Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Flaze]

Actually it's interesting you mention it like that Jabber, because I agree myself. As a little kid I was always the one that came up with the make believe games me and my friends did, I always had that sort of um...uncontrolled creative process. I think that writing helps in that sense too. There are people that have a lot of creativity but you need to hone that creativity first before you can put it to good use, giving your own twist to an already existing fandom or just creating original stories that aren't exactly supposed to be published can help in learning what and what not to do and how to do it properly, to kind of learn to control one's own imagination in a sense.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Just to elaborate on what I mean by a "safe" setting:

A "safe" setting either means a world where all the nitty gritty of worldbuilding is done for you, or holds a nostalgic or sentimental meaning for the writer

 

[Dorothy]

So, I just posted my latest piece of fanfiction here. It's been two years since I last wrote any fanfiction, and it was kind of refreshing, a nice change of pace. I can't neglect my novel, but maybe I'll start dabbling in fic some more.

 

[AetherX]

Journey fics are great because they provide a framework for any kind of story or characters. As LT said, you can tell a story without worrying too much about worldbuilding. Personally, I'm writing using the journey fic genre to develop my characters, build my world, and hone my writing skills before I actually delve into a really serious fanfic, and I won't have the balls to write an original story for quite some time.

I'll never understand people who think that fanfiction is useless. At the very least, the number of stories that I've deeply enjoyed reading on here is evidence against that.

 

[Tophat Dragoneye]

Just as LightningTopaz explained, you can write a journey-fic without having to worry about building your own custom framework, but still make something new. I wrote Flames of a Revolutionary as a journey-fic because of that back then, though I did try something new with my one-shot, Forced into Retirement (which I'm thinking about re-writing). Nevertheless, it's still possible to take the genre and make your story unique and I've seen some very interesting stories written here.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Take "The Kalos Connection"--it is basically my romanticized playthrough through Y, but I changed some aspects of the game (changing Mega Evolution, changing the Adventure Rules to seem less game-y, minimizing the trainer parade, and so on) and added events,.characters, and people that are not in the game (the trip to the theater in Lumoise was new, Ash and Brock have each cameoed, and the first double battle is getting changed to a new event I'm not spoiling yet.)

 

[Beth Pavell]

For my part, The Long Walk is a journey fic because that's the format that best tells the story I want to tell. Way back when I wrote the original two chapters (Pretty much stream-of-consciousness style with little editing) it was inspired by my generally feeling fed-up with the world of work. I thought about how great it must be to be able to go and have an adventure where you are your own man with clear goals and inarguable rewards for hard work. Naturally, then, when I came to reboot the story and write it properly (With editing, for a start) it had to be a journey fic.

I'd like it to be the start of a 'verse, ideally. I've got a couple of ideas for non-journey stories that could be written in the same 'verse ... a possible dark fic and academy fic

 

[Flaze]

Honestly I get an idea for a journey fic here and there at times, but I always push it back cause well...I did have a journey fic before, though it was just a classical journey fic and that was just an ordeal to complete xD

 

[Dorothy]

Pokemon GK was my first-ever fic, and I've batted around the idea of re-writing it now and again, but I can't think of a way to make it standout good.

 

[Flaze]

I've been thinking the same thing in regards to Pokemon New Generation except mine would be a...TOTAL reboot of that idea if I ever went with it.

 

[AceTrainer14]

I do enjoy writing journey fics and turning them on their head a bit - Galactic probably was a traditional journey fic in its inception, then I went and made it bat shit crazy (but then again, this was back in the days when I thought something huge had to happen every chapter to make things interesting). I think 8ES is perhaps the fic I have had most fun writing, and it is largely a journey fic but just completely not a journey fic at the same time, kind of

Also, Dai's Best Story FOTM Interview is up if you have not seen it - a very good read if you have the time

 

[Legacy]

Journey fics are fun to write, but I believe they are not as fun to read unless we are shown right away that it isn't going to be your typical journey story that has been done so much. That's not to say there aren't man pt good ones posted here because there are.

 

[AetherX]

I feel like people on Bulba are aware that you can't just post an average journey fic and expect any amount of attention. Making it original is huge when trying to attract readers, but it honestly isn't hard to change things just enough that a journey story becomes interesting again. I've read a ton of great journey fics on here that all did something different to stand out from the crowd. It doesn't take much.

 

[Misfit Angel]

I don't even know what to classify Storm Island. It originally started out as a journey fic, but then I tried going down the route of the scientist. Since neither Caitlin and I are scientists or even aware of what science is about, it's been difficult coming up with plot points that play on that idea. Meanwhile, we've got nearly a dozen gym challenges planned, and only seven or eight planned science-y things. I guess since the gym challenges haven't started yet, we were nominated for Alternate.

Probably for the best, we wouldn't have stood a hair's chance otherwise!

 

[Dorothy]

When I was writing Pokemon GK I focused on making engaging characters and plotting because I knew I wasn't very good at writing battles.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I don't even know what to classify Storm Island. It originally started out as a journey fic, but then I tried going down the route of the scientist. Since neither Caitlin and I are scientists or even aware of what science is about, it's been difficult coming up with plot points that play on that idea. Meanwhile, we've got nearly a dozen gym challenges planned, and only seven or eight planned science-y things. I guess since the gym challenges haven't started yet, we were nominated for Alternate.

Probably for the best, we wouldn't have stood a hair's chance otherwise!

Unless someone else nominated you, you can blame me for that. It would be amusing to claim that it was to cut down on the competition but ... it was bloody hard fought in that category. Ace and I nearly reached a second draw if memory serves

 

[LightningTopaz]

When I was writing Pokemon GK I focused on making engaging characters and plotting because I knew I wasn't very good at writing battles.

That's kinda what I'm doing to minimize the trainer parade and make "The Kalos Connection" feel less game-y

 

[Drakon]

James Patterson's latest novel, Zoo, was awful.

Bland characters, insipid prose (lots of "telling" vs. showing), pacing was way too fast and a very heavy-handed environmentalist and pro-Luddite message.
Pity too, because the plot of non-human animals basically turning to "kill all humans"-type zombies is an interesting idea.

Honestly, it makes me feel a little better because of crap like Zoo and Twilight get published, then I can too. Hell, Naomi Novik's prose is not much better than the average fanfiction writer's prose -- and look where it got her!

 

[ShinyFlareon]

The main difficulty with journey fics is that they're long. They take serious commitment to see through to the end, and most, like Heart of Crystal, end up dying partway through.

I really should get back into writing something, though. I'm starting to get really nervous about the application to Nintendo I put in - it's closing in on two weeks since I've sent it off, and I haven't heard anything. I tried to call in and check on the status, but I just got the "don't call us, we'll call you" line. I've heard it can take up to two months to hear back, but...gah, this is driving me nuts. I can't focus on anything.

 

[AceTrainer14]

James Patterson's latest novel, Zoo, was awful.

Bland characters, insipid prose (lots of "telling" vs. showing), pacing was way too fast and a very heavy-handed environmentalist and pro-Luddite message.
Pity too, because the plot of non-human animals basically turning to "kill all humans"-type zombies is an interesting idea.

Honestly, it makes me feel a little better because of crap like Zoo and Twilight get published, then I can too. Hell, Naomi Novik's prose is not much better than the average fanfiction writer's prose -- and look where it got her!

I do not know the exact book you refer to, but I agree that I get really annoyed when a book I start reading turns out to be completely shit, when there is much better quality work online. I began reading this book called Song of Achilles or something, which has won all these Awards, but gah it was just terrible; such simplistic prose and such awful description. I had o put it down after only about 100 pages out of sheer boredom, and could not stop thinking how there is so much better work available on here.