing?

Not to beat a dead horse (although I do love doing that), I don't really think what Jax said was that far off. SPPf has a few good fics, and very much copycat-ing... which is good for me, because at this point I can pretty much copy-and-paste huge chunks of concrit, but I digress.

I think SPPf's biggest issue is how similar everything is... even when technicalities are different, there are giant, sweeping problems that almost every author has, because people stick to formulas that they think/see work, and when one person ventures to try something new and good, people begin copying that heedless of it's problems (and even when something is good, it has problems). So you end up with 39239 perversions of a good technique, and then someone else tries something new... and teh cycle starts over. (Remeber when Syra was popular? Everyone and their grandma wrote in purple prose, a bad habit many of the authors there STILL retain. Now, Scrap is in-vogue.) SPPf has its own kind of pop culture, and a lot of the authors there stick to what everyone says is good rather than kind of finding it themselves. It's why SPPf satire is so effective... it's hits almost everyone.

Also, I'm sure Jax wasn't saying, "Every plot is exactly the same," and neither am I (although that can sometimes be true as well). People do copy a lot, though, and usually they copy problems as well as good habits. And, for some reason, the problems are what spreads most. It's weird.

/rant

EDIT: Also: there's some disambiguiation of the word 'copy' here: I don't mean plagiarism (although some people don't mind that, apparently, and I have seen it), I mean of technique.

EDIT II: I'm also not saying I'm awesome. I have many problems, but purple prose and chunk description (eg) are not two of them.

As a reviewer, what is your absolute least favorite explanation for a character that understands Pokemon outside of "miraculously able to for no reason at all"?

IM TEH AUTHORZ WHATEVA I SAY GOEZ.

How do you choose your characters' teams?

I don't pre-plan teams, so I just look at where the character is geographically, and then see what, logically, would be the best/most likely pokemon for them to catch. xP

What do you think the easiest tense to work with is?

EDIT: My bad! My brain regestered tense as person! Oops *shot*

In which case, past tense, obviously. xP

*shrug*

 

[Grovyle42(Griff8416)]

Here's an actual question... What is purple prose? I've heard it around many o' time.

And for POV: Easiest- 3rd person
Most fun (IMO)- 1st person

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Third person.

First person, arguably, is the hardest, because to really be done well, a lot of things have to be taken into consideration. There has to be narrative bias (and it has to be taken into account), grammatical inconsistencies are easier to get away with, plot inconsistencies are easier to defend, but this all has to be done in a way that doesn't make bells go off in the readers' minds. It also doesn't help that first person is the choice of most newbies.

*shrug*

Er... Third Person is POV I thought. I think we're talking about verb tenses (i.e., do you write your story in present or past tense?)

Here's an actual question... What is purple prose? I've heard it around many o' time.

Purple prose is writing using (usually incorrectly) random synonyms instead of simple words when writing I assume. Essentially, it's writing a fic in jargon for no apparent reason. It can actually be used to your advantage if you're writing from First Person and your character is the type who'd use purple prose to make him or herself sound sophisticated. Incidentally, jargon can be a fun pastime. For some reason I enjoy taking a sentence like this....

Many cooks spoil the soup

And making it look like this:

Multiple members of a culinary profession corrupt the H20 immersed organic matter.

Still doesn't belong in a fic without some kind of plot reason, though.

 

[Percy Thrillington]

Yeah, the question was whether or not you like past, present and future, and why.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

Well, if what she's seen and what's present are one in the same, then what? She shouldn't say anything because it might offend people who worry they're guilty of the same thing?

Well, the same could be said of my pov, or anyones for that matter. For what I've seen many one shots are dark. I think the main point that they were saying is that she has not actually been to the site, just heard about it. Of course many fics are the same there, but some are not... Just as she is saying I've never read all one shots so I can't really dislike them, the same could be said that she has not read all the fics on SPPf and so can't dislike it...
Really, I don't think anyone should be forced to do something to be 'open minded' about their reading tastes if they really don't want to... be they mine or Jax's or anyones :).

Multiple members of a culinary profession corrupt the H20 immersed organic matter.

It does'nt have to be that bad to be purple prose, it can simply be flowery and romanic as well :).
My main character loves to rattle on in a purple prose-ish way, she has a habit of being over-dramatic :P.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Past. Easiest, most often used, and you don't have to worry about contradicting your tense style as much. (For some reason, it is much harder to get your verb tenses straight when you write in present tense if the fics I've read are any indication.)

 

[Divinity_123]

Here's an actual question... What is purple prose? I've heard it around many o' time.

And for POV: Easiest- 3rd person
Most fun (IMO)- 1st person

Purple prose consists of words and phrases that sound stilted, overly descriptive, or cliché. Now that doesn't mean we should never use beautiful, descriptive language. Not at all. What it means is the overuse of it irritates your reader and can mutate into the dreaded purple prose

Excerpt from Noveltalk.

Past and Present? Why? It's easier xD I'm a lazy boy P:

 

[Percy Thrillington]

For first person, I prefer present tense... Mainly because it is much more down to life when the character is speaking through him/herself. For third person, past tense, it's easier to understand and normally works better in most situations... For me, anyway.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

For first person, I prefer present tense... Mainly because it is much more down to life when the character is speaking through him/herself. For third person, past tense, it's easier to understand and normally works better in most situations... For me, anyway.

It seems like present tense would be very..wooden in 1st person O.o
Unless you are using it for a good reason...

 

[Percy Thrillington]

No, well, I've always thought that present tense is best with first person, I think it's better than past tense in third person...

Still, we all have our point of views, as Jax so kindly pointed out.

 

[TurtleKing]

1st person is too hard for me. I remember back in Elementary School, we had to write a story in first person.

Didn't turn out so well:

72/D

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

No, well, I've always thought that present tense is best with first person, I think it's better than past tense in third person...

Still, we all have our point of views, as Jax so kindly pointed out.

Don't get me wrong, it could be written well :).

Examples of First Person Present Tense narration:

Drawing the Ocean by Carolyn MacCullough
Excerpt: I can't help it. I laugh. Then I instantly feel bad. "No," I say truthfully, and there is an apologetic note in my voice. "I don't. No one's pining."

Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon by Sally Keehn
Excerpt: I sit in Sweet Daddy's chair, placed firmly on the door to the Hidey-Hole, in which all our livestock now sleep except for the chickens -- roosting in the loft. Goblins have settled on the rooftop. Our chickens are clucking up a fuss. Other Goblins pace back and forth across the front porch. I hear the floorboards squeak.

Example of First Person Past Tense narration:

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
Excerpt: I'd always liked the sound of Japanese first names. "Tomo" meant "friend." I remembered learning that when I was little. It had pleased me so much that my best friend's name was "friend!" His sisters were Sachiko and Hiroko. Girl's names often ended in "ko," which means "girl" in Japanese.

I liked how Abuji had hidden our real last name in the new one he'd chosen for us. And he'd done the same for my first name as well. "Ko" meant girl, but it could also mean "the sun's rays." Rays of brightness, the same meaning as my real name.

I like writing in past tense with 1st person,it is a very active tense when it has to be :)

 

[JX Valentine]

Orange, for the record, I'm not forcing you to do anything. I simply think it seems rather odd (and a little insulting) that you would discriminate against an entire genre. Yes, I know it sounds like I did the same thing, but given the fact that I read fanfiction elsewhere of a variety of genres, the best of which isn't just on SPPf, I find that it's still a horse of a different color. That and I'm clearly stating an opinion. You, meanwhile, have essentially stated your opinion as fact, that opinion unfortunately being that the entirety of a genre of literature is essentially "emo" (as in, if it was a positive opinion, I really don't think anyone would care either way, not that I don't respect that you have your own opinions), which is what I have a problem with.

Additionally, my point had nothing to do with SPPf.

That said...

What do you think the easiest tense to work with is?

For me, it's third person past. Because I've read so many books that use that tense, it's difficult for me to use any other.

 

[Orange_Flaaffy]

the entirety of a genre of literature is essentially "emo," which is what I have a problem with.

Well, my pov aside, RL literature in the form of short stories and fanfic one shots are two different things. They both are made with the same tools no question, but the pool of short stories in literature over all are much more varied than fanfic one shots. Maybe someday this won't be the case, but the fandom is still young.
I do have high hopes for the future of fanfic though, no question :)...It's just....just because I find pokemon one shots lacking does'nt mean I don't read and enjoy all sorts of short stories in real life :P

 

[JX Valentine]

Well, my pov aside, RL literature in the form of short stories and fanfic one shots are two different things.

The short story genre of fanfiction is still a genre. Considering the fact that you read it, it's literature. (Specifically, the definition of literature is, "writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays," "the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc.," and/or "the writings dealing with a particular subject," which means it still applies.) Hence, "literary genre." =/ While this doesn't mean that the term "fanfiction one-shot" references published short stories, I also never said it did.

So, therefore, you were still calling an entire genre of literature emo.

 

[Bay]

What do you think the easiest tense to work with is?

Oh geez, my weakest point in grammar! XD I am still trying to improve on that though! ^^ Like Jax, third person past tense. I am getting used to that tense and it is not as complicated as present tense (from what I read O.o)