Young Writers Society

I started writing Pokemon fanfiction in the 8th grade. After several different starts, I thought of one that really interested me. Around Chapter 7, however, I realized it lacked a lot of things (such as deep characters and thought-out conflict). My friend helped me think of a new idea that kept some of the aspects of my previous story with new ones mixed in. We came up with what I believe to be the greatest story idea ever.

Now, my friend is the one who came up with the new idea, but he would have never thought of it if I hadn't written the previous story. This just goes to show that you often have to go through many ideas before you find the best ones. So, the story kept some characters and aspects of my previous story and added some new characters and aspects. I do not take full credit for this story and would mention my friend's name if he had an account on here. I truly appreciate all he has done for me.

Now, I know it may seem arrogant or ignorant to call this story the greatest story ever, but I believe it is. Out of fear of someone stealing my idea, I will simply post a summary:

In this gritty alternate dimension, the Kanto region is filled with corruption. At the root of it all is the infamous Team Alpha, led by the cruel Archon, a villain with a secret so great, it has all of Kanto fooled. Meanwhile, in Pallet Town, Professor Oak has found a mysterious Growlithe with astounding abilities. The Archon sends Neo, his son, to retrieve it, but something goes horribly, horribly wrong and someone is hurt because of it. The Growlithe ends up in the hands of the hero, Thomas Magnolia, a strong youth with the dream of avenging his murdered father. Now Neo must become companions with Thomas and get his hands on the Growlithe. But what happens when Neo begins liking Thomas, can he live with the truth of his actions? And who is this Archon truly, and what does he have to do with Thomas' father?

This story gave me one of the greatest feelings I've ever felt in my life, as well as the greatest feeling a story has ever given me. I could not wait to write it. In fact, after falling asleep at around 2:00 AM, I woke up early and started to write the prologue. I cannot even describe how much this story excited me.

With the help of my friend, I wrote the prologue and several pages of Chapter 1. I got stuck a certain spot and took a short break. About a week later, I went to a nearly three week long camp in West Virgina (the camp lasted 10 days but we took a bus there and back). Throughout the entire camp, which was one of the awesomest experiences I have ever had, I thought about the story. My friend who helped me come up with it didn't go, but I talked about it with my other friends.

When I got back from camp, however, everything went wrong. I felt to tired to write the story, was dealing with a bit of depression, and stoped writing. Dear God, how I regret stopping. I began to ruin the ultimate story for myself.

Once 9th grade started, I decided to start again. However, I soon became a perfectionist. I read a lot of writing advice and felt that I had to plan out my story extensively and not write until I knew how to do it perfectly. (This perfectionism still exists within me today, but I'm working to slay it.) I ended up rewriting the epic prologue in a less epic way and rewrote the first chapter OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I wouldn't even finish the first chapter before starting it over. It has to be perfect. I thought. Characters, plot, setting, theme, everything! During those rewriutings and after, I hated my story. I hated it so much. I managed to singlehandedly ruin what could have been the most epic story ever.

Since then, I have sworn to never write The Kanto Kronicles again. If I wasn't going to write my story with the passion and non-perfectionism it deserved, I would never write it again. I never stopped thinking about it, though. I always imagined it whenever I played or watched Pokemon, listened to music, and whenever it just popped into my mind. I miss the story a lot and wish to God that I hadn't ruined it.

Yesterday, out of sheer boredom and sheer frustration that I wasn't writing anything for the current stories I'm "working on", I wrote part of a fight scene I always wanted to write. It was not the best, but it was actually kind of fun. It reminded me somewhat of the story it could have been.

Now, with Spring Break commenced and my constant imagining of this story, should I revisit it. I don't have anything close to the burning passion I had for it two summers ago, which is the main thing holding me back. I only want to write The Kanto Kronicles if I can reignite that passion, which I fear is impossible. It's like this story is demanding to be written. Deep down inside I love the characters and everything else about The Kanto Kronicles to bits, which is why I will not allow myself to ruin it even more than I already have.

If I decide to write it again, I'm going to have to truly kill my perfectionism. That's what got me to this point in the first place. One thing I really worried about was voice. I read that author's keep revising their stories to make their characters sound the way they should. I was worried that my main character did not sound serious enough. Or angry enough. Or confused enough. Should I worry about that? I have no idea how to create "an overall feeling and tone that the main character is serious about defeating the man who killed his father." It's like I question whether I should write "I ran towards the building, sweat dripping down my face" or "I ran in the direction of the building, eager to meet my resolve". Now I'm just rambling, but you get me.

Should I write The Kanto Kronicles? I have a lot of things planned out, but they could possibly change. I just don't want to screw it up, That's the last thing I want. Thank you for reading.

Alright so I will write a possibly really long reply just to help you of course.So I will quote you and add any comments to that.

This just goes to show that you often have to go through many ideas before you find the best ones.

I totally agree with this, sometimes and idea is born from an idea. It's like you get a sudden flash of inspiration and that is "the" story.That happens all the time to a lot of writers, and it's a good thing. It shows that you ideas bounce off each other.

Now, I know it may seem arrogant or ignorant to call this story the greatest story ever, but I believe it is.

If you believe that then that is great. Don't compare yourself to other writers or their stories, and it is perfectly normal to have pride and love for your idea.

When I got back from camp, however, everything went wrong. I felt to tired to write the story, was dealing with a bit of depression, and stoped writing. Dear God, how I regret stopping. I began to ruin the ultimate story for myself.

Now you can learn from your mistakes, and try very hard not to make this one again. You can't change the past but all you have is right now, the present time.

However, I soon became a perfectionist. I read a lot of writing advice and felt that I had to plan out my story extensively and not write until I knew how to do it perfectly. (This perfectionism still exists within me today, but I'm working to slay it.)

No story is perfect, really and perfectionist stunts the growth of your writing and your general life.Also don't listen to writing advice. Ever. Here is a reply that I think would help you that @Rosendorn wrote(she gets all the credit, I will just link you to it)Here it is:

https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=102795&p=1258896#p1258896

She wrote there specifically her reasons why not to take writing advice, and why it could mess you up.

Now, with Spring Break commenced and my constant imagining of this story, should I revisit it. I don't have anything close to the burning passion I had for it two summers ago, which is the main thing holding me back. I only want to write The Kanto Kronicles if I can reignite that passion, which I fear is impossible.

It's not impossible, but I agree with you, you should have the max. passion for this. Just get excited about it, have high hopes for it! You know that you want to kind of write out this story. So I would say, that's it's really up to you but you should decide if you are ready or not. You can either take a giant leap and courage or you can timidly step back away from the edge.It's just whatever works for you. I know that you might have expected a different reply from me, but I will remain neutral to your question.

If you want to write the Kanto Kronicles, but warning, just like you said, if you do write that: try to have no perfectionism no matter what and absolutely no fear.Just take your pen, put it to paper and write if you choose to do so. I hope that this reply helps you! Happy writing!

Whoa that sounds awesome! I would read the Kanto Khronicals ^^

While many look down upon it, writing fanfiction is really one of the best, most epic things ever.

I've been in your shoes. I had this really cool fanfic (a Mario fanfic, actually) and I loved everything about it. The plot, the stories... Everything was perfect in my younger, ignorant eyes. People seemed to really like it, too. It was my most reviewed fic ever.

But then I changed a bit and completely abandoned it. Readers were begging for the next chapter, but I ignored it. It's been two years, and I still haven't touched that fanfic...

Don't me like me. Don't hold yourself back from indulging yourself in that world again. What held me back was the whole "fanfictions are unoriginal." You say your problem is perfectionism. Let me tell you a secret: nothing is perfect. I've found very obvious mistakes in PUBLISHED books by POPULAR authors!!! Everything's going to have mistakes.

Also, there is a time to write and a time to edit. Write and kill that inner perfectionist. Murder it. Slaughter it until it's completely dead. Just write and enjoy it. Editing shall commence at a later date.

I hope what I said made sense. Good luck!

I think you should write it, but I don't think you should ignore your current projects altogether. I find that when I am a good way into a story and I start getting bored of it (which will happen) I end up thinking of other ideas and trying to write them. You can't just give up and never finish a work though. The same thing goes for editing. If you ever want to sell books you have to edit.

Another thing to be aware of is that ideas are cheap. The worst ideas can turn into the most awesome stories, simply by writing well. The point is not to come up with epic ideas, but rather to write a good story, no matter what it is.

That said, you shouldn't focus on perfection. Your first draft will almost always suck! That is the point of editing. You can't stop in the middle of a story and make it perfect. Just keep going. If you have to add another draft that is fine. But don't give up on it!

A good piece of advice is to write the first draft the way it should be writen. Don't worry about what your "inner editor" or other people will say. And when you hate your story, ignore the feeling. Just keep going!

If this is something you wrote a while ago then it's likely you've changed and grown as a person since then, so it's likely to be frustrating to jump straight back in to an old novel. There's also the risk that you might wind up in the same rut that made you abandon it.

The advice I always give is to be prepared to get rid of the dross and abandon the dead. Sift through it to find the things that you still really like and cut off the rest. This way you'll be working with the best of what you have; it's kind of like cutting off dead branches in the early spring so that the new ones can grow, otherwise the rot will spread and kill it.

If it helps, with each project I always have a folder labelled Compost Pile, so that anything you cut out can be thrown in there out of the way, and then you can still look back on it once in a while and say 'wow, look how far I've come with this.'