Writers on Smogon

EV

Banned deucer.
You guys should look at Writing Excuses. It's a great podcast with tons of solid tips from some of the best in the business.

For people interested in SciFi/Fantasy, it's a crime not to go through Write About Dragons. I don't know what the class they've organized online is like but you should definitely go through all the videos of Brandon Sanderson teaching. For those who don't know, Sanderson is an amazing author (#1 bestselling a few times over) and is probably my favorite author at the moment. Each year, he takes out the time to teach a writing class at BYU to help the next generation. This website has recordings of the classes available.
I've heard of Sanderson's classes but I haven't checked them out myself. Thanks for the links!
 

Shiv

mostly harmless
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Programmer Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Two-Time Past WCoP Champion
I'd be happy to give my thoughts on any you might want to share. I'm sure others would feel the same way.
 

EV

Banned deucer.
We should use this thread for anything writing related. If you want feedback, post it up! I'm part of a critique group so I can offer my approach I use there on here too.
 
Hmm, I don't have much for asking for feedback...but I didn't want to die off.

I decided to randomly go back into my Pokemon fanfic... (the one I mentioned before in this thread) I found out I get distracted in a weird way of sorts and I just wanted to share.

I was coming up with a naming scheme for my towns and being a PhD student in a research lab that mostly deals with Information Theory I decided to name them off of Information Theorists. For instance, the starting city is named after the father of Information Theory (Claude Shannon) since you know...starting city goes well with the guy that essentially created the field... The problem is I got distracted and now I'm looking up how the precursor to modern zip compression works. And I got way involved and wasted an hour learning about zip compression.



It's not really a big problem for the way I write (terribly casually that is). It's more of an interesting anecdote that I decided to share. Anyone else have any interesting anecdotes they want to share about what happens while they're writing?
 

EV

Banned deucer.
Hmm, I don't have much for asking for feedback...but I didn't want to die off.

I decided to randomly go back into my Pokemon fanfic... (the one I mentioned before in this thread) I found out I get distracted in a weird way of sorts and I just wanted to share.

I was coming up with a naming scheme for my towns and being a PhD student in a research lab that mostly deals with Information Theory I decided to name them off of Information Theorists. For instance, the starting city is named after the father of Information Theory (Claude Shannon) since you know...starting city goes well with the guy that essentially created the field... The problem is I got distracted and now I'm looking up how the precursor to modern zip compression works. And I got way involved and wasted an hour learning about zip compression.



It's not really a big problem for the way I write (terribly casually that is). It's more of an interesting anecdote that I decided to share. Anyone else have any interesting anecdotes they want to share about what happens while they're writing?
I do the same thing ... I'll look something up on Wikipedia, follow a link, follow another link, take too much time looking over an article that's removed from my original topic of research, realize I blew thirty minutes, get back to work, and start it all over.

I also tend to waste time trying to find the right music to put me in the mood for writing a story. Right now I'm working on a fantasy adventure story set at sea, so I'll look around for some pirate or other seafaring tunes, see a video on Youtube that looks good, watch that, oh crap! I was supposed to be looking for music...
 
  • What do you like to write?: I'll write anything honestly. My favorite styles are short stories, poems, graphic novel/movie scripts, and I'd love to get into novel writing
  • Are you working on a current project?: Yes, it is a graphic novel that I one day hope to get published
  • What got you interested in writing?: I've always had an affinity for writing and in high school I took an intro to screen writing class and an advanced creative writing class that really showed me how much I love writing and that I have a gift for it
  • Are you branching out?: I'm going to major in writing arts at school, but I'm stuck taking Gen-eds now
  • Do you have a method?: No, I should develop a method. I usually do character sketches and use the 15 step save the cat method to flesh out characters and the plot-points of a story, especially if I'm writing a graphic novel, move script, or novel
  • Favorites: I like all genres of writing, lately I've been interested in beat generation style writing. I'd say my favorite book right now is On the Road by Jack Kerouac, but that's always subject to change
  • Misc: I live in NJ, I don't have an agent nor have I sold any of my work. I'm definitely looking to start writing more and start getting some work published
 
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You know...speaking of the sex scene...

Did any of you have incredibly embarrassing or disturbing things you had to google because you wanted to remain as close to real life as possible? I certainly had to look up a lot of embarrassing things during my time writing.

For me, it's, my worst Google searches (which I always use Private Browsing for) usually are about whatever violent things I want to happen in my story. I try not to look for visuals because they disgust me and I'm certain Google wouldn't really help me with that. I always have a hard time trying to get myself to look for it. One of the ones I want to look for but cannot get myself to is what would actually happen to a person's body when they take a deadly fall. A more recent is about how hard it is to actually bisect someone diagonally (essentially, the character I was planning, a petite girl, would essentially need a magic blade to do it so that death is out. Also same thing with snapping necks. It takes a LOT more force than TV tells you...



Now my most recent embarrassing Google Search is something I actually take pride in as a writer. I had to look up how to guides for girls typing their hair into ponytails.

Let me explain that one! Essentially, my one character for my one story, like, metaphorically wears her control over her whole life in how she wears her hair. In particular, this rather stoic, well controlled, girl usually wears her hair in a well-managed ponytail. Later, when she loses control of her life (which happens several times during the course of the story. She literally curses the heavens for her shitty luck with life at one point), her hair is shown as a mess, not put up into any sort of hairdo and allowed to just flow everywhere. As a sort of explanation before anything happens actually, in one chapter, she tells her boyfriend, on a day she didn't have the time to fix her hair that day and that she hates letting her hair just hang down because it gets everywhere. Then...something bad happens (I won't say what) and she becomes an emotional wreck at the end of the day.

So, my whole reason I had to search for girls tying their hair into ponytails is because I had a mental image of her with her hair down and with her hair up and I wanted to see how reality conforms to my wish. The fruits of my labor ended up with her ponytail being now longer than I originally thought and her hair being shorter than I originally imagined.
 
  • What do you like to write?: I do some fanfiction (Mainly Rio and MLP). Those mainly stay on my computer for my personal enjoyment only. As for works I show other people, I love to write poetry and the occasional novel. I normally stay within the following genres: Romance, Angst, and Crime
  • Are you working on a current project?: I'm currently in the process of reviving a fanfiction piece. I was nearly finished with it... and them my power went out... and the computer forgot how to use auto save.It's taking a long time, because after I'm done with a piece/ stopping thinking about it, I not only struggle to get re-inspired, I also struggle to find the diligence to persevere and continue working on it. Needless to say the power outage distracted me from it.
  • What got you interested in writing?: It started around age twelve. I was quickly running out of stories that I both enjoyed and could comprehend. I thought about how I could find more books and stories I liked. Something clicked n my twelve year old brain. If I wrote the stories, it would always be something I liked! It stems off from the moment I conceived that idea.
  • Are you branching out?: Does the PS Art room count?
  • Do you have a method?: When I first get my inspiration for something, I must finish the piece as quickly as possible or else the quality seems to drop dramatically. I've been known to spend more than two days at a computer so I could get everything I wanted down. Anything after the initial inspiration period seems flat, boring, and uninspired.
  • Favorites: Genre: Romance Series: Seekers Author: Myself (Not in an egotistical way. I do not consider myself a good writer by any means) Quote: "Remember, everyone on the road is an idiot but you, and I'm not sure about you yet."
  • Misc: Where do you live?: A small village in Appalachia. More specifically, in SE Ohio. Do you have an agent?: No, nor do I ever plan to have one. Have you sold any work?: I sold a small poetry book to someone I met at a leadership seminar for $5 if that's worth anything. What are you reading right now?: Defending Jacob
 
You know...speaking of the sex scene...

Did any of you have incredibly embarrassing or disturbing things you had to google because you wanted to remain as close to real life as possible? I certainly had to look up a lot of embarrassing things during my time writing.
I know what you mean. For 'Death and Damnation' I have to do at least 2 google searches per chapter(because, unfortunately, it is quite the gory story.), and I once had to search up exactly how a person would look if they got shot through the chest(with a shotgun).
I was almost relieved when I barely found anything. Also, on a related note, I try to get to know my characters as well as possible, and i spend days jotting down notes and trying to crack why the character acts like he does. Its somewhat fun, but when it comes to villains.....*shudders*
 
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Hello people, I'm not sure if this is exactly the right place to put my Pokemon fanfiction here, but if this isn't the right place do help me out by PMing me on the correct place to put it.

So... I have written a Pokemon fanfiction (2 to be exact) and I would like people to help me improve on it by giving me feedback.
Here are the links
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9769515/1/Desperate-Murderer (the first one.)
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10178687/1/Nightmare-Resurrection (the sequel, so you should read the first book first)

Yeah so thats about it, the summary of the stories can be found by clicking on the link. To be short: It's about a group of Pokemon who are forced to play this game called "Murderer" where one Pokemon is supposed to kill off the others without being caught.

Help me out. Thanks :D
If you want to post comments or feedback, please do it on the fanfiction page itself rather than here because I don't check smogon very often. Thanks a lot people! :D
 
Hello people, I'm not sure if this is exactly the right place to put my Pokemon fanfiction here, but if this isn't the right place do help me out by PMing me on the correct place to put it.

So... I have written a Pokemon fanfiction (2 to be exact) and I would like people to help me improve on it by giving me feedback.
Here are the links
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9769515/1/Desperate-Murderer (the first one.)
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10178687/1/Nightmare-Resurrection (the sequel, so you should read the first book first)

Yeah so thats about it, the summary of the stories can be found by clicking on the link. To be short: It's about a group of Pokemon who are forced to play this game called "Murderer" where one Pokemon is supposed to kill off the others without being caught.

Help me out. Thanks :D
If you want to post comments or feedback, please do it on the fanfiction page itself rather than here because I don't check smogon very often. Thanks a lot people! :D
Hello there, Le Hackr, nice for you to respond here. This is the perfect place for this (at least in my opinion). I don't have any time right now to read it (maybe over the weekend or so). I'm sure we'll be able to do it though.
 
Hey writers of Smogon! I was able to get a Writing room approved for Pokemon Showdown today, so I'd like to extend an invitation to all of you.

To join our Writing room, type "'/join writing" into the textbox of any official room

It's a great place to share your works and get insight on your writing. This applies to all creative writing (all academic writing inquiries should be brought to Academics), including poetry, fiction, and any other expressive writing. We also cover articles, so if you're a freelance writer or would like to learn about becoming one be sure to visit us! We are particularly keen on R/R (also known as r/r), which is "review for review." For those who don't know, it's reviewing someone else's work in return for getting feedback on yours. We also use our cloud drive to host all of our works, as it makes commenting and archiving much easier for everyone.

Our cloud drive can be found here

I myself am a poet and article writer, so feel free to hit me up for R/R or collaborations. I can also teach people how to get started with freelance writing and basic article writing. Hope to see you guys there!

-Th!nkPi
 

EV

Banned deucer.
Hey writers of Smogon! I was able to get a Writing room approved for Pokemon Showdown today, so I'd like to extend an invitation to all of you.

To join our Writing room, type "'/join writing" into the textbox of any official room

It's a great place to share your works and get insight on your writing. This applies to all creative writing (all academic writing inquiries should be brought to Academics), including poetry, fiction, and any other expressive writing. We also cover articles, so if you're a freelance writer or would like to learn about becoming one be sure to visit us! We are particularly keen on R/R (also known as r/r), which is "review for review." For those who don't know, it's reviewing someone else's work in return for getting feedback on yours. We also use our cloud drive to host all of our works, as it makes commenting and archiving much easier for everyone.

Our cloud drive can be found here

I myself am a poet and article writer, so feel free to hit me up for R/R or collaborations. I can also teach people how to get started with freelance writing and basic article writing. Hope to see you guys there!

-Th!nkPi
Very cool! I'll make it one of my usual hang-outs on PS (besides Other Metas of course.)
 
Hey writers of Smogon! I was able to get a Writing room approved for Pokemon Showdown today, so I'd like to extend an invitation to all of you.

To join our Writing room, type "'/join writing" into the textbox of any official room

It's a great place to share your works and get insight on your writing. This applies to all creative writing (all academic writing inquiries should be brought to Academics), including poetry, fiction, and any other expressive writing. We also cover articles, so if you're a freelance writer or would like to learn about becoming one be sure to visit us! We are particularly keen on R/R (also known as r/r), which is "review for review." For those who don't know, it's reviewing someone else's work in return for getting feedback on yours. We also use our cloud drive to host all of our works, as it makes commenting and archiving much easier for everyone.

Our cloud drive can be found here

I myself am a poet and article writer, so feel free to hit me up for R/R or collaborations. I can also teach people how to get started with freelance writing and basic article writing. Hope to see you guys there!

-Th!nkPi
This is cool, I'll definitely try and spend some time in here.
 
Thanks The Eevee General and Matt Garry! I may not be around at times due to lots of hours logged at work, but you can find me there on my days off (mainly Tuesday/Wednesday). Otherwise, I'm on late night or at scattered times. Hope to see you around :)
 
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I'll definitely be around on Showdown when I can. Not sure how often, as I'm really busy during the week, but I should be about some.
 

Beta.

Ruff Ruff amirite?
To those wondering about the room, it is basically a small community so far, with little people, yet knowing donovan well enough, I know that he, and countless others would be happy to get new people to join! It's also a great place to get help, or feedback if you do write stuff. I, myself will be there time to time, and we're always looking for new people to join our sekrit club :]
 
I must unlazy myself and get PO first. Way. Too. Lazy.

Surprisingly I'm using my one week break to do everything but things you would normally do on a break. Go figure.
 
To those wondering about the room, it is basically a small community so far, with little people, yet knowing donovan well enough, I know that he, and countless others would be happy to get new people to join! It's also a great place to get help, or feedback if you do write stuff. I, myself will be there time to time, and we're always looking for new people to join our sekrit club :]
I've invited at least 80 people at this point, and we'll be launching a writing contest soon in collaboration with another room. So we're growing at our own pace, as much as a private room can for now haha.

Do know I'm always available to give help or feedback, even if I'm not in the chat. Just hit me up here on Smogon :)
 
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Wow, a lot has happened since i was last here. ill definitely try out the new room.
guys, i need feedback for Death and Damnation.
i've tried other people but most arent replying.
is it fine if i get it here?
 
Wow, a lot has happened since i was last here. ill definitely try out the new room.
guys, i need feedback for Death and Damnation.
i've tried other people but most arent replying.
is it fine if i get it here?
You can ask for feedback in the Writing room, but if you're timezone is Eastern-ish you may want to ask late night or early morning when it's peak time. You can always ask the staff there to help you find people who can give you feedback as well.
 
  • What do you like to write?: Well honestly I write a little of everything. Mostly I write tribute stories of my favorite series of manga or anime.
  • Are you working on a current project?: I currently am not working on anything for now.
  • What got you interested in writing?: Fantasy. Where the mind can run rampant.
  • Are you branching out?: No I have not due to being afraid to share my scribbles.
  • Do you have a method?: Goodness me no when I am inspired I rush to find a piece of paper to jot things down.
  • Favorites: Lemony Sniket
  • Misc: Well I am not good about opening up so message me to know more.
Farwell For Now​
 
The Writing room is now public!

Be sure to visit us on Pokémon Showdown under "Chat Rooms." Here are just a few of the activities we're up to lately:

PS! Art/Writing Contest: First Battle

Our first writing contest is underway and submissions are trickling in already. This contest collaboration with the Art room is a first of its kind, allowing both artists and writers to express their creativity and use their talents to compete for a prize. Prizes are a bit different this time around as well. One lucky writer and artist will receive a $10 Amazon gift card OR a 1-month streaming subscription to a digital provider of your choice (Netflix, Hulu+ or Crunchyroll Premum). Even if you don't think you're skilled, this contest is a great way to get feedback on your writing and practice writing with a certain theme in mind.

PS! Writing Room Activities

We play a lot of writing games in our room everyday. Whether we're rapping, creating quotes, or concocting hilarious Pokédex entries, we're always having a lot of fun with writing. Be sure to visit our website to see the kinds of games we play. You can suggest your own games as well! Just click here. If you're lucky, you may get to witness a live rap battle in our room. There's nothing quite like seeing a "Charizard go hard in the paint."

Paid Opportunities For Writers


Outside of Pokémon Showdown, I like to do freelance work. Sometimes I have offers to recommend or recruit other writers for paid opportunities. The kinds of writers needed vary, both in style and skill level. If you're ever interested in any paid writing opportunities, check out the document hyperlinked in the headline above. I am always open to teaching people how to set up profiles on various freelance sites and find work online. To note, my time constraints differ from week to week. Please be patient with any and all requests for paid opportunities.
Say Hi To John The Aussie

We are honored to have John the Aussie bless our room with his attendance. It is of utmost importance that you say hi to him every time you see him. Feel free to message him many times and praise his awesomeness as driver! And did you know? Greeting John the Aussie everyday is five times as nutritious as a complete breakfast. Additionally, it's been known to prevent heart disease. John the Aussie will even lower your cholestrol—guaranteed. Never have we been so lucky as to have the cure for every illness in the world sit idly in our room, contributing with his looming presence. We thank Arceus for its graciousness and owe our hearts to a one-of-a-kind Aussie, equipped with a single ab and a lifetime supply of Coca-Cola. We know you do too.

See you there!
 
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