Fanfiction Lounge

Do you like to have a promotional/advertising banner for your fic? Do you think it helps drag readers in?

Yes I do like having an advertising banner. I definitely plan to make a banner for this reason. Like a couple of writers advised me, advertising is probably one of the best ways to get reviews. I even have a way that I want to signatures to go. I plan on making four different versions for each of my main characters.

Well its been a while hasn't it? (formally Buoysel)

But anyways, while I have sort of stoped posting here and...well I've sort of stoped posting period.

But that is not to say that I am not still lurking the forums and what some of you are posting, or err lack of posting *coughtxteclipsecough*

Now to the real reason I am posting this long, dragged out, mini wall-o-text post. I am still writing a fictional, but have hit a snag in a description.

You see the scene has a mother describing a pokeball to her son who has never seen one before. How would you describe one, not physically, but how would you describe it to a child in the pokemon world who saw one for the first time?

At first I was going to simply say that "It's a pokeball," after the child asked what it was, but then the character has to ask what it does. >.>

And this is where I kinda hit a bump in the road,

I was thinking about saying they hold pokemon, but that would not satisfy me as a writer. I was also thinking about saying that they contain pokemon, or that they are used to capture pokemon; but none of these ideas seem to fit what I am looking for.

So any suggestions?

At the risk of having an adult patronize a child, sometimes, the simple explanation is the best one. Basically, you could have a mother (or a general adult) say, "People use them to capture Pokémon," and that might actually be enough for a child to understand what it's for, at least. Although the problem I'm having with giving a definite answer for this one is the fact that you say this kind of thing won't fit what you're looking for. Maybe if I knew the context, it'd be easier to figure out what you wanted in terms of tone. Is the mother trying to make capturing sound friendly or less violent than it is, or is she explaining things to someone who's too young to understand battling? Give us an idea of what kind of explanation you want, and it might be easier to point you in the right direction.

Do you like to have a promotional/advertising banner for your fic? Do you think it helps drag readers in?

I do have an excellent one made by someone on Serebii that I'm not using at the moment, for some reason. I may have to drag it out and dust it off soon, though.

Oh, and I have my computer back, so I will continue to be active. ^_^ *goes to change sig*

I'm thinking of re-creating Eternal Warrior again. However, it's going to have a change at a lot of the subjects, including the fact that Sarina isn't exactly the weaker one and more confusion on their (Neo and Sarina's, that is) past.

On topic with my previous post, I have finished four of the promotional signatures for my fan fiction. One is in fact in my signature (below the first one that a friend gifted me). Tell me what you think.

I love your banner, Sgt Shock. :D Of course, I'm no art critic, but at least you've got someone who finds it appealing, even if he is a Pleb. XD;

Buyosel, it's been a while! Dang it, why you had to change your name in Japanese? D: Anyways, yeah, agree with Val. Perhaps give us more context into what you're trying to aim for with that description and we can help you out. :)

Yay Sparkling Dragon! Glad you got your computer working again! ^^

Heart's Soul, good luck with that!

Sgt. Shock, yeah awesome banner there. :)

Valentine said:

At the risk of having an adult patronize a child, sometimes, the simple explanation is the best one. Basically, you could have a mother (or a general adult) say, "People use them to capture Pokémon," and that might actually be enough for a child to understand what it's for, at least. Although the problem I'm having with giving a definite answer for this one is the fact that you say this kind of thing won't fit what you're looking for. Maybe if I knew the context, it'd be easier to figure out what you wanted in terms of tone. Is the mother trying to make capturing sound friendly or less violent than it is, or is she explaining things to someone who's too young to understand battling? Give us an idea of what kind of explanation you want, and it might be easier to point you in the right direction.

Click to expand...

Hmm... well the setting is.... uh, I don't want to give it away,(its nothing special, I just don't want to give anything away in case I decide not to fish the thing, I'm wired like that.)

Lets just say that the kid noticed some pokeballs on a trainers belt, and wondered what they are, I would say the kids age is 4ish, so yeah he is pretty young.

I like the way you stated it. Its so simple and yet so informative. I might use that or something close to it if I can't figure anything else out.

The majority of the plot is still in the sticky gooiey stage, you know the one were it can be easily be molded and shifted how ever I want it. (kinda like chocolate in the microwave)

Bay said:

Buyosel, it's been a while! Dang it, why you had to change your name in Japanese? D: Anyways, yeah, agree with Val. Perhaps give us more context into what you're trying to aim for with that description and we can help you out. :)

Click to expand...

Yes it has been a while; maybe I should stay and enjoy some of this craziness that is still going on (?).

About the name: well, IDK, seemed like a good idea at the time, as do most of my ideas, and like most of my ideas, they seem to loose their sparkle over time (like a month down the road).

Sorry about the comma spaming, my mind keept side tracking, and I didn't feel like going back and picking them all out.

(I just noticed the mouseover text in your sig reads 'Comming soon', Buoysel. You might wanna change that? ^_^)

Sparkling Dragon said:

(I just noticed the mouseover text in your sig reads 'Comming soon', Buoysel. You might wanna change that? ^_^)

Click to expand...

I don't know what your talking about. >.>

バクフーン said:

I don't know what your talking about. >.>

Click to expand...

Oh, really? Er . . . my mistake? ^_~

Sparkling Dragon said:

Oh, really? Er . . . my mistake? ^_~

Click to expand...

Um, sure... if you say so.

I don't see anything wrong with バクフーン's signature...

How did you do the mouse-over?

Heart's Soul said:

I don't see anything wrong with バクフーン's signature...

How did you do the mouse-over?

Click to expand...

Just hover your cursor over the text in my sig.

Doy, I know THAT much. I meant how did you make the mouseover (as in, the BB-code?)

[title=mouseover text goes here]display text goes here[/title] gives this:

display text goes here

I decided since there has been a lack of a question for today. I'll make two.

What are some of your characters bad habits (such as stealing, lying, etc.)?

My character, Rex, has a bad habit of drinking alcohol on every occasion that is possible. Another character, Colden, smokes heavily and eats sweets way more than he should.


How did you go about deciding your main character's Pokemon?

When I choose, I try to account a person's personality as best as possible. Josh's case however is pretty split. He has a set of pokemon to represent his darker more sombre self while he his other half of his pokemon represents his lighter portion.

What are some of your characters bad habits (such as stealing, lying, etc.)?

Arlan, even as a Guardian, has a second life of crime. That's where Astinus comes in to stop Arlan.

How did you go about deciding your main character's Pokemon?

I just felt what might be needed and it went by itself.

How did you go about deciding your main character's Pokemon?
My selection was rather random for my three main characters' Pokemon. Sandshrew I chose because it was the Pokemon after Pikachu / Raichu, Voltorb because its number was 100 and I always remembered it for that, and Paras because I thought it would be an awesome choice.