Story Writers - Thoughts?

Hi guys, been a bit under the weather so I just checked in because Lynet gave me the heads up.

I have PDL, except for the last few installments, saved on my hard drive. I download it periodically. Not so much Once Upon a Time in Veronaville, but I could download that as well. If doing so would help.

Sorry you lost the thread of PDL, Mirelly, but there are several so I'm not surprised. It's not like I always follow the same sims ... and I know there are a lot of them.

I think not having the story interrupted is an awesome idea. I do plan to keep writing, albeit not as much as before, simply because I don't have that much time anymore. I appreciate the patience of anyone who's still reading. For those of you who aren't, that's understandable.

Anyway, good idea Josh. With all due modesty I think the stories drive some people to this site. I've done a little advertising on other sites about my stories, and Lynet's.

Having a way to both showcase them a little and make them easier to read would be a good thing. HOWEVER, I live for feedback, so I would have to have a way to receive it ... as Lynet said, it's applause, and the reason I post instead of keeping it to myself.

 

Yeah I would (I mean: wouldn't ) worry about genres, Josh. One of those links, the first I think, ends up reducing the plot types down to one: stuff happens.

Sims Stories is more than enough genre IMHO

Lynet, the best way to submit a MS is to submit a single sheet synopsis (da plot) and a sample chapter, either to an agent or directly to a publisher. Forget opening chapters, send one from the middle. Publishers are only looking for a genuinely good writing. The synopsis tells them (a) what sort of plot you've got and (b) how good you are at structuring a novel. The sample chapter is simply to tickle the taste buds with some proof that you string words together entertainingly and attractively. If you want to be sure to establish authorship the best way is to send a copy by some sort of secured signed-for mail, either yourself or to a lawyer, to be kept unopened as proof of the date it was created. On the whole such efforts are largely wasted. If you get massively rich from a bit of scribble the world and his wife will rain down writs for copyright infringement upon your head. Ask Ms Rowling or the da Vinci Code fella ...

The reason I don't attempt writing is I am totally useless at plotting. I lose the plot, literally (and that's not a pun). I love to write, sketches, mostly, but I can't follow thread-based yarns like PDL because my short term memory is far too unreliable. For the same reason I have trouble committing myself to maintaining the discipline to write a sims story because I want to know how it's going to end before I start and by then I can't see the point ....

My memory is truly awful. I have still decorate my kitchen and the bare plaster on one wall is now covered with pencilled scrawlings. I even dashed there after meeting my new neighbours and wrote down their names: Don and Jean, so I wouldn't have to ask them what their names were the next time I saw one them out in the street. After three or four days of repeating them they finally stuck. I cope well with reading a novel and remember vast amounts of the plots and character names from many that I have read only once ... but mostly stuff has to be pounded into my mind with sledge hammer

 

Mine are written on the fly as well. I swear, one night I was playing and too much stuff happened. One Sim died in pregnancy and had to be resurrected, then an alien abduction, then on a whim I let someone be a vampire. Really, all of my stories are based on observations and evolve on their own. Sometimes I do plan ahead, like when I have a storyline that's stuck in my head. I do believe my stories are under comedy.

 

I laugh when I read them, Chee-Z. You get a lot out of your observations.

 

Are there any cavy-ats, to that offer, Josh?

 

Mirelly, your puns are always the best.

But anyway, Lynet, before you send an excerpt of the manuscript you have to send a query letter to the agent. Mostly it's just a one or two sentence synopsis of the story, and some information about yourself. Then you ask the agent if they would like a chapter or three. At least, that's how I've learnt it happens. Some agents want you to send an excerpt with the first query letter, though, so really, you have to research a little and see what the agent's preferences are.

 

Every publisher has different guidelines, so read those first. They're generally on their website. I sent my MS to an agent, who's been sitting on it for a year. Sigh.

There are a lot of books out there on how to write a query. The hardest part of writing my story was the three page synopsis of what it was all about.

Oh, and as for genre ... I think they're all the same genre, Josh: SIMS!

We don't have that many stories that they need to be further categorized.

 

I think around here we like the Comedy/Romance/Sims genre.

 

I like the idea of having a separate section for story telling but I think we only need two genres:
Sims: for those who write stories based on the sims in their games.
Other Stories: for those who want to share their other work; such as 123's spoof on Harry Potter she did before.


I think it's too hard to classify the stories they write into separate genres. Such as "I Sim" I'd say that's action, suspense, drama, romance, and a little bit of humor built in...I wouldn't be able to pick just one.

 

And I thought it had a lot of humor. In fact, that's where I'd have put it, in the humor section. But I'm definitely going to upload it all over again into Josh's new story forum, with some of the pictures embedded. Yikes, what a project I'm setting for myself! That one and Ironsides, I think, are the two I'm most proud of, and would like to see preserved in a special forum.

But it's true, it's very difficult to classify most stories, unless absolutely everyone dies in the end. Then you've definitely got a tragedy.

 

I knew I forgot something! The winky smiley ! (it was a bit sarcastic, honest!)

 

I know. Your avatar says it all.

 

I really like this idea. I might start writing storys. i mean i got an A in english and poetry lol!

(Im a romance sim )

 

LOL; thanks Lynet...good to know my Tanner is good for something!


And yes mr.music, you should start a story thread; the more the merrier...


That reminds me that I've got one floating around somewhere...got a little bit of writers block and forgot about it...and my sims were way ahead of my story line as well. Now they are all grandparents instead of the college students they once were!

 

Well, hurry up then.

Sheesh. Geeks, eh! sTut ... wot R they like?

I gotta story burning a hole in my keyboard and nowhere to put it.

 

Note to Mirelly: Like your story. Didn't want to interrupt the flow with comments , so I thought I'd mention it here, until Josh has got the story forum started.

So is it midterms, Josh? Just curious. Looking forward to seeing the launch. The bottle of Champagne is all done up in ribbon and waiting to swing.