Jon K. Hayashi wrote:
[snip]
Topic 7: The Power of the Dark Side
There is a general statement that I believe works in describing how to
approach fanfics. Using the tone of the original series is almost never a
mistake. Changing the tone can be. This is not to say that a different tone
will not work, but it is easy to lose characterization in pursuit of the plot.
Humm...gotta' disagree with you there. If you have a good handle on the
characters, they will be themselves no matter what situation you put
them in. Though of course, you do have to have a good grasp of the
characters and how they work.
The original tone is what made the series popular in the first place. A
factor to take into consideration is that changing the tone is leap that
readers may not be willing to take. They are used to the original tone; they
might argue that if they had wanted to read something else, they'd read those
other mangas.
Humm...back to Ranma fics again. Isn't that what motivates most fics?
Wanting to get more out of the story than the slapstick and unending,
never advancing romances? I believe that the more, how shall we say, out
of bounds?, plot lines are the ones that are most enjoyed.
[snip]
The real question to ask yourself is why you're changing the tone. Is there
a valid plot reason for it? Or is it the plot?
Isn't it one and the same?
One-shot fanfics that change the tone of the series tend to be incomplete.
The reader sees the changes and the effects on one or two characters, but then
is left with an unsatisfying ending. It is unsatisfying because the changes
are almost never explained and there is a lingering question of what was the
point of the fanfic.
Humm...again I have to disagree. I just did a really short, very dark
fic. (6,000 characters, faint, fall down! ^_^) The focus is on one
character, the events that lead the character to where it was in the fic
are explained and I don't think that the ending was unsatisfying. Not at
all happy, but not unsatisfying. For anyone who's read the Video Clip,
was it?
The change in a character is never a plot. It is an
occurance in the story, which can be watching the change and seeing the
results of that change.
Maybe a better way to say this is that the events that occur in the plot
should be what causes the character to evolve?
If you can read it objectively (Topic 14) and find
yourself asking "so?" then the change in tone hasn't accomplished your
purpose. But if you are devastated by what you put the character through even
though you planned it, then it was the right decision.
It is important to remember that these changes must be believable and within
the bounds of the character.
Agreed.
[snip]
Topic 8: Working In The Coal Mines
[snip]
For example, public school in Japan goes for six days a week in three
trimesters; the first starting in April and a month's vacation in August (I
believe - I'd have to check to make sure). Now, having the characters going
to school only five days a week and making summer vacation three months long
(like in America) is a contradiction that's going to stay in my mind while I
read the story.
Hummm...an argument for this is that most readers wouldn't be aware of
this fact so wouldn't even think twice about it. Though I agree with
your general point. I didn't know that! (see Windlily copy it over into
her 'things to keep in mind' folder)
[snip]
The error is, of course, that New York is east of Los Angeles, so the sun
is not going to set in front of Ranma. But this is only a basic error. Some
mangas demand a much higher level of research.
Shouldn't this go in the continuity section?
[snip]
Background details can bring out a sense of realism and completeness to a
story. But wrong details can sometimes ruin it.
IMHO, attention to all the background details, all the little things are
what takes a fic out of the good and into the great. Though you can't go
overboard with it either. But it's all the little things that add the
'color and flavoring' to the basic plot and dialouge.
[snip]
Just my 2 cents. ^_^
Little Windlily
(dragoncritter@overyonder.com)