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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 481884" data-attributes="member: 41">1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31153" target="_blank">The Liberation of Tenh</a> is about 50 runs deep (not including <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25093" target="_blank">the TOEE2</a>), and <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=123" target="_blank">the Risen Goddess</a> is at 40-ish.  Both campaigns been running since the release of 3rd edition.</li> </ul>2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reader feedback and the writer's passion aren't opposite ends of a spectrum.  Both are crucial, but only the writer's enjoyment of writing the story hour will sustain it.  I love it when my readers give me feedback and suggestions, but that alone isn't enough to keep me plugging away.  I have a lot of fun writing up the story hours, and feedback is the icing on that cake.</li> </ul>3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">0% read the story hour online, but 100% read the logs.  I put all the important plot clues and foreshadowing in the logs, which makes them a very useful tool for my players, particularly since we get to play so rarely.</li> </ul>4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views? <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Yes and no.  I've had to re-start my threads a couple of times, so the view count doesn't represent actual views, but I do appreciate people checking them out.  Piratecat freaking *created* this forum with his story hour, so he *should* have more views than my sister's exotic dance routine.</li> </ul>5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm not trying to write epic fantasy fiction.  I'm writing D&D logs.  In D&D 'noble' characters loot bodies and much hyped bad guys roll 1s on their saving throws.  The audience understands these game-specific dynamics, and those sorts of things add value to the story, not detract from it.  It's like a big inside joke we're all in on. That said, the biggest headache is condensing long battles into an interesting narrative.</li> </ul>6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1.  Humor 2.  Readability (see below) 3.  The advancement of a larger plotline within the D&D game structure.</li> </ul>7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1.  A unique voice 2.  Clear characterization 3.  Clear challenges and conflicts</li> </ul>8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game? <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Both active story hours are up-to-date as of today.</li> </ul>9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Yes I have, and they didn't.  Anything you twist for the benifit of the story hour will benefit the in-game story as well.  If your readers would be bored wiht a scene or encounter, chances are your players would be as well, so let that scene hit the cutting room floor!</li> </ul>10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH". <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">From the Liberation of Tenh, Chapter 4: All Covered in Blood and Nowhere to Go. The party are dirty, disheveled, wounded, and covered in blood, most of it not their own. The stench of burning feebleminded barbarians clings to Pris and Ethel's clothes and hair. There is a wild-eyed post-combat look on each and every face. Now they finally fit in here in Stoink. ------ From Chapter 20: Storming the Gates of Heaven The two adventurers walk into the bustling city, bloody, dirty and burdened by a person-sized bundle slung over the shoulder of the huge sorcerer. Traveling East from the marketplace, they find themselves in a well-to-do neighborhood composed of small residences surrounding larger villas. Heydricus leads them to one of the villas, a modest home by Chendl's standards, but palatial to the eyes of the Wintershiven priest. A young woman, petite and red-headed, is working in the flower-garden that surrounds the approach to the main house. She stands up and squints at the travelers, silhouetted against the afternoon sun. When they get closer, the woman barks out "Heydricus! Gods alive, I thought you were dead!" "Hello, Alli," Heydricus says in his warmest voice. "I'd hoped you were dead, anyway, you rat-loving sloth merchant!" Alli grips her garden shears in the unmistakable pose of a seasoned back alley knife-fighter. "It's good to see you too," Heydricus says as he drops Prisantha's body into the freshly planted flowers. "Is Millia home?" "She's never home when you come calling, you fatherless dog-scratching vagrant." Alli growls as she steps forward. Alli pauses and squints at the bundle in her garden. "Is that . . . Gods, Heydricus . . . is that a corpse?" "Not for long," Heydricus cheerily replies, and walks up to the porch. "Come along, Tau, I'll fix us some bitter-sweet water." "The hell you will!" Alli starts to say when she is interrupted by a new arrival. A tall, raven-haired woman, older than Heydricus and beautiful in that way that young women can never be, is standing over the body of Prisantha. She is dressed in finery, and her jewelry is expensive, if subtly stated. She stares at the sorcerer and quietly adjusts the neckline of her dress, lowering it ever so slightly. "Heydricus," she says, and allows the name to linger on her tongue. "Millia," Heydricus says with a smile. He bounds off the porch in one sure stride and takes her hand in his, kissing it. "Allow me to introduce my companion Tau of Wintershiven, Loremaster of Pholtus, Mendicant of the Blinding Light." "You're filthy." Millia states in a distant and distracted voice as she stares into Heydricus' amber eyes. "Ah, you remember." Heydricus whispers. He turns back to the porch and moves inside. "Alli," he begins in an authoritative tone, "take the body into the stables, but for the love of Tritherion don't unpack it. Tau, let's get cleaned up. Millia, it is my most fervent wish that you will join us for dinner. Shall we say," Heydricus looks at the sun, "sevenish?"</li> </ul>11. Give us a link, pookie.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25093" target="_blank">TOEE2</a> <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=123" target="_blank">The Risen Goddess</a> <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31153" target="_blank">The Liberation of Tenh</a></li> </ul></blockquote>

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