The Fan Fiction Club

[Psychic]

Wow, I haven't been the thread starter for that long and already I'm way behind in keeping the first post updated. ^^;

*coughs* Anyway, everyone's been added to the front page, as well as the current topics, so we're still up-to-date (for now).


I might as well answer the questions of the club thus far. ^^

How do you plan out your fics/fic ideas?
I usually don't. If I get an idea I'll start to write about it, but the idea dies quickly and I lose inspiration fast. Usually I just get random bits of ideas for later on in the story and I ask myself how I could incorporate it all later, but that's about it. A bit issue with me is that I suck at creating main plots and keeping them going at a decent speed, so while putting in little ideas here and there is easy, trying to plan out the entire thing is just one big headache. :S


What is your favorite genre of pokémon fan fiction and why?
Adventure, I'd say. I love seeing characters traveling a region and seeing how the writer animates certain cities or events in the ways the games/show failed. The Pokémon world is just so big and huge and wonderful and there's so much you can play around with in it, and what better way to delve into all that then through an adventure?!


What's your length of fics/chapters?
Generally quite short. I have a rather short attention span and if I make a chapter or story too long I risk boring myself and thus losing precious drive and inspiration to keep writing.

Depending on the story I like to have between five and fifteen pages for a One-Shot, and around twelve pages for a chapter. Of course, since I've not worked on a chaptered fic in years that might have changed, but a pet peeve of mine has always been needlessly long chapters. :/


How many of you are writers and ardent fans of Pokèmon?
Since the Animé annoys the hell out of me and I'm not really allowed to buy the games (I don't have R/S/FR/LG/E/D/P/MD/PBR) it's hard to remain a fan of the franchise. I used to collect the toys and the cards, but I always liked action figures and being able to hold the creatures from the show in my hand was always very appealing, and I only got the cards because of the art on them.

I try to stay updated on the new happenings and whatnot, however the main way I stay connected to it is through the internet - forums, fic-writing, RPing, that stuff. I mean, it doesn’t really matter anyway, since what I love the most about Pokémon isn’t the gameplay or the collecting of cards, but the variety of creatures and the loose, flexible, waiting-to-be-defined universe where anything can happen, and new mysteries are found every day. How awesome is it to have a dragon Pokémon with huge leathery wings and a fiery tail, and how do Shellder help Slowpoke evolve into Slowbro? And so much can be done with all the ideas and concepts and you can put any character anywhere and see what happens and there’s just so much FREEDOM! ^^

Now, aside from the internet where I can indulge in my love of the fandom, the Animé is the most easily accessible media through which I can enjoy Pokémon, however the show is a pure waste of the time of everyone except for the kids just now getting into Pokémon who haven't seen Ash and Pikachu wander through four other regions doing the exact same thing. When I do watch it, it's to see the "featured" Pokémon of that episode and how it’s portrayed, because hey, if you have a Butterfree in your fic, you’ll know a lot more about it and how it acts if you see it in action (as more than just a bunch of pixels).

Otherwise the Animé completely butchers Pokémon and it doesn’t even have a constant cannon. What’s this, an Articuno owned by a random trainer? Hey look, Lugia can breed but can’t speak English! Whaaaaaa?

How do I join.

What, ya can’t read the first post? Come on, hun, get it together – it’s the Fan Fiction Club, you have to know how to read to be a member!



~Psychic

 

[EonMaster One]

Yeah, I’m EonMaster One. My favorite kind of fanfiction is OT fanfiction. I love a good journey fic done right. I’ve actually been around as an author for about five years or so. My project involves a series of fanfics called the Revolution Saga. I have already finished my first and am working on the second.

Pokemon Revolution: Johto (PRJ for short) – set in Johto, this follows the adventures of Travis DePaul III and the Lineage War. Not your ordinary OT fic, that’s for sure. It started as my first fic when I was still going by the names AbsoluteZero and EonMaster Zero years ago, and evolved into this Level-58 (that is, 58-chapter) monster. It’s over in the completed fics section. Check it out if you get some free time, as it’ll make reading my current project much less confusing.

Pokemon Revolution: Advent Phoenix – set two years after PRJ, this follows Travis as he embarks on another Pokemon Journey, this time to Hoenn. However, as it was last time, everything is not what it seems…

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

What’s this, an Articuno owned by a random trainer? Hey look, Lugia can breed but can’t speak English! Whaaaaaa?

Noland didn't own Articuno--it was his friend and it battled for him, but he made a point of saying that it wasn't his. However, there was a trainer in one of the games who *did* have Articuno (someone in the Crystal Battle Tower), and that didn't break any canon. At least no one complained about it.

Heck, Brandon had all three Regis on the show, and they were actually his. But in the games (which I don't see anyone complaining about), half the Frontier Brains have Legendaries. And again, that didn't break canon.

Lugia have to reproduce somehow. Just because a trainer in the games can't get them to breed doesn't mean they *can't* breed. Besides, the one from the second movie didn't "speak" either, it "spoke" using psychic powers, like Mewtwo. Perhaps the one in the Orange Islands is a stronger psychic than the one from the Whirl Islands.

I don't see how any of that contradicts itself.

 

[Eclipse]

Hi, I'm Eclipse, and I'm currently writing a new fanfic, so I thought I'd join the club to see what all you fellow fan-fic lovers are raving about.

Current Topics:
How do you plan out your fics/fic ideas?
I don't usually, with shorter fics. With longer ones, I usually make a ldot point list.


What is your favorite genre of pokémon fan fiction and why?
I hate run-of-the-mill Journey fics, I like humourous fics such as The Ice-Cream Lopunny. I also give serious ones a go.

What's your length of fics/chapters?
Usually very long. I get carried away and sometimes write up to six pages.

How many of you are writers and ardent fans of Pokèmon?
Me!

 

[Bay]

What's your length of fics/chapters?

In "Simplicity", the chapters tend to be between five to ten, although the last chapter is sixteen chapters. In "Nothing, Everything" the chapters ranged between five and fifteen.

How many of you are writers and ardent fans of Pokèmon?

I am, I am! (raises hand) XD

Well, to break it down, since everyone did...

The cards I used to collect a lot for the art (my favorite one is Seadra's card XD ), but then stopped before I even get my hands on the second generation cards. That is the same thing with the toys (key chains, plushies, etc. ).

The anime, I liked it a lot at the beginning, but then stopped watching it when the gang was at Johto. However, I started watching it again one day in September two years ago while waiting for the US Open and then I began watching the show again. XD I then stopped watching it again because of how the show moved to Cartoon Network, and I don't have cable. :X I managed to watch a few episodes and movies on the internet though XD. I guess what keeps me still interested in the anime (and even writing an anime based one shot) is to take a breather from it. Watch some episodes, take a break from it, watch it again, repeat. ^O^

Now, the games. Yeah, besides the gym and Elite 4 routine, there is always something new to do. Also, a lot of times it was fun trying out different teams and trying to beat my last time I finished. XD

The manga, I hadn't read yet though I heard mixed views on it. :/

Yeah, I think the best thing about the franchise is the Pokemon themselves. There are so many interesting facts about them but also so many mysteries too. For instance, in my one shot for the Sacrifice Contest, there is one Pokedex entry that caught my eye...and that is all I am going to say about that one shot for the moment. :X

Dang, long post. All right, need to go sleep now! XD

 

[MondoTR]

For the current topic:

I still like Pogeymanz.

Cards - Collected at the beginning and bought five packs about a year ago. Collected mainly the ones I liked, whether it be because of the art, attacks, or Pokemon. I am still trying to get complete both of the Gym Leader sets. It's hard because I don't buy individual cards and their booster packs have been hard to come by for years.

Manga - I've read a bit of both the Pikachu and color names series. I liked both but wasn't able to find any so I couldn't continue them. It was a few years ago but I'd still like to read both.

Anime - Johto is the last that I've seen all the way through but I have seen a few eps of Hoenn and Sinnoh. I do try to watch now sometimes but my lost interest actually came from not being able to watch instead of being the cause.

Games - I still play them but don't care about being behind. I still haven't finished Pearl despite getting it a few weeks after it came out in the US. And by the time I got Collosseum, most people had finished XD.

So I'm still a Pogeymanz fan. Not as much as I once was but I still enjoy it. And I may talk about Pokemon on this forum but I mainly come here for the people.

Back to the topic, I answered the Pogeymanz part but for the writers part: I'm not a writer.

In school there are minimum lengths, deadlines, and predetermined topics all of which I was terrible with. When it comes to fics, I can procrastinate, stop wherever works best for the particular chapter, and choose my own ideas. So while I still hate writing, it makes it easier to be able to do it on my own terms. Plus, I get annoyed when ideas get stuck in my head. I don't like the process of writing it but I love the result of having my ideas written down as an actual story and that others can read it even though they don't comment on it, LOL.

And I've noticed that while it still pales in comparison with most fic writers, my fics are better than anything else I've written. The comparison is for here and BMGf, my fics are good enough to be above the crap ff.net mostly consists of.

 

[Manaphyman]

I'd like to join.

My fic is The Sevii Islands Saga, which you can link to in my signature.

How do you plan out your fics/fic ideas?

Honestly, my fic was born one day when I was perusing the forums, and got into fanfiction. I daydream about my fic, contemplating various options for chapters, usually in a boring class. Sometimes, I sit down and plan up to ten chapters, saying ok, this is going to happen here....

 

[duncan]

What is your favorite genre of Pokémon fan fiction and why?

Hmm, tough call. I'll pretty much read anything, but I really don't like shipping fics. My favorites are OT and Action. (Really suprising, seeing as my fic is falls into both categories). But I enjoy a nicely done horror fic, same for drama. Sci-fi, not so much, but if it's good I'll read it.

How do you plan out your fics/fic ideas?
All kinds of ways. Usually, when I'm bored, I just start dreaming up ideas for new fics (or ideas for future chapters of my pre-existing ones). Stuff just comes to me all times of the day and night. I just get my laptop and start typing, wherever I am.

 

[Shuko]

I didn't know there was a fanfiction club.

I'd like to join. I've been writing fanfiction since early 1999, although I did it as a kid too without knowing what it was. xD I think my first ever fanfic was when I was 8 (in 1989), when I wrote a Ninja turtles fanfiction about the Shredder kidnapping April O'Neil and brainwashing her into becoming his own private ninja assassin. Lol. It was really corny and childish, but it was definitely my first real try. I wish I still had it...

Anyway, I started out officially with Dragonball fanfiction. I have a long serial called "The Real Story of Bulma Briefs," which turned out to be a horrible Mary Sue fic, but I still love it anyway. As far as Serebii is concerned, my main fic here would be "I Hate Pokémon!", and I also have several other fics around that I haven't updated much.

The one I'm working on currently is "Stealthy Ninja Mario," (link is in the sig) a crossover fic involving Mario, Zelda, and Sonic the Hedgehog fandoms. It's actually a novelization of a flash cartoon series I've been planning, and I felt that writing it in story form would help me keep the cartoon plot straight in my head as I continued with it. In this story, the evil sorcerer Vaati (a character from both the Minish Cap and the Four Swords Adventures games) has discovered a way to create the ultimate spell, and grant himself immortality. In order to complete his spell, he needs to collect three people of great power, and use them as ingredients to fuel the spell. Unfortunately, one of those whom he captures is princess Toadstool. Mario wants to go after her, but Vaati is a master sorcerer, and he can hop from one realm to another on top of that. Mario can't possibly hope to defeat a sorcerer like that, especially since he has no idea what the concept of realms even mean. Fortunately, the Mushroom Kingdom is not without its wise ones, and one in particular holds a great secret that just might give Mario an edge...

If you'd like to read more, I hope you will. No one seems to like it yet, and I don't see a lot of traffic in the non-pokemon fic forums anyway, lol.

Now, to answer the current questions:
How do you plan out your fics/fic ideas?
Oddly enough, most of my fics start out as dreams. I dream a lot, and I keep a dream journal. When an interesting sequence of events happens in my dreams, I often find a way to work a story around it. To that end, I'll start out with a very nebulous, generic idea, and then I'll work my way outward, spiderweb-fashion, and flesh out the idea with main points. From there, I'll break it up into a sequential list, and section this list into main chunks that usually wind up as chapters in the story, to be fleshed out when I actually begin writing.

What is your favorite genre of pokémon fan fiction and why?
I like OT fics a lot, especially if they're descriptive and unique. I'm not generally a huge fan of anime-based fics, because the characters on the TV show are so two-dimensional and boring. I find that original characters suit my tastes better, since they often have a lot more depth and character to them.

What's your length of fics/chapters?
Usually it's on the heavy side - ten or more pages. I double space my paragraphs, and I don't usually bother about length until the chapter gets to be sixteen pages or more. When it gets that big, I usually try to split it up into smaller portions. My problem is my wordiness. I can take one simple concept and turn it into a dissertation. >_>

How many of you are writers and ardent fans of Pokèmon?
I am a writer in the sense that I write for the joy of writing very often. I like to write, so I'm a writer. I don't write by profession, and I don't write all the time, but my definition of a writer includes me in its demographic. As for being an ardent fan of Pokémon, I can answer a definite affirmative. xD I've loved the games since RBY, and I've always played them when a new one comes out. I also love the manga. The anime I could do without, however, and I never got into collecting figures, cards, or most other paraphernalia. I do like the occasional plushie though. :3

 

[Manaphyman]

What's your length of fics/chapters?

I'm split down the middle, 10-15 pages. I can't really wirte longer chapters than that.

 

[Praxiteles]

Hmm, no new topic for a while. Everyone,

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?
Erm, not always. I carry the curse of a distinct underappreciation of my own work, meaning that I am often incapable of looking at my own work again after I've written it without breaking down in shame because of its flawedness. I seem to know exactly what's wrong in any fiction of mine, but I am incapable of remedying it, due to many unknown reasons.

Then, in fact, Aftershock is proving a great trouble to me as of this proverbial hour, and seemed the major cause for a spontaneous bout of depression. I am having many frustrating issues with cohesion.

Even then, I would say that writing has many greater advantages to it than cons. I am so closely wedded to it, for one, that I would never dare leave the profession; and, for another, it has its highs as well as lows. I have indeed attained such mental highs in some of my more glorious works that I can only liken it to what some call a direct message from God, a glorious, divine epiphany that fills me with splendour and other such adjectives. I also take great delight in forming the various twists and turns of the plot in a bout of calm, enlightened inspiration, living those immortalities which I can never physically achieve. In the end, though I could never forsake my writing if I wanted to, I tuly would never wish to do so.

 

[MondoTR]

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?

No. As stated in my previous posts, I hate the process and do it solely for the results.

 

[FlamingRuby]

For the most part, I have fun writing.

It's not easy some days, but it's all worth it in the end.

 

[Arcanine Royale]

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?

Well, most of the time it is... (looking at a 60,000 word fic and typing 'the end' will be great when it happens), and I enjoy writing, but obviously it's not all fun, because, well, then everyone would write.

It's not enjoyable sometimes, when all of the projects you're working on just stall, and you can't write a thing... you just want to quit. But then you see the finished work, and the hard times are worth the piece you write.

 

[~RaikouRider243~]

How do you plan out your fics/fic ideas?
I write a two-paragraph synopsis of each chapter before starting the actual chapter 1. I rarely deviate from the plan; the only thing I've done is move events to other chapters. It helps me keep the plot from wandering, and also helps keep the fic consistent with itself.

What is your favorite genre of Pokémon fan fiction and why?
I like a legendary Pokémon plot done well; my favorites are the "Chosen" plots where humans and legendary Pokémon have to work as a team. My favorite chaptered fic of all time would have to be LC by Chibi Pika.

What's your length of fics/chapters?
On average, five to six pages, but they've ranged from three (yuck) to ten pages in length.

How many of you are writers and ardent fans of Pokémon?
I was quite the fan of Pokémon before I started writing, oddly enough. I used to watch the anime and play the card game; I had 12 different decks. Today, I wouldn't really consider myself that big a Pokémon fan; I quit following the anime after Master Quest, I quit collecting the cards after NeoDestiny, and I don't play the games as much. My interaction with the Pokémon world now is mainly in my writing and RP'ing.

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?
I do not enjoy writing exposition; it's probably why I am not as popular as a lot of authors here. After the first few chapters, I enjoy just about every moment of it.
---------------
Sorry it took so long to answer everything, I kinda got backed up by class, work...and my fic. xD Chapter 18 took a while to write.

 

[Manaphyman]

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?

Well, not always. If I'm really into the chapter, then yes, but if I'm writning a filler chapter, than no. I get bored of writing a really long chapter.

 

[duncan]

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?

Usually. If I'm in a bad mood, or just not wanting to write at that moment, then I write crap and hate every moment of it. But 95% of the time, I write, not to finish a chapter in time, but to actually just write.

It may sound a little weird, but many times (late at night, etc.) I just sit down, turn on some good music (a must, to drown out anything at all that will draw me away from writing) and just start writing.

I continue to amuse myself by coming up with more and more convuluted plotlines. And whenever you write a villain's part in a fic, that's always fun.

The main thing I'm trying (and failing) to say, is that when I don't enjoy writing, then it's no good and I just wait until I'm ready and have fun with it.

There, a complicated answer to a simple question!

 

[Bay]

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?

Most of the time yes, but there are some times no. A few times I get picky on the words I used and get worried if there are any tense problems I have. However, I managed to finish most of my fanfictions and it is worth it in the end. ^^

 

[Negrek]

Is writing always an enjoyable experience for you?

It is always enjoyable, but it is occasionally a chore, if that makes sense. Mostly, the mechanical aspect of writing is what gets tiresome for me--my hand can't scratch out a word anywhere near as fast as I can write out an entire scene in my head. Transcribing what I've thought up can be as dull as just copying down from a book at times. Not to mention that my wrist aches after a while. It can also be frustrating when a sentence or scene just won't come out right. The actual process of creation is enjoyable for me, though, yes.

 

[duncan]

Okay, I guess I'll make a new topic:

How do you get motivated to write?

Well, a must for me is music. If I have a good song on (depending on what I'm writing), then I can crank out a chapter a day (on a really really good day). Another thing is mood. If I'm irrated or something like that, then I'll just stare at the keyboard. But after I've listened to a little music, I'm usually ready to go.