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What Should I Write About?
I was thinking about getting back into writing (OMG, Kev used to write?) and I've got two ideas, one is a Pokemon Fanfic and the other is my own story.
I'll tell you some things about the two ideas and you tell me which one you prefer... Title: WindowShipping* Original Story/Fanfic: Fanfic (Pokemon) Genre: Adventure/Romance (ScarfShipping) Setting: Sinnoh Region Plot: Kouki, Jun and Hikari have reached the end of their Pokemon Journey together and it's time for the Grand Festival's. Kouki and Jun are both competing in the Sinnoh League Champion's Tournament and have already reached the Semifinals. Hikari, on the other hand, has made it to the Final of the Sinnoh Pokemon Champion's Contest and must go up against an old rival (haven't decided who). Kouki and Jun are hoping to face each other in the finals, but as fate would have it... they are paired up one round before hand and must battle each other for a place in the finals. This battle will be taking place at the exact same time as Hikari's final match... and therefore, she was no-one to support her. After all of this, Hikari hears about a Contest League that is about to start in another region (haven't decided which one). She is dying to go, but that would mean leaving Kouki and Jun for a whole year. Kouki and Jun both want what will make Hikari happy, so they tell her to go... luckily, Hikari has 1 month before she has to leave and in that time the trio are hoping to go on a holiday together. With her two best friends competing for her love and the pressure of a whole new adventure on her on own, looming just on the horizon, how will Hikari be able to cope? Title: Stepping Back* Original Story/Fanfic: Original Story Genre: Action/Romance Setting: Tokyo, Japan (Past and Present) Plot: Kasey is an average Japanese student who goes to a very high ranked school, he is very smart and good looking which makes him quite popular. Most of his time is taken up by homework, chores, school, friends and his many hobby's. His life right now is at a high, he's seeing his friends more often, staying out every Saturday Night and the girl he likes has just started to notice him. Life at the moment couldn't be better for Kasey, but... all of this changes when he is walking home one night and see's two men arguing in a park across the street from where he's walking. One of the men holds up his right arm and Kasey see's, what looks like, an oversized watch strapped around his wrist. The other man then pulls out a gun and, without hesitation, shoots the man with the strange watch. Kasey panics and accidentally knocks over a garbage can, the noise gets the mans attention and he points the gun at him. Kasey takes off down the street with the man chasing after him, after a while Kasey stops running and see's that he's ended up next to the man that had been shot early. Kasey begins to panic again, but then he notice's the watch-like device... carefully, he removes it from the dead mans wrist and takes a closer look. This is when the man with the gun returns and begins shooting at Kasey, the device starts to beep and in a blur Kasey is gone. Practically, the watch is a time-travelling device... which has taken Kasey hundreds of years into the past, back to when Samurai's ruled Japan. What will Kasey do with this new found power? Can he juggle the past and present, while trying to survive Samurai attacks and trying to figure out the mystery of the unknown man in the park? *These titles are both prototypes and they both suck, I'll think of a better title once I choose which story I'm going to write. |
I don't really read or follow shippings, so I wouldn't be interested in the first one. The second one sounds more enthralling, although it seems to have almost the same concept as a movie that came out a few years ago...can't for the life of me remember the name of it. Same time-traveling watch and whatnot (or was it time-slowing?).
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I think I know which movie you're talking about and if I'm right, my story is completely different. =D |
Personally, I'll have to agree with txt and say that I'm not much of a shipper myself and therefore gravitate towards your time traveling concept. (It's really cool, though -- the idea of a time-traveling watch. Then again, I'm also totally for anything remotely science fiction.)
On the other hand, I think you should be wary about the fact that you'll want to do a lot of research before you dive into a story like this. Although your audience may not be experts in Japanese culture, it'd make your story a bit more enjoyable if you were careful about historical and cultural facts. (For example, I'm pretty sure Kasey isn't a Japanese name.) Otherwise, your story may have an otaku feel: it'll feel as if someone who claims to love Japanese culture but only knows what the words "kaze" and such mean wrote the story. I'm assuming you already know that, though. I'm just saying it as an extra heads up. |
Seeing how your Japanese student is named Kasey and tries to "survive Samurai attacks", I don't think you know enough of the Japanese culture yet to write that story. You have to make some research so that you don't repel readers by your inaccurate historical facts or the like. For example, you have to remember:
-Samurais never ruled Japan, their lords, the Shogun, did. -Samurais don't attack random people, no matter how suspicious they look. Samurais are like knights, you know? Noble and all that. They follow orders. Otherwise, they're just plain ronins and most probably end up committing a harakiri. Honor comes first when you're a samurai! -Hundeds of years ago Tokyo was called Edo. Also, when Edo was the center of politics in Japan, samurai culture had already began to slowly collapse. There were no wars in Japan at that time so samurais concentrated more and more on reading and writing poetry, being very buddhist and meditating (ever heard the term bushido? That's what they spent their time doing). Eventually even their armors became so ornamental they were practically useless in a real fight. (When the next war began, though, their armors lost all those unnecessary decorations.) So, you might want to have the capital being Kobe or Nara instead, but then again, that'd make Edo just a fisher's village. An interesting note would be that the head of state in Japan at that time kept the families of shoguns as hostages in Edo... -Kasey is not a Japanese name. Please make it Takeo or something. Except, of course, your character is half foreign or something, in which case they will totally exterminate him when he ends up in historical Japan. -In Japanese school system, all hobbies practically take place in school. Also, to succeed in Japanese schools, one must study a lot. Their system is based a lot on memorizing stuff. This is just a minor thing, but just don't make his school days be, say, from 10 AM to 2 PM. And don't make him one that never makes his homework. Doesn't work in Japan (works here in Finland, though *smirk*). Now, don't take me wrong. I really think your idea could make a good story. The only thing I'm saying is that inaccuracy and vagueness will only annoy the readers that are most likely to review your story and help you. If you need help with this, Wikipedia is always a great help and if you want, you can PM me for more interesting notes :laugh: I've read several books on the subject so I think I know pretty much by now. (A couple of things you could use, for example: Mount Fuji erupted in 1707, causing a catastrophe in Edo, and there was a massive earthquake there in 1855 [only a couple of years before the emperor got his power back. Hmmm, a conspiracy?]) I'll be happy to help you! And about that other idea for a story: I'm not a big fan of shippings, but I really do like the Kouki-Hikari shipping, whatever it may be called. So, I think you might make a great story with that idea, but I'm not going to read it if Jun gets Hikari! *sulk* No, seriously, your idea sounds fair enough. It might be slightly used (I don't know, I don't read shipping fics) but if you write it well, it'll be a hit among the shippers and who knows, maybe some other readers will pick it up, too. As I said, I'm not going to read it if Jun's the one to win. I root for Lucas. ;) |
Your first story sounds exactly like a lot of other shipping fics out there. So unless you have some grand way to make that fic stand out from all the others, I wouldn't suggest doing this one.
Your second fic sounds like the more interesting one. I am backing up what others have said: Do your research. It'll make your story just sound better when you have the basic facts correct about the Japanese culture. (Like, for instance, the fact that I stopped and stared at the name "Kasey" used for a Japanese person. Not even in a less-traditional Japanese household would the parents use a Western-sounding name, because the younger generation are the ones more accepting to the different culture. The parents aren't as much.) Plus there's the whole samurai history to look at. I'm assuming you're looking more at the period of history around the year 1160, since that's when the samurai began to rule. Or perhaps the Oda Nobunaga time? Whichever time period you're looking at, do your research there too. Not only the history, but what life was like for a samurai. Heck, let me just ask: Is Kasey in lower or upper secondary school? I'm sure that you can answer if you've done your research. So pretty much what I'm stressing is the importance of research. I know from researching the Japanese culture for a story I'm writing how much there is to learn. (Like Japanese architecture.) Research is important for any writing, especially when covering something that can easily be checked by someone else. |
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Oh, and by the way, if you do write this story, let me know. I'll be the first in the line to read it! |
Wow, lots of feedback! But, I'm starting to feel like an idiot now...
I know that I need to do some research, well... A LOT of research. Let me just clear a few things up... Kasey's Name: I know it's not Japanese, I was just using Kasey cause it's my favourite name to use when I haven't got a proper name. I HAVE been looking through lists of good Japanese names and trying to pick out one that would work well in both the past and the present. Samurai's: I was staring at that part for a while before I actually choose to write Samurai's. I must of had a huge mind blank, I should have written Japanese Warriors... or better yet, Bandits. Everything Else: I haven't even started to research. I decided I would see if you liked the idea of the story before I started learning more about Japanese Culture. You guys seem to know a bit more about Japan than I do (that's an understatment XD), so maybe you could help me with a few things. 1. What's a good Japanese name! 2. Tell me everything you know about Tokyo today! 3. Was there ever a corrupt ruler of Japan? If so, explain that era... 4. Tell me everything you know about the Japanese School System! 5. A bit of geography woudln't hurt either. Both past and present... 6. Anything else that you know, that you think would help me in writing this story. While you work on that, I'll be surfing Wikipedia for a couple of hours. =P |
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Tokyo (assuming you've looked it up on wikipedia already): Shibuya (Yes, the setting from TWEWY. I would highly recommend you learn about this place.) I can't tell you anything about a corrupt ruler of Japan that Wikipedia can't. As for geography, wikipedia will help, but I would point you to the paragraph under "Japanese Characters" found on this page. It's the legend of how the Japanese islands were formed. Knowing the names of Japanese weapons, and how they are used and function, is also a must. Here's some highlights: Katana, Wakizashi, Tantō, Shuriken, Naginata, Yari, Yumi and Arquebus. |
1. What's a good Japanese name!
Personally, I like names like Takeo, Saito, Ryoga, Kyo, Ryu, Tetsu, Jiro... (for male names) But it's up to you, really. 2. Tell me everything you know about Tokyo today! Everything? You don't want to know everything. One important point would be that Tokyo actually isn't one big city, it's 23 separate, intependent wards that are like their own little cities as they are. Like Shinjuku City or Shibuya City. Moreover, people live in Tokyo use the public transportation system when they have to move from place to place inside Tokyo (notably the Yamanote line, you've probably heard from it sometime). So, you have to decide where your character lives in Tokyo and then research that specific area. No-one lives in a place called "Tokyo", really, if you understand what I mean. I suggest you start your research from either the wikipedia article on Tokyo and the specific area or the wikitravel article. 3. Was there ever a corrupt ruler of Japan? If so, explain that era... Tell me if there ever has been a big country that hasn't had a corrupt ruler. I don't know about this very specificly, but I'd say some of the heads of the shogunat have been pretty, ahem, corrupt. It was hard being a shogun: the emperor had his power because it was assigned to him by gods, but the head of the shogunat had his power because he could keep it. This is a terrible, terrible generalization and you should not listen to what I say. Instead, go to wikipedia and see what it has to say about the leaders of the periods from Kamakura period to Meiji perion (Meiji period being the one where emperor got his power back). 4. Tell me everything you know about the Japanese School System! Why don't you look in wikipedia for yourself? It's fairly easy to find that information, I had to look for the article once. But the general guidelines would be long days, hard exams, very much competition and very little vacations. They have a summer vacation of about a month in July, something about as long in March and then a week during Christmas and another on the Golden week in May, if I recall correctly. Also, I gather they have obligatory English lessons there. (We don't.) 5. A bit of geography woudln't hurt either. Both past and present... Aww, come on. In a case like this, picture is worth a thousand words. But, something a map won't tell you is that Japanese concider Tokyo and the Kanto region being in eastern Japan and Osaka and the Kansai (or Kinki) region being in western Japan. Then there's Hokkaido in north and Kyushu and Shikoku in south, not to forget Okinawa and such. They have a lot of islands and a lot of mountains, but I assume you know that much. The mountains are often very foresty. 6. Anything else that you know, that you think would help me in writing this story. Well, eh. Before the Meiji restauration (1860 or something if I recall correctly) the Japanese didn't eat very much meat. Actually, they ate practically none at all because buddhists don't like the idea of eating other beings. Of course there's shintoism, too, but if you are to have samurais in your story (samurais are cool), you might want to make most of the people buddhists. Oh, and I have a suggestion. Why don't you make your story happen on the Sengoku period (the period of civil wars)? During that time (15th century), people in Japan were in constant military conflict: there were famines, earthquakes and other nasty things to tease people and cause them to rebel the shoguns. After this, a person called Nobunaga Oda (you might have heard of him) united Japan again. Anyway, I think that would be a good time to set your sotry in because of all the bandits, ronins, and normal people traveling around, stealing, burning and killing in their search of food or money or whatever. Also, the shoguns were fighting each other continously. Look for more in Wikipedia! Wikipedia is your friend! A nice, messy era to get accidentally transported into, eh? |
behindthename.com is where I went to find the Japanese names I use in my fics.
As for other sites I have: Japanese Lifestyle Religion in Japan Japanese school system =/= American school system Education in Japan Education Japan Samurai on Wiki Japan-Guide I also have a book on the mannerisms of the Japanese, called Etiquette Guide To Japan. So you definitely want to look up some online information about that, because there's a lot of differences there. Quote:
I know that with the last names, it has to be the Japanese name kept for the children, which is stated in the laws. But first names? I can't find a thing. |
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Anyway, I can't find any mentions of a law like that either. I've been trying to go trough the Japanese laws (the real laws, not just summaries. Man, is legal English tiring to read!) because I found several mentions on naming children in Japan (for example, no middle names allowed and the letter "v" is restricted if both parents are Japanese). I can't find a law that has anything to say about Japanese first names, and I really don't have to time to search such law for hours (which, quite frankly, I already did), so I suppose I have to give up. I believe you're right, Astinus, but the fact I can't find any law about first names ticks me off. If someone ever finds a Japanese law like that, please tell me... |
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