As some of you may or may not know I've done this kind of project on a few forums and this activity has always been the most popular. It really is quote simple if you want to get interviewed all you do is post and I sign you up. Then I shall send some questions in a pm and you send me your answers, then I post the interview for the whole community to eyeball and then sign up for their own.

So if anyone would like one I'm all ears...

Current Interviewee's

Past Interviews

french-charlotte

Snake Of The Rose

Ice fox 111

DarthVenom2

Jaslazul

So here is the first interview and hopefully many more will follow. Special thanks for french-charlotte for being my guinea pig

INTERVIEW WITH FRENCH-CHARLOTTE

1) What is so interesting about the Star Fox series?

I find the Star Fox series interesting not only from the well made video games but also the characters. It's the characters' personalities that really strike me as different and what inspired me to begin writing fanfiction for the series. The series, including the comics, have shown so many different sides to the characters that I find interesting. There are so many different personality types that many clash and this interaction interests me.

2) As a writer how has the series supplied the medium needed to write your fanfic and how will it continue to help you grow as a writer?

As I mentioned, what interests me about the series are the personalities of the characters. By utilizing the many types, I was able to supply my fanfic with different personalities, rather than the one sided, boring stories. The series is blessed with many different characters with different backgrounds that can help flourish a story due to the differences. I think the series will help me grow as a writer because by using the different personality types, I'm required to step out of my security box and write from other perspectives different from my own. By using this method, it's helped and will continue to help me grow into an unbiased writer, which I believe is a major asset to be successful in your stories. One should be able to remove themselves from their own shoes without losing their own skills. The series has definitely allowed me tohat.

3) In your fanfic "The Past Story" you decided to go down a route that has been traveled along before. Why did you decided to write about Fox's youth and please tell us what is so appealing about this time frame?

I decided to write about Fox's youth because when I began playing Star Fox 64, I was most attracted to the partial reasoning behind Fox's inspiration to travel to Venom; that being his father. Knowing that his father died while he was young, I wanted to explore this. While it story has been done before, I wanted to put more of a realistic spin on it, drawing out the feelings of a teenager as we have all been there. The time frame appeals to me because as a psychology student, I believe adolescent development is critical to the comings of adulthood and the functionalities of a lifestyle. I believe people are molded during their youths and I wanted most to play on that aspect to show how Fox came to be the hero of Lylat. I also enjoy writing about Fox's youth because I simply find it fun to write about. We've all been teenagers before and know the attitude all too well.

4) Who is your favorite Star Fox character and why do you like them so much? If you ever written about this character do you enjoying playing as them?

My favorite Star Fox character is definitely James McCloud. From my fanfic, he was the most fun to write about as he always seemed to steal the scene he was in. He comes off as a suave guy who knows what to say and how to handle things, in any situation. He has a humorous side that he often lets show in the right situations but is quick to take care of his family, who comes first. James has so many aspects of him that I enjoy exploring and pulling it out in my story. I've never played as James in any game.

5) As a writer what is your greatest strength and how does this make your ficbetter then the next?

My greatest strength is showing the reader the emotion the character is going through. I believe this is a major aspect to the story as the emotion is half the character, with dialogue being the other half. I think a reader should be able to tell what the writer wants the character to be feeling based on the descriptions given. Drama, for instance, is a major genre that I think requires this strength. There are many types of emotions that one could show through drama and without the proper descriptions, the reader could be left wondering what the character actually felt. I think this makes my fanfic better than the next because I make sure I put the right amount of detail into the emotions so the reader knows what the characters are feeling. I notice so many stories that have too much dialogue and fail to include any sort of explanation of how the characters feel while speaking. This leaves the dialogue to be empty which is something my story definitely doesn't do.

6) On the flipside what is your greatest weakness and how does this prohibit you from achieving your full potential?

My greatest weakness is definitely grammar and spelling. When I get a great idea for my story or I get inspired to write another chapter, I will type out of excitement, sometimes throwing proper English out the window. When I reread my work before posting, I'm usually reading it so fast that I miss mistakes which end up ruining the story to a reader. While there usually aren't a lot, I find simple errors like grammar to be annoying to the reader as it ruins the smooth feel to a story.

7) Some of us here know that you in pre law school and you have an interest in psychology and can see that has a link to your style of writing. How would you say these real life experiences have helped contribute to your success?

My real life experiences with psychology have actually helped make my story into the success it is today. My story utilizes a lot of psychology, ranging from development to relationships. I spent a semester observing children from broken families and how they interact with their parents and I believe that that semester alone has helped me carve my story into a masterpiece. My pre law studying has helped me keep myself not only well rounded as a writer but also disciplined. Prior to taking college English courses, my writing was sloppy and unorganized. After completing several different courses in proper English, I have groomed myself more as a writer.

8) What is your vision of Star Fox Wii?

My vision for Star Fox Wii is going to be a prequel, or at least I'd like it to be. I think a game that followed the original Star Fox team comprising of James, Peppy, and Pigma would make an interesting game. I boldly disliked how Command was laid out and even more disliked the storyline. As Fox is nearly 40 years old after Command, I believe the creators are going to notice to this and have to take action, which will hopefully be to regress the time frame.

9) What future works do you have in store for the Star Fox community?

For the Star Fox community, I hope to bring about more stories that feature original work and well developed ideas. I’ve noticed, to my dismay, that many talented and brilliant writers are having their works passed up due to the masses flocking to the more clichéd stories. I think the readers are unaware of where to find well written stories so I hope to bring more readers to Star Fox Masterworks, where the stories are carefully selected.

10) As a writer what is the most important thing do you keep in mind as you bring that pencil down or start clicking those keys?

I remember to keep my eye on the ending. I notice so many writers go off on tangents instead of getting to their ending. This produces chapters that fail to show any relevance to the story and hold no character development. So to avoid this, I remember what the ending of the story is so to better get my readers there. I also think about what I want to achieve while writing that particular chapter. What do I want the readers to learn about my characters or the plot? How will leaking information in this chapter affect the long run of the story?

11) In your fic and profile one could see how you like writing about father/son relationships. Talk to us here about why you are so interested them and why Fox/James should be documented more?

I’m interested in the relationship because it’s what actually sparked Fox McCloud’s reign on Star Fox. While Fox killed Andross primarily to save Lylat, I believe he was also partially avenging his father by killing his murderer. A strong relationship must have been upheld for Fox to care deeply and I wanted to explore this relationship. As I mentioned before, I’m well versed in developmental psychology and am aware of the positives of a well maintained paternal bond. Not only does it positively affect the offspring but also the parent. It’s a relationship that plays off each other and I wanted to show that relationship with Fox and James. I think Fox/James relationships should be documented more because a father helps shape a son. He was there during critical development stages and contributed to what Fox has and will become. I believe that before one can look forward, they must know what’s behind them.

12) Krystal, good or bad for Star Fox?

I thought Krystal was an unneeded addition to the team. While she had an interesting role in Star Fox: Adventures, I failed to see how she was an asset to the team. She seemed randomly put in as if to realize that Fox was growing older and would need the companionship of a lady friend. I preferred Fara from the original comics for Fox.

13) Do you have any favorite authors on ? What makes their works so interesting? How about authors beyond this site and in the real world?

I don’t have any major favorite authors that stand out in my mind on but silencedfox86 is my favorite author to write dialogues. They were pure genius and left me wishing they were longer. He did an amazing job at grabbing the proper personalities from the characters and pulling it out with their dialogues, though making sure to keep enough emotion detailed. Two of my favorite authors are Dante Alighieri (from Inferno) and Kurt Vonnegut (from Cat’s CradleI). I particularly liked Dante’s detailed descriptions of the circles of hell while truly getting into the emotions of the characters. Vonnegut is a classic author who leaves you thinking at the end of his books.

14) As a author what is more important pleasing yourself or the readers?

Pleasing my readers has always been important to me though I have strict standards I refuse to let down regarding a story, character development, and plot.

15) What other video game series do you like? What makes them so special and how are they different then Star Fox?

I’ve enjoyed the Zelda series for a long time and continue to. Zelda comes across as interesting to me, again due to psychology, because of Link. Here’s a boy that comes from a low profile background that’s destined for greatness who readily accepts his fate. He never questions or hesitates whether he wants to give up his easy lifestyle to take on this great feat of saving the world. He was never primed for it during his youth but still accepts it. It is different from Star Fox because Fox McCloud obviously comes from a family who are already conditioned to the mercenary life while Link is not.

16) Give us a quote from your fic and tell the audience how it affects you personally? Your characters?

“Hehe has to come back,” Fox sobbed. “I have no one.” This quote affected me deeply. I actually had a seven year old child say this to me while I was visiting a shelter about his father leaving him. The child was having a problem coping with the loss of a parent who he was very close with. When I heard the child say this, I was heartbroken. I was worse tha heartbroken. I was at loss for words. I remember sitting in my car after the session crying because of how torn up the child was. I wanted this to affect the characters the same way it affected me; sadness with anger. I wanted the surrounding characters to know that Fox was at his deepest despair and felt alone in the world.

17) How would you improve this forum? This site?

I think I would like to improve this forum to get more activity on it. There are great, talented writers on here and I think their work deserves recognition.

18) It took you four years to finish your fic. What helped you to contribute to completing it, nerves of steel or a constant reviewer?

A little of both but mostly a constant reviewer, which was Snake of the Rose. He was an amazing amount of inspiration for me to continue the story and I don’t think I could thank him enough.

19) What advice can you give new writers that are coming here and are looking for a bit of advice on how to be successful here?

Be original. Stay away from clichéd topics and always keep you head up. It may take a little while for you to get reviews on a fic but keep going. Do it for yourself because that’s who really counts. Also, please pay attention to detail. Don’t put too much or too little. Make sure you have a decent mix of dialogue and descriptions that will nicely pull together your fic.

20) If you were in my shoes, tell me a question you would want to ask the next person being interviewed?

What was your favorite and least favorite video game from Star Fox?

((Silencedfox86 your next on the list... prepare for an awesome interview by yours truly.

Also anyone reading thiis tell me what you think was good or bad and I will try to make my next interview even better.))

Thanks everyone but I'm having some technical difficulties with my main computer which will result in a slow process. I should be back to my regular status in a few days, max three. During this time I will see what I can do so expect the next interview in the most three days.

The next interview is almost completed since I just send my next round of questions. All though I'm still prohibited with my com I will try my best to keep up with activities due to my email working on this computer now.

Darth please excuse me for posting this next interview, but me and Snake really hit it off last night and in maybe an hour we got through the whole process. So I'm just going to post his interview now but yours is coming next.

INTERVIEW WITH SNAKE OF THE ROSE

1) What is so interesting about the Star Fox series?

You know, ever since I was a child I could never really put my finger on that. Still can't, actually. When I was young I always had a huge place in my heart for animals, and was also very intrigued by the universe. Hell, I was a kid, everything was cool. Know what I mean? When I first got my hands on Star Fox 64, something just clicked...I still really have no idea how or why, but Star Fox has always been my true favorite.

2) As a writer how has the series supplied the medium needed to write your fanfic and how will it continue to help you grow as a writer?

Star Fox has a tendency to leave ends open for questions. For example, Krystal's past has gone completely untouched. When I see open ends in any part of a story, I like to try and imagine what could happen based on the details the story has given me thus far. Like with silencedfox86's fic, How We Survive, the whole "postwar depression" on Corneria was a completely untouched variable in the Star Fox universe...also a HUGE twist off what I was expecting. He could've easily slapped an ending after Chapter 3 and that would've done it. When Adventures came out, fellow fans got a huge taste for what the Star Fox characters really are and how they act. Using my imagination, I've done my best to shape their ideals into the works I write.

3) Out of all the categories one can judge when reading a work to you what stands out the most and can make or break a story?

In all honesty, anything can work with the right amount of effort. While I absolutely adore adventures and crisis, I'm also a bit of a softie and I have enjoyed my share of romance stories. Tragedy, sadness, nostalgia, horror, action...anything can work if the author tries hard enough. They just have to be vigilant on putting their love and emotion into their stories, as if it were an extension of their soul.

4) Coming out of that question tell us what makes a true Masterwork?

Like I stated before, it's all about the heart that's put into it.

5) As a writer what is your greatest strength and how does this make your fic better then the next?

Well, upon reflection of Desolace, I realized that it does have a lot of room for improvement. But I'd have to say my greatest strength is my imagination. I can twist and bend things so abstractly that it can really throw your mind for a spin. While I have yet tohat with Desolace, that is indeed my greatest strength. I guess I would have to give myself some originality points for even thinking of Desolace and its details. While the beginning of it may seem a little runofthemill, when Fox and Krystal actually REACH Desolace things take a huge turn.

6) On the flipside what is your greatest weakness and how does this prohibit you from achieving your full potential?

When I think of something, I either tend to rush to do it, or completely forget about it. I'm horribly forgetful, and I have lost many a good idea to that manneurism. :P Sometimes I either use too much or too little description while writing something. And I suppose sometimes I can be a little cliche. Hey I'm human.

7) In your fanfic Desolace you seem to emphasis the Fox McCloud and Wolf O’Donnell relationship. As a writer what makes this so interesting and for the readers. What is your opinion of Wolf’s nicer side that he has showed in the series recently? I

don't necessarily try to put a lot of emphasis on Fox and Wolf's relationship, as it kinda of tends to work out for itself. The reason Wolf is so 'nice' in Desolace is because of a big plot twist that's going to be discovered soon. But what makes it interesting is that Fox and Wolf are polar opposites and still have an utter amount in common at the same time. A paradox, I know. But delving into their conflicts and arguments is a rather fun thing to do.

8) What is your vision of Star Fox Wii? In one word...EPIC. My hopes for the next game are increased violence, romance, and a very good storyline and plot. While this idea may be a little 'out of this world' considering Nintenoday, what I would like to see in a new Star Fox game would completely give the series a new face and make it more accepted then it is now. I like space battles as much as the other fan. Although, instead of making them PointA to PointB all the time, I would like to see a scenario in which you have to travel to a different planet, but would actually have to TRAVEL there. Which means time, and with luck, effort. I think Star Fox could handle some blood. Not a lot of it, like sya chainsawing someone in half, but a spray every now and then would make it realistic. And the vocabulary...they have to amp it up a little! Heck, KRYSTAL could die and the most you'd get out of Fox is a "DARN IT!" ..Come on, Fox. GROW A PAIR. Again, not saying they should overuse curse words. Just think of it as...a spice. Ground missions would be very different from Assault. I'd like to see a setup like Gears of War. A full 360 axis instead of the implied block movement Assault gave us. As for weaponry and such, make it extreme. I want to see destructible environments. You'd think lobbing a Smart Bomb would do more damage to a building other then the baddies surrounding it. As for Fox and Krystal, I do NOT want to see another Command. I mean, you get choices for the fates of the Star Fox team, and none of them are good! They need to get over that stupid little heartbreak. I was expecting a kiss at the end of Adventures...still waiting for that. To conclude, I say they ditch Command altogether.

9) What future works do you have in store for and the Star Fox community?

If you look on my profile, I have a 'Works Pending' section. Once Desolace gets into Season 2, I'm going to be starting a side project for it called "The Chronicles of a Lost Man" that will better explain Desolace and its origin, while at the same time helping with the plot of the actual story. "Plot devices, Mr. McCloud. Plot devices." Understand?

10) Snake, what inspired you in the first place to create the Masterwork community? What is the next step after that to make the site better for all?

Well, I couldn't have done it without Foxkong, that's for sure. I was getting fed up with how unnoticed some fantastic authors are, while the crappier stories get all the glory. Basically, I'm sick of the juvenile feeling the archive has been getting. So, I wanted to do something about it. I believe with all of your help and effort, fellow authors of the Masterworks, we can turn Star Fox into a respectable series once again. As for future plans for development, I'm brainstorming on a "BetaReader Program," where volunteers from the archive seek some of the stories with potential and help the author really spark his/her creativeness.

11) In your fanfic Desolace a caught a reference when you spoke of the Aurora unit. Is this secretly a Star Fox/Metroid crossover? What is your general opinion of crossovers? How can one make them work?

It was actually just a little easter egg Bryyo threw in while helping me write it. While there's no true crossover with Metroid, it was just a bit of a teaser onto some of the works me and Bryyo have planned out. Sorry if that confused anyone. Crossovers, to me, are okay, except when I see really cliche stuff like "Kingdom Hearts" or "Resident Evil" (not pointing fingers, just an example) in a Star Fox title. To me, having humans conflict with Lylatians is just out of the question for me. I extremely dislike that, as it tempers with the Star Fox universe to an extreme. Of course, I'm not saying that if I see something like that that I'm going to flame it. Being a generally positive reviewer(I suppose that's why I'm 'famous' around here) I try to promote originality. One thing that really grinds my gears, however, is how someone can write a story and just disregard actual feelings and make it a huge, cliche, not well thought out, LOVE STORY. Pure and simple, I hate 'em. :P

12) Is it time to throw out the old villains or does Star Fox need to keep franchise classics like Zelda and Mario? Will this make the series better over all? Who is your favorite villain in the series?

With Star Fox and its villains, it's really hard going either way. Bringing Andross back would be old, and so far Star Fox's attempts at new antagonists have been rather...lackluster. I mean, fish. Come on. I liked the aparoids, but the anglars were, well, retarded. My favorite villain(s) were General Scales and Wolf. I was EXTREMELY disappointed when you weren't able to fight Scales in Adventures, but his openended history makes him something I might consider writing about... In any game or show, the protagonist's rival will probably always remain the best villain. Fox's conflicts with Wolf change in the blink of an eye. One minute, they can team up, and the next, they're trying to destroy each other.

13) In the oneshot contest in your own Masterwork community you choose Bryyo as a partner. Why? Can you explain a bit about your back story with your relationship here with her?

Uh, Bryyo's a guy, folks. Bryyo was the first author that actually took that extra step and got to know me on a more friendly level, even though it's only AIM we chat on. I believe starting mutual friendships with authors outside of this writing domain can really strengthen one's will to pursue, and Bryyo has been a great role model for that. We have planned a huge series with some of our own OC's that we'll get to in time, and I found the perfect opportunity to get started on our project by creating the Oneshot Challenge.

14) As a author what is more important pleasing yourself or the readers?

For one, yourself. If you can write something and be happy with it, that's all that matters. Take a look at DarthVenom. He has written so much with so little recognization, but he still has the will to continue writing. If you can't please yourself by writing, there's no point in trying to please other people. Then, you're just an empty shell. Although, pleasing other people has its brownie points. I've gotten 53 reviews on Desolace so far, and that's been a big inspiration for me to continue. So, DarthVenom2 will always be one of mu biggest role models for having the will and strength to continue writing.

15) One of the first things I noticed when I came here is that you seem to be in a million places at once. How do you write all those reviews in such a limited time? How is writing these reviews helping you become a better author?

LOL, if that's not the truth...I like to give my opinions on things I read, while also trying to praise/and or better the author. I think to myself when I read a fic that the author who wrote could probably really use that extra boost, and I'm capable of giving it. It'd be sad to see someone give up and go down the drain like that. So, I guess I've made quite a commotion here on the archive for being one of the most frequent reviewers. Proud to have that title. Seeing an author be happy towards a review I gave them makes me feel better on the inside. It feels like I've contributed to people as a whole, and to me, making others happy by support really completes me, in a sense. Like I said, I can be a big softie. :P

16) Give us a quote from your fic and tell the audience how it affects you personally? Your characters?

Hmm...here's my forgetfulness tapping in at the moment...Honestly, I can't think of a quote suitable for this, but I do plan to write something that gives off a message later in the story...but a quote Iake to heart is "If the grass is greener on the other side, it's time to water your lawn." It's all about bettering yourself; making yourself happy with what you do. I'll get back to this question later. :P

17) One of your quirkiest features that I anher authors noticed was that you hate as you say OC’s. Why do you hate them so much and howhey make a fanfic worse then just using the same old Star Fox characters?

Why? Because a lot of the original characters I've seen have turned out to be the same ol' thing...dark, mysterious, and ruthless with no emotion. I absoulte abhor that sterotype, I've seen it way too much in both my fanfiction and personal life. Although, I suppose I am a bit of a hypocrit. I don't hate ALL OC's, just those that are overused. My favorite OC's of all time are Bryyo's Lyle Aeyr Wulf, and Silencedfox86's John and Aaron McStacey. Those characters aren't numb like the others...their sense of realism and, well, EMOTION have proven them to be the best I've ever seen.

18) FrenchCharlotte: What was your favorite and least favorite video game from Star Fox?

Command. When it was time to progress the story, I looked at the text and yelled, "These are my only CHOICES?!"

19) What advice can you give new writers that are coming here and are looking for a bit of advice on how to be successful here?

Really put all you have into you're writing. Give every ounce of it a piece of your heart and soul. That way, it'll will be given life and will prosper into something legendary.

20) If you were in my shoes, tell me a question you would want to ask the next person being interviewed?

Don't be lazy, FK. LOL, just kidding. A question for future interviews would have to be..."Try putting yourself in your character's shoes and see how you would react upon the situation you give them. Does doing this bring any compare/contrast to how you would act and how they would act?" It's been a pleasure being interviewed, everyone. Applause for Foxkong for putting the effort into making this, Bryyo, SilencedFox, DarthVenom, Frenchcharlotte for being my biggest inspirations, and while you're at it, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for being here. You deserved it, everyone. Feel free to chat with me on AIM, my SN is Blakkwulf3. "Plot devices, Mr. McCloud. PLot devices.

Well intead if posting the questions here we could use another place I mod and then you answer them over there. I will then bring the completed version over here.

Or whatever this magical AIM place is... still have no idea what it is yet. XD

I will figure something out...

Next time I have high speed I will be sure to check it out Snake. It seems to be just like MSN but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway I will be sure to take a look when the opportunity presents itself.

Just wondering as anyone heard from Snake of the Rose in the couple of days, because I need some confirmation from him.

@Silencedfox: I got the questions so if your up to do the interview again I'll send them your way.

@Silencedfox: Yes sir exactly the same questions.

@Snake: Take you time but I think I'm going to take another step.

Sorry for the lack of updates but I was in the US for a few days...

Update: For now on interviews are going to be conducted in a different way. I can't go down the list one by one and read everyone's fics. Yes I would like to but I'm guessing that my first year of university will prevent that. So people who have a LOT of material you may have to wait a while. Darth I'm going to send you half your interview now so at least we can post something. Also since I just read your fic Jaslazul your advancing up the list and I can get your questions to you asap. For everyone else thanks for being patient and I will keep you all up to date.

Sure... when ever you get the chance.

INTERVIEW WITH ICE FOX 111

1) What is so interesting about the Star Fox series?

I view it as more of a blank template, rather than a real series. Because the characters aren't welldefined, and the story doesn't appear to have any set path, it's perfectly exploitable for writers like me.

2) Out of all the categories one can judge when reading a work to you what stands out the most and can make or break a story?

Creativity. Bar none.

3) Your biggest piece by far has been “XI” and I would recommend anyone here to read what I think is one of the most underrated fics here. Seriously something of that caliber should have more then 24 reviews! Anyway on to business so tell us how you came up with the inspiration for that idea?

I'm glad you enjoy it so, FoxKong. The idea for the first scene in my story was cultivated while I was just getting into heavy metal. With songs like "Nerve Gas Cloud" and "Dead Skin Mask" blasting through my speakers, I was all the more motivated to write something shocking.

4) Since you’re a fan of the blood and gore tell us how should this be applied to Star Fox? Would it make the difference the series needs to become more mainstream?

I think there is no real boundary as to where it should and could be applied. Like I said before, StarFox is a template with which I may rip and tear to shreds if necessary, if only to rebuild it looking quite different than it used to. In response to the second question, yes and no. I personally love reading Star Fox stories that venture into bloody territory, and I think that if done right, it can bolster originality. However, there are easilyoffended people out there who will always complain about anything that upsets or discomforts them.

5) As a writer what is your greatest strength and how does this make your fic better then the next?

Err, well...if you discount the fact that this interview will be read by SF Ghost, DarthVenom2, Kit Karamak, or any other authors that put my work to shame... I think my greatest strength is the portrayal of my characters' emotions. Most particularly the emotions that pass between the victim and aggressor.

6) On the flipside what is your greatest weakness and how does this prohibit you from achieving your full potential?

The lack of desire to actually write... I've been stuck writing chapter 8 for ** ages.

7) Your have created many original characters that populate your fic XI. Tell us which one you enjoy writing as the most and how he or she affects the fic in general?

Most likely VII (Seven) (due to the PM system's AIDS). I enjoy writing about her because she just seems to epitomize violence, negativity, and ruthlessness. As for the role she'll play in the story? Well, all my characters play a rather large part, but I guarantee you'll be hearing more about her in the future.

8) What is your vision of Star Fox Wii?

Probably just another overrated clone of StarFox: Assault. Nintendo haven't done anything good with the series for six years, so why should I have faith in them now?

9) What future works do you have in store for the Star Fox community?

A sequel to XI. I'm thinking about it much more than I should be, and already have about half the story planned out. Though it severely detracts from my interest in it's predecessor, when I do finally release it, I think it will immensely please those who like my work.

10) As a writer what is the more important thing to keep in mind when writing a fic?

Never hold back. Push your creativity to the limit, and show everyone on the site what YOU envision Star Fox to be. Also, listen to advice given to you by critical reviews. If no one had critiqued me, I'd still be writing Peter Chimaeraesque fanfiction.

11) What personal experiences have been drilled into your writing? Is it important for an author to reflect on their own experiences in writing?

Most of what I transfer to my story is anger. I'm angered about many various things that have occured within my life these past years, and I think that's help my writing a lot. Yes, I would consider it a necessary technique in writing.

12) In your fic XI there is a group called the Numerals (If I’m mistaken please excuse me) that are composed of probably some of the most psychotic killers ever conceived. Tell us how did you come up with the Numerals and how the theme surrounding them affects your story?

I originally came up with the idea for the Numerals around the time I was playing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Something about the Cobra Unit antagonists really struck a chord with me, and made perfect sense: every character in a story should have an emotion to carry into battle. That is a large part of the reason why I chose to have the Numerals be as eccentrically cruel and emotional as they are. My thanks to Hideo. They were meant to affect the theme of the story by giving it a bit of a morbid kick. I wanted there to be characters that would be docile one moment, and furious the next. That way, the reader never knows what they're in for when one of the Numerals enters a scene.

13) Are you enjoying what the Masterworks community has to offer? How would you improve on this?

Yes, I think it's a noble effort by those who care about the community. By offering advice to help authors who are just shy of having their entries added to Masterworks. Helpful critique can make that jump.

14) As an author what is more important pleasing yourself or the readers?

I think that anyone who answers this question with "pleasing my readers" should be shot. If you're not writing for you, you're not writing at all: you're transcribing what other people want to see.

15) Some fans of Star Fox could be divided into old schools fans and the more recent generation. Which do you belong too? Do you like classics better then the next generation games?

I like the classics much more than the nextgen titles in that I don't like the nextgen titles at all. With the exception of Adventures, StarFox hasn't seen a good game in years.

16) Give us a quote from your fic and tell the audience how it affects you personally? Your characters?

"You have allowed everything evil and impure into your consciousness and bowed to them. You have forsaken me, our family, you have forsaken everything." It affects me personally in that I feel that you really do have to give up everything to truly succumb to evil. Ever notice how when serial killers take hostages, they're generally unaffected when faced with their families? That is why. If you can't tell already by the quote itself, this has tremendously negative impact on one of my characters.

17) Here is a quote from your profile: “My favorite type of fan fiction to write is that which is soaked in blood, hatred, and controversy in general.” I would like you to explain to the audience how this applies to your fic and how it makes your fic a Masterwork.

It applies to my fic in that I've incorporated torture, disembowelment, decapitation, anher various displays of affection. I think it makes my fic stand out because there really aren't many stories like it. The only one to ever go as far over the line as me (that I know of) is Fox the Cave.

18) Snake of the Rose: Try putting yourself in your character's shoes and see how you would react upon the situation you give them. Does doing this bring any compare/contrast to how you would act and how they would act?

Boy, I'd hate to be in their shoes. Due to the fact that I'm not so much a battlehardened mercenary as much as I am an IT guy, I'd likely die of shock.

19) What advice can you give new writers that are coming here and are looking for a bit of advice on how to be successful here?

Didn't I just answer this on Question 10?

20) If you were in my shoes, tell me a question you would want to ask the next person being interviewed?

"Do you take writing seriously, or are you merely in it for the fun?"

INTERVIEW WITH DARTHVENOM2 PART 1

1) What is so interesting about the Star Fox series?

It's a tough question to start off, but I guess you could say - the series is really one of those that's purely enjoyable, especially SF64. By that, I mean that pretty much anyone can pick up and play it, and be blown away at how it holds up well even today. The characters, though archetypal, are instantly likable and the level design in SF64 is excellent. Adventures...some might say it's unfair to evaluate it as an SF game, but as a Rare game, it's pretty par for the course (But at least the collecting isn't quite as nutty as in Donkey Kong 64, for example). I enjoyed it, though, there's a lot of nostalgia there. Assault was pretty fun when I didn't have much else to do, because it knew it was just a traditional action-adventure: unpretentious and uncorrupted. That doesn't really speak of the iffy level design, but hey, I'm willing to overlook a lot in a video game if I enjoy other elements of it. (There are certain things I'm not speaking of in this section, such as the developers’ use of Krystal, because I'm almost sure they'll come up later) And let's not get into Command.

So what I’m trying to get at is – the SF series is endearing.

2) As a writer how has the series supplied the medium needed to write your fanfic and how will it continue to help you grow as a writer?

Well, for all the series’ success, I’d always felt that something about it was missing. I looked over the games to find out what it was, but then I realized that the problem wasn’t in what the games were presenting; it was what they weren’t. There are so many possibilities with the SF series, so many different ideas budding just by the very nature of how the series operates, and I’ve felt for the longest time that the developers were squandering that with fairly trite adventures. (Oh yeah, and I always felt that Krystal was ridiculously underutilized as a character – if you were to ask me later in the interview, I’ll tell you a story)

However, even though mine is an SF series, the biggest amount of influence for it probably comes from my favourite series of all time, Metroid – particularly the Prime games. Those who read my series know exactly what I mean, but if not – everything from discoveries of enemy data logs to some of the creature designs take loose influence from the Metroid Prime trilogy. It’s fair to say that without the Prime series and SF games, my style as a writer would have been vastly different.

But there’s something else and it involves speaking of my own series rather than outside influences: in 2002/2003, the series started out as this really dark, gory thing, really borderline and transgressive. Fortunately, that was just a stage I went through – over the course of a few years and molding the former installments to fit, I shaped the series into something that I wanted to represent the climax, the final installment of the Star Fox saga. As such, I majorly toned down the transgressive elements to nil, and devoted the stories to keeping the Star Fox spirit about them, to make them really feel like a true, “official” SF series. I imagine the series as two large “games” or saga installments, one for each trilogy.

3) So far you seem to have written six full fledged fanfics coming out to trilogies. As an author how do you get the motivation to keep on writing? Do you sometimes feel that your writing too much of the same thing? How would you improve your series to make it the best it could be?

It’s pretty simple – I have a story that I want to tell. In the first trilogy, you can make a case for there being too much filler and samey-ness at some points, but in the second trilogy, everything that needs to be there is in there – no more, no less. I know it’s a long read, and all I can say to that end is that I hope the reader will come out fulfilled at the end of it. As for samey-ness, yeah…in the first trilogy you can make a case for it (When I turn the series totally original, I may squash parts two and three into a single book to kill some of the filler), but in the second trilogy, I think things are kept constantly-fresh fairly well.

How would I improve my series…more cowbell.

Nah, seriously – I’m not sure exactly what happens, but I seem to become more and more satisfied with each progressive installment, and I’m told that just keeping writing like this improves me by the day. So that’s to all you prospective writers out there – keep at it! …but seriously, the fact that I think the first two installments are crap speaks volumes, because that’s one-third of the series right there. Of course, I plan to change that drastically, so I think that’d cause the net quality of the whole thing to just shoot right up.

4) As a writer what is your greatest strength and how does this make your fic better then the next?

Well, that’s a bit tricky for me if you’re referring to the technical aspect of writing…I have a tendency to not look at individual strengths, but rather take the story as a whole and then filter town into individual categories of storytelling that impact the story that readers see, rather than directly focusing on what goes on “behind the scenes”. So to me, if one element fails, it’s all bound to collapse barring some kind of authoring miracle. I’m told that my ability to create tension, buildup and suspense is good, so there’s that…but the ability to create suspense and buildup all goes to naught if you don’t have a proper climax that satisfies and fulfills, and then overtakes, the reader’s expectations. I make sure to have those climaxes at their natural points throughout the series, and I’ve made an effort to go above and beyond my past works for the final installment – I mean, five books worth of buildup, I seriously am not in the mood to disappoint during the sixth.

5) On the flipside what is your greatest weakness and how does this prohibit you from achieving your full potential?

In a series like this? Oh, good god, longer space battles take a lot out of me. There’s no simple frame of reference for character/ship movement like on the ground unless you create a convincing one like a station or massive ship, so to get your reader to properly visualize it takes a lot of work. When you do it right, it’s seamless; when you do it wrong, it’s a mess. There’s very little in-between with space battles, and in a series like this, it’s pretty much mandatory. I think I’ve gotten a lot better at it, though, but I haven’t really received any specific comments on my usage of space battles, so I’m pretty much left with my own doubts.

6) What is your vision of Star Fox Wii?

I’m becoming more and more partial to the idea of a prequel that goes deeper into James’ relationships with the old SF team, including Pigma’s downfall into greed and James’ relationship with young Fox. Of course, I imagine the ending to that game wouldn’t be particularly pleasant…

Gameplay-wise, whether we’re doing a prequel or sequel, things have got to be tightened up. I have zero problem with ground missions as a concept, but their implementation in Assault was lazy at best: Destroy the generator here! Get another generator! There’s another generator! You forgot a generator! I seem to be in the minority in saying I didn’t have a big problem with Assault’s ground controls, but the mission design was just lazy. Give us actual objectives that are immersive to a level beyond “take out x number of identical objects”.

Plot-wise, I don’t know, I’d like to see a threat that gives you a reason to feel involved. Give them some interaction or connection with the heroes that goes beyond “I will rule the world!” and “Nay, I shall stop thee!”. Note that I don’t actually expect them to do any of this, but…

Branching paths would be nice too. And a team commanding system similar to Star Wars: Rogue Leader – basically, the control pad directions control teammate commands, such as “form up”, “attack”, et cetera. Plus, I’m pretty sure we’re all tired of that whole thing where a catastrophe happens and all we get is a “darn!”. It takes me out of the immersion, personally. I’m not saying to drench Fox in buckets of blood from every ground adversary he kills and have Falco cursing at every enemy that nicks his Arwing like a drunken sailor on shore leave, but keep the language and content somewhat believable for the war-themed Star Fox series. As it is, it just feels like it’s being held back not for artistic, but for censorship reasons.

That Wii controller. About that, I’d like to see some real ingenuity with its implementation – for example, have the nunchuck’s control stick initiate fighter movements while having the Wii remote act as a fighter’s joystick, and the direction of your shots goes wherever you’re pointing the remote; if it’s in the neutral position, then your shots just go straight in the traditional pattern. That’s just one of the ways that Nintendo could be innovative with Star Fox Wii without sacrificing the ability to actually play the damned game (I’m looking at you, Command).

7) What future works do you have in store for fanfic.net and the Star Fox community?

To be blunt? Nada, unless something unforeseen happens. I have two main projects: Architects Of The Illusion (Whoops, I just revealed the title of the original version of my series ;) and Tales Of Okasan, the original graphic-novel brainchild of ImagenAshyun of DeviantART. Once I’m finished with the SF version of AotI, I’ll be re-writing the first two novels from scratch, make them better with all new plotlines, and then work on converting the other installments to full originality. I truly think SF fans will enjoy Architects Of The Illusion – heck, if you enjoy the last half of my series, you’ll definitely like AotI – I mean, very little will change between those installments and the original versions, other than SF properties.

8) As an author what is more important pleasing yourself or the readers?

If I was concerned too much with the latter, I would have stopped writing long ago. Write to your heart’s content and tell the story that you want to tell, because only then can you be truly satisfied with it. I’m not going to streamline my stuff just to get an audience (Yes, yes, I know Metallica said that general idea too and look at them now, but…), because then I wouldn’t be satisfied with what I had going here. I do admit, it is discouraging to have this review blackout, more or less, but I’m just thankful to have friends like SF Ghost and Snake Of The Rose, out of those of you right here, to have reviews to look forward to.

So yes, pleasing yourself is the most important thing you can do with your writing – but you could be in for some frustrating times if your idea of pleasing yourself isn’t doing it for the readers. Doesn’t mean you should compromise, though.

9) Give us a quote from your fic and tell the audience how it affects you personally? Your characters?

I’d like to take this passage from Celura’s Evenfall, the final installment…

“[…] Just like with all living things, there’s a place for it…it fits into a greater system, a system in which everything works in such beautiful harmony…to disrupt that balance would, I think, be a grave error…that balance should be appreciated, because there’s really no escaping it.” […] “It thrives all around us, and it can really be a thing of beauty…if you allow it to be.” She turned her head down, “But – all I’m trying to say is, be a bit more careful where you walk. Sir.”

So this quote is introducing what more or less becomes one of the main themes of Celura’s Evenfall – that of equilibrium throughout all living and unliving things, and how maintaining that equilibrium will lead to much greater fulfillment in life, for all. There are more significant things I could have listed and that I’d like to touch on, but for Ghost and Snake who will reach the final installment in their reading, I’m not about to spoil anything really juicy here, sorry. ;)

Interestingly, Shadow Reach and Celura’s Evenfall are the installments where I had matured enough as a writer to really start implementing these thematic devices…too bad I haven’t received much feedback if at all on them. As for how it affects my characters and me…with my characters, there’s been a lot of examples of biological and mechanical equilibrium throughout the series, from the Tonsecritesians’ biomechanical troopers to Ashy’s having to live with one bionic eye connected to her brain. But that equilibrium often causes problems as much as it creates fulfillment – and so there is a dark side to every light. As for me, and at the acknowledged risk of sounding like one of those new-age self-help books, I find that a sense of balance in life ultimately leads to greater happiness.

10) What is the most important element that the Star Fox series still lacks at this day and age? Do you feel like adding new features like say on foot missions and a soap opera like story will help the series age well?

a) To be as wholly endearing as SF64 was. That can mean many things, but for the sake of the question…to have such great level design, replayability,

b) Yeah, an official staff that actually wants to deliver something more than a pedestrian adventure. Like, look at some of this – Assault was just a “safe” action story that pulled no punches on a point-a-to-point-b journey, and Command at least attempted to spice things up with drama – only thing is, what it gave us was General Hospital meets the romantic parts of the Star Wars prequels. No thanks. Like, what the hell have they been thinking? Have they really dug a hole so far down that they have no choice but to reboot the series and just burn those bridges through? I don’t think so. I think that there’s potential for the series to pull itself up without going to the last-resort reboot, but the developers have to start realizing the potential that the series has.

((So there are two more interviews well more like one and a half. Part 2 of Darth's hopefully coming soon! Too everyone else I'm getting to yours but I got to get through your fics first. So hang in there and lets prey I don't have a lot of work in the coming months.))

INTERVIEW WITH JASLAZUL

1) What is so interesting about the Star Fox series?

That's a pretty difficult question to answer. I guess the best answer is just because the Star Fox canon leaves so much open that the possibilities for fan fiction about the series never cease. The community around here certainly made it easy for me to become hopelessly mired in Star Fox with no hope for escape. Not that I really mind.

2) Out of all the categories one can judge when reading a fic, to you what stands out the most and can make or break a story?

Tragedy and romance. A lot of people try to write these genres (especially the last one). A lot of people succeed halfway, and stories like that can be enjoyable to read. However, most often, the results are melodramatic with romance fics and too angsty or completely unmoving with tragedy ones. Don't accuse me of hating on these genres, though, because they're actually my favorites (my favorite type of fic would probably be a romance/tragedy). I suppose that's why I think they're what can really make or break a story. Tragedy's probably the easiest to mess up. I've seen some fics where something tragic happens, and then it goes on and on and on and on about how horrible everything is to the point where it becomes nothing but angst. And then I've seen some fics where a character RaNd0mly dies, and that's the extent of the tragedy. Good tragedy requires strong characters, IMO, never pages of QQing. I've always understood that the idea was to attach the readers to the characters, make the readers like them and relate to them, then be forced to watch as the characters they know and love are forced on a continuous downhill spiral. It's kinda like you don't want to keep reading because you know the characters will die or have some extremely tragic event happen to them, but you have to keep reading because the characters are so real. And then maybe there's that glimmer of hope stuck in there. As far as romance goes, I think the biggest mistake is focusing on the romance (I think I'm guilty of this in Echoes). Instead, the focus should be on how the characters develop as the result of the romance; how it causes them to change, adopt different viewpoints, and, sometimes, give up part of themselves. When done right, though, these two genres can really hit hard(ly?). ...wow, that was long. : )

3) In your fic “Enduring Echoes” one of your more controversial twists has been the relationship developing between Fox and Wolf. Explain to the audience how you came up with this idea and how this as effected the overall mood of the story?

You know, I thought that I'd end up having a really huge answer for this, but I can't seem to think of anything to say other than that's just how it came to me. I didn't develop the story, then decide to throw that in, or vice-versa... actually, I didn't really think about anything before I wrote it. It started as a line: In order to conquer a new threat, team Star Fox must work together with Wolf O'Donnell. (Yeah, yeah, I know it's cliché, but it was my first attempt at writing anything.) So I guess I can't really say how it's affected the story (other than some parts where I went about things the wrong way), because I never really imagined the story without it. Or it without the story.

4) The Star Fox series has such a strong background full of colourful characters and full of potential to become Nintendo’s mature series. Is this a road that the series should go down? If so what would be some of your own ideas to make Star Fox more mature?

If Star Fox became more mature, it would kill the mood. It'll become just another futuristic warfare/shooter-type game. What makes Star Fox unique is that it's pretty much the only game in its genre that has the particular mood it does (that and the whole furry take on things). It's different. Changing it to be more mature would kill some of its elegance. Besides, leaving it like it is gives fanfic writers more options. You can easily take something childish and turn it into something mature, but you can't take something mature and turn it into something childish.

5) As a writer what is your greatest strength and how does this make your fic better then the next?

I edit and I revise a lot. I'm not content to let something leave my hands until I believe I have told it to the best of my ability (though “my ability” is a questionable reference point in some of my earlier submissions). I haven't, to my knowledge, ever published a grammatical mistake. All the grammatical errors I've made so far are leniencies I've taken with conventional grammar to give my writing the effect I desire. I also tend to focus more on the characters than the actual plot. For me, plot is not a focus, rather a device with which to modify the characters.

6) On the flipside what is your greatest weakness and how does this prohibit you from achieving your full potential?

Speed. I tend to spend much more time on things than necessary. Writing something is a slow process for me, and I have a tendency to edit as I go. I believe the most I've done in a day is six pages. Also, I have a busy schedule and can't devote most of my time to writing, especially during school activities. The results of this can be seen on the last update date of my story... which I hope to remedy soon, heh.

7) In your first interview you stressed the point of character development and from reading one of your works one can see this. Explain how your fic emphasizes this and how other writers can learn the art of character development.

The writer of a story is akin to the performer of a musical passage. The writer's ability to show, describe, narrate, and write dialogue are fundamental techniques, much like the performer's ability to play a passage. But a technically sound piece is not always good. Just as the tone and dynamics of the performer are the audience's way of viewing the piece, characters are the windows into the writing. They are how we view the story. If they are flat, uninteresting, underdeveloped, or otherwise derogatory-adjectived, then the story will appear so as well. When I place characters in a challenging situation, it most often boils down to a mental conflict. As the character goes through the conflict, the reader feels it with him. The reader is able to watch as the characters must adapt their mentality in order to overcome conflict. This is how a theme is born. I usually expect groans and remarks about how it's not necessary for me to be such a literary critic with fan fiction whenever I mention a theme, but, if anyone stopped to think about it, themes are just a mark of good character development. They show that development is so strong and focused that the readers can produce a statement to define it.

8) What is your vision of Star Fox Wii?

Preferably something similar to Assault, only with more on-rails missions. As far as story goes, I'd like to see something that covered the massive time gap between SF64 and Adventures, or Adventures and Assault, or something before Andross's first invasion. I really don't think it's fair how in one game, Fox is young and free-spirited, then, in the next “real” game, he's 28. Even though I love the games, I can't guarantee that a new one would be good for this fandom, especially if it covers up the issues with the storyline that makes the game so fascinating to write about. It wouldn't take away from any of the current fan fiction, but, unless it introduces a lot of new elements, it'd make finding something to write about a bit harder. But a game will boost the size of this community, and it'll certainly be something interesting to play.

9) What future works do you have in store for the Star Fox community?

I have a oneshot that's coming out soon that should be interesting. Besides that, what I'd really like to do is finish Echoes, then go back and completely rewrite it. There's so much that I regret doing at this point that I dislike the story as it is. After that... I can maybe see one more fic. Maybe.

10) Tell us about something from your own life experiences that you have applied to your stories and how this has affected the overall performance.

I guess the only thing I've taken from my own life is in chapter nine of Echoes, where Fox must push himself beyond his physical limits despite the strain placed on his body by drugs and Andrew's madness. I was thinking about marching band when I wrote that. Usually, by the end of a practice, I'm so exhausted that I'm dizzy, my legs feel like collapsing, and my lips are so battered by my mouthpiece that I feel like tearing them off (because after three hours of practice I must resort to using mouthpiece pressure to get out the notes), but, somehow, I, like the rest of my section, persevere. I don't think that really affected the fic that much, but if I was to read a fic with something like that described in it, I would be able to relate to it.

11) Do you think that the staff here should be the judge, jury and possibly executioner when choosing which authors make it into the community? Are we both too tough or too lenient?

Yes, and I can't say for certain for the latter. I haven't read many of the fics that are in here. This is just my opinion, but I think the biggest thing the community needs to do is broaden its horizons. It should scope out and welcome new talent, and perhaps allow authors who seek improvement to find advice here. I like the idea of an archive of good stories, but it would be even nicer to turn this forum into a factory for producing them.

12) How important is it for an author to connect with his or her readers? How have you done this in your own works?

You can't write a good story just by connecting, but it never hurts to try. I haven't done much of that in my current works, but I plan to in the future. My advice is to reply to every review that you receive (but never flame), and thank consistent reviewers (and all readers) for their time.

13) What writers here have inspired you to keep moving forward even when the going gets tough?

As far as writing inspiration goes, Basil-Ovelby has by far been the most influential. Her masterful stories are always thought-provoking, and I reread them whenever I find myself uninspired. Then there are the consistent reviewers, without which I would be lost. They are: SerpentPanda, DarkxKunoichi, Basil-Ovelby, and TheGreatMatsutzu. Then there are all the readers and all the reviewers, most of whom I can't name anyway. Then there are the people who're always willing to offer advice or be a creative vent whenever I come to a difficult situation. Those people are Brae, Xiivi, and, most recently, Foxkong (and a few others, but, well, I can't list everyone).

14) As an author what is more important pleasing yourself or the readers?

I think that when an author first starts writing, he writes for the readers. Or, at least that's what I did. Maybe that's why my first few submissions were so horrible. Somewhere along the line though (I think it was with “Redemption”), I began writing for myself. The quality of my writing has definitely improved since then. I've spent less time worrying about how people will receive it and more time worrying about just telling the story to the best of my ability. It may just be two different ways to view the same thing, but it makes a difference.

15) You have joined the Masterworks community… tell us what you think about this little set up and if you can how would you improve it?

My answer to question eleven covers most of the first part of this question. It's a nice setup. As for the second part, I don't think I could help. I'd probably make things worse, heh.

16) Give us a quote from your fic and tell the audience how it affects you personally? Your characters?

...okay, so, I'm going to cheat and use a quote from an upcoming chapter, because I can't find anything else. “It hurt because it was true.” I've always thought that truth is the most morbid thing in the world. When everything artificial is stripped away, and we are left with only truth, we see that nature is not pretty. It is deadly. Everyone is going to die. There is no escape. Our entire race is nothing but a phase in our planet's history, but by the time that is proven, we will already be dead. It's depressing, and I'm probably being accused of being a pessimist right now, but I am only speaking realistically. In the chapter, this quote shows a character's acknowledgement for the only real constant in life: death. ...wow, that sounded kind of sad. :P

17) If you could go back in time and change one thing in the Star Fox series whether it be a plot hole or just removing a certain game that you did not enjoy what would it be?

A game between SF64 and Adventures. Seriously, what's the deal with that? Eight years? Come on, what'd they do, deify plums? (lol, Stephen King reference) Granted, there are a lot of things I'd like to see, like a glimpse into Wolf's past. However, I feel as if having something like that set in canon would ruin the fun for the fanfic writers. Okay, well, maybe not ruin, but restrict. Or something.

18) Snake of the Rose: Try putting yourself in your character's shoes and see how you would react upon the situation you give them. Does doing this bring any compare/contrast to how you would act and how they would act?

Not really. That's pretty much how I write, to be honest. I put myself in my main character's (i.e., Fox's) metaphorical shoes and live the events as he does. It helps me to avoid godmoding as an author, I guess. I hope.

19) What advice can you give new writers that are coming here and are looking for a bit of advice on how to be successful here?

Relax. Writing isn't about trying to impress people, it's about telling a story to the best of your ability. Look over your works as much as possible, and when someone criticizes your work, take it as an opportunity to learn something new. You will make mistakes, but you can't expect yourself to be perfect. Write constantly (as I say, not as I do). Read constantly. Writing constantly gives you a better grasp on the language and ease with the creative writing process. Reading lets you experience both things you shouldn't do (bad fics) and things you should do (good fics). ...and once again, I'm pretty much ripping off Stephen King's words.

20) If you were in my shoes, tell me a question you would want to ask the next person being interviewed?

What would you rather see in a review: constructive criticism or compliments?

2-18-08 Moved post into this thread -Bryyo

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MASTERWORKS INTERVIEW: JASLAZUL Part 2

1. How long have you had writing as one of your hobbies?

Writing fiction? Two years ago, I started writing a novel. I got all of three paragraphs done before completely ditching it and deleting all the files off of my computer. Er... In other words, since the publication of “Enduring Echoes” on this site, so... About half a year.

2. What interests you about writing?

Writing, like music, is like an art. It's amazing to me how much all of the arts can convey. Through words, authors can tell stories, convey emotions, and even move people to tears, and there's so much freedom as to how all of that can be done. It's kind of... intoxicating. There's so much power at our disposal, and we're free to use it all. With most things, it's "do it exactly like this." With the arts, it's "do it so that it sounds/looks/feels good" (except using vibrato on clarinets, 'cause if you do, you'll get assassinated by the classical conservatives).

3. What are your strengths?

Writing characters' emotions, writing from a character's viewpoint, giving accurate (but not overdone) descriptions, editing, and English in general.

4. Weaknesses?

Writing in omniscient view, for one. I respect the people who can do it and do it well, but I just can't. I like the safety of limited. Keeping people in character (though I don't consider radical pairings to be OOC). I can't tell this for sure, but I've never had anyone compliment me on incharacterness, and I have had a person say something was slightly OOC once, so I guess this goes on a weakness tab. Speed. I don't write often, and when I do, I write hideously slow. I'm a slow reader, too, so I guess that goes with my character. All of that is unusual, though, because I'm an extremely fast thinker. Character development. When I write, I write from a character's viewpoint, so I usually give absolutely no thought towards the development of any characters but the main ones.

5. Why did you decide to write fanfiction about Star Fox?

Well, for writing in general, I suppose my old, rather hardcore English teacher shares the largest portion of the blame. Let's see. We had a pagelong journal entry every day on preset topics, a pagelong poetry response (don't ask) weekly, weekly magazine reports, weekly newspaper reports, and while doing that, we had to read things like “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Odyssey,” “Wuthering Heights,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” and more, writing detailed essays for each one, and all of it was for homework (we had tests during class). Oh, and did I mention the grading scale? On some things, two mistakes on a paper dropped a letter grade. On others, two mistakes on a paper earned a 30. Needless to say, most of the class failed, most of the ones that passed did so with a D (by reading “Middlemarch” and writing an essay on it for extra credit), and, well, I got enough literature hammered into my brain to last me for a lifetime. I was one of the few to hold an A all through the class (except for during that brief incident where I was supposed to read “A Tale of Two Cities” and I dropped down to a B). So, every day it was a journal, then on Thursday, write a poetry response, all the while half reading half skimming whatever novel we had to read. What kept me sane, believe it or not, was the poetry responses. They were reflections on a poem in our literature book (I still have the dang citation for that book memorized; it was cite it or no credit with everything we did). We read a poem of our choice, then wrote about it. If I read "The Raven." and it made me think about how perspective and bias affected human interpretation, I would write about that. The funny thing was, I would come home, gripe to my parents about having tohe thing, groan and brainwash myself with TV, and undergo all other plausible forms of procrastination before setting to work. Then, once I set to work, I got involved with it. It usually took me about an hour to write one of those pagelong responses, but sometimes it took more. Sometimes, I wrote more than a page. Sometimes I wrote one and a half. Sometimes I wrote two (my friends called me crazy). As the year dragged on, I began to think of that time as my time to relax. To chill. It was the same thing as an hourlong session of watching TV, minus the brainwashing and plus a creative trance. My teacher would always compliment me on my papers, especially my responses. She even said once that my papers were the highlight of her grading period. To be honest and put it bluntly, that was great, but I didn't really care back then. The Thursday night writing session soon became my creative outlet, and its result just happened to be passable for an English assignment as well. Our last response was due in March, and, well, that was the end of that. I know I'm going to sound silly when I say I missed the homework, but I did. So, I began dabbling into randomly writing some other crap again. I revived that novel for about four paragraphs or so before scrapping it again. As for how I ended up here: I have absolutely no idea. :D

6. We have all had our run-ins with some rather...poor fanfictions. What do you think is the main factor in some of these stories that proves unappealing?

I've split it into three things, because I don't think it can be narrowed down to just one. The first is obvious where it's applicable, while the others might not be. 1. Spelling/grammar mistakes. 2. Rushed pacing 3. Writing that comes from the author's viewpoint instead of the characters'. The last two, I've seen happening in all sorts of fiction, but they're the most obvious in “poor fan fiction.” 1. Excessive spelling and grammar errors annoy me to no end. I'd like to say, as a selfrendered literary critic, they're very obvious to me, and thus very distracting. I mentioned this on a forum post a while back. Often, when authors guilty of errors like that are criticized for it, they get angry, saying that we know what's happening, so why do spelling and grammar matter? I don't know about them, but one of my goals in writing is to make my audience forget that they're reading a story in the first place. That is impossible with errors. 2. Everything is too fast! There's no time to think about anything, and the characters don't think about anything either. Pacing like that's usually born from a complete lack of thoughts and description, and tie somewhat into number three. 3. I know this is going to sound a bit weird, but it's obvious in a lot of fan fiction when you look for it. This is where the author tells us the story, instead of the characters. We can usually tell by looking for how much the characters' thoughts are being shown, how often the characters' perspectives are shown, and how much the focus of the story shifts. This is, by far, easiest in omniscient view, and I've seen a lot of great authors even lapse into this every so often.

7. What do you think a good story should consist of? I don't really know what this question is asking. It doesn't really matter what a good story consists of. A good story is just good, regardless of its subject, composition, or rating. Resonance just comes on its own most of the time, so it's silly for an author to go out of his/her way to look for it. And, as far as plot or length goes, it doesn't really matter either. I know several good stories that I can summarize with a sentence, and several that it would take me paragraphs to summarize. I know several good stories which are epic, and several which are oneshots. Neither are better than the other (though due to time constraints I prefer simpler things).

8. Do you consider yourself a decent, capable, or excellent writer? I'm either decent or capable, the ambiguity because I can't really judge myself objectively. I will probably never be excellent, and that's fine with me. Most published authors are either decent or capable, anyway. I've had the pleasure of reading fiction from five excellent authors throughout my entire life, and I've only seen two of them on FFN, only one of which is in this section (though I have more authors that I suspect may come close, I haven't gotten around to reading anything from them yet). It pains me to say this, as I've always prided myself on my vocabulary, but their abilities are inexplicable. These people are the modern equivalents of Shakespeare; I could read their stuff all day! They have something that makes their work untouchable by anyone else's. I don't know what that something is (they probably don't even know what it is), but they have it. I, however, do not. ;(

9. What have been your inspirations for being an author, making a fic, continuing it, and the like?

I really don't know. I guess a lot of it has to do with listening to and playing music. My reviewers certainly help, too. I'm really not that great at pointing out where my inspiration comes from (hence question number five). In fact, I just realized, like, today, where my inspiration for my SSB fic came from.

10. Most importantly, why do you believe 'Enduring Echoes' and yourself deserve a position here in the Masterworks Community?

Well, like I mentioned earlier in my overdramatized autobiography, writing is a hobby for me. I think it's wonderful when something I enjoy doing can be enjoyable to others as well, and “Echoes” being added to this community will, I think, increase the chances of people spotting it and thus enjoying it. And, well, if nobody finds it, that's cool too. At least it will stand as an icon, a testimony, that a good story is indeed a good story, regardless of its content. Or maybe it'll inspire people. If that crazy guy Jaslazul can get in the "Masterworks" community, anyone should be able to with a bit of work. Who knows?

-SOTR here, that was a very good interview. ? Jaslazul, I'm going to read your story now, and I will get back with you soon with your results!

In the meantime, authors who read the interview put in your input on this thread.

-SOTR

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