AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Character Creation and Discussion

dkellis · 2008-02-17, 15:30

I think that an equally relevant question is: why do you want to include that into the story?

Personally, I don't care what you do for your story. Put in space battles, put in powered armour, put in giant mecha, whatever. I really don't care. What I do care about, however, is that you make it work.

Make it a fanfic. We're already at a disadvantage here, since we want to write a fanfic, but we're using original characters, or canon characters warped into original characters with little in common but the name. If you change even more things, then after a certain point (different for everyone, writer and reader), the question arises: why is this even set in the Nanoha-verse? Why would the average fan of the series want to read the story?

Make it plausible. For every bit of original invention I put into my story, I sit back and consider it from every angle. Why do I want to do this? "Because it's cool" is not a good enough answer. Everything has to have a reason in the story, and the reasons all have to tie together into a coherent whole. Everything gets the same treatment: do I really need that plot device in there for the sake of the story? If I took it out, what happens to the story?

Most of all, though, make it a good story. Even if you have a reason and it fits into the story, maybe it doesn't fit as well as you thought. That's why we're showing our works to each other: to gain feedback. Personally, I'd be ecstatic if someone were to go through my story with a fine-toothed comb and point out every single mistake I made. Because that requires a special kind of dedication which I struggle to achieve.

If you can answer all of those questions, then I have no problems with your motivations. I might have problems with the end results (after all, I have problems with how StrikerS went down), but that's a different matter.

It's sort of like a matter of trust: I, as a reader, trust that you'll be able to dish out a good story even after all my misgivings about it. Don't betray that trust.

(EDIT: This, incidentally, applies in general.)

-

Quick question: how is Carim addressed and referred to? I've got "Holy Carim" here, but I forget if I put that there as a placeholder or if that's really how she's called.

2008-02-17, 15:30	Link #19900
dkellis illusion control Author Join Date: Mar 2004 Age: 41	I think that an equally relevant question is: why do you want to include that into the story? Personally, I don't care what you do for your story. Put in space battles, put in powered armour, put in giant mecha, whatever. I really don't care. What I do care about, however, is that you make it work. Make it a fanfic. We're already at a disadvantage here, since we want to write a fanfic, but we're using original characters, or canon characters warped into original characters with little in common but the name. If you change even more things, then after a certain point (different for everyone, writer and reader), the question arises: why is this even set in the Nanoha-verse? Why would the average fan of the series want to read the story? Make it plausible. For every bit of original invention I put into my story, I sit back and consider it from every angle. Why do I want to do this? "Because it's cool" is not a good enough answer. Everything has to have a reason in the story, and the reasons all have to tie together into a coherent whole. Everything gets the same treatment: do I really need that plot device in there for the sake of the story? If I took it out, what happens to the story? Most of all, though, make it a good story. Even if you have a reason and it fits into the story, maybe it doesn't fit as well as you thought. That's why we're showing our works to each other: to gain feedback. Personally, I'd be ecstatic if someone were to go through my story with a fine-toothed comb and point out every single mistake I made. Because that requires a special kind of dedication which I struggle to achieve. If you can answer all of those questions, then I have no problems with your motivations. I might have problems with the end results (after all, I have problems with how StrikerS went down), but that's a different matter. It's sort of like a matter of trust: I, as a reader, trust that you'll be able to dish out a good story even after all my misgivings about it. Don't betray that trust. (EDIT: This, incidentally, applies in general.) - Quick question: how is Carim addressed and referred to? I've got "Holy Carim" here, but I forget if I put that there as a placeholder or if that's really how she's called.