How to do a "Story Hour"?

[Yellow Sign]

I am starting a new campaign in a few weeks and I wanted to try my hand at a story hour. I would like to get some pointers from you "professionals" . Do you keep notes, write it just after the game, etc...?

 

[diaglo]

yes. take notes. add your own flavor text later.

but i'm not a pro. even when i am pimping my story hour on other forums.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I'm certainly not one of the big-name story hour authors, but I'll add my two cents anyway.

Some people keep notes, some don't. I don't keep any notes - I seem to have a good memory for what happened in my D&D games, even if I can't remember my anniversary. But, if you have trouble remembering, then sure, jot down some notes. And if you don't get all the details straight, you can embellish as you write the story hour. No one is going to know or care if your story hour is 100% accurate to what happened in the game.

I think another piece of good advice is not to begin your story hour until you have several sessions (~6) in the bag. That way you have plenty to draw on as you get ramped up.

Remember that the most important thing for a story hour is consistent updates. If you update consistently and your story is even a tiny bit interesting, you will have regular readers.

Finally, ignore page views. Seriously. Write the story hour because you want to - as a campaign log, for your own amusement, or whatever. Don't write it because you are seeking fame and fortune.

Have fun!

 

[peteyfrogboy]

I built a database to keep track of the game calendar, which I keep open on the laptop during the game. I add events to it as they occur, so I can keep track of what happened on which day. I go back at the end of each session and write up the bones of the events. Then I can rewrite it at my leisure into Story Hour format. I also recommend staying a little bit behind the actual game. I don't write up events until the plot gets to a natural stopping point. This makes it easier to foreshadow things.

 

[Capellan]

I have 3 story hours, and 3 approaches to recording them:

Company of the Random Encounter: I GM this, and I take notes during the game Generally go through 6-8 pages of notepaper (equivalent to about 2-4 sheets of foolscap or A4). I note down major plot points, summaries of combats (including significant specific actions), and any good quotes that come up.

In Hextor's Name: I play in this, and rarely if ever take notes. Since I write it from an extremely biased perspective anyway, meticulous accuracy is not a major issue . One of the other players recently started note-taking during sessions, and I've grabbed a copy of what he wrote, but I'll only use it to help keep the order of events straight in my head.

Q-Ship: I GM this game, and record the entire session on audio tape, then sit down and transcribe it. The sessions are short (~3 hours) and dialogue-intensive, so this is the easiest approach for getting all the details correct. It's been working well, so far.