story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

I am wanting to start a story on my next game...but...I have never written a story based on a game before. I was thinking that it would be easier to play a game as terrans, seems easier to write....Also, I think i need to play a bit more....how long did it take you other story tellers to write your first fan fiction? i am looking for tips and pointers....like how did you prepare your opening story??? things like that...

Thanks

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

I didn't prepare mine at all. I just had the idea and started writing. Plot wise, this was a bit tricky, since I had to keep going back to re-write previous chapters to reverse engineer plot devices=-)

If you're following a game, however, this won't be so much of a problem for you. I'm no expert, but I can give you this advice:

-The personal touch. SEIV is about empires, not individuals, so to make it interesting on a personal level (and stop it sounding like a history book=-) make sure you have an individual angle in there. In other words, have good characters. Also, think about having some kind of plot or story to compliment the recounting of your empire's military exploits.

-review and re-write each section of story before you post it. If possible, have 2 or 3 chapters written but unposted, that way you can go back and alter them if the latest chapter requires it.

-Get everyone's interest, then stop writing for 2 or 3 months. Lol! Actually I don't recommend that, do what I say and not what I do! Once you post and ppl start to get into your story, it does become a serious commitment.

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It's a good thing you put that in there D, cause I was going to ask you about it if you didn't. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

Have fun. If it starts to become a chore, then you will avoid it. I only write when I'm curious about what is going to happen next. That happens a lot. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

I think there are two ways to go about it.

-Either write the story while you play.
-Or play and then come up with a story to suit.

The first choice I think makes better stories. However sometimes when real life rears its ugly head, the second choice takes over. Happened to me a lot in the History Story. I'd play five or ten turns without thinking about the story and then I'd have to make up reasons why they happened later. Takes the fun out of it.

If it's a single player. Play the game slowly. A few turns and then write. Develop a mess of characters you can keep coming back to.

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

The first pieces I wrote were just short vignettes inspired by gameplay; they're in the Game Stories {link} thread.

Later, I had a solo game with an interesting starting position, so I started writing a history of events. That .txt file is up to 11K now, but it's coming out really dry, so I'll need to edit it a bit before I put it on public display.

I've got another one planned, where I've already written a scene after the First Contact, with placeholders for the race involved and alternate Versions for friendly or hostile contact. I've also got a separate file for that one with a list of all the characters I've used, to keep track of who they are as the story develops.

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

So capn, you have a seperate file with all of your characters in it? Does that work for you? I tried it, but I found that alt-tabing from the game to the story was enough, and with a third doc open, my brain was overloaded, so I added my character list to the end of my story, where lookup was seemingly easier.

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

Something I've done for O & C is to keep a timeline. Very handy...

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

do you guys suggest that i write my first story using a human race? i have a custom alien race...but not sure though

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

Up to you really. I mean you could just make the aliens very human- like if you wanted to, and get the best of both worlds. It can be hard writing about an alien race, because you have to describe things which are quite normal to them but strange to us, and it keeps interrupting the flow of the story.

On the other hand, it can save you a lot of research because you can just say "ah well it's different for aliens" - for example if a character needs medical attention, you don't have to trawl medical websites looking for the correct treatment - just make something up =-)

Re: story writing...some thoughts on preparation
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It has so far, but then I've only got four characters at the moment. Since I've only written one scene, I haven't had to go back and look people up yet; the main reason I started the list was to keep the spelling consistent on the aliens' names. The game I'm writing it for is a PBW game that hasn't started yet, anyway.

I've never had any trouble tracking multiple windows; it isn't unusual for me to have three or four open when I'm surfing these Boards.