07/23/2009: Not Dead
Just to note that I did not disappear, even if the… ahem, "few days" I spoke of seem to have stretched out a bit. I've been working on the birthday updates - Thunderyu style is done and I'm working on Volcaryu style, and currently I'm writing up ILCOE character bios.Writing said ILCOE character bios is actually giving me the biggest rewriting-urges I've had in years: it's making me reread old ILCOE chapters and rediscover just how terrible the writing is and just how much it will put off potential readers if they happen to decide to read the character bios before they start reading. Trying to explain in Alan's bio that he found a super-clone fusion of Raikou, Entei and Suicune that just happened to be carelessly thrown out by Rick where anybody could find it makes me physically cringe. So does the very thought of having to make a character bio for Molzapart to justify his existence. And even if I like to think Spirit herself isn't as bad as she could be, the entire story of May finding her and the rich kid trying to steal her, as told in the story, just cannot possibly be made to sound like something that would ever be in a decent work of fiction. (This was in chapter thirty-freaking-one! Was I still that bad then? God help me.)
I have never come closer to deciding to just go through the ILCOE to change some bits to be slightly less embarrassing, as a version 3.5 of sorts, somewhat bridging the gap between the ILCOE and IALCOTN. Oh, I've entertained the thought before, believe me - I do every time I'm reminded of the ILCOE's various logic failures - but this is the first time I've been inches away from opening up one of the ILCOE chapter files to change something. But it would take an awful lot of work I could be using to actually continue writing, and I'm going to rewrite it all in the IALCOTN anyway, and I'd inevitably start changing more and more things around and so on, and it would confuse people who try to read it while I'm in the middle of this, so I've been trying to resist the temptation.
The current plan for the character bios, by the way, is that each bio contains a Pre-Story Biography, detailing the character's relevant backstory, and then Character Rambles, basically me rambling on about my favorite things about writing said character, how they've changed since I first started the story and whatever else I might find interesting about them. This is sort of the minimum of what I want to have in the bios. Then I've been thinking of possibly adding physical descriptions (would be a bit boring to write, but probably nice to have) and/or pictures (which would require me to either magically develop something in the way of human drawing skills or hire a good artist who would get them all just right, and then I mean just right in a way that would satisfy my inner perfectionist). And then I've been repeatedly changing my mind on whether to include "Character's Story So Far", basically a sort of continuation of the "Pre-Story Biography" that is basically a recap of the most significant events for that particular character during the story, but right now I think I've decided it's unnecessary, so unless some of you really think I should include that, I won't. Any other ideas? (Also on the physical description/pictures thing; thoughts?)
I've also been somewhat back-and-forth on what to do with the Pokémon bios: I don't want to give only the "important" Pokémon bios, since that would require defining some as being more important than others, but making character bios for all 20+ of Mark, May and Alan's Pokémon is a bit excessive, especially since I wouldn't have much to ramble about for most of them. I've considered giving Mark's Pokémon bios but not the other Pokémon, but I'm not sure I entirely like that idea either. Right now I think I'm going with having one bio for Mark's Pokémon, one for May's Pokémon and one for Alan's Pokémon: the Pre-Story Biography would basically have a paragraph or two on each of them, with the Character Rambles rambling about those of them I find particularly rambleworthy. If you have other ideas, I'm all for hearing them.
EDIT: Now I have another problem with the Pokémon bios: what names to use? As in, do I call Mark's Charizard "Charmander", because he caught him as a Charmander and thus his pre-story biography has him being a Charmander, or "Charizard", because that's what he is now? Maybe keep to the form in which they were caught for the pre-story biography, but switch to their current form for the character rambles? Or use, say, "Charmeleon" when talking about Charizard's rivalry with Scyther since at the time he was a Charmeleon, even though it could get confusing and at times I'm not talking about any particular event, just the character in general?
Second page of chapter 49, by the way; I got stuck at an annoying part, but now I'm past that and it's inching along. Don't know how long it will take exactly.
COMMENTARY DONE
Comments
Emerald Espeon (07/23/2009 03:24:02)
I don't really find the Character's Story So Far thing to be necessary…unless you're really bored and want to write them :P
Sands Buisle (07/23/2009 12:23:23)
I think you should put a mini-biography on the pokemon in their trainer's bios (Serebii.net has it in their manga bios).
Butterfree (07/23/2009 15:52:36)
But that would deprive me of the chance to ramble about them at all. D: It would also kind of demote them to less than actual characters, which I'm really not keen on. Sure, Serebii does that in his manga bios, but odds are the Pokémon in the manga don't speak or do anything of interest except what their trainer tells them to.
Sands Buisle (07/23/2009 16:39:51)
good point.
They do, however put the pictures of the pokemon in this fashion: Charmander pic. arrow pointing at Cahrmeleon pic. arrow pointing at Charizard pic. with the names under it, you could do that sort of thing
elyvorg (07/23/2009 21:59:23)
I'm all for the physical descriptions, simply because it'd be easier to find if you want to remind yourself what a character looks like, rather than poking through multiple chapters looking for the part where their appearance is described.
I am seriously looking forward to these rambles.
SilverLatios47 (07/23/2009 23:34:26)
*nods at elyvorg* Epsecially things like Letaligon's non-shinyness, which confused me for a good while xD
I love reading any sort of ramble you have cuz your writing style rocks!
ShadowDusk (07/24/2009 01:19:33)
can't wait for the next chapter!
Lugia (07/24/2009 09:55:17)
If you want, I could attempt to draw something ;) I like drawing, and I'm okay at it.