It should be fairly obvious and self-explanatory — and I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence — but perhaps I should explain.

This forum is for the exchanging of ideas, as the name implies. It is neither a challenge, nor a contest. There are neither deadlines, nor prizes. Therefore, I see no reason for rules or guidelines other than those provided by fanfiction.net, with which we should already be familiar.

Example Situation 1:

So, you're trolling the internet, in the mood for Dungeons & Dragons fanfiction and wanting to read about, say, Presto and Diana. Not a lot of Presto/Diana-centric stories out there. Perhaps you can't find any. And maybe you're not the writing type. Well, you could come here and suggest a story be written that heavily involves Presto and Diana. You could go on to suggest a setting and plotline, if you wish.

Suggest whatever, or however much, you want.

Of course, how much of your specifications a writer uses is entirely up to him/her. He/She might actually contact and work with you. Keep in mind there is no rule to say that a writer even has to acknowledge that your idea influenced a story. But, they most likely will. Most fanfic writers are notorious for profusely crediting the source of the smallest and most imagined similarities to an aspect of another's work.

The only potential problem I foresee in this situation is a person's demanding credit for his/her suggestions. Please don't do that. This is fanfiction. You're in the wrong place for royalties or recognition.

Example Situation 2:

You started writing a fanfic a while back. However, your lifestyle and responsibilities are making it too difficult to finish (or even really get started). Perhaps you've lost interest altogether. Still, you hate to see it go to waste. One thing you have been able to determine it that you're simply not the one to write that story, after all.

Bring it here. Offer it up, and a writer may take an interest. Or two writers may want a go. One offered outline or set of notes could result in two or more brand new stories, depending upon how many writers took an interest and decided to write a story based on it.

Or it could be a matter or another writer continuing your work where you left off. Certain things might depend on negotiations between the two parties (original writer/new writer), but you can get your initial hook-up here and figure things out from there.

It's all about getting from that initial spark of an idea to the finished product. "Unleash your imagination," as this site encourages, and then let it go where it will, even if you're not the one taking it there.

Thank you for your time, your interest, your participation. Now, have fun!

Rana Kane Forum admin/moderator

Hello Rana! I don't think I'll be writing any more D&D fics after I complete the story I'm currently working on, but if I come up with any good ideas I can't use, I'll be sure to drop by and toss 'em around.

Don’t know who might stop by and see this, but I thought I’d go ahead and post it before I forget.

I had to abandon an idea for my current story, simply because it was a cute visual idea that would work fine in the cartoon but would bog down the written word and ultimately do nothing to carry the story forward. It involved a horizontally stretching intricate mural that sorta painted itself as it was viewed, so that by the time one got to the end, it had told an expositionary story. Chucked it - cute idea, but useless.

However, it popped up again in my head today since I wrote the latest chapter where the idea was to have surfaced, and it mutated into what could be a nice story with some adaptation. So, here’s the general idea, pretty straight forward rescue story with lots of room for the creative writer.

There’s some artist-type guy (could be a simple artisan in a random town, or could be a swaggering rogue who is a celebrated artist, the nature of the character would definitely help shape the story) whose talents at creating (painter? sculptor? carpenter?) manifest themselves in fantastic ways, actually affecting the very fabric of the Realm. Maybe he paints a bronze dragon and - voila! - there’s a living, breathing bronze dragon; something along those lines.

Naturally, Venger wants to enslave this power and use it for nefarious ends. Plus, this person can probably invent a way home for the kids as easily as painting a sunset. It boils down to a simple capture/rescue plot, but it could offer opportunities along the way for some spectacular stuff, with potential for deeper study of what makes a soul artistic/beatiful, or maybe what happens when an artistic soul is poisoned by bitterness if one wants to take a darker tone. Being a visual idea, it also invites appearances by some of the more fantastic/grotesque monsters of the D&D world. (As an aside, it seems that most of the monsters used in the cartoon are from the Fiend Folio, which was the most recently published monster manual when the cartoon first aired. I find it nice to try to keep in step with how the cartoon would have portrayed things - if anyone ever needs info from the Fiend Folio, or the other cartoon-contemporary monster books, let me know.)

Fitting the main cast into that general theme seems simple enough. Venger’s a tyrant, and he’s got a blind spot - his idea of creation is that it is simply the means to greater destruction. The kids, on the other hand, don’t have the vast (lazy) power of Venger; they’re natural scrappers - their chief talent is rolling with the punches, creating hope out of despair, and whatnot. Their creativity will be what saves the day, or works in tandem with the artist character to save the day.

Hope this all makes some sort of sense. If anyone finds anything of interest here, feel free to use it.

I see this was posted some time ago - but I may have a play with this. Its a shame you don't want to use this yourself, you have a really colourful imagination :)

Play with as much of it as you like. I'd be delighted to see it find its way into the Realm if any bits of it can be useful. It was one of those ideas that comes up as a disposable tangent, but quickly mutates into its own beast, and it made me smile enough to put it up here. I would have forgotten all about it if I hadn't posted it! I can't think about doing it myself, since I have yet to finish the D&D story I started some time back and then apparently abandoned when the big action was ready to break open. I will get back to it, but can't yet as I've suddenly gotten myself mysteriously deep in a fully-realized novel for another fandom. Oh, melodrama! Thanks, and take care!

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