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Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

@Lord Kyuubi your mechanical musings are interesting, because I think some of your issues with traditional d20 are less about the d20, and more about the impression you have about how to apply them. Anyway, to answer your question, the kind of "test" you're setting is literally just being a GM and creating narratives and roleplaying opportunity.

Also, you're totally not wrong to keep your writing as a hobby. We live in a deeply commercialised world where creativity for its own sake or recreation is thought of as somehow pointless/juvenile/naive unless it's intended to procure a profit. Don't listen to that sort of nonsense, keep doing what you're doing. The core point here is you write stuff for fun and it doesn't need to be a business opportunity. It's on your friend to provide reasoning why you should feel otherwise.
 
You know, that does remind me that in SW/SH there are memories your Pokémon can have about talking to one another in the box and practicing moves.
It makes me wonder what the boxes actually are--I think there was an NPC in a previous game who seemed to suggest boxed mon may not even be conscious, but those memories suggest to me that the "boxes" are either virtual reality of some sort or they're actually being teleported to be looked after somewhere like in the anime.
 
How though?

By presenting it in a way that makes sense and is internally consistent both with itself, and with the overall themes and tones of your setting. If you want to portray the PC boxes as a fun virtual world or something, then a caring trainer might wish their Pokemon a good time before leaving them there. If you think of boxes as like being put into a form of stasis, the same trainer might express regret at putting a Pokemon into a box, or might promise to retrieve them again soon. Or if it's from the Pokemon's perspective, it would definitely be important to flesh out what happens when they're put into the box, and how they feel about it. Perhaps they enjoy being in the box in small amounts, or perhaps they dislike it and resent the trainer for leaving them there. Or maybe they even find it an easier, more comfortable life than being out fighting for their trainer, and prefer to be in the box.

Just some thoughts. I must say, though, it is difficult to make good suggestions when we have so little information about the story and setting this is for. You say it's a journey fic, but that tells us very little about the overall tone and the main themes you want to focus on. Is it supposed to be a lighthearted setting or a gritty one? Are you intending readers to accept that certain things work in story just because of game mechanics, or do they have to make logical sense as well? Having more context makes it a lot easier to give good answers without wondering if I'm wasting my time due to not knowing something important.
 
By presenting it in a way that makes sense and is internally consistent both with itself, and with the overall themes and tones of your setting. If you want to portray the PC boxes as a fun virtual world or something, then a caring trainer might wish their Pokemon a good time before leaving them there. If you think of boxes as like being put into a form of stasis, the same trainer might express regret at putting a Pokemon into a box, or might promise to retrieve them again soon. Or if it's from the Pokemon's perspective, it would definitely be important to flesh out what happens when they're put into the box, and how they feel about it. Perhaps they enjoy being in the box in small amounts, or perhaps they dislike it and resent the trainer for leaving them there. Or maybe they even find it an easier, more comfortable life than being out fighting for their trainer, and prefer to be in the box.

Just some thoughts. I must say, though, it is difficult to make good suggestions when we have so little information about the story and setting this is for. You say it's a journey fic, but that tells us very little about the overall tone and the main themes you want to focus on. Is it supposed to be a lighthearted setting or a gritty one? Are you intending readers to accept that certain things work in story just because of game mechanics, or do they have to make logical sense as well? Having more context makes it a lot easier to give good answers without wondering if I'm wasting my time due to not knowing something important.
I was asking in general.
 
Hey so what're y'all's opinion on introducing the main character later in the story than usual.

I'm considering it and it's actually a pretty old idea. The Odyssey is about Odysseus but he isn't even seen until a couple chapters in. Coincidentally, I couldn't make it past the first three chapters of the Odyssey because it was super boring so maybe it's not so much of a good idea.
 
That reminds me, once I had an idea for a Pokémon/Digimon crossover where the storage system was part of the Digital World, Porygons were created as probes, and every scientist and computer person from the games was in on the conspiracy.

I'm also starting to think that in-universe, the storage system looks like the incubators from Spectrobes, but bigger. In that game, the incubators are places where up to two Spectrobes can be placed, and you can feed them items to raise their stats. There are four terrains, three elemental ones and a neutral one, but they all look like circuit boards. Also, you can pet them.
 
Hey so what're y'all's opinion on introducing the main character later in the story than usual.

I'm considering it and it's actually a pretty old idea. The Odyssey is about Odysseus but he isn't even seen until a couple chapters in. Coincidentally, I couldn't make it past the first three chapters of the Odyssey because it was super boring so maybe it's not so much of a good idea.

well, there's the option of having multiple main characters and introducing one of them later on, or not necessarily having a main character at all, with the story following something else instead, like an object or the spread of an idea. what remains a constant between these, though, is the fact that you should always have someone/something the reader feels engaged to to make them read on. characters have the human bonus (as in humans tend to have some default amount of empathy already for a fictional human), but i think humans are so good at anthropomorphizing things that with the right tricks they might get attached to even a mountain.
 
Hey so what're y'all's opinion on introducing the main character later in the story than usual.

I'm of the opinion that the reader should relatively quickly get an idea of what the story is about. Unless you're writing a story that's much more about setting than plot or has a very passive protagonist, I think it's really hard to set up a decent plot without the protagonist. Also, if you follow other characters you run the risk of the reader getting attached to them. If that happens, it can be jarring, frustrating, and even a little disappointing to switch to a protagonist that they might not like as much.
 
I'm of the opinion that the reader should relatively quickly get an idea of what the story is about. Unless you're writing a story that's much more about setting than plot or has a very passive protagonist, I think it's really hard to set up a decent plot without the protagonist. Also, if you follow other characters you run the risk of the reader getting attached to them. If that happens, it can be jarring, frustrating, and even a little disappointing to switch to a protagonist that they might not like as much.
This is certainly true. I ABOL-lutely agree with this.
 
Would it make sense to use a pc system, like in the games, in a Pokémon journey fic?
This is a perfectly ordinary part of the canon, so readers won't be surprised by it's inclusion. The fact that you're asking implies you think it might not make sense. Why wouldn't it make sense?

How though? [...] I was asking in general.
You've received some general thoughts on writing PC boxes sensibly. Were they helpful? If not, you ought to ask something more specific. You have to contribute more to discussions like this, otherwise anybody trying to help you won't know how best to do so.

Hey so what're y'all's opinion on introducing the main character later in the story than usual.
If the story is about the character, open with that character. If it's about something else, open with that. That's my rule of thumb, I guess.
 
@Greninjaman some advice - before asking a question here, first have a think for a moment about whether it's worth fussing about. If it is, what's the actual problem? If your problem is simple, ask it in the simple questions thread. Good luck.
 
Well, I had one of those moments when planning something for a story where everything suddenly just works. I knew I needed to come up with a recurring antagonist to serve a a rival of sorts for one of the protagonists for my currently planned Pokémon fic when suddenly a complete character just came to me like a flash--a Pokémon who relies very little on their own powers but uses lots of technology, gadgets, and cunning--Lex Luthor rather than General Zod, so to say.
A personality and backstory for them followed quite rapidly and I'm really happy with the general outline after only a day.
 
What are some common pitfalls people make when writing male characters? I see people talk about pitfalls for female characters often, but not the opposite.
 
What are some common pitfalls people make when writing male characters? I see people talk about pitfalls for female characters often, but not the opposite.

Well, I haven't read as many stories as I probably should have being a writer, but there's a bunch of tropes with unfortunate sexist implications one shouldn't fall into, such as A Man Is Always Eager (obvious TV Tropes warning). Implying that a man would always be willing to have sexual relations at any time is 1. obviously factually false, 2. erasure of non-heterosexual orientations (if the offering of sexual relations comes from a female) and worst of all, 3. implying that men cannot be sexually assaulted, which is awful for all real male victims of sexual assault/harassment. There's also general toxic masculinity, such as implying that it's bad for a man to express his feelings in a healthy manner, ask for help when he needs it or to be interested in traditionally feminine things and that he must evolve out of this.

It's kind of hard to think of examples that don't fall under toxic masculinity, honestly, since so many things can be traced back to it. I may be missing something important due to not having experience of being a man myself. (I mean, I way too often forget beard growth is something most of them have to deal with, so I don't think I've mentioned a single instance of shaving in my stories...)
 
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