Post by Phoenix on Feb 14, 2004 2:14:39 GMT -5
by: Ygseto
- A Tutorial (by Jag- Former Head Grader)
The following is the common ground recommended that all writers use in their stories. It will utilize the basic categories upon which grading should occur.
Grammar/Spelling/Form-
Follow the basic rules of English grammar as much as possible. This means using correct sentences as best you can. Use paragraphs. Start new paragraphs when there's a new speaker or to transition into a new line of thought or to go to a new idea. Remember to proofread your stories BEFORE submission. This means that you go over your story for mistakes in any areas. Use whatever resources are necessary to correct errors (dictionaries, grammar books, etc.).
Storyline-
Two posts is the ideal minimum for a story. Make at least half of it the back-story and the other half involved with the capture. Remember to include why you're doing what you're doing in the story. Expand BEYOND the "find Pokémon-battle-capture" routine. Make the story more complex. Remember, you only have to have ONE battle with the target Pokémon, and the Pokémon need not be captured at that time. In terms of battle, make sure it's not one-sided, short, or unrealistic. Utilize realism and imagery in writing out the battles.
Use of Literary Elements-
Description and realism are the most important here. Make your descriptions lively and vivid. Use similes, metaphors, personification, and whatever other literary tools you can to liven things up. Describe the setting, describe the involved Pokémon and characters, describe everything, basically. Be as concise and lively as possible with the descriptions.
With the above clarified, the following is an introduction to writing in our little RPG.
Form-
Generally, we want to see a novelized format of your story. Everything happens as you would read in a good novel. Use of paragraphs and good sentence structure, a strong storyline, and description are key to a successful capture. In the posting, include unrelated/off-topic comments at the beginning or end of the story in clearly marked sections. (Think of it as an OOC or OFF section in an RPG.)
In the story section, treat it as writing a portion of a novel (especially if you intend to link them all together somehow). Make setting and characters clear. Define and describe time and place. Identify and describe involved characters (including Pokémon). Bring back-story into play. Create a general, overriding story arc for all your stories or individual, stand-alone storylines for each story.
Use quotation marks (and paragraphs where appropriate) to identify speech. Distinguish characters' thoughts (put into words) in some way (i.e. single quotes).
An example of the writing:
The late afternoon light hung low in the distant mountains, cradling them in its golden beauty. The sky burned a light orange and the sounds of night life were beginning to come out. A sharp wind blew from the north, sending a chill down Jason's spine as he lay on his stomach playing his game. The battle sounds easily resounded in his ears as he found his offensive line units being hammered by the overwhelming Allied defences at the heart of the United States capital. Suddenly a window popped up on his screen. The Microsoft Network (MSN) window displayed a business heading from Creative Communications in Utah. Jason quickly maximized the window's viewable area to the full screen and quickly read over the message. As he finished off the final sentences his eyes lit up. He rolled off his stomach, rubbing dew and dirt on his navy blue jacket and beige cargo jeans, and stumbled on his hands and feet over to where Christine lay in a light sleep. He shook her excitedly, whispering her name in a definitely not monotone voice. Her hazel eyes fluttered open with a shade of worry and her muscles tensed with anticipation of an impending attack on her.
"Guess what?" Jason inquired of her.
"Do I have to guess? You'll tell me anyway!" she replied teasingly.
-"A Shadow of the Future" by Jason Wolf
An outline of the generic format (no matter what form of writing you use):
TITLE
BY LINE (these first two could also be satisfied with the post SUBJECT and your id underneath)
OOC (introduction)
STORY (body)
OOC (conclusion/end thoughts)
END (copyright/disclaimers/miscellaneous)
Other ways of writing:
I believe there are many styles of writing a story, it is something you shouldn't copy, its something that comes from inside you and changes to better as you get used to writing. My style in writing Pokémon captures is always that of a first person point of view. This makes it easier for me to introduce myself in my character, and therefore it helps me with my descriptions at the time of describing feelings. However this doesn't work for everyone, others are better in a first point of view, and others are better in a third point of view. In my opinion, each person must find that style which is most suitable without worrying about other people’s opinion.
However, by saying this I don't mean people should write any crappy thing and post it claiming its your style, you must have the tiniest but of pride to think “this is my story, I can do this, its my challenge, I must do it as best as I can”. Also, ALWAYS remain in your style as long as the story is good enough to introduce the reader INTO it, to make the reader feel as if inside it, as if he/she was the character, or was walking next to it.
How to manage that? Description, as previously mentioned, description and imagery, as long as there is a good description and a good imagery, the story should be good. And talking about descriptions, don't just go describing what you see, like, “and the great blazing dragon emerged from the dark thickness of the cave, a thunderous roar emitted by him made the earth beneath me and vaporeon tremble, and continuously shutter into pieces...”. You say it was good? Yes, but it lacks something, the description of feeling, that is as important or more than describing the physical nature, without feelings you don't know what is exactly the situation, you don't know if to fear or laugh at it, now imagine this: “and the great blazing dragon emerged from the thick darkness of the cave, I felt a shudder climb up my spine tickling as my mind full of razing thoughts hopelessly tried to calm down. Fear overtook me as the creature emitted a thunderous roar, and I felt his poisonous hot breath wrap me and my loyal friend, the water dog vaporeon. The roar made the earth beneath us tremble, and I tried to overcome fear and scanned the area in search of a rock or something in which to hold, nothing was available however, and a nervous fear and deception overtook me. The floor in which me and vaporeon stood started to shutter in tiny pieces, and my first reaction was to hold my loyal friend protectively...” now, wasn't this better? Longer, yes, but its worth it.
Another point, DON'T RUSH THE STORIES, the Pokémon will not run away if instead of posting the story the same day you wrote it, you post it two weeks after, it is not only going to be better, but it will increase drastically your chances of capturing the story, as it also increases the chances of instead of capturing a bulbasaur, you capture venasaur. Take your time, because great things weren't made in one day, and so weren't stories, most of the best ones you have read have taken months or years of writing, and even then, entire chapters have been changed because the author disliked them.
