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Hi everyone!
This is the discussion thread for our collaborative project to novelize FMA (the manga), so if you have any questions or ideas about the project, this is the place!
Here's how it works: Individual people take individual chapters and re-write them in novel format from the perspective of whichever character you choose. We would then compile them into one big thread, and everyone would be able to read the chapters people have submitted like a book.
Interested in joining? Just answer these simple questions, OR, if you just want to get to the writing, come on over here and make sure to read the rules!
1) Would you like to participate now or in the future? 2) How would you like to contribute? Currently we're looking for writers. 3) Do you have any suggestions/concerns about the way things are organized? Are there things you'd like me or anyone else to clarify?
I think this would be really fun, and with so many people's different styles and interpretations of the series we'd get to see it in a whole new light. Even if you've never written anything before in your life, you might find that it's something you really enjoy, and if you're nervous about your skills you can ask one of our beta readers for help.
Here is a list of our members so far for your reference \o/
Currently looking for: Writers HOW TO JOIN: -To become a writer, please, either state your interest here or request your chapter here. There are no prerequisites to becoming a writer, but all written work will be subject to fact checking and proofreading by our lovely and talented team of editors
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1. Yep. And yup.
2. I would very much like to help where I could be of use. I could definetly see myself doing some proofreading, though probably not by a strict schedual, it would most likely have to be when/if I have time over for it. And just so we are clear, proofreading means both checking that a certain piece written doesn't diverge too much from the original, official, canonical story (OOCS=handy acronym? x] ) , AND checking for possible spelling/grammar errors? I do not doubt in peoples ability to write on this forum, not at all. But I guess there should have to be some sort of minimum requirements at least for a text to get "published" within the MAIN arc?
I mean, a certain ammount of knowledge about english writing rules would probably be to prefer from possible entrys. If a text is too choppy or has too many errors, it just isn't pleasant to read. This not meaning that if you should fail to get your work accepted into the main story, that you can't get back to the lab, fix it up and resubmit it.
Just a suggestion
3. Strictly manga, for me.
4. As for organizing, I'm feeling pretty beat, so I don't really have access to the most useful parts of my brain right now x]
But let me just say, Aribelle, this really gets me excited. Can't wait 'till we get this started! And kudos to you for taking the first, awesome initiative!
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Wow, this thing will be epic if we actually get it going. I'm in!
1. YEEESSSSS
2. Sure, I think I could be a good editor/proofreader (I used to pick out mistakes in my friends' stories all the time and they'd all scream at me to read the story for content and not grammar/spelling XD) I'll help out as much as possible, but as soon as school starts I'll have to see how much time I have.
3. Manga only
4. No, I think you're doing a great job as project leader
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QUOTE (Broken Chouchou @ Jul 25 2009, 12:33 PM)
2. I would very much like to help where I could be of use. I could definetly see myself doing some proofreading, though probably not by a strict schedual, it would most likely have to be when/if I have time over for it. And just so we are clear, proofreading means both checking that a certain piece written doesn't diverge too much from the original, official, canonical story (OOCS=handy acronym? x] ) , AND checking for possible spelling/grammar errors? I do not doubt in peoples ability to write on this forum, not at all. But I guess there should have to be some sort of minimum requirements at least for a text to get "published" within the MAIN arc?
I mean, a certain ammount of knowledge about english writing rules would probably be to prefer from possible entrys. If a text is too choppy or has too many errors, it just isn't pleasant to read. This not meaning that if you should fail to get your work accepted into the main story, of course you can get back to the lab and fix it up, and send it in again.
Just a suggestion
I think a basic rule for everyone would be to stick to canon (but they can put their own spin/interpretation - just not to the point where anything contradicts the main story). I think it would be a good idea to have a list of people who are willing to beta in case anyone wants another pair of eyes to look over it, but if you're happy with your own work and don't feel like it needs to be proofread then you don't have to get it looked at.
But that's an interesting idea - perhaps there could be a "head beta reader" who gives the final okay looking for any glaring grammatical errors/plot inconsistencies. And of course no one would get "rejected" - like you said, they'd just clean it up and resubmit it.
That being said, what do you think should be the requirements? I'd probably just say these: -stick to canon plot -stay in character as best you can -correct spelling, formatting, and grammar
And then also perhaps for consistency's sake - just the same rules as fanfiction.net lines up for their stories (so this would not be allowed):
QUOTE
1. Non-stories: lists, bloopers, polls, previews, challenges, author notes, and etc. 2. One or two liners. 3. MST: comments inserted in between the flow of a copied story. 4. Stories with non-historical and non-fictional characters: actors, musicians, and etc. 5. Any form of interactive entry: choose your adventure, second person/you based, Q&As, and etc. 6. Chat/script format and keyboard dialogue based entries.
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*squeals* AAAHHHH THIS SOUNDS SO COOL!!!! *SPAZZES OUT*
Ehehe, sorry...it's just that I love writing and I've dreamed a lot lately of FMA being novelized so my no-comic-book family can properly enjoy the original manga story and this project is pure GENIUS and I'd love love LOVE to pitch in!! I also love the idea of everyone doing a little bit of it...like for me, I'm terrible with writing action and battles and whatnot, but I'm pretty good at writing description and digging into the characters and the emotional stuff. I have a feeling that everyone's strengths and weaknesses with writing will mesh together well in this project.
So when are we gonna kick this thing off? I know it's still pretty early, but I'm excited.
Afterthought: Hey, I know this may seem like a silly request to the rest of you, but...um...one of the reasons why my little sister can't read the manga is because of the language. I'm not asking that we censor ALL of it, but could we maybe skip a few of the worst words? Or at least the f words? Sorry if that sounds stupid... *blushes*
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\o/ Yaaaay! I'm so glad you're interested! We're actually going to get started right...now! Woohoo! And yes, we can absolutely edit out harsh language. Fictionratings.com has a guide here that you can check out, so I vote we keep everything K+ - T. And, since we'll be posting it here, everything has to fit with this forum's guidelines
So, here is the process for which we will get started! I'm going to put up chapters in groups of five, and people can claim which chapter they want on a first come first serve basis. You can do it in this thread or via PM/comment. Unfortunately, there will be no doubles. You can claim either parts of chapters or entire chapters - and if you claim part of a chapter you must specify which page numbers you want. Before choosing anything, please refer to this post to see what's been taken and what hasn't.
The guidelines for your writing are: -Stick to canon events!! You can take some liberties since you'll be writing from a specific person's point of view and therefore will have to do some interpreting of their emotions/inner thoughs, but please don't go overboard. Also, don't leave anything out. -Submissions cannot contain chatspeak, or inserted authors notes (you can do that before/after but not in between), and can't be in script/poem format.
kkg22104 will be our editor, so when you finish your writing send it to her and she will give it the once-over before we publish! (Thanks again for doing that!)
As for which translations to follow, just do what you can with what you have. As we all know, sometimes scanlations have embellished translations, but if that's all you have access to then just do your best ^^. You can also probably check out the tankoubons at your local library if you want Viz's translations.
(also, if you want a banner promoting the project check out this post ^^)
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And there was much rejoicing!! *does the Dearheart Happy Dance* YAY!!!
Hey, can I have the prologue? The first page, I mean? I "novelized" that part a long time ago, and it's been sitting on my hard drive for a while. It'd be nice to let it see daylight, lol.
Aside from that, I'm still deciding if there's anything else I'd like to tackle... *scrambles to reread a few parts*
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1) Hell YEAH!! 2) I'm not sure if I would have the time, so I will say no for now. 3) Just manga. 4) You seem to be doing great!
It's an awesome project, but I'm just scared that there's not a lot of people who will participate in the writing process. Maybe by promotting the project in places like FF.net we will have more people. Talking about FF, are the final chapters going to be released in other places on the net, like FF.net?
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Oooh!
Sounds like a dream, Aribelle!
1. Yes and yes 2. Yup! 3. Manga/Brotherhood anime strictly :3 4. Hmmm...none at the moment ^^;
Writing has always been a passion of mine; I'm working on a short story now, so if you want an example, I'll have it up on my DeviantArt probably this week sometime.
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Yay, I'm so glad more people are interested now! Thanks to Dearheart, Gimpyhair, and Rosicrucian! So if you want to write a specific chapter or section make sure to post here or PM Aribelle, then once you finish don't forget to send it to me so I can check/edit it Can't wait for this to get going!
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Zomg! More people! This is making me immensely happy :') HUGE THANKS YOUS to all of you!
@Dearheart - you've got it page one of chapter one (aka the prologue) is all yours. Like kkg22104 said, PM it to her and she'll proofread. Thanks again for contributing \o/ and let me know if you want anything else ^^
@Gimpyhair - yeah, right now there aren't a lot of people. However, I'm hoping that once we put out a few chapters people will see what we're doing and be interested in coming on board. I can definitely put a link to this thread on my account at ff.net, and we can definitely publish it on that site as well as have it in a thread here (and so maybe people can see it and come over to this site to help ). Perhaps we can make a joint account or something over there just for this project, but this would all be in addition to what we're doing here. It's definitely something to discuss! We could probably get a lot of support!
@Rosicrucian - thank you for volunteering to help organize! For now since there's just a few of us I think I'm all right, but as more people come I'm sure I'll need your help ^^
Thank you all for your interest! Don't forget to choose a chapter/part of a chapter! The sooner we get them covered the sooner we can publish ^^ I'd like to have at least three completed before we publish it, that way we have a little bit of a cushion so we can try to upload on a regular basis.
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YOU are awesome, Ari. I can't believe we're about to get this going! I am seriously so happy that I PM'd you a few weeks back; I had no idea a little spark like that would ignite this full, creative blaze in you.
I mean, just look at all the sigs you've made, for an example. Incredibly awesome. And just taking the time to come up with rules, guidelines, and just organizing all of this. Thanks for being so engaged. I'm sure everybody else are just as grateful, and hopefully as excited, as me
And thanks to everybody else participating: lot of people makes lot of FUN!!
Now on to the picking. I'm dying over here to get to novelize the Liore arc. Chapterwise that would mean chapter 1 and 2, but I guess, seeing as you go one chapter at a time, I'll have to settle with chapter 1. Well, if it's still available that is, If not, my secondary choice would be chapter 2.
And now to let out the emotions I've managed to supress so far during this post.
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*giggles at ChouChou* Awesome, chapter 1! Squeeee!! *bounces* And while we're on the topic...would you mind much if I just did pages 15-18? Or would you rather just do the whole chapter? I don't mind either way. It's a cool scene; if you really want to do that part yourself, I totally understand. (And sorry if I'm butting in too much or anything! I'm not trying to hog all the good stuff! Really!)
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Okay, for now I'll put Broken Chouchou down for chapter one, and you both let me know what you decide ^^
Also - you can definitely pick more than one chapter! Just for consecutive chapters or entire arcs I think what we'll do is wait three days, and if no one claims anything then you can have it. Does that sound all right with your all?
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Sounds good to me!
Hey, I have a suggestion...and sorry if I'm just pointing out the obvious here or if no one else agrees; I'm just throwing this out there, just in case... As we all know, Arakawa has a wonderfully wacky sense of humor. Most of the comedy is in silly cartoonish visuals, and it's part of what makes FMA so much fun. One of the difficulties we'll have to work with while novelizing it is adapting that humor into novel format. (Again, sorry if I'm just pointing out the obvious here.) I suggest that when we come to parts like that (Ed's short rants, for instance), let's try to make them work in a way that still brings out the delicious humor, but doesn't go TOO over-the-top. When I read a funny part in a book, I want it to be clever and make sense with what the rest of the story's put in my head. Um...am I making sense at all? XD
And this is just my opinion. If no one else agrees... *shrugs* That's cool.
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Jul 25 2009, 12:19 AM
And kudos to you for taking the first, awesome initiative!
One of the difficulties we'll have to work with while novelizing it is adapting that humor into novel format. (Again, sorry if I'm just pointing out the obvious here.) I suggest that when we come to parts like that (Ed's short rants, for instance), let's try to make them work in a way that still brings out the delicious humor, but doesn't go TOO over-the-top. When I read a funny part in a book, I want it to be clever and make sense with what the rest of the story's put in my head. Um...am I making sense at all? XD