@Nehszriah:

Well, there's the reason I listed, and there's also the small feeling of plagiarism that rears its head when I think about doing that kind of stuff.

Plus, I can always ask Nintendo to let me publish my FE stuff if I like it, since if I went forward with it, I'd be going at it hardcore.

And yeah, it'd be practice to me, too. But right now I have RPing for that. (Got a dang fun Reaper to play with, too. =P)

What I find interesting is that really, it was done right the first time. Shakespeare, Homer(The Greek, not the Simpson), Tolkein, Jack London, they knew that it was making a believable character, one like you and me that made a great story.

Odysseus was too proud, and the gods scorned him.
Romeo and Juliet betrayed family because they were in love.
Hamlet was filled with sorrow and jealousy.

The list goes on and on.

What do you think, not bad for someone who didnt really pay attention in English class?

It's a crying shame that you don't have help from someone who knows the ins and outs of fanfiction. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to explain something to someone that you are clearly not an expert in. I know it's happened to me.

Oh, and sort of directed towards Allamorph: fanfiction is practice to me. The more I write, the better I get. I'll admit there's a lot of crap, but there's also a alot of good, meaningful pieces if you care to look. It's the same thing with original stories too.

The Dark Side beckons, James. The question now is .... does it come with a dental plan?

If only I knew what Mary-sue and watched Goldwing, I could comment about this...

Guess I'll wait for your article abou it then.

@bellpickle:

It sounds cooler than it actually was.

Actually, no . . . it was pretty cool.

I'm reminded of some of the things we learned in theatre pertaining to characters and keeping the audience interested. Audiences lose interest in unblemished characters, there's more personal connection to characters that are flawed. No way around it, a story would be dull and lifeless if the main character had everything he or she wants, no troubles in the world, and absolutely no antagonizing forces to deal with. Not at all interesting. Those kinds of characters are frowned upon in message board role playing as well, though they have other names in that community.

I'm with Allamorph on Fan Fiction though, I shy away from it cause I'm afraid I'd totally ruin the characterizations of the key players. It's not easy to write from something that's pre-existing.

My first anime was Escaflowne, only, I didn't know it was anime at the time I saw it, took me three years to figure that out, and another two to find it on DVD. Good luck with the tape.

@TimeChaser:

Yes, and practice does make perfect. (And real talent helps, too. So does thought and effort.)

My thing, though, is that fan fiction is generally done by young writers who can't capture characters well because they don't have enough experience writing real characters at all. I feel that if they try making their own people, and make them real, and succeed, that then they should move on to fanfiction as a practice thing.

Oh, and for the record, I may be doing some Fire Emblem fanfic stuff sometime. It just lends itself so easily to novelization.

Armed with a panther.

Dude. That sounds immeasurably cool.

@SomeGuy:

I figure you probably did, thought I would mention it anyway ^^

@Allamorph:

Among the sea of crap, I have found some very good writers who are adept at capturing establish character personalities, so it's not an impossible task.

I'm not sure I could, which is why tha all-mighty AU clause comes in handy. Yes, it's kind of cheating, but I don't care =P

@TimeChaser:

Heh. Totally directed him to the wiki' already.

Wiki's my first strike for all quick explanations, don'cha know.

I personally discourage fan fiction in general. I have heard that "it is easier for fledgling writers to start from an established universe", but the unfortunate side I see is those same fledgling writers completely butchering the personalities of any and sometimes every character in the universe they're borrowing.

(To be honest, I'm actually afraid to attempt fan fiction myself for just that reason. I worry I'll screw somebody up.)

But yes. Mary-Sue personalities are boring. Reading about real people, however, is rather fun.

Explain to him that characters with the flaws and foibles of real people are more entertaining than omnipotent Mary-Sues who can do no wrong.

And then get him to read this if you haven't already:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary-Sue