POPULAR: Simple Questions, Simple Answers

[Sweet Veil]

Dialogue, I'm curious how you all handle it.

 

[FullMoon]

Dialogue is pretty much the area I enjoy writing the most. I just picture the characters talking and take note if it feels like a natural conversation or if it's sounding forced and do the appropriate changes if needed. It's also a good idea to not have the characters say how they feel instead of making it evident either by the narration or by what they're saying, gestures and voice tones help a lot to help the reader know how a character is feeling.

Now, one thing I've been problems with is the pacing of my fic. I have a journey fic in the works that happens in Unova and a lot of the early chapters happen in east Unova where there are little to no gyms. On one hand it gives an opportunity to instead focuse on the characters and how they interact with other and there's still going to be a good amount of action, but I'm worried it might be boring for the readers. It's sort of like an initial "training" arc before moving on to most of the gym battles, but I'm not sure if that would work out well.

 

[Warrior of Fire]

I'm having a problem writing the opening scene in the third chapter of my fic. The story just moved to a new location - a school, and is introducing a new main character. This character is trying to push his way through a crowd of his fellow students, and they all wear a similar uniform (although if you take the three different colors away, they would be perfectly identical) (four if you invert the color from {color} with white trim to white with {color} trim), and everyone's trying to get to the same place. I know what it looks like in my head, but I've got no idea how to write it.

 

[Elric von Bek]

Take us on a brief tour before focusing in one your character. I've seen it done well before. Have you ever seen a pokemon fanfic that dodges the journey/trainer/pokewar idea in favor of stylized pulp, perhaps swords and science?

 

[Barfing Ogres]

I'm having a little trouble with my fic. So the MC for my second act is already on his way to getting his 7th badge. Up until this point, he has been traveling alone. He will meet 2 traveling companions but I'm having issues trying to make it such that he is portrayed as socially awkward due to not having any real friends other than his Pokemon. (My main idea at this point is "I don't need social skills, I'll seduce you with my awkwardness.") Any ideas as to how to write the dialogue between these 3 here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AetherX]

Have you ever seen a pokemon fanfic that dodges the journey/trainer/pokewar idea in favor of stylized pulp, perhaps swords and science?

Yes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It's a cool concept.

I'm having a little trouble with my fic. So the MC for my second act is already on his way to getting his 7th badge. Up until this point, he has been traveling alone. He will meet 2 traveling companions but I'm having issues trying to make it such that he is portrayed as socially awkward due to not having any real friends other than his Pokemon. (My main idea at this point is "I don't need social skills, I'll seduce you with my awkwardness.") Any ideas as to how to write the dialogue between these 3 here would be greatly appreciated.

To start, what I would do is have the MC not say much at all, just letting the conversation play out between the other two. At the rare times he does talk, he would say things that are oddly private or personally invasive. Depending on his personality, he could be either incredibly friendly to the point of discomfort for a pair of strangers (uncomfortable jokes are a great way to show this), or coldly disinterested. If he ends up saying more than a couple sentences, he would get carried away and start to ramble and go way off topic, like he was narrating his thought process more than trying to actually participate in the conversation.

More overtly, you could also have a scene where he talks to one of his Pokemon in private, venting the issues he's having with dealing with other people in a social context.

Source: real life awkward person.

 

[Life]

I'm having a problem writing the opening scene in the third chapter of my fic. The story just moved to a new location - a school, and is introducing a new main character. This character is trying to push his way through a crowd of his fellow students, and they all wear a similar uniform (although if you take the three different colors away, they would be perfectly identical) (four if you invert the color from {color} with white trim to white with {color} trim), and everyone's trying to get to the same place. I know what it looks like in my head, but I've got no idea how to write it.

Hmm... If you're having trouble just writing it, I would try to simply do it one part of speech at time. First, imagine how it would feel for you character to be in that situation. Happy? Nervous? Excited? Write down simple things that would help describe the place like "dirty floors", "gross smells", etc. After you've brought the place to life, play through the actions in your head and imagine it as if it were real. It's tedious, but try to imagine every small event that leads up to the end of the chapter. Hope that helps somewhat.

Now, one thing I've been problems with is the pacing of my fic. I have a journey fic in the works that happens in Unova and a lot of the early chapters happen in east Unova where there are little to no gyms. On one hand it gives an opportunity to instead focuse on the characters and how they interact with other and there's still going to be a good amount of action, but I'm worried it might be boring for the readers. It's sort of like an initial "training" arc before moving on to most of the gym battles, but I'm not sure if that would work out well.

I think that what happens in a chapter is not so much important as to how what's happening is being portrayed. For instance, if you were to read a filler chapter where nothing exciting happened and it was very calm and low-key, that would be pretty boring, right? But if you were to maybe speed the pace up a little, add some fun little lines and events, it'd be more fun for the readers to read. I'm not saying that every chapter should be a full-throttle, edge of your seat, action-packed chapter, just that there are always little things you can do to make seemingly boring chapters come to life.

Training chapters and just plain traveling are all parts of a journey, and I think it's both important and fun when you get read how each character does their own thing. There's nothing wrong with having laid-back chapters, but if there's nothing significant going on at all I do question if the chapter's necessity to the story as a whole. That's why I would also recommend that in some of the slower chapters, you add something to help the plot-progress, even if it's extraordinarily small.


@Anyone who was looking for help with dialogue, if you haven't already read it, I seriously recommend that you read Feliciano's amazing article on dialogue. It helped me a lot when I was stuck on how to portray my characters accurately, and I strongly recommend it whenever you get stuck. Link

 

[Barfing Ogres]

Yes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It's a cool concept.

I'm having a little trouble with my fic. So the MC for my second act is already on his way to getting his 7th badge. Up until this point, he has been traveling alone. He will meet 2 traveling companions but I'm having issues trying to make it such that he is portrayed as socially awkward due to not having any real friends other than his Pokemon. (My main idea at this point is "I don't need social skills, I'll seduce you with my awkwardness.") Any ideas as to how to write the dialogue between these 3 here would be greatly appreciated.

To start, what I would do is have the MC not say much at all, just letting the conversation play out between the other two. At the rare times he does talk, he would say things that are oddly private or personally invasive. Depending on his personality, he could be either incredibly friendly to the point of discomfort for a pair of strangers (uncomfortable jokes are a great way to show this), or coldly disinterested. If he ends up saying more than a couple sentences, he would get carried away and start to ramble and go way off topic, like he was narrating his thought process more than trying to actually participate in the conversation.

More overtly, you could also have a scene where he talks to one of his Pokemon in private, venting the issues he's having with dealing with other people in a social context.

Source: real life awkward person.

That helps a lot! Thanks!

 

[Life]

I was wondering when it's okay to write numbers numerically (ie. 49) or alphabetically (ie. forty-nine). Can they be used interchangeably, or are there conditions to each?

 

[Beth Pavell]

I don't think there are any rules, really. I suppose sticklers might say that numerically is the same as abbreviation. I would probably use the numerical method for describing physical use of numbers (ie: a street sign) and the alphabetical method for narration and speech, unless the narrator was quoting.

Having said all that, being consistent is probably more important than being "correct"

 

[AetherX]

I was wondering when it's okay to write numbers numerically (ie. 49) or alphabetically (ie. forty-nine). Can they be used interchangeably, or are there conditions to each?

The rule that I was taught was to write out numbers one to ten, as well as numbers beginning a sentence (except years). Everything else can be done numerically. However, in fiction I feel like it's better to avoid numerical stuff entirely. The important thing is consistency.

This article is pretty good: Rules for Writing Numbers

 

[The Dude]

I got a couple questions, plus a few ideas to run by y'all.

1. So, I have virtually the entire first chapter written for my series Lamb to the Slaughter, but it's kinda stagey, mostly involving the main character's inner monologue, and then two long conversations (the first chapter's location is a hospital room where the main character's recuperating from a severe injury). I'm considering starting instead with an action-packed, mysterious prologue, as an interest hook. Should I go ahead and do that, or just post the first chapter?

2. How common or uncommon is it for people here to have gay characters in their fics? 'Cause mine's going to have quite a few. I assume Bulbagarden's chill about that, but you never know.

3. I'm going to have a naming gimmick for my chapter titles, probably. They will all be, or at least incorporate, the names of Pokemon attacks. Like, there might be a chapter titled "The Sweet Scent of Success" or "The Sky Drop". Does this sound like a good idea?

also, I was looking back at earlier in the thread, and there was talk of different villain groups. I'm creating my own, which is sort of if Team Rocket was essentially in charge of a region, and governed it how they saw fit. It's government by criminals. Which is to say, within that region they aren't criminals at all, because they make the laws that define who a criminal is. Also, they're not really unified by a powerful central leader. They have a "boss", sort of, but they're not particularly hands on and care very little about what goes on down below so long as a profit is made. So this organization, known informally by people not part of it as "the Syndicate", is run by five people who each have their own turf, and are not always on the best of terms. The main character, rather than having to stop an evil plot of a cult or gang, has to dismantle an entrenched system that brutalizes Pokemon and people as a matter of course.

 

[Warrior of Fire]

I got a couple questions, plus a few ideas to run by y'all.

1. So, I have virtually the entire first chapter written for my series Lamb to the Slaughter, but it's kinda stagey, mostly involving the main character's inner monologue, and then two long conversations (the first chapter's location is a hospital room where the main character's recuperating from a severe injury). I'm considering starting instead with an action-packed, mysterious prologue, as an interest hook. Should I go ahead and do that, or just post the first chapter?

2. How common or uncommon is it for people here to have gay characters in their fics? 'Cause mine's going to have quite a few. I assume Bulbagarden's chill about that, but you never know.

3. I'm going to have a naming gimmick for my chapter titles, probably. They will all be, or at least incorporate, the names of Pokemon attacks. Like, there might be a chapter titled "The Sweet Scent of Success" or "The Sky Drop". Does this sound like a good idea?

also, I was looking back at earlier in the thread, and there was talk of different villain groups. I'm creating my own, which is sort of if Team Rocket was essentially in charge of a region, and governed it how they saw fit. It's government by criminals. Which is to say, within that region they aren't criminals at all, because they make the laws that define who a criminal is. Also, they're not really unified by a powerful central leader. They have a "boss", sort of, but they're not particularly hands on and care very little about what goes on down below so long as a profit is made. So this organization, known informally by people not part of it as "the Syndicate", is run by five people who each have their own turf, and are not always on the best of terms. The main character, rather than having to stop an evil plot of a cult or gang, has to dismantle an entrenched system that brutalizes Pokemon and people as a matter of course.

I've got nothing for the first two questions, but for the third, it's definitely a good idea. Let's take an example from a franchise over on Fanfiction.net by author Cyber Commander, the Shadowchasers series. Of his three stories I've read in the franchise so far (he's got the most of any writer for it and controls the franchise as a whole) - Shadowchasers, Shadowchasers: Power Primordial, and Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door Redux - Cyber Commander uses the names of various Yu-Gi-Oh cards for chapter titles, and they tend to fit the overall theme of the chapter; however, they're rarely named after the well known monsters like Dark Magician or Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so if monsters are used for the chapter title, they'll be pretty obscure ones so you'd have to look the card up for the name. As for your chapter titles, if you're having trouble deciding on a move to use for it, perhaps reading a few chapters of the mentioned fics will help with looking into the chapter's theme to find the right move to use.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I got a couple questions, plus a few ideas to run by y'all.

1. So, I have virtually the entire first chapter written for my series Lamb to the Slaughter, but it's kinda stagey, mostly involving the main character's inner monologue, and then two long conversations (the first chapter's location is a hospital room where the main character's recuperating from a severe injury). I'm considering starting instead with an action-packed, mysterious prologue, as an interest hook. Should I go ahead and do that, or just post the first chapter?

2. How common or uncommon is it for people here to have gay characters in their fics? 'Cause mine's going to have quite a few. I assume Bulbagarden's chill about that, but you never know.

3. I'm going to have a naming gimmick for my chapter titles, probably. They will all be, or at least incorporate, the names of Pokemon attacks. Like, there might be a chapter titled "The Sweet Scent of Success" or "The Sky Drop". Does this sound like a good idea?

also, I was looking back at earlier in the thread, and there was talk of different villain groups. I'm creating my own, which is sort of if Team Rocket was essentially in charge of a region, and governed it how they saw fit. It's government by criminals. Which is to say, within that region they aren't criminals at all, because they make the laws that define who a criminal is. Also, they're not really unified by a powerful central leader. They have a "boss", sort of, but they're not particularly hands on and care very little about what goes on down below so long as a profit is made. So this organization, known informally by people not part of it as "the Syndicate", is run by five people who each have their own turf, and are not always on the best of terms. The main character, rather than having to stop an evil plot of a cult or gang, has to dismantle an entrenched system that brutalizes Pokemon and people as a matter of course.

Should really be more involved with this thread. Anyhow:

1. If you are going to do that keep the prologue relatively short. It's probably a good idea not to make it too mysterious - if the prologue looks like a chapter from a completely different story then all you're doing is hooking in readers only to disappoint them. In any case, a first chapter without action need not be a problem if the characterisation is nice and strong. People don't just read stories for the action, and strong characters can be just as good a hook

2. I don't see it often outside shippy fics, and I see it as no bad thing to have gay characters outside that. I doubt I need to warn about stereotyping and so forth

3. I like theme naming for chapters. The only warning I'd have is to be sure that your theme can be repeated through all your chapters, else it'll just become a thorn in your side

See, I wouldn't go for an evil team in government at all if they're not interested in ruling. Governing is hell of a lot of work and even the smallest state has a lot of infrastructure. Yes, it's possible to have a government mostly interested in lining it's pockets, but in my opinion there's always a love of power there as well. I think that your idea would work better using the latter-day Mafia as a template - a very large criminal culture that largely gets along because it's much better business that way

 

[Persephone]

When writing about a region more or less governed by a proto-Rocket group (sort of, it's complicated) I largely drew inspiration from Putin's Russia. You might want to read up more on that. In effect the President is in control, but he also uses it to line his own pockets and those of a handful of crime lords that he is closely aligned with. While there are legal organizations that do very sketchy things, outright criminal organizations can also be employed to do sketchy things that happen to be illegal for the state to do when appearances must be upheld.

But onto the points:

1) Action hooks are very, very big on ff.net if you want to get readership. Here? Not so much. Pavell's advice is solid for this community.
2) This is a forum populated by mostly young people who play Pokemon. It's pretty accepting, for the most part.
3) ...depends. I've seen a really snarky chapter naming theme in a very dark story that really did not mesh. I've seen really dark/intellectual chapter names for lighter stories about non-intellectuals, which didn't really fit either. You can have a chapter naming theme but make sure it fits your story and you can pull out as many iterations of it as you need chapters.

 

[The Dude]

I got a couple questions, plus a few ideas to run by y'all.

1. So, I have virtually the entire first chapter written for my series Lamb to the Slaughter, but it's kinda stagey, mostly involving the main character's inner monologue, and then two long conversations (the first chapter's location is a hospital room where the main character's recuperating from a severe injury). I'm considering starting instead with an action-packed, mysterious prologue, as an interest hook. Should I go ahead and do that, or just post the first chapter?

2. How common or uncommon is it for people here to have gay characters in their fics? 'Cause mine's going to have quite a few. I assume Bulbagarden's chill about that, but you never know.

3. I'm going to have a naming gimmick for my chapter titles, probably. They will all be, or at least incorporate, the names of Pokemon attacks. Like, there might be a chapter titled "The Sweet Scent of Success" or "The Sky Drop". Does this sound like a good idea?

also, I was looking back at earlier in the thread, and there was talk of different villain groups. I'm creating my own, which is sort of if Team Rocket was essentially in charge of a region, and governed it how they saw fit. It's government by criminals. Which is to say, within that region they aren't criminals at all, because they make the laws that define who a criminal is. Also, they're not really unified by a powerful central leader. They have a "boss", sort of, but they're not particularly hands on and care very little about what goes on down below so long as a profit is made. So this organization, known informally by people not part of it as "the Syndicate", is run by five people who each have their own turf, and are not always on the best of terms. The main character, rather than having to stop an evil plot of a cult or gang, has to dismantle an entrenched system that brutalizes Pokemon and people as a matter of course.

Should really be more involved with this thread. Anyhow:

1. If you are going to do that keep the prologue relatively short. It's probably a good idea not to make it too mysterious - if the prologue looks like a chapter from a completely different story then all you're doing is hooking in readers only to disappoint them. In any case, a first chapter without action need not be a problem if the characterisation is nice and strong. People don't just read stories for the action, and strong characters can be just as good a hook

2. I don't see it often outside shippy fics, and I see it as no bad thing to have gay characters outside that. I doubt I need to warn about stereotyping and so forth

3. I like theme naming for chapters. The only warning I'd have is to be sure that your theme can be repeated through all your chapters, else it'll just become a thorn in your side

See, I wouldn't go for an evil team in government at all if they're not interested in ruling. Governing is hell of a lot of work and even the smallest state has a lot of infrastructure. Yes, it's possible to have a government mostly interested in lining it's pockets, but in my opinion there's always a love of power there as well. I think that your idea would work better using the latter-day Mafia as a template - a very large criminal culture that largely gets along because it's much better business that way

I don't think of them as literally the government. More like the region has a really weak, ineffectual government, and this organization supports the government so long as they are allowed to continue making money however they want to. In places where the government doesn't exist, they fill the void with their own kind of justice. What form that justice takes depends on the region, as the five leaders all have vastly different personalities, ranging from one basically being a good civic leader who happens to also run a drug and smuggling business, to the other extreme, where one acts pretty much like a real world Mexican cartel boss.
And a big part of the story is that this system, which has been stable for almost 20 years, has started to crumble because one of the leaders successfully spearheaded a campaign to create a Pokemon League. Some think it's a great opportunity for profit, while others realize the influx of trainers will make it impossible for them to conduct business as usual. Particularly because the Syndicate treats Pokemon poorly, in general. Imagine how the worst, most exploitative real world corporations would treat Pokemon. Yeah. But just like in the real world, when the public's eye is on them, they must change or lose everything.

 

[Doctor Floptopus]

Ranger school help

Hi. I want to write a story about a school for hopeful rangers, only I'm a bit flat on ideas for the characters.
These are my only ideas so far, I would like help developing them too.

The main character: Faye
Faye is a girl of few words, but each one is carefully thought out and important. She is small and lithe, with wavy, shoulder - length, nut-brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She is haunted by her past, which saw her near death at the hands of a brutal poacher. If it wasn't for the kindness of the wild Pokemon in her home, mt. Coronet, she wouldn't still be alive. As such, she wants to pay the Pokemon back in any way she can, and this has driven her to work hard in order to become a ranger and put an end to poaching, saving the lives of many Pokemon.

The class's teacher: Ben
A few years ago, Ben was a ranger himself. Although he is still young, he became paralysed from the waist down after a terrible accident on a mission. He has messy brown hair and sparkling green eyes. Although he is wheelchair-bound, he is still energetic and fun - loving. He often makes jokes, but is serious when the situation requires it. He wants his students to reach their goals, and tries to be the best teacher he can be.
N.b. Ben is based on the male player character from Guardian Signs, and so I have tried to keep his character as much in keeping with who I remember him to be.

 

[The Dude]

Ask yourself: What would Faye do?
Seriously, think of a problem you've been confronted with in your life, an awkward situation, a decision that needed to be made, maybe some sort of test you needed to pass.
Then write what happens when Faye is confronted with this. Then you'll know better who she is.
Also helpful would be figuring out her favorite and least favorite things. What's her favorite color? What kind of music does she listen to? If she were a Pokemon, what Pokemon would she be? You get the idea.
Some people would advise you to build a plot first, but no, you've got the right idea coming up with a couple of characters first. Figure out who Faye is. That's your first challenge.

 

[Misfit Angel]

So, I'm having a bit of a tough time figuring out what to do with the next chapter of Storm Island. Basically, the next area the characters are visiting is Slate Valley, a large quarry that's being used to fuel the construction of the nearby city. It's such a massive place that it's basically like a national park, having a visitor's center and stuff.

What I'm wondering is how to actually write the chapter. Not much happens until the end, and I'm thinking of tossing the characters into a tour group aimed at learning about the area. I'm wondering if a really technical and wordy lesson in geology (admittedly not my area of knowledge) from the perspective of a tour group would be interesting, but outside of that I have absolutely no idea of what to put in the chapter. I thought about a training montage, but that doesn't get the ball rolling for the chapter's finale.

So, basically, the question is: would readers of a work of fiction be interested enough in a lesson about something to continue reading to the end? I'm of the mind that learning is a good thing to do (something Andrea stresses in the chapter briefly), but I have a feeling more people are of the opposite opinion. Thoughts?

 

[Drakon]

So, I'm having a bit of a tough time figuring out what to do with the next chapter of Storm Island. Basically, the next area the characters are visiting is Slate Valley, a large quarry that's being used to fuel the construction of the nearby city. It's such a massive place that it's basically like a national park, having a visitor's center and stuff.

What I'm wondering is how to actually write the chapter. Not much happens until the end, and I'm thinking of tossing the characters into a tour group aimed at learning about the area. I'm wondering if a really technical and wordy lesson in geology (admittedly not my area of knowledge) from the perspective of a tour group would be interesting, but outside of that I have absolutely no idea of what to put in the chapter. I thought about a training montage, but that doesn't get the ball rolling for the chapter's finale.

So, basically, the question is: would readers of a work of fiction be interested enough in a lesson about something to continue reading to the end? I'm of the mind that learning is a good thing to do (something Andrea stresses in the chapter briefly), but I have a feeling more people are of the opposite opinion. Thoughts?

The question to ask is "Does what I'm adding advance the plot?"

Right now, I recommend you not add the lesson because it seems like pointlesss filler material.