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

barsoomcore said:
Seriously, though, JD, I share that frustration -- on any Story Hour that isn't mine, at least. :D
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Exactly. It's kinda a catch-22, or a balancing act. I really appreciate feedback on my Story Hours, but I really find it annoys me when there's too much of it on other story hours I'm trying to read.
 

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megamania said:
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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Sounds good to me. I always appreciate reader comments.
 

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.
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Writing a story hour is usually a compromise between several goals:

1. A historical record of what happened so you can look at it later
2. A nice piece of fiction for people to read
3. A description for fellow players of what happened in your game.

Particularly number 1 and 2 can be difficult to juggle some days. Minute details are boring but important to record sometimes. This becomes harder if you use a first person account rather third person - there will be events that the narrarator is unware of in first person.

Of course it's also a challenge as an author to create interesting reading, and different story hours reflect different strengths. For instance, Destan is an incredible writer, and his story hour is great because of that. By contrast, Sepulchrave has great story hour not so much for his writing but for the incredible depth of his campaign. Different strenghts but both great stories.
 

I'm not sure if this is the correct thread for this, but...

As SH writers, we're pretty good about writing. We may take a couple weeks off here and there but, generally, we seem to share the same addiction for posting our group's exploits on the boards. Some of us, such as PC or Sep or Zad/Dru or (contact), have longevity. Some of us are relatively new. On the whole, however, most all SH writers seem a dedicated bunch.

Additionally, we are fairly insistent when it comes to soliciting reader feedback. We may not beat people over the head asking for comments, and we may couch our pleas in other threads and other forums, but - in the end - one of the reasons we spin these tales is to share them with others and see what they think. At least, I think that holds true for most of us.

Let me get to the reason for this post.

One area we could collectively improve upon is responding to readers' responses.

We very much desire reader feedback, yet rarely do we acknowledge such feedback in our own threads. If a guy takes a couple moments to post his thoughts about our stories, we should at least take a couple of minutes to comment upon them. Even if we just drop a simple thanks.

Some writers are very good about supplying reciprocal feedback, others aren't. I'm part of the latter group, though I do try. Maybe this is already being done via email or something and I'm unaware of it. I'm fairly new to this community, so I could be missing the boat on this issue.

I know we're all busy, and I know saying "Thanks" after every "Bump!" would get tedious, fast. But maybe we could pop in after a handful of readers' posts and try to respond to each in kind.

D
 
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One also has to take into account the size of updates in the given story hours. Some have but a few paragraphs per post, with many posts. Thus a writer who submits the same amount of text will have fewer posts, and therefore it will be at the top longer, thus less viewed. So the whole "ranking" system is biased towards those who post updates in bits and pieces rather than in large chunks.

What gets me to read a story hour? The first thing would be consistent, lenghty updates. I like to be shot with a 12 inch cannon of storytelling, not an automatic pellet gun. Then we need in-depth characters and an entertaining style of writing. After this comes a well-thought-out and involving plot to tie everything and everyone together.

Story hours I have read and enjoyed:

G-Funk's City of Spider Queen/Bastion of Unborn/Broken Souls

Jollydoc's Story Hour.

Carnifex's Story Hour.

(If there are more that are similarly written, or yours is written with said lengthy updates, let me know and I'll take a gander at it/them.)

All are entertaining and have involved characters to the point that they have visible personalities and one can predict they way they may act. Good gaming all around.


My writing style for my Story Hour: Avarimorion Maranwen'tyen(Unwilling Son of the Dark, Unquenched Destiny) is somewhat different at it's core in that it is not so much a recording of an ongoing game, but a write-out of a story that is constantly floating around in my mind. So far I've gotten but one reply, but I keep updating nonetheless. I write more for my own enjoyment than anything else, and post my writing for others to see in case they find it entertaining, and so that I can possibly get some feedback. That said, give it a look-see if you haven't already.(and most of you haven't)
 
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Destan said:
One area we could collectively improve upon is responding to readers' responses.

We very much desire reader feedback, yet rarely do we acknowledge such feedback in our own threads. If a guy takes a couple moments to post his thoughts about our stories, we should at least take a couple of minutes to comment upon them. Even if we just drop a simple thanks.

Some writers are very good about supplying reciprocal feedback, others aren't. I'm part of the latter group, though I do try. Maybe this is already being done via email or something and I'm unaware of it. I'm fairly new to this community, so I could be missing the boat on this issue.

I know we're all busy, and I know saying "Thanks" after every "Bump!" would get tedious, fast. But maybe we could pop in after a handful of readers' posts and try to respond to each in kind.
D
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You know OldOne is the king in this area. He consistently answers every comment in his SH. When I started reading his SH it woke me up to this "issue." I think your points are well taken.
 

pogre said:
You know OldOne is the king in this area. He consistently answers every comment in his SH. When I started reading his SH it woke me up to this "issue." I think your points are well taken.
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I agree. In fact just today I commented in his SH after he posted a long-awaited update. He answered the question I had and prompted a further comment from me. Then he commented on my comment and I'm probably going to comment further tomorrow.

Obviously there is some point where this has to stop. But since Old One was one of the first Story Hours that I read (so inspiring that I stole his whole campaign setting and, with his blessing, wrote my own Story Hour about it), I must have also picked up this habit. Nothing pleases me more than to carry on dialogue with my readers to answer their questions and look for ideas they might have that I can incorporate into the story.

Oh and, Angcuru, I tend to write nice, chunky (if sometimes infrequent) posts to my Story Hour. If you'd care to follow the trail of links via my sig to my first Story Hour thread, you can read huge tracts of it unadulterated by other comments (it got lost in an earlier board switch so I reposted the whole thing). Not that I'm pimpin' (much) ;) .
 



Almost everything in my Story Hour is my players. I fleshed out a few bits where either my notes were incomplete or that we glossed over or handwaved in the game-- mostly to help characterize the PCs.

Except for my vague plot, most of the events in my game are based on plot hooks I've demanded from my players to give me something to motivate them with.
 

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