Just curious if anyone else on site is a video game player like myself. I particularly loved Final Fantasy VII, and was thinking about doing a fanfic of it, based on Cloud Strife's forays into cross-dressing. Would anyone be interested in reading it if I developed a story arc?
Haylee V
Edit (02-AUG-17):
After reading all the comments, and the rather heated debate regarding backstory (or lack thereof), I have come up with the following opening. Please do me a favor by IM'ing me your feelings about it. Thanks!
Cloud stood before the Honeybee Inn like he had done many times before. Yet no matter how many times his compulsion hit him, he always felt as if the entire planet's population of butterflies made their home in the deepest recesses of his stomach.
he took a deep breath, trying, in vain, to quell the queasiness he now felt. Mukki was a kind man, if somewhat older, and always treated his "Bubby" well. Cloud knew he had nothing to fear, but being here un Wall Market, in the heart of the Sector 5 Slums, always made him feel somewhat uneasy.
Even though Corneo was long gone, having met his end, courtesy of the Turks - Rude and Reno - on top of the Da Chao Mountains in Wutai, he still couldn't forget the first time Mehgan made her appearance. Of course then, it was a forced visit, as it was the only way he and Aeris could save Tifa from the Don's clutches. Many things, both in his own life, and the planet's, have changed since that fateful day - the day he first realized that he wanted to be something - no someone - more, much more than just ex-SOLDIER and AVALANCHE member Cloud Strife.
Comments
i dont know much about the game
but you're a great author, so I'd give the story a shot!
HUGE gamer!
I can't say I'd be particularly interested in a FFVII fanfic (I'm hardly its biggest fan,) but it's definitely got a built-in fanbase if you do it.
A few other neat video game options to take on:
--Saints Row (the second, third, and fourth games made your character's gender something you could change at whim -- and even rewarded it!)
--Fable (because lets face it, after a certain level it didn't matter if you were a guy or a girl, you'd still end up looking like Schwarzeneggar)
--Shovel Knight (now with the option to arbitrarily change the pronouns for all the major characters!)
--Assassin's Creed (since when are all someone's past lives the same sex anyway?!)
--Dead Rising (because even in a zombie apocalypse, being yourself is still important)
--The Elder Scrolls (it's fantasy, so why not?)
--Five Nights at Freddy's (Because being eaten by a robotic ballerina might have... strange... consequences.)
--And many more!
Fun fact: my current playthrough of the Saints Row games (2-GooH) I'm treating it as canonical that due to the explosion that didn't-quite-kill the boss at the end of the first game they're not male any more and transition over the course of the second. Silly, I know... but the sliders for sexual characteristics make it work surprisingly well.
Melanie E.
I almost always go female
I almost always go female when given the option in games with Saints Row being the sole exception because of how hilarious Robin Atkin Downes's voice acting is. It's even more hilarious if you remember him as the twerp from Babylon 5. :-D
Back on topic, I'm sure there's been a long-running fan fiction in the past based on Final fantasy 8 where Squall had to go undercover as his mother or something along those lines. I really love FF7 so would be up for a good fan fiction. :-)
Debs xxxx
Sounds interesting
But whenever an author writes about a very specialised subject such as this, it's important to remember the 95% of potential readers who are not acquainted with it. Make it something we can all enjoy, rather than just those who are in to gaming and know this particular game.
Try it. Worst that happens is
Try it. Worst that happens is nobody reads it. Best that happens is you hit a gold mine and get inspired. There's a lot of repeating stories but few original ideas lately, I think you can make this work!
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Not a Gamer
I quit playing video games when Tetris cause carpal tunnel problems for me. Yet, I think you should write your story.
I'm currently reading a book held for sale in Amazon that involves tennis. It's obvious the author's knowledge of the game is superficial. This impacts my enjoyment of the story . . . as it would any reader who has played tennis. Because I was a high school tennis coach It's really annoying.
You don't have to be a killer to write a murder mystery. You do need to know more than a little about your topic to make sure you're not constantly jarring your reader's suspended disbelief.
You seem passionate about video games and would seemingly be able to work them into your stories without making everyone stop reading out of disgust.
The author I'm currently reading has horrible grammar, didn't bother to fill huge logic holes in the premise, and has almost no tension in the story.
Yet, I've already invested over three hours into his story and will probably finish the book.
It's very simple.
Create a plausible plot based around a theme you can state in fifteen words or less.
Create interesting characters who are able to function within your theme and plot.
Create tension between your characters.
Create hundreds of action / reaction cycles that show your readers what each character is thinking. Allow your readers the pleasure of accurately predicting what will happen next, without being totally obvious.
Answer the question that you asked in the beginning of your story.
Take a bow.
Good luck with your story.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Yes, I fully understand
how lack of knowledge of subject matter can ruin a story. (L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth quickly comes to mind. I spent almost a year PLODDING through 1,250 pages of what, in my opinion, is the poorest excuse for science fiction ever written.)
This happens to be one of my favorite games, as I have completed it several times, undertaking various challenges (maxing out all levels/gold/spells, speed challenge, seeing all cut scenes, getting all the secret characters, etc.) I've researched (and added info to) the wikia page, know all the characters' backgrounds and quirks, and think I could tell the backstory in a way that will compel the reader to delve further into the story. I just don't know how I'll end up introducing the backstory - perhaps as a series of character flashbacks, once the setting is established.
*Kisses Always*
Haylee V
Backstory! Who needs backstory
Far too many stories on this site are ruined by starting with paragraph after paragraph of backstory. The author may need to know backstory to bring the story to life, but the reader needs the minimum to follow the story and it should never be at the start.
You have just a few paragraphs to hook the reader in and convince them to read on. And once you have the story going, backstory can be introduced a little bit at a time.
Charlotte
Charlotte
I agree,I treat backstory as top secret information and only give it out on a need to know bases. Yes all the people who read my stories are granted the same level of security clearance.
Hugs
Sarah
There's a difference between
There's a difference between back story for recapping and back story for character development. I have seen quite a few stories that had characters appear out of nowhere and it's hard to recall who they were and why they were important. One of my favorite authors has been guilty of this a lot but it's something that can be worked around if you give yourself a little bit of time to check into them and recall who they are.
Frankly, I would rather endure some back story than being dumped into the middle of something. But then again I am a huge abuser of back stories for characters in my own writing
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Efindumb
Efindumb
I should not have said I agreed for it made it sound like I agreed with Charlotte's entire statement. I agree with too much backstory at the start of the story is bad. When I say bad, I mean it is not for me and it is hard for me to get hooked into the story.
Backstory can sometimes be the best way of telling a story, The Jerk is a great movie and is told totally as backstory to how Steve Martin’s character ended up in the gutter and saying telling you where he is at in his life and then we see find out how he got there.
I understand, it's a valid
I understand, it's a valid complaint as well as a valid literary tool. To each their own, sometimes skimming is needed and sometimes skimming bites you in the rear end!
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
If it's good enough for real life...
In real life, say you meet a new colleague at work. Do they start off the conversation telling you their birthplace, their schooling and how they were abused as a child? Or do they simply say, "I'm Charlotte and I've just started working here. Can you tell me where the toilets are, please?" or whatever. When we meet new characters in real life, it takes time to get to know them, and if someone did start off with their life history, people would find them pretty boring.
So it is with a good story. You find out about background in little bits and drabs, and no more than necessary to explain a few things, here and there.
Those first few sentences are the hook; you need to convince readers to read on - not bore them to death.