Successful Story Hours - a simple analysis (raised from the thread)

Barsoomcore has said it all folks.

So I CHALLENGE everyone whom reads a Story Hour to comment on it at the site. Show your encouragement. :)
 

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And just to push the other side of the coin (maybe I hadn't said it all, just yet) -- let's us SH authors remember that it's up to us to write Story Hours that are so awesome, so startling and compelling and moving and hilarious and original and action-packed that people are compelled to post their reactions.

Blaming your audience for not appreciating your work is counter-productive. Readers not gushing enough? Write more gush-inducing prose.

...

Note that "gush-inducing" does not imply offending Eric's Grandma. Ew.
 



barsoomcore said:
Note that "gush-inducing" does not imply offending Eric's Grandma. Ew.
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I think that "gush-inducing" would be a valuable addition to the thread title of the Wild Stewardesses game.

And by the way dude, "Flight Attendants" is the preferred nomenclature there. (I'm just kidding. I hate to write a whole post without a Big Lebowski reference.)

The charts posted above are interesting (I'm considering adding "Writer of the 26th most popular Story Hour on ENWorld to my sig and my resume.) but they don't really change my opinion on how good any of the Story Hours are, including mine. I'll admit that I don't have as much time to read them as I used to but when I do take the time, I try to post in the thread to comment on the story. That hurts your score in the first chart.

By the second chart, I'm doing pretty good since I come in at a score of 29 for "views/days since started". But if you were to look at the two previous SH threads I've written for this ongoing campaign, it wouldn't be nearly that good. Regardless, that's not how I judge whether my Story Hour is "good".

I write for lots of reasons, mostly just that I enjoy the process of writing. But the SH is also a useful tool because it helps me keep track of what's going on in the game, reminds me of plot hooks that may have fallen by the wayside and lets others comment on the direction and trends of my campaign.

And I just like being able to read back over it once in a while to enjoy what has gone before. In some ways, this has become the most important reason of all. As many of you may have recalled seeing, one of the players in our campaign (and a very long time friend) died a couple months ago. Because I've written the Story Hour, I'll always be able to go back and read it and remember him through playing the game.

It's not just a recounting of a game we played, but a tale we told together along with a lot of laughs sitting around a table in somebody's basement. It's a snapshot of part of my life that I've shared with great friends and I can take it out and look at it any time I want. So I guess I truly am writing for me.

The views count is just gravy.
 

The flip side to barsoomcore's comment, though, is that I hate reading a story hour that's riddled with commentary from readers. It makes reading the thing a whole lot harder.
 


MerakSpielman said:
Can't say why.
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...because you're sworn to silence by a government agency?

...because my clearance isn't high enough?

...because your enemies will read this and discover your secret identity?

...because Eric's Grandma would disapprove?

Seriously, though, JD, I share that frustration -- on any Story Hour that isn't mine, at least. :D
 

barsoomcore said:
...because you're sworn to silence by a government agency?
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Dammit, there goes my cover.

There's a different between can't and won't, buddy! :)

I don't know about inserting gush-worthy prose, though, barsoom... If my players do dull and uninteresting things, I feel I'd have to write it up just like it really happened.
 

MerakSpielman said:
If my players do dull and uninteresting things, I feel I'd have to write it up just like it really happened.
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Well, then, you have to expect to lose a few readers. This is one reason why I don't bother trying to match my SH's very closely to the actual game action -- because some sessions are much less exciting than others, and I want to write a story that's ALWAYS exciting.

Maybe I should focus more on being a better DM than a writer...
 

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