On Sun, 24 Sep 1995, For Love of Peorth wrote:

Hi All,

  Hmmm... I hope this doesn't count as noise...

  Aside from the original animatiopn/manga/story as a basic structure for
  the fanfics created, are there any othe sources of inspiration for the
  fanfic writers?  Anyone care to share their feelings?

  Or are all of the fanfic writers simply talented and this question just
  noise waiting to get deleted? *nervous*

Well, I'd be the last one on the list to claim to be 'talented.'  If I 
were you I'd concider the lack of responce more of a lack of a life/free time
by the writers rather than a lack of respect for you question.  After 
pounding on the keyboard for the last two days, I'll try to explain how 
it worked for me. (If you didn't know I'm 1/4-1/3 through my first one.)
[I have a fair idea where your coming from.  You now have some idea what 
sort of weight to give this post]

First decide if you REALLY want to write 'something'  (You seem to do)

If you don't have an idea where to begin, find a show/series you like, 
but are not "religiously" attached to.  (I don't think I could ever do a 
Dominion or Bubblegum Crisis fanfic, my feeling for those series would 
interfere with what I was writing.) (But you really need to like what 
your writing about too.)

Make sure you reasonablely confortable with its universe.  It is helpful 
to know what your changing when you change it.
[Some may concider the rest of this spam, but it worked for me.]

Figure out what kind of story you want. (Crossovers, Warped reality, 
Otaku invasion, Drop-in/Behind the scenes, others.  "Lemons!" shouts some 
duffis Hentai in the croud."

Spaming out some BGC titles I'll never do.

  Crossover (anime/anime related)
    Leon finds A Robotech Sabre Cyclone and starts kicking butt instead 
  of getting kicked.

  Crossover (general)
  Knight Sabres vs Iron man and War Machine.
  
  Warped reality
  Sylia really is a boomer and goes on a rampage.
  
  Otaku Invasion
  I *find* myself in MegaTokyo, sweep Nene off her feet, marry her, we 
move to Redmond and we kick Bill Gates' butt. (I Like It!)

  Drop in / Behind the scenes.
  Linna and Irene, how well did they know each other, before.
  Priss and Silvie's Excelent Adventure.
  Deep Inside the Mind of Mackie (Eww...)

Find a end.  (Example, Priss tells Leon she loves him.)
Unless you are another Ryoga, it helps to know where your going, when 
you start to pull out your hair.

Relate aspects of yourself, family, and friends to the various characters.
You'll probablly be drawing on alot of your past for plot ideas.  This 
early work helped me recently.

If I'm making any sence you would at this point have a begining point, 
an ending point, and a couple of plot points or cool ideas you want to 
work with.  At this point the only advice is 'Just Do It.' some people 
talk their ideas on a tape.  I scribble them out in my dayplanner during 
my bus commute.

Well, I'm totally brain dead now.  hope this at least made sence.

Bruce

 ___________________________________________ _______________________________
| Bruce R. (just call me Ryoga) Brunk       | All those animals.            |
| Lake Oswego, Oregon                       | People eating Akane's cooking |
| Senior Systems Engineer, FEI America, Inc.| and liking it....   Something |
| brbrunk@agora.rdrop.com                   | weird is going on here!       |
| brbrunk@industrial.com                    | - Saotome Ranma               |
|___________________________________________|_______________________________|
| Executive Engineer, Hardware.  H.A.C.K.S. |     Nene, have your cake      |
| Honored Attendies of the Cute Kight Sabre |        and eat it too.        |
|___________________________________________|_______________________________|