-
NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Would anyone like to give criticism as to why this Story Hour died?
- Thread starter Kai Lord
- Start date
As a new Story Hour writer, I thought I would throw in my two cents about what I've learned from the two months or so I've been involved.
A lot of people might be reading your Story Hour that never post anything. I have maybe one or two that have posted to mine more than once, but every time I post a new scene, the views meter jumps by maybe 10 or 15. Sure, some of those are me editing the post, but I would guess that I probably have 10 readers that have never posted.
Consider why you want to create a Story Hour thread. My reason was that I really wanted to create a good superhero story, and I wanted to do it in a comic book format. I'm using a new game system (Mutants & Masterminds), and I thought people new to the system might like to see how the mechanics work, so I threw them in as well.
Try to keep your thread on the first page. I think that's key to attracting readers. And don't just do this through self-bumps. Add comments, scenes, or whatever to keep it going. I don't think I attracted any readers until I had more than 10 or 15 of my own posts to get the story going. My thread has been on the first page the whole time, though, because I keep at it, and every time someone posts, the thread goes to the top of the first page again.
My advice would be to consider what you're doing and why you're doing it, come up with something that's going to keep you interested and the reading public entertained, and keep posting to make sure you stay on the first page.
Good luck.
A lot of people might be reading your Story Hour that never post anything. I have maybe one or two that have posted to mine more than once, but every time I post a new scene, the views meter jumps by maybe 10 or 15. Sure, some of those are me editing the post, but I would guess that I probably have 10 readers that have never posted.
Consider why you want to create a Story Hour thread. My reason was that I really wanted to create a good superhero story, and I wanted to do it in a comic book format. I'm using a new game system (Mutants & Masterminds), and I thought people new to the system might like to see how the mechanics work, so I threw them in as well.
Try to keep your thread on the first page. I think that's key to attracting readers. And don't just do this through self-bumps. Add comments, scenes, or whatever to keep it going. I don't think I attracted any readers until I had more than 10 or 15 of my own posts to get the story going. My thread has been on the first page the whole time, though, because I keep at it, and every time someone posts, the thread goes to the top of the first page again.
My advice would be to consider what you're doing and why you're doing it, come up with something that's going to keep you interested and the reading public entertained, and keep posting to make sure you stay on the first page.
Good luck.
seasong
First Post
Now that I've gotten the greed out of my system, some of the non-fame benefits I have personally derived from having a story hour.
1. I put up a website detailing my setting. My players read the front page, maybe follow one link on a deeper topic that they're interested in, and then never ever ever visit the website again. I write a story hour, occasionally posting detailed aspects of the setting. My players not only read it voraciously, but comment, ask questions, and remember it.
2. I occasionally read through my story hour. It reminds me of things going on in the background. It reminds me of NPCs I haven't touched on or thought about in a while, and what they're doing right now. It keeps track of more details than I thought possible for a campaign.
3. Practicing the craft. I'm not a great writer, but I'm working on that. Writing some 500-1,500 words every day in a narrative format helps that. And this is the first story I've ever stuck to writing.
4. Campaign excitement litmus test. If it reads like it was exciting, that's a good sign. If it reads boring, I start thinking about what I'm doing, and ask myself if there's something I can do to make it more interesting.
1. I put up a website detailing my setting. My players read the front page, maybe follow one link on a deeper topic that they're interested in, and then never ever ever visit the website again. I write a story hour, occasionally posting detailed aspects of the setting. My players not only read it voraciously, but comment, ask questions, and remember it.
2. I occasionally read through my story hour. It reminds me of things going on in the background. It reminds me of NPCs I haven't touched on or thought about in a while, and what they're doing right now. It keeps track of more details than I thought possible for a campaign.
3. Practicing the craft. I'm not a great writer, but I'm working on that. Writing some 500-1,500 words every day in a narrative format helps that. And this is the first story I've ever stuck to writing.
4. Campaign excitement litmus test. If it reads like it was exciting, that's a good sign. If it reads boring, I start thinking about what I'm doing, and ask myself if there's something I can do to make it more interesting.
Carnifex
First Post
As another point, don't expect to get Piratecat-like success even after you *have* done dozens of posts and had thousands of views.
I just recently hit 5000 views on my SH, but very few people seem to read it from the amount of comments I get. I got some early on but sadly had a lapse where I didn't post much, so my two readers, theRuinedOne and the Sunderer, seem to have stopped reading. Brocci_Head, my one loyal reader/commenter since the beginning, is actually subscribed to the message board which I run the game on, so he doesn't even need to read the SH to know what's going on. Horacio is a great asset to any story hour, especially since after the reincarnation of my SH he has been regularly commenting etc
. Add to that Mr Fidgit and Maldur, and that's basically my core of readers. I have problems pimping the damn thing even to my own players these days, despite their initial enthusiasm
As such, I will now follow one of the rules Seasong out forwards and pimp my SH. Go and read it, link in my sig!
I just recently hit 5000 views on my SH, but very few people seem to read it from the amount of comments I get. I got some early on but sadly had a lapse where I didn't post much, so my two readers, theRuinedOne and the Sunderer, seem to have stopped reading. Brocci_Head, my one loyal reader/commenter since the beginning, is actually subscribed to the message board which I run the game on, so he doesn't even need to read the SH to know what's going on. Horacio is a great asset to any story hour, especially since after the reincarnation of my SH he has been regularly commenting etc
. Add to that Mr Fidgit and Maldur, and that's basically my core of readers. I have problems pimping the damn thing even to my own players these days, despite their initial enthusiasm As such, I will now follow one of the rules Seasong out forwards and pimp my SH. Go and read it, link in my sig!
Similar Threads
