Okay, a little friendly advice to the amatuers...and others...

[Clu-less]

Just as when Forever Red came out, a whole bunch of people have started "piggy backing" off Rob's idea and have started to make fics based around episodes. There's a few basic rules I think everyone should follow

And before anyway says anything, the title of this can be deceiving...

1.) Make it true to the story. There's still got to be key events that happened in the actual episode in the story. So, I recommend that if you don't remember an episode your writing about, you get in on tape or find out as much as you can about it, otherwise people will start complaing about your inconsistencies.

2.) Fill in the plotholes. Some people rewrite episodes and there are bigger plotholes than there were before. In Forever Red: The Novel, Rob addressed most the issues that everyone had with Forever Red. How do I know about plotholes? Because I have HUGE ones to fill in my own fanfiction.

3.) Be original. Don't try and be Rob.

4.) If you're doing a "Forvever (insert color here)" story, make sure that addresses everything, especially if your not relating it off Rob's version. You have to make connections between the Rangers-don't just say all the Rangers suddenly meet and know each other. Example-if you were doing a Forever Pink story, don't just have them meet. Have a little backstory on where they were and how this is changing things. How do I know? Because my failed attempt at Forever Pink, "Everlasting Pink" is complete inadaquate.

These are just my suggestions, I have no intentions of being the absolute authority on this. I've just been writing Power Rangers Fanfics for a long time and want to offer my help.

[TheOneRJS200]

I agree that you should probably have a tape of the episode. I watched "Forever Red" a number of times before I actually started writing. I also checked PRSpoilers.com, and printed out the summary.

lol There, there's my advice to fellow "novel" writers.

And thank you Clu, for flattering me.

[greenwindranger]

Some very good points.

[Clu-less]

Thank ya, thank ya very much

[lana_christiana]

hhhhmm....Question Clu

Suppose a writer, writes something about the characters,( Jason Kimberly, Tommy..etc) but there is no referance to the power rangers at all, an alternate universe fic if you will. How would a writer go about making this a great fic, as opposed to a suck @$$ fic?

[Clu-less]

Well, if they aren't Power Rangers, as the long as the story is good, and the characters are true to who they are as the characters they were in the shows, then it's perfectly okay not to make them Power Rangers. I've seen fics where the Rangers acknowledge the fact they once were Rangers, but it isn't really an issue in the entire bigger story of things.

[lana_christiana]

Thanks Clu

[ShadowRanger]

Originally posted by lana_christiana
hhhhmm....Question Clu

Suppose a writer, writes something about the characters,( Jason Kimberly, Tommy..etc) but there is no referance to the power rangers at all, an alternate universe fic if you will. How would a writer go about making this a great fic, as opposed to a suck @$$ fic?

Ah but then the same rules apply as sould apply to any other PR fanfiction. Well any other attempt at writin actually.

Firstly, know what you're writing about, watch the show, learn how the characters behave. It doesn't matter if it's an alternate universe or the characters are never Rangers, or even whether they have different pasts. At the end of the day each character has certain traits and failures that would carry over and others that wuld not. The trick then is to spot which characteristics they would retain and those that woul have been lost. That way you end up with a recognisable version of the character in a different situation.

Give them all a real reason to be in the same place at the same time. It could be coincidence, but maybe they're on a school and business trip and meet for the first time. Remember here first impressions count. Tommy made quite an impression when he first met the Rangers and I mean before he turned evil.

Write either in prose or script format, nothing is more annoyingthan someone who writes a script and then tries to pass it off as prose. It is easy to tell.

At the same time, ensure you keep in the right tense. Don't switch constantly from past to present tense in the same paragraph. Where possible stick with past tense.

Take your time with it. Spell, grammr and sense check it and the find someone to read it through for you. You'd be surprised how many erros you can miss even after running a spell/grammar check and reading through several times. An extra set of eyes helps big time.

Oh and if like me you have acrappy keyboard that keeps missing characters, replace it before you start writing. Trust me it'll save time and effort.

*goes off to find a hammer*

[wolfpac]

if u want 2 do a Forever color make sure 2 have every1 morph,demoreph what makes them unique besides squad & what o they have in common besides color?

[lana_christiana]

Ok that was alot more helpful....lol..... thanks ShadowRanger.

However wolfpac, I'm not quite sure I'm up for a Forever Color fic. Rob pretty much had that down, and I'm not Rob, and will never be Rob cuz I'm a chick for one...lol. I've got a rather quixotic style of writing, where as Rob has a unique, imaginative style of writing. My fic is going to be original even if I have to activate every imaginative brain cell to come up with an interesting enough plot.
You guys are veteran writers, where as I'm an amatuer writer for this particular show. I've done fan fiction before but not for the Power Rangers. The fiction that is written for this show carry a whole new set of rules that I'm not used to. So thanks alot for the guidelines, you've given me something to work with.

I do know, however that in my fic, the story will revolve around the characters Jason, Zack, Billy, Kimberly, Tommy, Trini, Adam, Rocky and Aisha maybe with a few of my own characters thown into the mix.:D