Writer Discussion Table

[Lumaria]

and this is what i'm asking...

but i know better than to believe you want to 'try them all". so there has to be some distaste that you have that "might" stop you from attempting it ever. the same way your phobia of heights most likely stopping you from even attempting it.

and no, theres nothing wrong to want to "try" them all, but keep in mind, i think you know the general idea of the question.

[LittRL]

I've already said it was psychological thriller I tend to avoid. What you don't read you usually don't write and I can say I haven't read a thriller since my guilty pleasure of Franken Fran and its singular ability as a manga to make me nauseous.

Not sure if you saw it before but it was said.

[legomaestro]

Franken Fran really is something else.

There's lots of manga I would even dare try to write. I'm unable to detach myself from my story to make certain kinds of characters. I have no skill especially in depicting romance.

[Lumaria]

I've already said it was psychological thriller I tend to avoid. What you don't read you usually don't write and I can say I haven't read a thriller since my guilty pleasure of Franken Fran and its singular ability as a manga to make me nauseous.

Not sure if you saw it before but it was said.

nope it wasn't said.

[LittRL]

I don't pay much attention to psychological manga though, stuff is always creepy and gory.

[Nairbons]

I guess one of the things that makes Lorenx's question complicated is how you'd define the different manga categories in the first place. According to TVTropes, the different categories of manga you mentioned describe the age and gender demographics rather for manga rather than any particular type of genre.

If we were talking about genre, then I agree with Litt. There's enough merit to just about every genre I can think of that I'd love to dabble in every category that I can muster. Part of that would be to work within the genres that I like, but also to challenge myself to become interested and create something that's uniquely my own in a category that might not have had a perspective like mine otherwise. In that sense, my answer is "no." There's no category of manga that I'd want to avoid.

HOWEVER, if we're talking about categories of manga in regard to demographics, then that's another story altogether. In this case, my answer changes to "Yes." The Shoujo category includes girls from about the ages from 8 to 18, and trying to write a story that's specifically and intentionally designed for that group scares the poop out of me. Now, again, I'm not saying that I wouldn't avoid it alltogether. There's a great story opportunity here somewhere, but I'm just not as eager to jump into writing a Shoujo story. I'm afraid that what I ended up creating would be more of a Mel Brooks-like parody/homage to Shoujo than an honest-to-goodness Shoujo story. To make a more Western-centric comparison, it'd be like trying to write my own version of "Twilight" without making fun of "Twilight" or it's fanbase.

[Lumaria]

I don't pay much attention to psychological manga though, stuff is always creepy and gory.

not a clear answer LIttRL. so next time, clarify and not say "i brought it up before"

I guess one of the things that makes Lorenx's question complicated is how you'd define the different manga categories in the first place. According to TVTropes, the different categories of manga you mentioned describe the age and gender demographics rather for manga rather than any particular type of genre.

If we were talking about genre, then I agree with Litt. There's enough merit to just about every genre I can think of that I'd love to dabble in every category that I can muster. Part of that would be to work within the genres that I like, but also to challenge myself to become interested and create something that's uniquely my own in a category that might not have had a perspective like mine otherwise. In that sense, my answer is "no." There's no category of manga that I'd want to avoid.

HOWEVER, if we're talking about categories of manga in regard to demographics, then that's another story altogether. In this case, my answer changes to "Yes." The Shoujo category includes girls from about the ages from 8 to 18, and trying to write a story that's specifically and intentionally designed for that group scares the poop out of me. Now, again, I'm not saying that I wouldn't avoid it alltogether. There's a great story opportunity here somewhere, but I'm just not as eager to jump into writing a Shoujo story. I'm afraid that what I ended up creating would be more of a Mel Brooks-like parody/homage to Shoujo than an honest-to-goodness Shoujo story. To make a more Western-centric comparison, it'd be like trying to write my own version of "Twilight" without making fun of "Twilight" or it's fanbase.

keep in mind of the fandom compared to Twilight itself, is more of a fandom story more than it is about telling a unique story. one might say "Wow vampires that glitter?" but behind the aspect tells more about the author than the reader.

The idea of glittering vampires means the author didn't want vampires to have a down side. the fact that there is little to no reason to have these characters love eachother shows that the idea or fascination is more about a boring annoying girl who is more interested in the supernatural rather than pure love and chemistry.

see....twilight is more of a "fanservice" story. and i associate Shojo and some shonen with that.

[Nairbons]

That's what I'm saying! I picked "Twilight" as the easiest example of a book that's pretty obviously targeted at the tween and teenage girls.

I just don't have much interest in trying to make something for that market. Plus, as a guy who's no longer a teenager, I feel like it would be SUPER creepy to aim for an audience of young girls. There's too many weird implications there that can be avoided by just writing something that I'd want to read. That way, if my work ever ends up getting fans (HAHA, oh wow that's never gonna happen), there's a decent chance I can relate to them more easily and work without feeling like I'm writing for someone in particular.

[legomaestro]

Random question: You think a shounen manga novel would be worth the read? Do you think it could translate that well? Let's say something like one piece

[LittRL]

There are pretty much shounen books already, they're children's novels with super powers. Rick Riordan's works of Percy Jackson reads like it was shounen to me. I am speaking form the perspective of someone who avoided the graphic novel and movie versions though.

If you wanted to translate a Japanese shounen manga into an English though I don't think it'd work out. If you had a skilled enough writer it would no doubt be a good read but it wouldn't have the same impact.

[Lumaria]

Random question: You think a shounen manga novel would be worth the read? Do you think it could translate that well? Let's say something like one piece

One piece wont translate well....the personalities are so drastic, and following the character without any visuals will probably annoy them more than enjoy. keep in mind, certain light novels that are adapted into manga have either a completely different feel or pretty faithful, and those who stay faithful usually have that novel feel.

I do think that slice of life or mystery manga tend to make it well for anime/manga.

[legomaestro]

Yeah that I did notice. I haven't read enough, but I do know the writers for Baccano and Bakemonogatari enjoy success and are pretty well praised.

@Litt was Percy Jackson good?

[LittRL]

I like it. It has to do with Greek Mythology though so I have a bias there, then again Rick Riordan is a skilled writer and the story holds up pretty well with accurate reference and cool powers that come with the mythology. I'd recommend it since it already has the sequel Heroes of Olympus and it exists in the same universe as his other series The Kane Chronicles which has to do with the same kind of issues but with Egyptian Gods.

These are stories that pull in younger readers (mostly boys I think or at least it feels like it should) which also contain very similar themes as shounen manga. The biggest difference is that the novels are Americanized in culture so it doesn't read like a manga, plus it has more mature themes simply because of the writer, so there isn't exactly shounen but as a big fan of shounen series I still think this would be one of the closest things you could get to it in novel form.

[legomaestro]

I'm all for that actually. I do like YAF because it translates easier to imagery than bulkier novels. Eoin Colfer is my favourite british writer for that, and I tried out the Hunger Games (currently on haitus.)

I'll go first for Greek Mythology methinks. It's just that the movie really scared me off. It seemed to make the story mediocre.

[LittRL]

I was really into the series when the movie came out but I refused to watch it because I know from my manga and anime experience that live-action movies will either be acceptable or mind-shatteringly bad.