Super Mario Boards

For me personally (specifically referring to Palette Swap), I come up with a decent amount of ideas ahead of time and also kind of progress at a slow pace relative to that since the story arcs usually are split across multiple issues. I think it also helps that I have pre-existing framework to work with (mafia games and other community events) that makes coming up with ideas easier, plus I also work with Magolor on them and we bounce ideas off of each other from time to time.

But like, I can't even come up with an overarching story at all, let alone story arcs within the story. I'd also be working solo, maybe occasionally bouncing ideas off my boyfriend, so I don't really have that going for me either.

Yeah, that's fair. If you're struggling to come up with a basic premise it might not be a bad idea to just take a break from thinking about it for a while? It can be hard to start with the idea of "I want to write a section" first if you don't know what you want to write. All of my sections (with the possible exception of Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown) started because the ideas just came to me or were suggested, rather than me setting out to write a section and trying to think of what would fit the criteria.

I have plenty of one-off story ideas since that's my main form of writing, but I think what I'm having a tough time with is how I could make a serial fanfic when I've never really done that before. I think I'm struggling to come up with things since the monthly format is unfamiliar to me and my typical style of writing doesn't fit well with it. I guess I could just do a series of one-offs, that would theoretically work, but I would have to find new things to write about every month.

I think if you wanted to write one-offs that would be perfectly fine, I don't really have much of an overarching story for mine either. And keep in mind if you weren't able to come up with something in time you could always take some time off, or even have the section be bi-monthly from the start so you have more time to come up with and stockpile ideas.

I worked it out in my head and I think writing a series of one-offs would be better, not only because it's where my talents lie, but also because I think the market for serial fanfics is somewhat oversaturated, for lack of a better word. It seems like most of the writing in Palette Swap is monthly update fics, which, based on what I know, can be hard for people to keep up with if they're trying to keep up with too many at once. I think having a different one-off every month would be more enjoyable for the readers since it would be a good read (hopefully, but I try to be proud of my writing), but not something they would have to put effort into reading, if that makes sense.

I'll echo Waluigi Time's sentiment and say that you could certainly do a series of one-offs in Palette Swap. As long as you can send in a demo that shows you can write a complete little story (in terms of developing its premise, not necessarily being narratively complete), we can put some trust in you that subsequent one-off stories will have a similar level of effort put into them.

Ultimately, PS is a place where people can show off their art, and writing is a form of art! If you want to do one-offs for it, that's a perfectly fine PS section.