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Ninja Caterpie April 22nd, 2009 12:54 AM

Uh, I can't click your eggs.

Because I can't open the spoiler.

And I can't really quote your sig. xD

But I've already warmed them after you did to mine.

JX Valentine April 22nd, 2009 5:15 AM

Ah, computer. You tried and failed to keep me from coming back yesterday.

Lesson learned: Windows sucks. I'm getting Linux this weekend. =|

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninja Caterpie (Post 4570275)
Eggs, anyone?

Scrambled? I skipped breakfast.

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4568013)
I just want to know I got this right. So, essentially, what you've been saying for a while now is that people shouldn't go around the internet saying "LOL that fic was so bad", but instead go to the author and say "this was bad and that was bad, you might want to work on those things". Did I get it right? Or not?

Exactly. Because if all you do is complain about something without actually pointing out there's a problem, the problem will just still be there. Also, you're assuming most writers are stupider than they might actually be.

Quote:

But what annoys me even more than unfinished conversations and stuff like that are people who want reviews, but not the review kind of reviews.
Agreed with you here. It's annoying, but luckily, out of every ten writers, I might only encounter that once or twice. And when I encounter it that once or twice, the resulting wank ends up being stressful at the time.

In hindsight, it becomes kinda hilarious (especially if the reviewer is correct, and there's really no room for argument -- like when it comes to things like when to use commas), but it's just a waste of time as it's happening.

Quote:

If anyone remembers the course of creative writing I'm attending now, there's a girl on that very course who said that she can't handle criticism.
WTF? O_o Why is she in a class if she can't stand criticism? Egotism and the need for a blow-off course?

Quote:

Do you prefer having huge plot twists that hit your readers like a runaway train over having smaller, tamer plot twists throughout the whole story? Or does it depend on story?
For longer stories, a combination of both. The smaller plot twists often work to keep the readers' interest, but it often leads up to a huge flipping plot twist that breaks people's brains. I do it like this for two reasons.

First, as I've said, it keeps the readers' interest because they're always trying to guess what's going on. The story becomes unpredictable because anything could happen, and that gives me a lot more freedom to work because I'm not expected to do anything except what I feel like. Not to mention the reader's enticed to come back and read on if I can show them I can screw with their expectations.

Second, I like the reaction I get when the huge plot twist hits. ("WTF JUST HAPPENED?" "lol.")

However, for shorter stories (namely one-shots), I tend to swing with one or the other due to a lack of time to do both at the same time.

Grovyle42(Griff8416) April 22nd, 2009 6:46 AM

Do you prefer having huge plot twists that hit your readers like a runaway train over having smaller, tamer plot twists throughout the whole story? Or does it depend on story?

I agree with the above's 'combination of the two' notion.

An-chan April 22nd, 2009 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4570754)
Exactly. Because if all you do is complain about something without actually pointing out there's a problem, the problem will just still be there. Also, you're assuming most writers are stupider than they might actually be.

Mm-hmm, people tend to assume that bad writers are also stupid writers. How can you write well if you don't know any better? Granted, some of them are more or less stupid - or at least pretend to be - but I figure in most cases they are only young or new to writing. It hasn't been that long since my stories didn't make any more sense than some of the badfics out there.

Then again, this has all been said already. Why am I repeating what has already been said?



Quote:

Agreed with you here. It's annoying, but luckily, out of every ten writers, I might only encounter that once or twice. And when I encounter it that once or twice, the resulting wank ends up being stressful at the time.

In hindsight, it becomes kinda hilarious (especially if the reviewer is correct, and there's really no room for argument -- like when it comes to things like when to use commas), but it's just a waste of time as it's happening.
:> Maybe I'm so annoyed by them right now - I also think the world is filled with that kind of people - because I keep running after wanks. It's always oh-so-hilarious to follow the conversation between annoyed reviewers and ignorant authors, but in the end, it only makes me mad. So, yeah, going through that wank to get your point through might be a waste of time, but watching other people do it is even worse.

Apparently, I have nothing better to do. Except, well, I do.


Quote:

WTF? O_o Why is she in a class if she can't stand criticism? Egotism and the need for a blow-off course?
Exactly my thoughts xD I couldn't help but to roll my eyes when she told it on the first lesson. Essentially what she said was that she doesn't like it when people don't like what she writes, but she used a lot more words to express her thoughts. *sigh* So, now no-one really dares to say anything negative to anyone on that course, and negative things is precisely what I want to hear.

Also, I really dislike her style. She says she likes to write aesthetic stories and she's a teenage girl, so you might be able to guess how her texts are like. I've always liked that girl as a person, though. She's really friendly and talkative and has also some interesting opinions so I've chatted with her before... Oh, well.

Out of curiosity:

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


I'd take 1 myself, since I've noticed I don't really learn unless someone beats me up with a fish while educating me about my mistakes. Then again, 4 would also be interesting. I suppose there would be a lot of hating the fic in that review. =D So, what about you guys?

JX Valentine April 22nd, 2009 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4571309)
Mm-hmm, people tend to assume that bad writers are also stupid writers. How can you write well if you don't know any better? Granted, some of them are more or less stupid - or at least pretend to be - but I figure in most cases they are only young or new to writing.

*nods* Exactly. And even if you get that young writer who's extremely confrontational when it comes to negative reviews, you wouldn't have known the writer's like that before you review if you're the first person to come along with concrit (if that makes sense). That and the young always have a tendency to change. I can't count how many young reviewers who snapped at me for being harsh chilled out awhile later and turned around. Some of them even thanked me a year or so after having a huge wankfest about my review. (I met a lot of good friends that way.)

And besides, yeah, everyone has their badfic days. It's just a lot of experienced or older writers like to forget they did. Denying someone of a guiding hand is a lot like denying yourself at that age of any hope to improve.

Probably repeating what you said, and if it is, sorry for the repetition. XD I'm just saying you're definitely not alone about early crapfics. In fact, feel free to get lulz from the stuff before 2005. I'd offer the OT fics I tried to write in 2000, but I was too embarrassed to keep them on the web.

Quote:

So, now no-one really dares to say anything negative to anyone on that course, and negative things is precisely what I want to hear.
*facepalm*

'Course, on the other hand, I'm not entirely surprised because it's easier to ignore "I can't take negative reviews" on the 'net. I mean, in real life, you need some serious balls to tell someone they're doing something wrong because then you have to see the expressions on their faces.

On the other hand, if this actually stopped concrit partway through a semester... then geez. XD

Quote:

She says she likes to write aesthetic stories and she's a teenage girl, so you might be able to guess how her texts are like.
XD Oh, that kind of writer. I knew someone who did that constantly. It's cute, but no one could figure out what the crap his stories were about.

'Course, some of mine were like that too. Oh, angsty teens.

Quote:

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view

All of the above. 1 would be the hardest to deal with because I'm an open egotist, but after the initial surprise, I'd probably appreciate that a lot, probably a bit more than a reviewer like 2. 3 would be a lot like 1 only with a paragraph or two about what's good, and I think it'd probably be tied with the all-negative review in terms of stuff I'd love to hear. 4 would be a surprise to have hanging around a fic that's completely my interests (mmm, straight sci-fi), but it'd be interesting to see what someone like that would have to say, sort of like a different perspective.

So, uh, long story short, I'd love a little bit of everything, I think.

Orange_Flaaffy April 22nd, 2009 1:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4571309)
Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view

*lol* I have an ego in many things, but in the areas of grammar and spelling I also know I am awful and still learning, so I am more than open to the fact my eyes just don't see many many errors even after three drafts and a beta. I make edits right away nowadays :)...

5. Someone that tells me what is wrong, but at the same time is not so in love with giving 'mind-numbingly harsh' reviews that they don't also adknowledge what I am doing right, in such a way that they don't just add it in to sugar coat anything, but also can say "You are good at this, as a reader I think if you did this also it might make what you do well even easier to understand." That would be my dream reviewer...

That with a mix of 4 I have actually gotten many times, in that they have been reviewers from outside my fandoms. It is nice to have someone say, for all the flaws they point out, that they still basically enjoyed a story and could do so without knowing the fandom you are writing about. Getting a reader interested in new shows they would otherwise not even think of watching is an exciting feeling for any fan, I think :).
Quote:

Also, I really dislike her style. She says she likes to write aesthetic stories and she's a teenage girl, so you might be able to guess how her texts are like.
Everyone has their favorite and most hated styles I think. It's funny how the more aesthetic styles are most often linked to being only a teenage writer when a novel of that type (written by an adult) becomes a bestseller among adults as well. For every style there is a fanbase, I suppose :). I personally don't care for very technical sci-fi, but some people swear by it...

An-chan April 22nd, 2009 2:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4571489)
XD Oh, that kind of writer. I knew someone who did that constantly. It's cute, but no one could figure out what the crap his stories were about.

'Course, some of mine were like that too. Oh, angsty teens.

Yeah. I know some people adore that kind of style even long after they're not angsty teenagers anymore, but it has never really been my cup of tea. I like writers that have a healthy amount of self-irony, because too serious writers just suffocate me. Whenever I read something like that, I know the author thinks they've poured their souls on the paper and I feel that if I dislike it, I'm being awfully mean.

I've just never liked it. Of course, there are exceptions, as sometimes that kind of style is just pulled off really well and mixed with other ingredients. That I can like.

On another note, I just remembered something I wrote some six years ago... I wrote a philosophical story about a snowflake. Snowflakes have no limbs, you see, so they have no other choice than to go where the wind wants to blow them *sob* It had a nice idea and everything, but the story was utter crap. It was like the very definition of a speshuul snowflake... It's stories like these that make for the most hilarious memories xD

Oh yeah, and the point in that reviewer question was exactly the fact that none of the reviewers 1-4 are perfect or dream critics. I just wanted to know what you guys think would be the "lesser evil" out of those choices :laugh:

On a completely unrelated note, I need a new online name. One that isn't already taken in half the places I try to register to :< I've just been An-chan for so long, I can't think of anything else anymore. *sigh*

JX Valentine April 22nd, 2009 2:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4572036)
Yeah. I know some people adore that kind of style even long after they're not angsty teenagers anymore, but it has never really been my cup of tea.

Nor mine. Well, after my "nobody loves me" high school years, anyway.

As a random side note, to clarify about that one guy I knew, basically, the story I'm thinking of was basically written just to be pretentious. He had a lot of flowery, purple-prose-esque words, all meant to overdescribe a girl's death and how she died in a garden (pierced by the thorns of roses or something, only far wordier than that). As I've said, it's cute, but the audience literally could not understand what was going on.

And then he told us, and then some of us realized it wasn't actually a plot.

For a poem, that sort of thing is passable, but, uh...

Quote:

I like writers that have a healthy amount of self-irony, because too serious writers just suffocate me. Whenever I read something like that, I know the author thinks they've poured their souls on the paper and I feel that if I dislike it, I'm being awfully mean.
Amen. And it's rather uncomfortable either way because you're not quite sure what to say to an author who seriously and literally writes about a girl dying when her heart is pierced by the thorns of black roses.

Quote:

Oh yeah, and the point in that reviewer question was exactly the fact that none of the reviewers 1-4 are perfect or dream critics. I just wanted to know what you guys think would be the "lesser evil" out of those choices :laugh:
Well, out of the lesser evils, I'd say three, if only because of the treat-others-as-you-wish-to-be-treated-yourself sort of philosophy. As in, I give harsh reviews with something positive at the end, so I actually want that kind of thing in response. I'd like to think I leave a decent balance, at least. 'Course, I could use a bit more balance, but.

Quote:

On a completely unrelated note, I need a new online name. One that isn't already taken in half the places I try to register to :< I've just been An-chan for so long, I can't think of anything else anymore. *sigh*
Ooh. Good luck finding something. Which ones are you thinking of now?

txteclipse April 22nd, 2009 7:11 PM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


Number three, I believe. The things he would need to go through to get to this dimension would help him understand my plots. XD You put the what in the what now?

Anyway, An-Chan, why not choose a Finnish name?

Ninja Caterpie April 22nd, 2009 7:49 PM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


Three. Definitely. I review the way I like to get reviewed. I used to pick out grammar, but point out what's good and what's bad. =D

Duncan McNeil April 22nd, 2009 8:47 PM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


I would have to say number 1. As much as I love friendly reviews (well, I like all reviews really) and different opinions, I write fics to improve. So if someone wanted to come, stick with me and constantly help me improve then I would like it.

Of course I would prefer to have a mix, of people who can't get enough of the fic and people who provided helpful crit. :)

Venia Silente April 22nd, 2009 8:57 PM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


#4 most definitively. I know how I think, I think (I think, I think, I think, ...), and I may moderately understand how a person who is mostly "like me" may react, but if I want a truly unbiased vision of my work, the actual thin I won't be able to get by myself is a completely opposite vision.

Of course, for a "first reviewer" I'd go with #1. All subsequent ones, if I could choose them, would be #4.

An-chan, are you looking for a specific kind of name? Finnish something sounds good. Even better if you later teach us how to pronounce it (The Pokémon Fan Fiction, Poetry & Speech Forum). :cheeky:

.Ozymandias April 23rd, 2009 1:06 AM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view

Can I blend #1 and #2 together? Someone encouraging but who points out what you did wrong without proclaiming you 'stupid' or anything else some reviewers of the #1 type come out with.

An-chan April 23rd, 2009 8:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4572075)
Amen. And it's rather uncomfortable either way because you're not quite sure what to say to an author who seriously and literally writes about a girl dying when her heart is pierced by the thorns of black roses.

...Excuse me? Yeah, you're right. I have no words. But it doesn't even have to be that much over the top to render you practically speechless. Of course, I would have a lot of things to say, but I can't because I don't want to be mean. Just that... Oh, dear.

I'm especially fond of the kind of text where people use single, beautiful-sounding and supposedly deep words as a sentence. Like this: "Darkness. It pierced me. But then, from the depths of the blackness that was my universe, I saw them emerge. Angels. The angels of universe. And they embraced me. Darkness. It was no more." I just... Oh, dear.

Also, the story you told about sounds interesting. What exactly was it about, then, if I may ask? My curiosity is insatiable! I'd also like to know how someone dies because of (black) rose thorns. I wonder if there's a medical name for a death cause like that?


Quote:

Originally Posted by celuthea
Can I blend #1 and #2 together? Someone encouraging but who points out what you did wrong without proclaiming you 'stupid' or anything else some reviewers of the #1 type come out with.

Of course you can, but as I said, that wasn't really the point.

Hmm, my space bar is acting up. And lol, I totally realized only now that space bar is space bar!


As for new user names, it has to start with an A, since I've never had a username that didn't start with the letter A. When in IRC, my secondary nick was always "aneue", because sometimes some annoying person stole my An-chan... Yeah, so this isn't a new problem. I also recently found out that
1) An-chan means a man in Hiroshima dialect of Japanese
2) Anchan is a spa resort in Thailand
3) Anchan is also apparently someone's last name.

Right now I'm thinking of derivating something from the Finnish word for sun, "aurinko". I don't want a name that means something... So, maybe Aurincha or something...? I really don't know! I've been An-chan practically for my whole internet life (since I was 13 and first began to explore the wonder that is the world wide web), so this is really hard for me. Lol, I'm having some sort of indentity crisis here. Well, it'll take some getting used to, but I'll manage. Now, all I have to do is to come up with the damn name.

Duncan McNeil April 23rd, 2009 10:50 AM

I've always been known as duncan, ever since I first signed up at SPPf with it in 2004. I have tried a few times to come up with a better name (for some wildly incomprehensible reason that's a common name in most forums), but I can never come up with something that really is my own.

Although it doesn't take much to beat Duncan McNeil.

Quote:

Amen. And it's rather uncomfortable either way because you're not quite sure what to say to an author who seriously and literally writes about a girl dying when her heart is pierced by the thorns of black roses.
...Well...I suppose it might be able to work if...yeah I've got nothing.

Percy Thrillington April 23rd, 2009 1:31 PM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


Number one, waiter! My only two goals in writing is to write something people will enjoy and to improve. I don't want people to sugarcoat anything; I want them to be critical of everything when they're reviewing. From the most obvious (nowadays Bagon is not found outside Pallet Town) to the smallest aspect (I remember someone who told me I had used the wrong sort of window pane, as it didn't exist at the time of the story).

Bay April 23rd, 2009 2:12 PM

Choose a reviewer you'd want to review your fic:
1) A mind-numbingly harsh but very professional critic who never says anything nice or encouraging and hits you in every possible sore spot
2) Overly friendly and encouraging critic who never says anything negative and focuses on encouraging you and making you feel excited
3) Yourself from an alternate dimension
4) Someone that is your polar opposite when it comes to opinions, interests and points of view


#3. I actually review a combination of #1 and #2. I would tell it as it is on the mistakes I see, but at the same time I always encourage the writer to keep writing and improving.

And heh, I have been known as Bay for a long time now, so I don't think I'll change my name...although, I have been called "baygel" recently, so I might in a little while. XD

Ninja Caterpie April 23rd, 2009 3:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4573871)
Right now I'm thinking of derivating something from the Finnish word for sun, "aurinko". I don't want a name that means something... So, maybe Aurincha or something...? I really don't know! I've been An-chan practically for my whole internet life (since I was 13 and first began to explore the wonder that is the world wide web), so this is really hard for me. Lol, I'm having some sort of indentity crisis here. Well, it'll take some getting used to, but I'll manage. Now, all I have to do is to come up with the damn name.

You can be Aurin-chan? Then we can call you Oran-chan or An-chan.

xD

JX Valentine April 23rd, 2009 4:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4573871)
I'm especially fond of the kind of text where people use single, beautiful-sounding and supposedly deep words as a sentence. Like this: "Darkness. It pierced me. But then, from the depths of the blackness that was my universe, I saw them emerge. Angels. The angels of universe. And they embraced me. Darkness. It was no more." I just... Oh, dear.

XD My thoughts exactly.

Quote:

Also, the story you told about sounds interesting. What exactly was it about, then, if I may ask? My curiosity is insatiable! I'd also like to know how someone dies because of (black) rose thorns. I wonder if there's a medical name for a death cause like that?
To be honest, I don't remember all of the details, but that was pretty much the gist of it. It wasn't actually about anything except a girl sitting in a garden dying.

Quote:

Right now I'm thinking of derivating something from the Finnish word for sun, "aurinko". I don't want a name that means something... So, maybe Aurincha or something...?
Ooh. I like it. 'Course, "Aurinko" itself sounds very cute.

Astinus April 23rd, 2009 7:37 PM

Guys, today, I wrote my first drabble. It was 111 words, but I edited it down and changed a few sentences to make it 100 words exactly.

Then I read the fic over, and realized that it just didn't work.

So, power to those who can write drabbles and make them work. I just fail in doing that.

There was no point to this post, btw.

txteclipse April 23rd, 2009 8:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astinus (Post 4575724)
Guys, today, I wrote my first drabble. It was 111 words, but I edited it down and changed a few sentences to make it 100 words exactly.

Then I read the fic over, and realized that it just didn't work.

So, power to those who can write drabbles and make them work. I just fail in doing that.

There was no point to this post, btw.

I don't think I could ever do drabbles. I'm too verbose. XD

Duncan McNeil April 23rd, 2009 9:35 PM

I actually wrote my first drabble a couple of months ago in a challenge. It turned out okay I thought, but I'm more for longer one-shots.

Astinus April 23rd, 2009 9:40 PM

Same here. The fandom that I was writing in makes me more verbose, and come up with some really weird, long, but good sentences. I would try to write a drabble for another fandom, but no other fandom catches my main muse's interest like that one...

And you got a cloud egg. >_< I want one, but I miss the drops.

I had a response to An-chan's question, but I found I couldn't answer it without swearing, and teaching you all (with the possible exception of those who are as vicious as I am) how colorful the English language can be.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h229/Hanako_Tabris/emot-toot.gif

txteclipse April 23rd, 2009 10:10 PM

Quote:

I had a response to An-chan's question, but I found I couldn't answer it without swearing, and teaching you all (with the possible exception of those who are as vicious as I am) how colorful the English language can be.
You should play an online shooter on a 4chan server. Those people are inventive.

And yeah, I managed to get into the first drop I've seen in a few months. XD The sun was an abandoned one, though, so you might have some luck there.

.Ozymandias April 23rd, 2009 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astinus (Post 4575724)
Guys, today, I wrote my first drabble. It was 111 words, but I edited it down and changed a few sentences to make it 100 words exactly.

Then I read the fic over, and realized that it just didn't work.

So, power to those who can write drabbles and make them work. I just fail in doing that.

There was no point to this post, btw.

The key to good drabbles is compacting your ideas. Drabbles should focus around one small point in time, small emotion or small incident, and don't go into much detail with them - simplicity is the key. After that, they get pretty easy, and 111 is very good for your first go, Astinus.

The only reason I know this is because I suck at writing long fics because I get bored and because I'm lazy, so drabbles are perfect for the lazy person in me.

Astinus April 24th, 2009 12:30 AM

That's what's funny. See, the fic is just a small moment in time. (It's one character thinking that divorce is a possible outcome in his life.) So it's just the character thinking "This could happen, this is why." And I just can't get it shorter.

Then again, it is canon fact that when this character thinks about his problems, he doesn't shut up about them. x3 (That was the longest chapter introduction I have ever read.)

Like I said, I'll keep trying, and maybe with another character. The one I write about the most though? He doesn't shut up. (But he's my woobie little baby, and I luv him.)

Then again, I'm just in a "write longer pieces" mood. My chapters for my first fic struggled to reach seven pages. My chapters now are fifteen pages on average. (Nothing will ever beat the unfinished chapter I had, which was up to thirty-one pages, and still going!)

I'm going to go stalk the AP now.

Orange_Flaaffy April 24th, 2009 8:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celuthea (Post 4576177)
The key to good drabbles is compacting your ideas. Drabbles should focus around one small point in time, small emotion or small incident, and don't go into much detail with them - simplicity is the key. .

I am pretty good at drabbles since my writing seems to want to be shorter by nature :). My trouble is finding a word program that actually counts 100 words exactly. So many of them count over or under so I have to hand count just to be sure :P.

Duncan McNeil April 24th, 2009 12:12 PM

I use OpenOffice for all of my writing, as my computer didn't come with Word. As far as I know the word counter works fine on it, and now that it's been upgraded to 3.0 it runs a lot faster. I used to use WordPad, but OpenOffice works much better (especially because of the spellchecker).

An-chan April 24th, 2009 12:29 PM

I really only use WordPad because it's light, it's easy to use (no useless functions that come unasked), it has all the functions I need and files in the .rtf format can be opened with virtually any program, save for NotePad. I has everything I need, so I see no reason to use Open Office. I do have it installed to my computer, though, and I sometimes write my school assingments with it.

I've never noticed anything wrong with WordPad's word count. How exactly does a program miscount the amount of words?

As a side note, the girl I told you about before *****ed to me today. I decided I don't like her after all.

Quote:

I had a response to An-chan's question, but I found I couldn't answer it without swearing, and teaching you all (with the possible exception of those who are as vicious as I am) how colorful the English language can be.
I'm very interested in seeing exactly how colourful this language can be... Plz to be showing me? They don't teach us to swear in school, so it might be useful :laugh: </excuse>

Negrek April 24th, 2009 12:36 PM

Quote:

I've never noticed anything wrong with WordPad's word count. How exactly does a program miscount the amount of words?
Different programs count words in different ways. For example, the typing program that I used in middle school called a "word" five characters (in order to calculate WPM). As for actual word processing programs, there tend to be differences in the way that they calculate things that are hyphenated (some would count one word, some two) or divided by a virgule; for all I know, there might be some that discount words under three letters or something like that. It just depends on the algorithm the program counts with.

An-chan April 24th, 2009 1:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Negrek (Post 4577411)
Different programs count words in different ways. For example, the typing program that I used in middle school called a "word" five characters (in order to calculate WPM). As for actual word processing programs, there tend to be differences in the way that they calculate things that are hyphenated (some would count one word, some two) or divided by a virgule; for all I know, there might be some that discount words under three letters or something like that. It just depends on the algorithm the program counts with.

Huh, I didn't realize English has words with apostrophes that are in fact two separate words. Or, well, I didn't think of it, because in Finnish you can easily define one word to be something that has spaces on the both sides of it. We have no apostrophes and almost no hyphens (and when we do, it counts as a single word anyway) or anything. Now that you mentioned it, I realized it actually isn't that easy to count words with a program in English... So, thanks.

Why wouldn't words under three letters count as words? Isn't "or" a word, too..? Then again, "a" and "the" might not really classify as actual words. Ah, why is your language so difficult? *sulk*

txteclipse April 24th, 2009 2:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An-chan (Post 4577563)
Huh, I didn't realize English has words with apostrophes that are in fact two separate words. Or, well, I didn't think of it, because in Finnish you can easily define one word to be something that has spaces on the both sides of it. We have no apostrophes and almost no hyphens (and when we do, it counts as a single word anyway) or anything. Now that you mentioned it, I realized it actually isn't that easy to count words with a program in English... So, thanks.

Why wouldn't words under three letters count as words? Isn't "or" a word, too..? Then again, "a" and "the" might not really classify as actual words. Ah, why is your language so difficult? *sulk*

I think words like "what's" are considered to be one word. Things like racecar are also considered one word, but they're really two words smashed together. When it comes to things with a hyphen, like "yellow-green," I would consider them two words.

The shorter things like "the" and "a" I still consider words.

Negrek April 24th, 2009 2:24 PM

Quote:

Huh, I didn't realize English has words with apostrophes that are in fact two separate words. Or, well, I didn't think of it, because in Finnish you can easily define one word to be something that has spaces on the both sides of it. We have no apostrophes and almost no hyphens (and when we do, it counts as a single word anyway) or anything. Now that you mentioned it, I realized it actually isn't that easy to count words with a program in English... So, thanks.

Why wouldn't words under three letters count as words? Isn't "or" a word, too..? Then again, "a" and "the" might not really classify as actual words. Ah, why is your language so difficult? *sulk*
Well, almost all words with apostrophes are actually two or more words (contractions), but I don't think they're ever counted as two.

As for short words not counting, that would be for counts by number of letters, rather than groups of characters delineated by spaces (for example, every five letters = 1 word, so "I had a" is one word instead of three). I doubt there are any major software programs that actually work like that, outside of typing ones, but I could see where there would be a problem just going by spaces... after all, then you could end up with stuff like E. B. White. Would that register as three words, or just one proper name? Is the algorithm set to exclude single letters followed by a period, or to discount any single letter that isn't "a" or "i"? Obviously, undercounting because of short words would be far more common, so it's likely that this sort of error would be considered "acceptable," unless there were some way to get around it without writing hideous amounts of code.

Similarly, there are genuine problems with hyphenated words. For example, you could have a sentence reading, "He was ten years old" versus "He was a ten-year-old." Obviously the hyphen is only joining three individual words in this case. But what about "cul-de-sac" or "pince-nez?" Those don't stand on their own if you take the hyphen away.

So yeah. I think it's pretty interesting how programmers are able to deal with the human language; I complain as much as anyone when Word does something inane, but considering that they have to try to assess things about a language as messy with English using precise computer language, I can understand what a task it must be to come up with a word-counter or grammar-checker that provides the least error.

txteclipse April 27th, 2009 4:24 PM

This lounge better get more active or I'm going to start talking to myself here.

Anyway, I've actually decided to be on-topic for once. I wrote this line in the Eon Chronicles a while back:

Quote:

Darkness. It permeated everything, concealing all, revealing nothing. It was all that existed to Latios in his egg, all that he knew; and yet, it was somewhat comforting.
Someone was reading that recently, and thought that I should replace the word "permeated" with "permeates." I immediately told them "no" on account of the story being in past-tense, but then they said that darkness still does those things and therefore I should refer to it in present-tense.

Now I'm not so sure what to do. Thoughts?

JX Valentine April 27th, 2009 4:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4588546)
Someone was reading that recently, and thought that I should replace the word "permeated" with "permeates." I immediately told them "no" on account of the story being in past-tense, but then they said that darkness still does those things and therefore I should refer to it in present-tense.

The quality of darkness you're talking about -- and, in fact, that particular moment of darkness -- doesn't exist anymore. (Logically, Latios would not be able to experience the kind of darkness he saw only while he was in the egg. Unless he's got some seriously messed up fetishes.) Therefore, past tense.

As a side note, have you tried taking "and" out of that excerpt? Having two conjunctions there seems a little redundant to me, but maybe it's just me here.

txteclipse April 27th, 2009 5:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4588579)
The quality of darkness you're talking about -- and, in fact, that particular moment of darkness -- doesn't exist anymore. (Logically, Latios would not be able to experience the kind of darkness he saw only while he was in the egg. Unless he's got some seriously messed up fetishes.) Therefore, past tense.

As a side note, have you tried taking "and" out of that excerpt? Having two conjunctions there seems a little redundant to me, but maybe it's just me here.

That's kinda what I was thinking, but I didn't understand exactly why. I write on instinct for the most part: I actually don't have a ton of knowledge about the English language (origins of words, syntax norms, etc.) but I can tell when something "sounds right," so to speak.

As for the second bit, you mean taking out "and" and leaving "yet?" It hasn't even crossed my mind. I always thought "and yet" was a substitute for "however" or "regardless."

JX Valentine April 27th, 2009 5:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4588676)
That's kinda what I was thinking, but I didn't understand exactly why. I write on instinct for the most part: I actually don't have a ton of knowledge about the English language (origins of words, syntax norms, etc.) but I can tell when something "sounds right," so to speak.

Fair 'nough. A lot of people do, really, hence why beta-readers have a job. So, it's completely okay to write by instinct so long as it sounds good to you (and you have a beta-reader to verify that it does [/advertising]).

Quote:

As for the second bit, you mean taking out "and" and leaving "yet?"
Yep.

Quote:

It hasn't even crossed my mind. I always thought "and yet" was a substitute for "however" or "regardless."
As far as I know, "yet" by itself is the substitute, so you're saying "and regardless." Only not so much that because "yet" pretty much means "nonetheless." (So... you're more saying "and nonetheless" there.)

txteclipse April 27th, 2009 5:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4588697)
As far as I know, "yet" by itself is the substitute, so you're saying "and regardless." Only not so much that because "yet" pretty much means "nonetheless." (So... you're more saying "and nonetheless" there.)

Weird. I guess I'll have to fix that then. o_O

Astinus April 27th, 2009 6:23 PM

Sorry about the lack of activity in this thread. I've been blehish and ugh and unable to come up with a way to turn this back into a spampit. Or, at least a way to do so without mentioning a certain red-head who reminds me of another red-head. Oh Walter. Or what he calls himself, but I don't want to say because then it would be more obvious who I'm talking about.

And I don't want that to happen.

Sorry, txteclipse about the lack o' activity. =(

Quote:

so you're saying "and regardless."
IRREGARDLESS!

Teeheeheeheeheeeeeeee...

txteclipse April 27th, 2009 6:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astinus (Post 4588981)
IRREGARDLESS!

Teeheeheeheeheeeeeeee...

Ahh! Stop confusing me! My mind just exploded!

...My roommate's expression is hilarious.

.Ozymandias April 28th, 2009 1:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astinus (Post 4588981)
Oh, Walter!

Welcome to my world.

I have a question for yous:-

When you write something for the first time (slash, action, romance etc), how do you go about doing it? Do you spend a lot of time researching the subject, how other writers handle it, or do you just dive right in and give it a go?

Astinus April 28th, 2009 1:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Ozymandias (Post 4589726)
Welcome to my world.

He's going to be the death of my hard drive. Every time I see a picture of him, I just have to save it. But not his actor, nor of Rorschach. It has to be movie version.

It's a weakness I have for red-headed, blue eyed, wounded men. XD

There is nothing wrong with it either.[/truth]

Quote:

I have a question for yous:-

When you write something for the first time (slash, action, romance etc), how do you go about doing it? Do you spend a lot of time researching the subject, how other writers handle it, or do you just dive right in and give it a go?
Depends on what it is. For instance, when I started writing slash, I just leaped (that just sounds wrong =x) right in and wrote my first story. I never did much research on it, just reading various other slash fics and continuing to write my own. Over time, I got better at them. And watch gay porn. >3

On the flip side, for my fic that takes place in Japan, I've done, and am still doing, research on the Japanese culture and language, and the city the story takes place in, plus whatever else I may need. It takes a long time to actually write this fic, because I want to make sure that it's all correct, so I'm always double-checking myself.

So for me, it depends on the subject.

.Ozymandias April 28th, 2009 3:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astinus (Post 4589757)
He's going to be the death of my hard drive. Every time I see a picture of him, I just have to save it. But not his actor, nor of Rorschach. It has to be movie version.

It's a weakness I have for red-headed, blue eyed, wounded men. XD

There is nothing wrong with it either.[/truth]

I have the exact same problem, except with Ozymandias. Though I'd take Matthew Goode pictures just as much as Adrian/Ozy pictures.

Mira April 28th, 2009 4:32 AM

Kind of random question, but...
What kind of technology do you think that they'd have in the 1800's? Around the time where there would be trains but (probably) no electricity? Or do you think they would have electricity at that point?
*is confused*

JX Valentine April 28th, 2009 6:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Ozymandias (Post 4589726)
When you write something for the first time (slash, action, romance etc), how do you go about doing it? Do you spend a lot of time researching the subject, how other writers handle it, or do you just dive right in and give it a go?

Also depends. Usually, I spend a lot of time playing with the idea, researching stuff if I need to know something for the sake of realism (or because it's science-fiction), and studying how other authors do it. But if I have an idea of what I'm doing already and don't need that extra research, I dive in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mira (Post 4589900)
What kind of technology do you think that they'd have in the 1800's? Around the time where there would be trains but (probably) no electricity? Or do you think they would have electricity at that point?

If you're thinking an American-esque or European-esque setting (i.e., you're taking the Pokémon world and transplanting it into 1800's Europe or US), then you're probably looking at the early nineteenth century. Steam-powered trains became a mainstream mode of transportation around 1820 to 1830, and the telegraph (the mode of communication most associated with trains -- which, yes, uses electricity) came shortly thereafter. At the exact same time as the opening of the first steam-powered passenger train line, however, scientists were already experimenting with electricity to the point that an electric motor was actually invented in the 1820's (by Michael Faraday), although I'm not entirely sure if this was actually used outside the laboratory.

For the most part, in the early 1800's of American history, you're talking about very limited electrical technology. (At least, compared to the late 1800's, where electricity became so much of a marvel that people started using it everywhere as a sort of side-show attraction.) For the home, that means manual power, and for certain larger machines, you might have steam. But even then, that depends on where in the US you're looking at. In rural areas (that includes the western frontier), larger machines aside from maybe trains were a bit of a marvel for obvious reasons. In cities... probably not so much.

My advice to you, though, is to look up the kinds of devices you're trying to use or the kinds you don't think exist via Google before saying outright they do or don't. You'll be surprised by how much history about anything has been recorded on the internet, and you'll probably be even more surprised by what was actually invented and in mainstream use early on.

Bay April 28th, 2009 9:00 AM

When you write something for the first time (slash, action, romance etc), how do you go about doing it? Do you spend a lot of time researching the subject, how other writers handle it, or do you just dive right in and give it a go?
I would usually check out how other writers do it and do a bit of research. For NE, I watched the news on some police cases and also would ask my dad a lot about the police process. Heck, I even ask him how serve some injuries can be since I had planned for some characters to get hurt.

txteclipse April 28th, 2009 1:24 PM

Speaking of technology, I'd like to ask your opinions about a certain thing I'm thinking of doing in the Eon Chronicles.

Spoiler:
The story takes place in medieval times in the pokémon world, but I'm thinking of putting in some things that didn't exist back then tech-wise. I figure that electric and fire pokémon would be able to power machines running off of their respective elements, so things would develop a lot faster in the pokémon realm than ours. It wouldn't be ridiculous stuff like cell phones: I was thinking of including this hidden city that has crude elevators and maybe something like a telegraph system, along with a couple of security devices or something. Very primitive stuff that wouldn't be to hard to come up with if you had a ready source of electricity. I may also do some primitive steam engines or whatnot, but I'm not really sure I want or need that.

Does this sound at all plausible, or does it seem too much like a forced merging of two time periods?

Venia Silente April 28th, 2009 2:01 PM

When you write something for the first time (slash, action, romance etc), how do you go about doing it? Do you spend a lot of time researching the subject, how other writers handle it, or do you just dive right in and give it a go?
I spend some time researching. Maybe too much. Depending on how close I am to the experience (like, zero in romance or +inf in suspense), I then try to give it a try hands-on, without thinking it too much, simply letting my writing be.

Then I shun myself and begin to rewrite stuff... :D

As for txteclipse's question...

Merging time periods is usually fine when one does their homework and tries to preserve the "naturality" of the chronological period after all. That's the entire base of steampunk. With regards to electricity, anything that has do to with Direct Current is something that could have been come up with, had the storage technology been available before. In the case of the Pokémon world, this "technology" is simply available in a different manner. As long as the people of that world did the adequate research, it should be fine. I do not see any problem with telegraph systems, speaker/megaphone systems, nor with conductive surfaces for house heating if you get to need that.

Just take into consideration how much "expensive", and therefore how easily available to the common folk, would that impmementation of technology be. Not only in regards of the number of Pokémon you'll need to feed an intercity emergency telegraph system (to put something up), but also wheteher your world's Pokémon and PETA-equivalent would allow for them to be used this way.

The idea of security devices sounds interesting... what things are you thinking of?

txteclipse April 28th, 2009 3:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solovino (Post 4591353)
Just take into consideration how much "expensive", and therefore how easily available to the common folk, would that impmementation of technology be. Not only in regards of the number of Pokémon you'll need to feed an intercity emergency telegraph system (to put something up), but also wheteher your world's Pokémon and PETA-equivalent would allow for them to be used this way.

The idea of security devices sounds interesting... what things are you thinking of?

Spoiler:
Well, the idea is that this city is very secluded (underground, for that matter), and very secretive. Almost everyone has an electric-type pokemon, which allows them to maneuver throughout the city (get on an elevator, your pokémon charges it up for you). It's similar to the way China isolated itself before it began to trade with Europe: there's a lot of technology there that is not found elsewhere, and vice-versa.

In terms of city-wide electricity needs, I'm planning on the lord of the city having a Zapdos or something equivalent that can power lots of things at once for short periods of time.

Traps will probably be things like electrified wires strung across key areas and explosives triggered by electric charges, but I haven't really developed that part yet. The weapon of choice for the locals might be electrified blades and/or some form of primitive drill, and I may have incredibly primitive vehicles of some kind that use DC motors (we're talking mine carts and the like here).

Heart's Soul May 1st, 2009 8:19 AM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

Just made the topic up. For me, I'd dump mostly everything, except Neo, Sarina, most of the other characters, and other areas that I made. I'd add in a soundtrack from Pokemon, Mario, and Tales of Symphonia. Also, I'd give them all weapons like swords.

JX Valentine May 1st, 2009 8:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knyaz Vladimir (Post 4598632)
If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

No. Both Midsummer Knights and Anima Ex Machina are written with their genres in mind to begin with. As in, Midsummer Knights is written as if I was imagining it to be a cyberpunk anime (a la Serial Experiments Lain), while AEM is explicitly a homage to science fiction anime and film.

In other words, I wouldn't change a thing aside from what I would do in rewrites (e.g., more action and slightly less politics for MKD) because they're already written like TV series or movies anyway.

txteclipse May 1st, 2009 9:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4598663)
As in, Midsummer Knights is written as if I was imagining it to be a cyberpunk anime (a la Serial Experiments Lain)

Yay, someone else has seen it! :D Ahem. I did not know that MKD is cyberpunk. I must now read it.

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

I doubt it? There's a lot of crucial non-verbal communication in the E.C., however, so it might be slightly difficult to make into a movie. Mastermind would be narrated throughout, which could be weird.

JX Valentine May 1st, 2009 9:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4598797)
Yay, someone else has seen it! :D

Oh yes. XD I was a huge fan of it in high school. Sort of dropped out of it, though, although I still love its mind****-ness.

Quote:

Ahem. I did not know that MKD is cyberpunk. I must now read it.
Yeah, but admittedly, I didn't capitalize on it as much as I should have. XD; If you can think of Verona City as being the same kind of city you find in Blade Runner, then it's slightly more understandable.

.Ozymandias May 1st, 2009 9:57 AM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

I don't think I would; it would have to be a very dry spell for A Darker Day to be made into a series, but I'd like to keep everything in as it is.


*heads back out to try and write some more*

Shrike Flamestar May 1st, 2009 11:46 AM

Man, it's been dead in here lately... Why is everyone so quiet?! Maybe it has to do with it being near the end of the school year for many; I'm done with classes now and just have three exams next week and that's all. Yay for summer! Plenty of time to both play video games and write, well, so long as I don't get a job. <_<

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?
Nothing major. As with Valentine, I pretty much write as if TFC and TRINITY are actually animes. Specifically, I aim for TFC to be your standard televised episodic anime, with it even having typical elements of anime such as the whole saving the world plot... TRINITY is designed to be more of a miniseries or movie (a long one), with the same sort of style of Ghost in the Shell.

The things I'd change would probably be minor details, mostly in the settings and how things look. One example that stands out are the instant runes in TFC that are formed when magic (Source energy) is used. I had to design them so that I can easily describe them in writing and so their complexity can't be anywhere near the level of, say, the one shown on that TV Tropes page. In a visual medium, they'd probably be redesigned again (I've already redesigned them between the rewrite and the new version as they were just TOO simplistic before) to be more complex, fancier, and overall cooler.

*Is a proud proponent of the rule of cool*

Somewhat related to this, I'm listening to this awesome song that I found from an EVE Online trailer video (the song's called Beauty Never Fades by Junkie XL, from the not-so-smartly named trailer EVE Never Fades) that I think just goes perfectly with TRINITY. I can just see the images in my head as if it were the anime or whatever I wish it was, introducing all the main characters—Tashima, Havoc, Zeta, Zack, Jet, and the other people who I still haven't thought up names for since they're not explicitly main characters—with lots of action and guns blazing and Vespers/Valkyrie fighters flying overhead to combat Cypher's Fighter Drones while on the streets of Helios the resistance movement is fighting against Scout, Assault, and Hunter Drones...

God, I've got my vision for TRINITY so fleshed out now that I even finally have a feel for what the city, Helios, looks like. I've got all the different classes of drones, Cypher's shock troopers, down (Scout, heavy scout, assault, heavy assault, hunter, fighter, heavy fighter, advanced fighter, and operator) as well as their manned counterparts used by the good guys (The Vesper T-83, which I've changed from what was seen in Waves; Vesper T-91; and the experimental pair of Valkyries). I've got the specifics of the titular TRINITY and it's cousin CELL down, including why they're so important. Almost every minor details as well as most of the major ones have been fleshed out; I've even gone so far to reconsider the inclusion of one element, ARMS (basically mecha), that while cool I just couldn't figure out how to incorporate well (I want the focus to largely be on the individual people and introducing these war machines, even if they are cool, would draw a lot of that focus away. Also, I would need some way to counter them which would just lead to something bigger and even less personal. Either that or magic.)

Yet despite this, I've been largely focusing on TFC lately... It's seriously been almost five months since I last updated TRINITY, in part due to me pushing out THREE chapters of the TFC rewrite in that time, as well as heavily devoting time to the fourth. I wanted to finish part 1 of the TFC rewrite before switching back to TRINITY for perhaps a two chapter block, but...this is just taking so long. Chapter 4 is almost done but I just feel like I'm neglecting a story which, while it still needs time to come into its own as I figure out what my strong suits are, has the potential to be as glorious as I see it in my head. Unfortunately, I know no one else will ever be able to see my exact vision of TRINITY...

Bay May 1st, 2009 12:49 PM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?
NE is intended to be more like a suspense/mystery anime with a lot of police elements, like the anime Death Note. I wouldn't change anything much, except maybe chapters 14 and 19 as those two have have the worst pacing problems.

Speaking of series, NE is going to end this Saturday, folks. :O

Astinus May 1st, 2009 1:22 PM

:O Holy crip, Bay. I remember reading chapters of that while skipping classes in college.

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?
Loyalty would seriously have to be expanded somehow, since it's a rather short fic with rather short chapters. On the other hand, Lucidity would have to be either split in half, or shortened down considerably.

My Digimon fic fits in perfectly with the series.

My OSC fics, well, I'll just let Card do that work. *whips Card*

... Wait. >_<

bobandbill May 1st, 2009 6:30 PM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

Hmm...might have to change it a bit, but not too much as many, many of the scenes I imagine actually acted out and all. Might be too long for a movie though, my main fic - if anything it'd have more of a chance to be made into some weird hybrid of a visual story/game or something like that, given that it is based on Colosseum...

And my one one-shot...well, might need some adjusting I suppose, and wouldn't be a series-long thing, or a movie either, methinks. XD

Astinus May 2nd, 2009 12:51 AM

Just want to say, Shrike, that that's really kinda epic about TRINITY, Shrike. I was like that before with my Pokemon fics. At least one version of my first Pokemon fic, which is now titled Loyalty, but was entitled at the time... Er, well, I don't really remember what it was titled at the time because it was before Long Twilight Struggle but after Legend of a Champion.

I would be able to listen to Pokemon music, mostly the Japanese music, and imagine my characters in various scenes. Everything played out as an episodic anime, much like the Pokemon one off which it was based. It was a good way to see my fic, because I could actually see it.

These days, I barely write. I don't even look forward to it right now, but I wish I did. I still want to write, since I continue to write and rewrite scenes in my mind that I wish I could write, but when I think of what I have to get through to write those scenes, like the scenes I don't really want to write because they're boring, I just kind of lose the will to live write.

It's right up there with why I really haven't been spamming up the FFL and keeping some semblance of activity here. Concerns about real life have been on the forefront of my mind, and are where most of my energy goes to resolve.

My name is the Great Astinus, and I have verbal diarrhea. And I want to write slash hurt/comfort fics.

I'm going to go poke at Lucidity for a bit and hope that my muse's horoscope comes true, because he's about to get his butt whooped for being lazy.

...

Yes, I have a muse.

He's a Leo, by the way, if anyone was wondering.

txteclipse May 2nd, 2009 1:00 AM

Fffff. Here I am, sitting at my PC with a word document open, two months, one week, one day, five hours, and twenty-nine minutes after my last chapter release. I've finished one page of the next installment.

I used to write a chapter every day. What the frell happened.

Maybe if we collaborate, we could all write one fanfic at an acceptable rate.

Ninja Caterpie May 2nd, 2009 3:32 AM

Huh. Exactly what I was thinking.

I'm like, "what the frell (nice word, btw), the last chapter was written in November 2008. >.<"

I need to write faster. Or just write.

.Ozymandias May 2nd, 2009 5:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4601160)
Fffff. Here I am, sitting at my PC with a word document open, two months, one week, one day, five hours, and twenty-nine minutes after my last chapter release. I've finished one page of the next installment.

I used to write a chapter every day. What the frell happened.

Maybe if we collaborate, we could all write one fanfic at an acceptable rate.

I have this problem. I'm writing at about a paragraph a week of A Darker Day, while some of the other stuff I'm writing I'm doing two chapters a week. But I am determined to get the next chapter finished this weekend, or else it'll just annoy me.

Elite Overlord LeSabre™ May 2nd, 2009 11:57 AM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?
I would try to fill up some of the plot holes, perhaps either skip or expand upon the gym battles (depending on whether I want a short series/movie or one of those series that goes on and on and on and on....)

BTW, I'll have a special surprise for y'all a bit later.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be going on a three month hiatus due to me not having regular internet outside of college. I will be back periodically to post at random times.

And for you stalkers... tonight I'm at the Quality Inn of Christiansburg, Virginia.

Bay May 2nd, 2009 3:22 PM

Since NE is done and all, won't be experiencing writing procrastination for a while. XD Seriously, there were days where I didn't feel like working on NE and the longest delay in which I didn't work on revising it and such is almost two months. Heck, there were times where I wanted to just scrap it all together after thinking some things weren't just working. However, I managed to stick to it at the end. :)

Have fun during your hiatus, DP! :D Also, HUGE THANK YOU FOR BETAING NE! OH, YOU TOO ASTINUS! Seriously, without you two, NE would be riddled with grammar mistakes. *hugs both of you*

Oh DP, cool surprise there. I really enjoyed that one shot when I read it. *goes read it again*

Sydian May 2nd, 2009 5:17 PM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

:D

Not really. I can't think of anything I'd change in the story. Speaking of which, Just a Brother is a year old...and still unfinished. I feel bad for neglecting it. :/ But so much came up that it was buried and then I got uninterested in Pokemon Special in general.

Percy Thrillington May 2nd, 2009 5:20 PM

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

Definitely not. Operation Main Frame is filled with foreshadowing and everything knits together at the end - the problem is not leaving anything out!

Ninja Caterpie May 2nd, 2009 5:46 PM

I saw "Just a Brother" and I'm like "Holy sh-" in my mind.

It's SSS! We were just talking about you. Or well, a week ago and just. :\ We're remaking the orgy...or were. :\

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

Yes...maybe...no? I dunno, probably. It's not epic enough as is, I guess. xD

Heart's Soul May 3rd, 2009 9:53 AM

Yeah, I replied to my old topic a while ago.

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?

When they rip out the story and make a chapter full of random garbage.

*scene changes to Adolf Hitler juggling fish on a unicycle*

JX Valentine May 3rd, 2009 1:32 PM

Congrats to Bay. Now, if only I could find the same drive.

Actually, how about I make it another topic to throw into the emboldenizer?

Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?

I'd answer this myself... except I actually have a problem with this. *whistles innocently and puts up yet another promise to finish MKD*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knyaz Vladimir (Post 4607203)
When they rip out the story and make a chapter full of random garbage.

...How many fanfics actually do this? Because I've only been reading chapters with relevant content. O_o

Except those ones that spout random crap to begin with, complete with the author's excuse being "I was high on sugar." That used to be the in thing to do. Now they just don't care enough to use an excuse at all, much less any sort of plot. Or humor. Oh, random fics. I used to write you all the time.

Anyway.

Quote:

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?
Uh... wow. That's a broad topic right there.

So, instead, I'm going to break it down.

Jax's Fanfiction Rants In a Nutshell
Now with 30% more tangents!

Author's Attitude
1. Kids bragging about their fanfiction, saying they were well received elsewhere. We don't give a crap because we're not the same as an almost unheard-of board. Sorry, but it's true.
1a. Likewise, kids saying, "omg, my fanfiction is better than anything else here." Chances are, it's probably not.

2. Kids saying, "It's fanfiction, so I can do whatever I want!" No, you can't. Sorry, but that's the entire point to the word "fan" right there.

3. Kids saying, "No one cares about grammar/spelling!" Yes, we do. Seeing text that essentially says, "omglolololol and then she got a evie n said omg u r my pkmn!" is fine if you're doing one-liner posts in a chatroom. However, seeing an entire page of it makes people want to choke things cute and fluffy.
3a. So does, for that matter, people who use a disability, disorder, et cetera as an excuse. That's what a beta-reader is for. Sorry to say it, but I know someone who's practically blind and can barely see the screen for long periods of time and can still write awesome fic quite frequently.

Formatting
1. Anything but the default. Sorry, but I came to try reading your fanfiction, and if I can't because you decide to make your story *~*~*~*pretty*~*~*~* because it's *~*~*~*artistic*~*~*~*, chances are, what you're really doing is making me want to claw my eyes out because it actually physically hurts to read your story. Keeping in mind that I'm usually drunk, tired, hungover, in a dark room, or a combination of the above when I decide to fulfill review requests by going to your story, so yes.

Characterization
1. Lead character + lead character = OTP. It happens all the time, and while that floats a lot of people's boats, I cringe when I see a male and a female character decide to travel with each other now because of this. It does not, however, make me decide against continuing. I'm just saying it makes me cry because I know where this is going.

2. Recycled characters. If I have read an earlier work of yours (including RPGs) and am now reading a completely different and unrelated story that features the exact same character, that makes me hit the back button because it feels uncreative and like a lead-up to a Mary Sue, considering this must be your *~*favorite character ever*~*, given you won't let the stupid thing go.
2a. Canon characters don't count, nor do fanfics in the same universe. Obvious reasons here.

3. Badass male leads. Badass females are fine by me because I'm a bit of a feminist (or I enjoy watching men get beaten up by women), but to have a badass male -- usually dressed all in black and sporting kung-fu skills, firearm mastery, incredible talents with either magic or pokémon, or some combination of these or other traits that make them badass -- is just playing too much with masculine stereotypes. It's like the guys have to be awesome and hard in order to be main characters, but no, really, they don't. In fact, I much prefer my men to either be classy or wusses. Or even both. (Oh, Bill. I love writing about you.) Point is, it's just overdone and, frankly, not as interesting as watching a badass woman (and not the kind that just look pretty and give the badass male a hard time) and/or a not-so-hard man.

4. For that matter, predictable villains. Is your villain clearly evil? Are they trying to take over the world with a basic "capture this pokémon or get this mystical item + ??? = PROFIT" plan that isn't further detailed except to rape a prophecy or two? And is your clearly good character going over to try to stop them? Yeah, uh, sorry. While canon is full of these, it captures my interest even more if the actual antagonist isn't clearly defined. Mindscrew is awesome, guys, when it's done right. If you want a classic example, try The World Ends With You, where you don't know who's actually the villain until literally the last five minutes of the game. The ending made me flail and play that chapter over and over and over again, just because it's so awesome I can't even begin to describe it. (Not that I should because of its status as MASSIVE SPOILER HOLY CRAP.)

Oddly enough, I'm not as against general Mary Sues as I used to be. The reason why is because they just amuse me now.

Plot
1. Same plot, different names. As in, you read a fanfiction and say to yourself, "Oh, that's really cool! I'm going to do the same exact thing, only the names will be different! :D" Uh, please no. I can't tell you how many variations of essentially the same story have popped up since the advent of this fandom. Yes, the fandom is old. No, that doesn't mean you can't come up with something new and original. After all, how many fanfics have you read in this fandom about alien parasites that turn their human hosts into mutant, bloodthirsty (literally), sociopathic pokémon? If the answer is more than one, I'd like a link to the other one. No, seriously. This fandom needs more hard sci-fi. You'd think we'd have more of it because there's a lot of BS and Disney science, but unfortunately, no. (Come on, guys. There were people in the anime who are convinced pokémon came from space. Space, guys!)
1a. This includes, "I was inspired to do this by X's fanfiction." Yeah, uh, to me, that just says, "I'm too uncreative to come up with my own plot, so here's a rehashing of a fanfiction by someone who did it better."
1b. This also includes, "I'm going to be taking the standard tropes of this genre and not make a parody out of them because that's what makes this kind of fanfiction." For example, the kids in OT plots waking up late and getting unconventional starters as a result. Seriously, guys, are you all Ash Ketchum? You... you really can't think of any other way to start your story? Really?

2. PWP. It works for smut fic, not for anything serious.

3. Pointless comedy, usually stuff that relies on drugs, sex, swearing, and bodily functions to be humorous. No, saying the F word is not funny by itself.

There's probably more, but that's basically what makes me really cringe when reading a story.

Dagzar May 3rd, 2009 2:52 PM

Quote:

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?
I have a few pet peeves.
1) I’m going to have to agree with Knyaz Vladimir and say randomness / silliness. I don’t like silliness in the plot or anything like that, because to me, it’s not funny, it’s not wacky. All it does is to give me an excuse to hit the back-space button. It’s actually a bit weird, since I used to like reading silly fanfiction when I was younger, but now I can’t stand it.
2) When, after reviewing someone’s story where many grammar mistakes are made and the author replies to that and nods and says that they’ll fix it in the next chapter, they completely ignore it and keep on making the mistake. I can forgive it if the mistake is small like mixing up then / than as I know things like that can sometimes take a while to get down pat, but there’s no excuse for things like forgetting quotation marks, not spacing paragraphs or ignoring the use of a period.

…. Oh my, I seem to have mildly ranted. <.<


Quote:

Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?
Luckily, this doesn’t really happen to me. I do get swamped by plot bunnies, most of them mutated from previous plot bunnies, but all my plot bunnies are original fiction, not fanfiction. Since I’m too paranoid to let people criticize my original fiction, I refuse to write and only put them in my mental To-Publish folder to play around with later. Though, I do get Pokemon plot bunnies, but as long as I stop myself of thinking of plots or making Pokemon sheets for vague characters, I’ll be fine. Hopefully.

An-chan May 3rd, 2009 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4608125)
There's probably more, but that's basically what makes me really cringe when reading a story.

...Yet it sounds so FREAKING HILARIOUS when you say it. How do you do this, Jax? How do you always do this? I just can't comprehend.

Yeah, I don't know if it really sounded like it, but that was a compliment. I'm currently verbally challenged because I'm processing a story. Yes, a new story, again. I have a quadrillion unfinished stories on my hard drive and I'm starting new ones.
Also, I've been reading books in Finnish again, so my mind isn't set on English right now. Sorry if I make any ridiculous mistakes. It happens.


Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?

Referring to what I said above, I don't think I'm qualified to answer this.

Normally, in situations like these, I try to get the bunnies out of my system. I think them over, exterminate the ones that weren't worthy of living anyway and write the average or good ideas up somewhere. I do this because I've noticed that it's kind of futile to force myself to work on a story I don't really feel like working on. It only causes aggressions and verbal blockages.

But, even if I direct my attention to the bunnies, I still tuck in the poor fic that's losing the attention. I pat its head and promise that I will wake it up one day. I won't leave it there to die, I'll just let it sleep for a while and then come back to it and gently wake it up again. I promise it that I'll never abandon it entirely!

...Although, I have abandoned some of my stories for quite a while. I'll still finish them before I die. I'm not intending on dying young, so I've got plenty of time. Yes. They're not dead. Only sleeping. *shifty eyes*

Did that help you, Jax, my dear? Nope, I don't think it did. Sorry. That's what I do when the bunnies attack, anyway.

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?

WHEN PEOPLE WRITE CANON CHARACTERS COMPLETELY OOC JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO FORCE ROMANCE ON THEM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

After reading about a million Artemis Fowl x Holly Short fics, I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible for people to write casual, plausible romance when it comes to these two. Artemis is always either insane or lovey-dovey, both of which are completely OOC for him. Holly is always either dependent or helpless, qualities that the canon character wouldn't recognize even if they jumped in front of her and hit her in the face. I hate it. I HAAATEEE ITTT. Am I making myself clear? Am I? AM I?!

I don't have anything against shipping the two - on the contrary, actually - but I don't see why you always, always, always have to make them OOC and have them kiss and angst and whatnot. Things can be done in a more subtle way, in a way that could really happen, even in the canon.

This applies to everything else, too. I think Misty x Ash is a cute shipping and all, but it's just so not Ash to run around crying and getting depressed over Misty - or any other girl, really. Ash is just not like that. Likewise, I hate it when people write FF7 fics with a Vincent who is so OOC you can't even recognize him as Vincent and then have him fall in love with Yuffie/Cid/Cloud/whoever. That's not Vincent. Please don't claim it's Vincent when it clearly isn't. AM I MAKING MYSELF CLEAR?!

So, long story short, I guess what really bugs me are canon characters written OOC. It's just even worse when it's done for the sake of Forced Romance(tm).That's also why I tend to avoid writing about canon characters; I'm really afraid of messing them up without really realizing it and writing something I'd hate to read. That'd kill me. At least a bit.

If your fanfiction would become a series or movie, would you change something?

I'd add so much description the director of the movie or series simply couldn't mess it up. Depending on the fic, I might add some witty lines or epic scenes, or I might not do that. I would also add my contact information to every chapter so that director would be forced to contact me... I've seen enough books made into movies fail so miserably, I wouldn't let anyone turn my fiction into anything visual without forcing them to ask me about every minor detail.

HARRY'S EYES ARE NOT BLUE GODDAMNIT. PLEASE READ THE BOOK.
SARUMAN DID NOT DIE LIKE THAT. GIVE ME THE COOL HOBBITS PLZKTHX.

...I could just go on about this forever.

txteclipse May 3rd, 2009 3:29 PM

Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?

I don't. There's so many stories backlogged in my mind right now that it's not even funny. Although I suppose the term "backlogged" implies that I simply don't write said plot bunnies for the sake of my two major fics, which is actually true.

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?

See Jax's fanfiction rants in a nutshell.

EDIT: Forgot to mention incompatible person/creature/object x incompatible person/creature/object. Too many times I've run into a fic that includes a bizarre or downright disturbing relationship just to be "edgy" or "unique."

Anyway, I've had a problem for a while now (gee, really txt?). I've planned so far ahead with one of my fics that it's killing me to keep the plot contained in my brain. And it's taking me so long to write up to those points that I feel like just clicking into my fic thread and going "holy crap this is all the awesome stuff that's about to happen!" In other words, I've got an itchy trigger finger, and my gun's firing spoilers. Is there any way to alleviate the tension without ruining my fic for my readers?

Feign May 3rd, 2009 4:45 PM

by the by, I have two more ideas/stories on the way.

One of them will be co-authored and will be another disaster themed one (with less blood, hehe)

And the other one will be based off Ash and friends I believe (that will be darker).

Astinus May 3rd, 2009 4:56 PM

Remember how hated those who spoil are in a fandom? XD

But I know how you feel, because I feel that way as well. My fics get so much better later on in the plot, but the beginning chapters are dreadful, so I want to shout from the rooftops that *spoiler* is really awesome and great and well-worth the crap, but I can't.

The best you can do is think over what you say before you post it in your thread. Write a response, but before you Submit Reply, take a few minutes to think it over and see if there's another way to say what you want to say without giving away spoilers.

...

Sage, Asty. Sage.

Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?
It should be quite obvious to those that know me that I don't like children. :D Even my own.

I write what I write when I want to write it. And nyah-nyah to those starving older children of mine. They can take care of themselves.

Okay, I can't answer this question without mentioning my Sims, so...

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?
Val got my thoughts down exactly again.

I should also add that I hate when characterization or a good ending to the story is sacrificed for the sake of the author's personal views. It's nice and all that the author has their beliefs, and that in itself doesn't bother me, but to read about a character acting in a different way that doesn't match up with the way that they've acted in four other books just to fit in with the author's ideals, it annoys the frell out of me.

This kind of fits in with An-chan's rant on romance fics where characters are OOC. It's possible to write in-character fics where two characters get together (unless said character is actually asexual, like the one I'm thinking of from Watchmen, because those characters typically don't get in relationships because that's just how they are. There are of course those asexuals who do get in relationships [romantic as opposed to aromantic] and then there are the indifferent romantics who are still asexual but still... Moving on) but it depends on the personality/age/maturity of said character.

If a character is not one who can readily get in a relationship, especially a romantic one, then it will take either a skilled writer to get them in a healthy relationship, or the author shouldn't paint the relationship as a healthy one when it isn't. Or at least make it believable. That's the main thing I'm looking for in a relationship, even if the people in it are damaged to where the relationship isn't a happy fully healthy one. Just as long as it seems like the relationship is progressing at a natural rate, and that the two in it are ready for that level of relationship (in other words, a character who has never been close to anyone before in their life suddenly getting into a romantic relationship without any thought process behind why they suddenly feel that way), then it's fine.

But like I said, I've seen published authors do that level of fail in relationships.

*sets death glare toward future hometown*

Guys, never ask me what I think of Ender in Exile. Never.

Bay May 3rd, 2009 5:58 PM

Thanks, Jax. If only I actually have the drive to finish "Destiny's Tricks." ^^;

Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?

Pretty much those plot bunnies are of one shots, shorts, so I just go write them. I wrote like four one shots while working NE.

The plot bunnies that would work better for longer works, though, I just write them down on a notebook and hopefully will get to that work after finishing the fic I'm working at the moment. However, when working both "Destiny's Tricks" and NE at the same time, I went with DT first and then after losing inspiration and suddenly on a suspense/mystery sugar high, went back to NE. XD

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?
Same with Jax's complaint about lead male and female character OTP. Just because a male and female are going together, doesn't mean there has to be romance. I'm planning an OT fic where the lead male and female character are going to travel together, but there will be no romance between them. Basically they have to because they're on the run from an organization/cult. That, and also the lead male is a sixteen year old established trainer while the female is an eleven year old trainer going to her second gym challenge at a new region. XD;

And oh, this is coming from the reviews of NE: THAT EVERY ENDING HAS TO BE EPIC. True, we all like confrontations, the world coming to an end, and all that jazz. However, not all stories have to call for that. If you're doing an epic ending just cause it's cool, then no. Endings basically have to somehow connect everything that happened in the story. And yes, I'm fine if it goes either the happy or tragic route. For the most part all of the endings I have done ends with with the characters learning something from their actions (whether they have been redeemed, off the hook,etc. is a whole 'other story).

*suddenly gets mangled by tragic ending fans*

JX Valentine May 3rd, 2009 7:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurincha (Post 4608497)
...Yet it sounds so FREAKING HILARIOUS when you say it. How do you do this, Jax? How do you always do this? I just can't comprehend.

Sheer talent. ;D

Also, being half-cracked from overwork tends to help too.

Quote:

Did that help you, Jax, my dear?
...It sounds a lot like what I do frequently. XD

Quote:

I think Misty x Ash is a cute shipping and all, but it's just so not Ash to run around crying and getting depressed over Misty - or any other girl, really. Ash is just not like that.
YES.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astinus (Post 4609041)
Guys, never ask me what I think of Ender in Exile. Never.

What do you think of Ender in Exile? You can tell Orson Scott Card. ;D

An-chan May 4th, 2009 3:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4608627)
Anyway, I've had a problem for a while now (gee, really txt?). I've planned so far ahead with one of my fics that it's killing me to keep the plot contained in my brain. And it's taking me so long to write up to those points that I feel like just clicking into my fic thread and going "holy crap this is all the awesome stuff that's about to happen!" In other words, I've got an itchy trigger finger, and my gun's firing spoilers. Is there any way to alleviate the tension without ruining my fic for my readers?

Hey, I have the exact same problem. Since the beginning of Mama's Boy, I've been planning this ultra mega super huge plot twist. It's an unexpectable event that turns everything upside down for a while and everything, so ever since I posted the prologue, I've been feeling like spoiling it. In fact, I'm having a hard time resisting the urge right now. Although, I don't think many of you read MB, so it wouldn't be that bad... Right? I can tell you, right? RIGHT?

But, well, I try to direct that spoiling energy into writing the fic until I actually reach the awesome stuff I want to spoil. Right now, my huge twist is two chapters away and I'm currently writing it, but I notice that I've piled too much expectations on myself. I'm scared that I'll blow the whole thing with my over-enthusiasm.

After that, I'll write tons of battles. Yeeeah, battles. I don't write enough of those right now. My fics are static.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine
Sheer talent. ;D

I know. That's what scares me!

That aside, your new username reminds me of Vincent Valentine rather than Ender's sister. Maybe that's because I'm trying to write a FF7 fic. It's not working out so well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bay
And oh, this is coming from the reviews of NE: THAT EVERY ENDING HAS TO BE EPIC. True, we all like confrontations, the world coming to an end, and all that jazz. However, not all stories have to call for that. If you're doing an epic ending just cause it's cool, then no. Endings basically have to somehow connect everything that happened in the story. And yes, I'm fine if it goes either the happy or tragic route. For the most part all of the endings I have done ends with with the characters learning something from their actions (whether they have been redeemed, off the hook,etc. is a whole 'other story).

Ahhh. I'm writing a piece of fantasy-ish original fiction right now, and it has nothing to do with saving the world from an evil overlord. However, almost all fantasy novels have epic endings where the hero saves the world with his (or hers, but mostly his) POWER OF LIGHT/GOOD/LOVE/whatnot, and I get the feeling people won't like my story because only individual lives are saved. YOU GIVE ME HOPE! Someone agrees that not all stories have to be epic ;_; Being epic would really ruin the whole story in this case, because it doesn't suit the protagonist at all.

That said, I definitely prefer happy endings. I like my endings happy at least on some level. There can be sad things, maddening things and so on, but I hate it when books or movies or series end in a sad way (DAMN YOU COLD FEET!), because I tend to think the ending over for weeks and sometimes I even cry because of it. That's not nice. I don't like it. I want at least somewhat happy endings, please.
It's so unfulfilling to read three hundred pages and find out that the character gets killed because of their mistakes or that in fact nobody survived. Or that the bad guy went unpunished and bad things happened to the protagonists who tried their best. Or something like that. Sometimes it is a good way to add power to the teaching of the story, though.

...I write way too much with caps nowadays, don't I?

*throws gasoline into a fire*
So, Astinus, what are your thoughts on Ender in Exile?

JX Valentine May 4th, 2009 6:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurincha (Post 4610139)
That aside, your new username reminds me of Vincent Valentine rather than Ender's sister.

Strangely enough, I wasn't actually naming myself after Valentine Wiggin, either. I was naming myself after the character from MirrorMask. XD

Quote:

Maybe that's because I'm trying to write a FF7 fic. It's not working out so well.
Aww. ;_; Why not?

Astinus May 4th, 2009 1:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurincha (Post 4610139)
*throws gasoline into a fire*
So, Astinus, what are your thoughts on Ender in Exile?

Speaking of endings, a word which I totally always capitalize, the ending to that book fell flat.

Card tried to put too much in that book. Before it was released, people were lead to believe that the main plot of the book would be what would happen after Andrew reaches the first colony world, because what happens on that world pretty much drives the plot of Speaker For the Dead. Also, Card himself said that what happens on the next world that Andy and Val go to was going to be the main focus of the book, and it even says so on the (rather hilarious) book jacket.

Instead, the book deals mainly with what happens before Andy and Val even reach the first world where Andy's governor. So there's a lot of build-up with characters who are interesting in the beginning of that book who get no closure because they were introduced in the beginning of the book (with a full given history and everything), became damn near main characters because of how much they did, and yet just kind of disappeared in the middle of the book because Card realised that he actually had another plot to include in one book.

So both parts of the plot (what happens before the first colony world on the spaceship and the colony worlds) are rushed to fit into one book. So the main part of EiE (what Andy finds on the first colony world that drives the rest of the series, in a way) is rushed and falls flat, because Card focused more on getting to that point, and also had another plot that gave some closure to the Shadow series to include.

Really, the entire book could have been split into two separate books, giving Card time to focus on each part and giving a satisfying ending.

Instead, the actual ending of EiE is short. Big emotional scenes are given nothing, and entire changes of characterization (a character realizing that his entire life was full of lies) is simply brushed away and given no thought because it was close to the end of the book, and Card probably ran out of pages. Or was tired. (The man plays a lot of video games and watches a lot of television, y'know.) It's just pushed aside and given nothing more.

So really, the entire book is missing a lot of what was in Card's older works.

I would say more, but then that would just be getting into spoilers, and also making me want to write fanfiction. holy crap, protectorshipping <3<3<3

Astinus May 5th, 2009 12:05 AM

DOUBLE POST OH MY GOD WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WHY IS THE MOD DOUBLE POSTING????!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!

It's to let everyone know that if you people don't want to murder yet another idea you all wanted, then y'all should really do your schoolwork first, and then once everything dies down and you all stop wanting to slit your wrists because school sucks I love being out of school! :D:D:D:D:D, then y'all can start beating me up with your nom-nom-nominations for the next FFotM for June.

Also, you may beat me up for this post, because I know that I am an ass. XD

School work first, y'all.

.Ozymandias May 5th, 2009 6:49 AM

School work = FAIL.

Gasp! Plot bunnies are on the attack, but you've got a brainchild to save! How do you keep from wandering off onto those other stories and leaving a poor abandoned fanfiction neglected and in the cold?

I am incredibly bad at doing this - starting something new and never finishing anything. I'm getting better, but previously I follow the bunny and ignore the other story until a bunny comes along for that.

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?


Out of character rubbish and woobifying the vicious characters. A good bad example was a Rorschach/OFC fic I read, where he cried because she kissed him. I screamed so loud my husband came in from the garden to see if I was alright...

txteclipse May 5th, 2009 12:39 PM


Yes it does. Anyway, I came up with this crazy insane idea the other day when a couple of buddies and I were geeking out and bouncing ideas for superpowers off of each other (we had just seen the new Wolverine movie). We (as in we fanfic writers, not we my buddies and I) should totally have a bounce-ideas-off-of-each-other thread. It would solve my problem of feeling like my head is going to explode with all these spoilers I have, and telling people your ideas a) lets you solidify them in your mind and b) lets other people point out possible problems with said ideas.

Watch this already exist.

JX Valentine May 5th, 2009 1:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4614562)
Yes it does. Anyway, I came up with this crazy insane idea the other day when a couple of buddies and I were geeking out and bouncing ideas for superpowers off of each other (we had just seen the new Wolverine movie). We (as in we fanfic writers, not we my buddies and I) should totally have a bounce-ideas-off-of-each-other thread. It would solve my problem of feeling like my head is going to explode with all these spoilers I have, and telling people your ideas a) lets you solidify them in your mind and b) lets other people point out possible problems with said ideas.

Watch this already exist.

Oddly enough, I proposed a plot bunny thread to take care of the flood of idea threads we get periodically not too long ago via Asty's and my VMs. Then, we both paused for a moment, laughed about it, and went back to talking about setting sim children on fire.

Bay May 5th, 2009 3:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valentine (Post 4614727)
Oddly enough, I proposed a plot bunny thread to take care of the flood of idea threads we get periodically not too long ago via Asty's and my VMs. Then, we both paused for a moment, laughed about it, and went back to talking about setting sim children on fire.

My friend is actually doing the plot bunny thread at Serebii and it seems to be working fine, but it's a test run at the moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4614562)

Yes it does. Anyway, I came up with this crazy insane idea the other day when a couple of buddies and I were geeking out and bouncing ideas for superpowers off of each other (we had just seen the new Wolverine movie). We (as in we fanfic writers, not we my buddies and I) should totally have a bounce-ideas-off-of-each-other thread. It would solve my problem of feeling like my head is going to explode with all these spoilers I have, and telling people your ideas a) lets you solidify them in your mind and b) lets other people point out possible problems with said ideas.

Heh, I suggest Astinus an idea thread where you can get your ideas critique, like the one in Serebii, but she said the people can do that in the lounge here. So far no one is doing that...:X

Venia Silente May 5th, 2009 7:09 PM

Sorry for being away for so long. I spent some days in «collaborative zombie» mode at collegue. Web servers work again, IRC channel has an extra integrity layer, and a content management for edics and announcements has been integrated. It's just that I don't remember how I did it, let alone if it was me who did it.

Way a way to spend my birthday...

So, about the questions, I have some stupid answers for them...

What do you hate most in fan-fictions?

Blatant and ridiculous OOCness, of course, it gets on my nerves. Blatant OOCness alone, on the other hand, I think I can handle. Also I greatly dislike when a potentially interesting idea out-of-universe is exposed but never explored. Like, you know, Darth Tyrannus says "Hey, Master, why don't we also try our powers in the filed of telemarketing, for a change?" but then it never happens (yes, I know that would go WAAAAAY OOC, but it was just an example). Like essentially it makes me feel I am being baited and that I am nothing more that an extra point for the "Views" statistic.

I also hate hate HATE when ff authors write a battle and don't give the defining blast/cut/summon/whatever the appropiate exposition. Things like, "Goku screamed 'Kamehameha'! and then the planet exploded. Everyone died but they were revived again anyways -- sans the bad guys, as it always happens; and people would have not a clue how close were their collective asses to be turned into subatomical dust, so they lived happily thereafter. The end."

Going to the line of romance, there are not explicit thing I straight hate, but I guess I really don't like when "romance" is thrown into a story in a very "down-to-Earth" way. For me, romance in a story is about the feeling the characters have and how they act about it in defining moments, how acts of heroism are inspired by the melodious voice of a woman, and how the hero chooses to remain in his homeland because it was a sacred place his/her parents died together fighting for. I definitively don't need to know that the story's lead (or beta) couple have been living together in an apartment since one month ago and thay they're having an argument right now, about what kind of crockery or tableware of any sort are they going to buy. That's common, completely expectable, and quite dull everyday's life, so for that I have people's families, including sometimes my own.

Heh, I suggest Astinus an idea thread where you can get your ideas critique, like the one in Serebii, but she said the people can do that in the lounge here. So far no one is doing that...:X

That's because you (yes, me too) all LOVE offtopicness here... I mean, come on, orgy, Sentrets, pimpy Lugias and all... :D

So...

Want an idea to discuss? Want an idea to laught at? Well I'll soon post one.

NO!!! IT SHALL BE.... TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111 :laugh:


When I do fanfiction, I end up expanding so much in backstory that it becomes a story on its own. So to prevent it from going wild again in my head, I have to write it down. I did. I've already been planning for some time and actually some chapters are already written, albeit quite loosely. Actually, due to services provided in the line of Intertubes Duty, I have been ordered suggested by Dark Lord of the Sith AC Coda X Scarlet Weather to have it handed to him for BR, but I thought it would be interesting to post it here for a little bit of extra examination.

Pokémon-fandom, mainly non-canon region, Legendaries as in "Legend", PG-15 or maybe PG-17, depending on how violent do battles turn out, a bit of romance, a bit of comedy, but mostly battles, not the Tournament kind.
The basic idea is that of an Organization, kinda like a secret society, formed by Trainers, Watchers and the like, who are willing to protect specific ruins scattered across the World with more direct force than other like the Pokémon Rangers would do. What these landmarks are and why they protect them is someting they keep for themselves-- to the public opinion, they are the "ruin zealots" who sixty years ago rebelled against a corporate government and reached the point of offering their services to the neighbor, almost-enemy country/region.

This group is actually the newest iteration of the organization that was disbanded generations ago, and its purpose is different from the previous group although both are connected to the ruins they protect. Currently the group and its four members siphon resources from a wider and more public organization with similar alignment.

The Organization is led by Lead Female Character who remains in the shadows, she is known to the other members, but remains hidden to the outside world and the audience. Two of the members of this Organization, Boy and Girl1, have been spending some time together because of the tassks they are assigned to, as in this Organization, members work and travel in pairs like in Akatsuki, but for a different reason. Of course that menas that Girl2 feels a bit unfair that she has to always go with the Leader (or worse, alone).

In time, Boy and Girl have begun seeing each other in a different light, openly intending to learn more from each other and attain a closer relationship than one of "clanship". But not only they have their hands full with family, collegue and secret society; their Pokémon won't let them do anyways-- actually (*twist twist*) it is the members' Pokémon, beginning with the Leader's Starter, who run the organization instead of the humans, who are there to allow Pokémon to operate in a world where transportation, trade and commerce are designed for humans to handle. Not that humans don't know they are being "manipulated"; rather, they believe it is them who genuinely came up with the ideal and that their Pokémon happily and naively follow.

As tasks such as terminating a group of poachers that local LEOs don't want to deal with, or prevent a team of explorers from discovering a specific cave during the filming of their documentary become more difficult, a strain is put on the Organization. So the Leader('s Pokémon) decides fresh blood is needed to and definitively revive the Organization. One of the members then offers to manipulate a public system of community service for Trainers (let's call it a "Social Board" for Trainers) so that they can use it and study potential prospects. To that end, a sort of "contest" is organized where willing Trainers will have to provide specific services tailored to measure specific capabilities.

Of course, the Pokémon of the Organization decide they have to step in and make sure they are the ones who get to judge whether Guest Character A, B or C are fit to the organization's One True Secret Purpose, while keeping the humans thinking that they are the ones who make the choices. But... why would random Pokémon gather and bring their Trainers along to follow That One True Purpose? Maybe it is a legend that links the birth of their homeland to a specific group of Pokémon to their species, who long ago offered their help to a God. And, as with all legends, that legend may, or may not, have some truth in it.

----

There. Something to think about. I can expand on it more, of course, depending on interest shown and what is needed, and it will help me rewrite one thing or two to begin the story with the right foot.

The "Pokémon are the actual cabal" thing is the one little particular twist that I want to work on and expand, maybe to make it the trait that separates my story from (part of) the rest.

The romance between the two specific characters and the siphoning from a larger organization are some of the elements that I work on that will use to have some of the mechanics of the Organization explored: how do they keep in touch, if they have particular markings or manners, how are new members recruited, why are their Pokémon on the lead, things like that.

Astinus May 5th, 2009 9:13 PM

The reason no one is posting their ideas in this thread?

Because everyone thinks they are so ~*~SPECHUL~*~ that their idea needs to get ~*~INDIVIDUAL~*~ attention so that people who are much smarter than them can tell them what's wrong with their ~*~SPECHUL INDIVIDUAL SPARKLY~*~ idea and they go ~*~EMO~*~ and ~*~FLOUNCE~*~.

So a sticky thread and a moderator who tells people that no you aren't a ~*~SPECHUL~*~SPARKLY~*~EMO~*~PRETTY~*~SNOWFLAKE~*~ will make it so that no one posts their ideas, and people will then complain that there's no one to talk to about their ~*~PRETTY~*~PRETTY~*~IDEAS~*~.

I'm bitter. And had to cut out a few swears. Sorry. :(

:(

Kill me, by the way.

Actually, no wait. There's a whole list of people that I want to repeatedly stab in the face because they annoy the hell out of me first.

DELETING POSTS IS SERIOUS EFFIN' BUSINESS, PEOPLE.

txteclipse May 5th, 2009 10:03 PM

Quote:

Solovino's stuff
Sounds pretty interesting. I'd try to read it. No major problems with your synopsis, so...yeah.

Quote:

The reason no one is posting their ideas in this thread?
Spoilers, mostly. I didn't really want to post major plot points and then have one of my readers come across it. I guess that's kind of an inherent risk, though.

Astinus May 6th, 2009 1:24 AM

I'm better now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse (Post 4616167)
Spoilers, mostly. I didn't really want to post major plot points and then have one of my readers come across it. I guess that's kind of an inherent risk, though.

It is a risk, but if you have a problem with a future scene in a fic, or if you just want to give all the details of an idea, then spoilers are rather difficult to avoid. The best you can do is warn that your post contains spoilers for your fic and place them under a spoiler. That's the best you can do, and then it's their own problem if they click on them and read something that might spoil a surprise for the fic.

You can, however, get those people who haven't read your fic yet for whatever reason to respond to your plot points/ideas/problems with your fic, giving you advice without having the story ruined by spoilers.

But then again, spoilers are a difficult thing to avoid online. (Which is why people became hermits when the last Harry Potter book was coming out.) So, there's always that to consider.

Bay May 6th, 2009 9:36 AM

I like that idea a lot, Solovino. I just love how you mixed a lot of elements like watchers of ruins, organizations, and a tournament together. Me likey. :) True, mixing too many things in one story can make it confusing, but if done right, it'll be epic. ;) The only minor criticism is the Pokemon being the leaders of the organization. I love the twist, but more background info on that, like how and why the Pokemon are the leaders in the first place. Er, does that make sense? ^^;

Swift! May 7th, 2009 4:43 PM

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I last stepped foot in the Fanfiction Lounge, but I have recently run into a lot of free time and so I was wondering if their were any long or complete fanfics that you guys would recommend reading. Preferrably something here at PC.

txteclipse May 7th, 2009 5:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Swift (Post 4622171)
Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I last stepped foot in the Fanfiction Lounge, but I have recently run into a lot of free time and so I was wondering if their were any long or complete fanfics that you guys would recommend reading. Preferrably something here at PC.

Mine Any of Dragonfree's stuff is rather good, what little I saw of Anima Ex Machina was good, what little I saw of Trinity was good, and there's this really old fic called Me and My Flame that I'm enjoying quite thoroughly, but you won't find that one here. Otherwise I honestly don't read a ton of stuff.

In other news, remakes of Gold and Silver announced! *fanfare*

Venia Silente May 7th, 2009 8:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txteclipse

J/K, txt! :cheeky:

I support (wholehartedly) the suggestion with regards to Dragonfree's stuff. I only recently started to read AEM so I can't say anything about it.

Also, yay :D for HeartGold and SoulSilver. Names come a little bit strange though. I'm going to stretch it a little and call in MindCrystal *coughPropheticTitlecough* as well...

---

Now, W/R on my own stuff, thanks txt and Bay for the comments. And I understand the doubts that can stem from the overall idea of the Pokémon being the ones in charge. I guess it can't hurt a bit to go a little bit deeper about the cabal subject here, if it is for the story, and what the h€¢k I love to discuss these kind of stuff anyways...

The thing is, the Pokémon are not the leaders, they are something more like the Executive Committe. The Organization is emimently a human thing, however its history, origins and One True Purpose are something for Pokémon to understand and handle: it was born from a legend they follow, and they keep the humans working "in the right direction".

But this I'm going to enclose in SPOILER tags. It's not that much of a big stuff, but it may feel like I'm giving away the prologue when it is mostly exposition on the M.O.

Spoiler:

The previous iterations of the Organization originated from a legend that narrates how the first cities in the land of the adventure came to be. Long story short, a powerful human warrior chose to serve to a Deity so that the first settlements in the region could be established. Something happened, the pact was broken badly, and the Deity had to flee to fight a war against other deities. The warrior tried to restore the pact by praying to the Deity for all eternity. His Pokémon were so disraught that they would not be allowed to help or make their master company, that they protected the secluded settlement designated for the eternal prayer for eternity too, in the hopes that one day the Deity would come back from Its War and return the warrior to them in gratitude.

Eventually similar ruins would appear in other lands, no one knowing who erected them or why. And most people were respectful enough of the "Original Pact" between human and Pokémon (the one referenced in the Canalave Library) that they would not delve deeper.

Cut to more recent times...

Over the course of several generations, some Pokémon have inherited this duty of protection. They would be designated a human to protect, one that the Pokémon agreed they had understanding of a greater good. These humans would eventually create the first Organization. But the Organization changed as humans did, and its original purpose was lost to humans - but not to the Pokémon. They would drive, guide and teach new generations of human about the secrets of their homeland under the guise of being just your everyday common and silly Pokémon with a particular liking for exploration, and pull them to action when required by the original purpose, thus the first Organization was being kept alive. The Leader's Starter is of such a breed.

There are other Pokémon, in other lands, who are taught the importance of specific ruins their kind lives in, and expect to one day be selected to protect them. To become stronger, some serve their local deities, some travel and live alone, and some others take advantage of he Original Pact and seek for a human "good enough" to train them. Sometimes, a Pokémon of the latter kind notices the human whom they help has a closer knowledge of the ruins or a clear disposition to take the path of a protector; then they may lead the human to the Organization, where if they do fine under human evaluation, the Leader's Starter would "kindly suggest" the human in charge that the newcomer, and his Pokémon, would be a fine addition to the group.

This is how the most recent iteration of the Organization came to be, after the latest was supposedly erased from existance by the use of force.


As for throwing a lot of things together, I'm doing essentially a round robin of sorts, event-wise. The focus of the characters is kept at all times on what the Organization should be doing, but the focus of narration shifts between the feelings members have towards each other, their lack of resources, and the search for completion - be it new members or a nice enemy- in a (I hope) orderly fashion according to what further lack each need reveals. I planned a two-way conveyor belt of triggers which I can use to clearly going from one subject to the next, I just haven't had the time to try it on write.

There. Some more food for critics. I hope I am playing this well.

Ninja Caterpie May 8th, 2009 12:10 AM

They might not remake Crystal as there was no ThunderYellow... But HG and SS are awesome. Even my non-Pokemon friend is getting HG. =D

Dragonfree has some nice stuff...Breezy too. There's some nice stuff at Serebii too. A lot of the finished stuff is at Serebii. xD

Bay May 8th, 2009 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninja Caterpie (Post 4623165)
They might not remake Crystal as there was no ThunderYellow... But HG and SS are awesome. Even my non-Pokemon friend is getting HG. =D

Dragonfree has some nice stuff...Breezy too. There's some nice stuff at Serebii too. A lot of the finished stuff is at Serebii. xD

Not really. There are like tons of unfinished fics in Serebii. XD

Oh that reminds me, I need to have NE be in the completed fics section this weekend Just need to edit grammar mistakes in Chapter 24 and Epilogue first, though. ^^;

The GS remake is indeed good news. Shoudl give more inspiration for an OT fic I have been planning since forever. XD

Ninja Caterpie May 8th, 2009 6:33 PM

I never said a lot of the things at Serebii are finished, I just said that there are a lot of finished ones at Serebii too.

.Ozymandias May 9th, 2009 3:36 AM

Sorry I've been gone so long (have I?), my dog had to be put down >.< But it brought a new question for you all to try and stop Astinus from killing someone!

If something happens IRL to make you stop writing, how do you get back into it?

Genuine question; I've written the heartwrenching end for A Darker Day to utilise my pain after my dog died, but I need to write the build up to the end, and I'm struggling to put it down. Anyone have any advice?

YAY for G/S remakes! I am psyched for those!

TurtleKing May 9th, 2009 5:39 AM

The King of Turtles is back in the Lounge. How's everybody been?

Bay May 9th, 2009 12:03 PM

If something happens IRL to make you stop writing, how do you get back into it?

There was actually one time a couple years ago I was having nervous breakdowns due to being stressed out on school, which delayed NE for a little bit. After going to counseling for a little bit, I've been trying ways to relax myself, and one is reading books and fanfics. Eventually those gave me inspiration to write NE again. XD

Sorry that your dog has to be put down. *hugs* Hopefully you'll be able to write that buildup towards the end after you feel better. :)

EDIT: SHOOT, ALMOST FORGOT!

Hi, TurtleKing! Been a while. :) As for me, I'm doing fine. Finished NE, hehe. :D

txteclipse May 9th, 2009 4:19 PM

Quote:

If something happens IRL to make you stop writing, how do you get back into it?
I wrote the first eighteen chapters or so of the E.C. in this surreal state of being that I can't describe very well. It was like being enlightened, depressed, joyous, indifferent, and overly-interested in everything all at the same time. Then we had the 2007 wildfires and my life kind of went crazy for a while, and the feeling went away, never to return.

Now writing every chapter is like pulling teeth, and unfortunately, I don't have any methods to get back into the mood, so to speak. If I can find music that gets me back into that state, it helps once in a while, but there's no solid solution that gets me to write.

And sorry about your dog, Ozy. I lost my first one a few years ago and it was a really tough goodbye.

Astinus May 9th, 2009 10:04 PM

I love you all.

...

No, I'm not dying.

txteclipse stole my answer, by the way. I'm in the same boat he is (PIRATES!) when it comes to writing. (I think I also experienced that trippy feeling he had.) I haven't really come up with any solution that makes me feel that I should be writing.

I just really poke away. This past week has just been torture because of work.

If you need me, I'll be in the new HG/SS section.


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