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For all first timers, the Writers Workshop is where all the writing on the forums is located. If you've written fiction, a poem, an essay, or any kind of creative piece of writing you want to share with everyone, then this is the place for you! This thread in particular is a guide to help get you started with useful links and an FAQ section along with our rules.
Please remember that all forum-wide rules apply in the Workshop as well, so ensure you read and follow them alongside these ones.
1) Mislabeled Threads
All threads containing sexual, violent, or other potentially inappropriate content must be labelled with the appropriate prefix of ‘TEEN’ or ‘MATURE’ and must state in the first post what that mature content is.
- The Rating Guide (under FAQ 7) clarifies what is and is not allowed in each category, including drug use, sex scenes, and violence.
2) Superfluous Thread
The first post of each thread of work must contain either part of the work in the form of a first chapter/entry or teaser or an index/table of contents.
- Users who post the index first should post the first chapter/entry within a reasonable time frame.
- Do not create new threads for separate chapters of the same story. Multiple pieces of short poetry, related short stories, and nonfiction works that are part of a series should also be contained in one thread.
3) Plagiarism
Do not post any content written by someone else or use fan-characters belonging to other users unless given explicit permission to do so.
4) Advertising
Users may link to work posted on other sites, but should include a preview (prologue/chapter length) in the thread. Full stories posted here tend to get more attention, however!
- Advertising your work in other users' threads (outside your signature) is not allowed. Bringing up your own work as part of a thoughtful discussion is not considered advertising.
- The Fic Advertisement Thread is the only thread where you may post simply to advertise your work.
If you have any questions, contact a moderator! If you believe someone has broken the rules, use the Report button under every post.
1) The Simple Questions, Simple Answers thread is there for all of your quick questions related to writing or Pokémon fanfiction!
2) The Plot Bunny Zoo is available if you need plot inspiration or feedback for a plot you thought of yourself.
3) The Samples Thread can be used to post a short excerpt of writing you'd like immediate feedback on.
4) The Need a Name Thread will help you name your characters, fictional places, stories, or anything needing a name!
5) The Writers Workshop General Chat Thread is where you can talk about anything and everything with our writers!
6) Cliches in Pokémon Fanfiction is the main place where our authors discuss cliches and common tropes you see in Pokémon Fanfiction.
7) Review League is a Writers Workshop exclusive activity where you can earn points and prizes for each review you post!
8) The Writers Workshop hosts unofficial awards in the winter and summer. Check out category descriptions and our leaderboard here, and a more comprehensive display of our past winners here!
9) The Review Game is where you can review work written by the poster before you, and in return, you'll get a review yourself!
10) The Weekly Prompt Thread is updated every Monday with a prompt you can incorporate into your own writing!
11) The Workshop Writing Academy has many lessons for writers who are looking for tips on different aspects of writing, including but not limited to worldbuilding, description, and characters.
12) Fic of the Month is where we feature and interview one author a month to get a look into their writing process and get new tidbits of information about their work.
13) You may use our Workshop Directories to post information about your work so that it will be more easily noticeable by readers looking for recommendations! There is a directory for in-progress works and completed works.
14) The Fic Advertisement Thread is used by authors to announce they've just released a new work or a new chapter.
15) Our Twitter is where we post helpful writing resources and links and other miscellaneous things!
16) The Character Development Den has a lot of unique and fun questions to help you flesh out your characters more.
17) Bulbagarden's public Discord chat has a #writing channel for discussing the writing craft, sharing short excerpts of your writing to get feedback, offering and asking for fic recs, hosting word wars - all in real time!
1) Can I post my work right away?
Yes! We welcome all new works, and they don't event have to be about Pokémon! We allow original pieces, other fandoms, poems, one-shots, essays, opinion pieces, scripts... any form of writing, really.
2) Can I still participate in the section even if I don't write?
Sure! You're welcome to comment on stories and join in discussions in the Written Word.
3) What is the Written Word, exactly?
The Written Word is where you can discuss all aspects of writing, ask for help with your writing, or to talk to other users about anything else in the General Chat Thread.
4) What's the Workshop Archive?
The Workshop Archive is where completed and abandoned works are stored, so have a read of some wicked awesome work from the past! You can use the COMPLETE prefix as a filter if you're specifically looking for one-shots, poems, and completed chaptered fics.
5) What if I want to roleplay?
Roleplaying isn't done here in the Workshop. There is a section for all your roleplaying needs right here.
6) Do I have to review?
No, reviewing is not required, but we do encourage it so that writers can get feedback, improve, or at least know someone is reading. You don't even have to write a lot. Just letting the author know you are reading can make a world of difference! For advice on reviewing, click here and here.
7) What do those prefixes mean?
The age rating of your work. All users must label their works with either the EVERYONE, TEEN, or the MATURE tag. For a detailed explanation, click on the spoiler tag.
EVERYONE
You can include:
- The occasional use of explicit language
- Romantic interactions (ie., kissing, flirting), regardless of sexual orientation, is allowed, as is suggested or implied sex (ie., waking up next to each other without clothes on, a character inviting another character into their room)
- Mild/cartoon-ish or occasional violence. Pokémon battles count as EVERYONE unless they are explicitly written to be dark and violent.
Examples include: the first three Harry Potter books/films, the Pokémon anime, Spongebob Squarepants, Doctor Who
TEEN
You can include:
- Frequent explicit language
- Infrequent scenes of intense, descriptive violence. It should be brief and avoid graphic description (ie., no gore) but can result in death or fatal injuries.
- Infrequent depictions of drug use/trips and alcoholism in a main character.
- Non-descriptive references to sex. We can know it’s happening, but detailed description beyond second base should be labelled MATURE.
Examples include: the last four/five Harry Potter books/films, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Marvel and DC comics and movies, Skyfall
MATURE
You can include:
- Stories focused on abuse (psychological or physical), sexual violence, rape, drug addiction, or alcoholism
- Graphic/Descriptive violence (ie., gore, maiming, grisly death) and sex (ie., mild description of actual third and four base acts) are allowed
- Sensitive topics such as rape and abuse should be treated with care and not used in an unnecessary or exploitative fashion. If you must write about such cases, you must be to the point and be able to justify your use of such topics.
Examples include: Fifty Shades of Grey, Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, Veep or Silicon Valley, Homeland, Breaking Bad
Other notes:
- You do not have to change your rating if one chapter deviates from the rating: simply place a warning next to it in your table of contents (if you have one) as well as before the chapter title. However, if your story deviates from the rating for an extended period of time and you plan to continue like so, please change your rating tag accordingly.
- If there is something in your story that you're concerned about not listed in these guidelines or you are unsure, contact a moderator for advice.
Still confused? Here are some examples to base your classification on:
You can include:
- The occasional use of explicit language
- Romantic interactions (ie., kissing, flirting), regardless of sexual orientation, is allowed, as is suggested or implied sex (ie., waking up next to each other without clothes on, a character inviting another character into their room)
- Mild/cartoon-ish or occasional violence. Pokémon battles count as EVERYONE unless they are explicitly written to be dark and violent.
Examples include: the first three Harry Potter books/films, the Pokémon anime, Spongebob Squarepants, Doctor Who
TEEN
You can include:
- Frequent explicit language
- Infrequent scenes of intense, descriptive violence. It should be brief and avoid graphic description (ie., no gore) but can result in death or fatal injuries.
- Infrequent depictions of drug use/trips and alcoholism in a main character.
- Non-descriptive references to sex. We can know it’s happening, but detailed description beyond second base should be labelled MATURE.
Examples include: the last four/five Harry Potter books/films, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Marvel and DC comics and movies, Skyfall
MATURE
You can include:
- Stories focused on abuse (psychological or physical), sexual violence, rape, drug addiction, or alcoholism
- Graphic/Descriptive violence (ie., gore, maiming, grisly death) and sex (ie., mild description of actual third and four base acts) are allowed
- Sensitive topics such as rape and abuse should be treated with care and not used in an unnecessary or exploitative fashion. If you must write about such cases, you must be to the point and be able to justify your use of such topics.
Examples include: Fifty Shades of Grey, Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, Veep or Silicon Valley, Homeland, Breaking Bad
Other notes:
- You do not have to change your rating if one chapter deviates from the rating: simply place a warning next to it in your table of contents (if you have one) as well as before the chapter title. However, if your story deviates from the rating for an extended period of time and you plan to continue like so, please change your rating tag accordingly.
- If there is something in your story that you're concerned about not listed in these guidelines or you are unsure, contact a moderator for advice.
Still confused? Here are some examples to base your classification on:
TEEN rating (excerpt taken from Poké Wars - Dawn of a New Era):
Meanwhile, Pikachu parried a Scratch attack from a Meowth with Iron Tail. A quick spin left the Meowth with two bloody stumps and a quick Thunderbolt reduced it to a charred carcass. He ducked under another Scratch attack and countered with Iron Tail. Ash backhanded a Meowth that leapt at him. The pokéglov protected him from injury and added power to his blow as he heard something inside the Meowth break.
Jessie screamed as a Meowth latched onto her leg and began scratching her, leaving bloody gashes on her leg. She dropped the shells that she had in her hand and tried to shake the Meowth off.
Meowth reacted instantly, tackling the offending Meowth and attacking with Fury Swipes. His razored claws tore through flesh and fur, spattering blood all over his coat and Jessie. Unfortunately, he had little experience in combat compared to these street-tough Meowth and he was quickly overpowered.
The victorious Meowth’s claws were wreathed in a purple glow as it prepared to deliver the finishing blow with Night Slash. Suddenly, the Meowth stiffened and toppled over onto the bloody pavement.
Meowth looked up at his savior. It was Dawn; one pistol was trained on the now dead Meowth. Almost nonchalantly, she put a bullet into the brain of another Meowth with the other pistol. She had no idea how to explain it, but it was like some force guided her hand, letting her fire her twin pistols like she had been practicing all her life and then some.
MATURE rating (excerpt taken from Poké Wars: Downfall of a Champion):
Sirens wailed as the fire department raced to the ruined amusement park to control the raging conflagration. A nearby scream caused everyone to turn.
There, mere meters away from a screaming citizen was what could loosely be called a "body". Organs, bone and flesh were smeared over a substantial section of the concrete sidewalk. A nearby streetlight and newspaper box were painted with a fine misting of blood and particles of flesh. A piece of the decedent's brain had somehow ended up pasted against a STOP sign.
Cynthia pushed through the crowd to see what was going on and to try and keep the crowd calm – at least until the police arrived. Why haven't they arrived yet? She thought.
She immediately regretted the decision to approach the scene as the metallic stench of blood coupled with the malodor of fecal matter assaulted her nostrils with the fury of an enraged Primeape. The stench coupled with the horrific scene dropped her to her knees as she repeatedly dry-heaved.
Suddenly, another nearby explosion tore through the air. The Sinnoh champion grunted as her body was slammed into a concrete planter, knocking all the wind out of her. She got up to her feet and looked around; where there were several other refugees now only lay an assorted mess of body parts. Her heart sank as she saw a bubble lazily drifting towards two men who were chatting. The bubble held within it a roiling cloud of bluish gas.
Cynthia took a breath, wincing as it sent a shockwave of pain rippling through her bruised back. "Move!" she shouted.
The first man turned towards the shout, only to see a bubble of explosive gas mere feet away from him. Thinking quickly, he shoved his conversation partner away from the bubble and dove behind a concrete planter as the bubble detonated.
Cynthia was far away enough that the shockwave didn't seriously hurt her but it was still enough to wind her. As she looked up, she saw many more explosive bubbles floating above high above her – their graceful appearance a sharp contrast to their lethality.
Meanwhile, Pikachu parried a Scratch attack from a Meowth with Iron Tail. A quick spin left the Meowth with two bloody stumps and a quick Thunderbolt reduced it to a charred carcass. He ducked under another Scratch attack and countered with Iron Tail. Ash backhanded a Meowth that leapt at him. The pokéglov protected him from injury and added power to his blow as he heard something inside the Meowth break.
Jessie screamed as a Meowth latched onto her leg and began scratching her, leaving bloody gashes on her leg. She dropped the shells that she had in her hand and tried to shake the Meowth off.
Meowth reacted instantly, tackling the offending Meowth and attacking with Fury Swipes. His razored claws tore through flesh and fur, spattering blood all over his coat and Jessie. Unfortunately, he had little experience in combat compared to these street-tough Meowth and he was quickly overpowered.
The victorious Meowth’s claws were wreathed in a purple glow as it prepared to deliver the finishing blow with Night Slash. Suddenly, the Meowth stiffened and toppled over onto the bloody pavement.
Meowth looked up at his savior. It was Dawn; one pistol was trained on the now dead Meowth. Almost nonchalantly, she put a bullet into the brain of another Meowth with the other pistol. She had no idea how to explain it, but it was like some force guided her hand, letting her fire her twin pistols like she had been practicing all her life and then some.
MATURE rating (excerpt taken from Poké Wars: Downfall of a Champion):
Sirens wailed as the fire department raced to the ruined amusement park to control the raging conflagration. A nearby scream caused everyone to turn.
There, mere meters away from a screaming citizen was what could loosely be called a "body". Organs, bone and flesh were smeared over a substantial section of the concrete sidewalk. A nearby streetlight and newspaper box were painted with a fine misting of blood and particles of flesh. A piece of the decedent's brain had somehow ended up pasted against a STOP sign.
Cynthia pushed through the crowd to see what was going on and to try and keep the crowd calm – at least until the police arrived. Why haven't they arrived yet? She thought.
She immediately regretted the decision to approach the scene as the metallic stench of blood coupled with the malodor of fecal matter assaulted her nostrils with the fury of an enraged Primeape. The stench coupled with the horrific scene dropped her to her knees as she repeatedly dry-heaved.
Suddenly, another nearby explosion tore through the air. The Sinnoh champion grunted as her body was slammed into a concrete planter, knocking all the wind out of her. She got up to her feet and looked around; where there were several other refugees now only lay an assorted mess of body parts. Her heart sank as she saw a bubble lazily drifting towards two men who were chatting. The bubble held within it a roiling cloud of bluish gas.
Cynthia took a breath, wincing as it sent a shockwave of pain rippling through her bruised back. "Move!" she shouted.
The first man turned towards the shout, only to see a bubble of explosive gas mere feet away from him. Thinking quickly, he shoved his conversation partner away from the bubble and dove behind a concrete planter as the bubble detonated.
Cynthia was far away enough that the shockwave didn't seriously hurt her but it was still enough to wind her. As she looked up, she saw many more explosive bubbles floating above high above her – their graceful appearance a sharp contrast to their lethality.
8) I've already finished my story. Can I post it all in one go?
You can update your thread as regularly as you want, but we recommend waiting for a day or two between each chapter/installment. This gives your fellow users more time to read your story and share their thoughts.
9) Am I able to post information about my worldbuilding ideas and/or my worldbuilding atlas to the Written Word?
Definitely! There has been some confusion in the past about keeping anything worldbuilding-related to blogs only, but we welcome you to share your world by making a new thread for it in the Written Word and labeling it with the WORLDBUILDING prefix.
10) I'm still confused about a few things. Who can I talk to?
You can talk to the mods! We'll answer any questions.
11) Are you forgetting something?
Yep. Have fun!
Forum Moderators: @diamondpearl876, @LightningTopaz, @AetherX, @Misfit Angel, and @Beth Pavell
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