"Henry J. Cobb" <hcobb@slip.net> wrote:

Why doesn't the FAQ simply direct everybody to my Spamfic page whenever
they think they've got a new idea?

Actually, what the FAQ *should* say is that when you think you've got a
new idea, WRITE IT rather than posting it to the list as an idea.

No offense, but ideas are a dime a dozen. What's important for a fanfic
is not the raw idea, but the work that goes into developing it into a
story of how the idea affects the characters' lives. Think about some of
the more popular fics -- e.g. Hearts of Ice, or Waters Under Earth --
and how they would look if you reduced them to an "idea" post. It can't
be done, at least not in a way that would do any sort of justice to the
stories.

I agree, my initial thought on Childhood of a Modern Dynasty was to split
Ranma into male and female parts (original title was 1+1). Of course,
that's been done. As I plotted what to do after I started seeing some
opportunities to radically transform the story from it's initial thought
to it's current state. Soon, it became obvious that I had to start the
story earlier than the split (concentrating on Akane and Ranma finally
admitting their love), to make events after the split work correctly (at
least I hope they are working).

So in the end CMD turned into a much broader story than just a split
story. And I haven't even gotten up to some of the weirder events that
will rock Akane's world. CMD isn't a split story. It's a story that has a
split in it among other elements.

Adding the future segments really radically transformed the story as
well. In ways I will never tell anyone. <evil grin>




-=-
Jim Lazar

E-Mail - mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
Home - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar
FanFiction - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime
-=-