My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
@AdamsEve1231 Do you have a TOC for DMD? If so, would you post it? I want to catch up, but I'm having issues scrolling through tumblr...
@CathyTea I just recently updated my Tumblr so I tried to make it easier to navigate. If you're on my Simblr, and click on story overviews, Darkness May Dream comes up first. You can read in chronological order or most recent. If you need a table of contents, I have one on my WP here.
@AdamsEve1231 Do you have a TOC for DMD? If so, would you post it? I want to catch up, but I'm having issues scrolling through tumblr...
@CathyTea I just recently updated my Tumblr so I tried to make it easier to navigate. If you're on my Simblr, and click on story overviews, Darkness May Dream comes up first. You can read in chronological order or most recent. If you need a table of contents, I have one on my WP here.
Oh, thanks! I have such a challenge with Tumblr! I think it's a generational thing--or maybe just age. I would have loved it when I was around 25! I would've lived on it!
@AdamsEve1231 Do you have a TOC for DMD? If so, would you post it? I want to catch up, but I'm having issues scrolling through tumblr...
@CathyTea I just recently updated my Tumblr so I tried to make it easier to navigate. If you're on my Simblr, and click on story overviews, Darkness May Dream comes up first. You can read in chronological order or most recent. If you need a table of contents, I have one on my WP here.
Oh, thanks! I have such a challenge with Tumblr! I think it's a generational thing--or maybe just age. I would have loved it when I was around 25! I would've lived on it!
I also find Tumblr difficult to use. So it's not just a generation/age thing, I think.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Also @AdamsEve1231 The last few chapters of DMD have been so poetic and darkly beautiful and I love the pics and the words in them so much! I really like the whole story, but the chapters with Mal being introspective and/or sad are my favourites. They're so effective!
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Also @AdamsEve1231 The last few chapters of DMD have been so poetic and darkly beautiful and I love the pics and the words in them so much! I really like the whole story, but the chapters with Mal being introspective and/or sad are my favourites. They're so effective!
It's a sign of an amazing good work if I'm willing to brave Tumblr to read it!
Also @AdamsEve1231 The last few chapters of DMD have been so poetic and darkly beautiful and I love the pics and the words in them so much! I really like the whole story, but the chapters with Mal being introspective and/or sad are my favourites. They're so effective!
It's a sign of an amazing good work if I'm willing to brave Tumblr to read it!
Same.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Oh, thanks! I have such a challenge with Tumblr! I think it's a generational thing--or maybe just age. I would have loved it when I was around 25! I would've lived on it!
I also find Tumblr difficult to use. So it's not just a generation/age thing, I think.
Tumblr is a challenge for me too, but I wanted to have another writing platform to use and I have a decent following. That's why I have a TOC listed on my WP.
Also @AdamsEve1231 The last few chapters of DMD have been so poetic and darkly beautiful and I love the pics and the words in them so much! I really like the whole story, but the chapters with Mal being introspective and/or sad are my favourites. They're so effective!
Thank you @RipuAncestor for your kind words. I've enjoyed exploring Mal's psyche a little more and the world of Sunlit Tides is beautiful, even if it is similar to IP.
I hope you enjoy, maybe give some feedback, and have a lovely time in general!
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
I just posted another chapter of DMD on my Simblr. Cosmos (fyi, NSFW).
For those of you who are reading DMD, I have a few questions.
Mal and CoraMae have an unusual relationship. They live in a rather bizarre and different culture. I guess I'm a fan of writing odd couple pairings (i.e. Rachel and Bill Racket for example are a strange way to start a legacy and Billy Caspian and Kass were a weird relationship I wasn't planning to write but did... that's another story). Do you think there's anything particularly contradictory in their relationship? I go back and forth between the two having a strange, but loving relationship and then a cold, distant one, mostly due to Mal's position and cultural upbringing. I just hope I'm not all over the place with their relationship. If you're caught up...
I mean, he just had another relationship with Theodora Jayne and then he is now again with Cora... longing for her.
I meant the Kr'v culture to be complex and full of contradictions and I'm working on building a cultural profile (because I enjoy worldbuilding), but sometimes I wonder if their relationship is at all believable, but maybe it doesn't have to be since fiction is sometimes suspension of disbelief. I mean, they live on another planet out there in an unknown star system in the Milky Way just like Simterra so that's already suspension of disbelief. Lol. I'm rambling. Stream of consciousness, I know.
Related questions... how believable do you try and make your Sims characters or how realistic do you try and make your stories? Or is it realism in the sense that this is what exists in the Simsverse? Or do you subscribe to the thought that the Sims live somewhere on Planet Earth? To me, all my characters are "real" in a sense, but all of us have elements of game quirks and magic and supernatural and technology and science fiction and fantasy in our stories. Some of us are more game-driven than others. Do you think this affects the believability/reality of the Simsverse...wherever you subscribe that to be (meaning, does game-driven vs. story-driven make a difference)?
@AdamsEve1231 I'm not caught up--maybe this weekend? So my thoughts below are what I noticed up to the point I've read...
The relationship between Mal and CoraMae feels very believable to me: it's got that love-addiction thing going on. And you know how those chemicals work! Feast and famine! Also, the cultural value of Mal's world very much comes through. We're watching "The Tudors" right now, and I can see a lot of similarity between Henry VII's court and Mal's court.
Also, CoraMae has this strange delusion that she's somehow fallen under: her life's gone through the looking glass, and she's in a world that has a different sort of reality, so her emotions are affected, too, and also her mores. It feels very believable, too.
You know, I think the whole thing has a sort of Poe opium-cast to it!
(and that's actually what draws me in... it's got that Gothic surrealism.)
So, very effective. Very believable within the world you've created--really enchanting and slightly addictive in itself!
Related questions... how believable do you try and make your Sims characters or how realistic do you try and make your stories? Or is it realism in the sense that this is what exists in the Simsverse? Or do you subscribe to the thought that the Sims live somewhere on Planet Earth? To me, all my characters are "real" in a sense, but all of us have elements of game quirks and magic and supernatural and technology and science fiction and fantasy in our stories.
Each one of my stories/games exist in a world that is specific to them. So, when I set out initially to play that game, from the very first, I'll think about what world it is.
Some are worlds within the game: Sim-worlds. And the characters are Sims who may or may not become aware of me as a player and aware of the game as something that exists on a hard-drive on my Toshiba laptop or my iMac. If I set out to write a Sim-world game, then I'll leave it up to the Sims themselves to develop their awareness through their AI to the extent that they do: and this is definitely something that varies from Sim to Sim.
Some are speculative worlds (like what you'd find in speculative fiction). I recently read Paolo Bacigalupi's short story "The Gambler." (In fact, we'll be using it in a class I'm teaching this fall--SOOOO excited! We're also using a graphic novel adaptation of Doctorow's "Anda's Game!" Wheee! I can't wait to read the papers!) And that type of world that Bacigalupi creates is a lot like what I strive for in my more "realistic" stories: I'll refer to composers and writers, but the nations are sort of made up, and the history and geography are different...
In all of my stories, I like to refer to mathematics, physics, theories of consciousness, and spirit--for me, these elements exist within all my Sim games, no matter what type of world I set them in.
I guess the decisions as to where to set the stories comes from what I want to explore in the writing, and which "medium" feels the best for it. (I think of the worlds as a type of medium for the story.)
Some of us are more game-driven than others. Do you think this affects the believability/reality of the Simsverse...wherever you subscribe that to be (meaning, does game-driven vs. story-driven make a difference)?
I tend to be 70-90% game-driven, even when I'm story-driven! It's because I have really strict parameters regarding what I'll ask Sims to do. I don't have that many Sims who agree to be actors, and so I want them to live the types of digital lives they want! Really, my over-arching reason for playing Sims is in exploring AI, and so everything, even the stories, comes out of that.
I do think that what a Simmer asks the Sims to do makes a difference in the type of story that results.
My TS4 stories always end up crazy-happy because TS4 Sims are happiness junkies. They also tend towards the transcendental, mostly because of the blissed-out animations of TS4.
My TS3 story has a very different mood! And the happiness is a much different flavor and a bit more illusive.
Early on, a former friend referred to Sims in regards to stories as tarot cards: and I've found this to be consistently accurate for me. As I play the game, thinking about what I want to write about, things happen in the game that connect with what I want to explore in my writing, and so themes that are very alive for me in my life seem to play out in the game. I'm sure this is the interpretive power of the individual: but it feels like magic. And maybe it is! For what is our imaginative energy, but the source of magic?
@AdamsEve1231 I think there's a very poignant theme of struggling with one's conditioning and upbringing and one's culturally more frowned upon feelings (in Mal's case, mostly) in Mal and Cora's relationship. I think it works and feels very believable in the setting of your story.
Related questions... how believable do you try and make your Sims characters or how realistic do you try and make your stories? Or is it realism in the sense that this is what exists in the Simsverse? Or do you subscribe to the thought that the Sims live somewhere on Planet Earth?
In my stories, the world is sort of "like Earth, but..." -kind of world. One big difference from the real world is that USA is SimNation, and in some other countries there exist some Sims-world places (like Monte Vista is in Italy and Shang Simla is in China etc.). Also there's plenty of fantasy elements going around. I think that I try to keep my stories realistic in the setting they have. So the more dark, low fantasy story Fey of Life has somewhat realistic characters and events (or I try to make them realistic) aside from the magical elements, while the more whimsical Tango can have characters and events that are more exaggerated.
Some of us are more game-driven than others. Do you think this affects the believability/reality of the Simsverse...wherever you subscribe that to be (meaning, does game-driven vs. story-driven make a difference)?
When I play, I have the game-driven phases where I let my Sims be Sims and live their lives, though I'm also steering it in the direction of my stories (and sometimes they steer the story for me). But when I have to do a tricky photoshoot, I treat my Sims more like actors on set, mostly because the photoshoots often require me to cheat and use mods and stuff in ways that could affect the game negatively if I saved my game afterwards, so a lot of the photoshoot-events don't permanently happen in my game. But for me, the reality of the story is in my head and in the finished chapters. So I imagine that even though some things don't happen in-game, they still happen, if that makes any sense.
Not sure if that answered any part of your question.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
So um... I don't remember if we're still in the fortnight plus two, so if we are, I'm sorry about derailing it with my own angst and insecurities. I'm in one of my "my writing is horrible" -phases and I know it's mostly because I haven't been really feeling the last couple of Tango -chapters. I know that they're mostly there to both set the scene and build foundations for later events, and that they need to be done in order for the story arc to go forward and end the way I've been planning it to for some time now. And that when future events do happen, they'll probably feel much less disjointed. Also there's the fact that I didn't have the "villains'" motivations all that well decided when I started writing, so that has resulted in a mess I've been trying to desperately fix without anyone noticing. I'm hoping I can pull the threads together in the end, but I'm really not sure I can do it well. Also yes, the story arc in Tango is pretty close to being done. I'm thinking it'll maybe have about ten-ish more chapters... but that's a very tentative estimation. Also I have been planning some smaller arcs that might happen after that.
Anyway, my problem right now is (aside from confused villain-motivations) that the last couple of chapters feel aimless and fragmented (and not in a good way) because I can't tie those setting-up-plot -things (yay for good vocabulary ) to the kind of narrative structure I'd want most of my Tango -chapters to have. I'd like each chapter to have a self-contained arc or a small story or a coherent series of moments that tie into the larger story, but it has all pretty much fallen apart some time ago. I know plot-writing is not one of my strengths but man, I wish I could do a bit better than this.
Okay, there's my angst. I'll now try to form this into actual questions we can ponder... ahem... If you have a longer, overarching plot in a story/stories, how do you set up future events in that? Do you drop hints of future events or weave in a specific theme, etc.? Or do you later draw from previous moments? Or both? How can smaller moments be woven well into a larger story?
And have a good day/night, you all, and sorry about the angst!
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
I'm in one of my "my writing is horrible" -phases and I know it's mostly because I haven't been really feeling the last couple of Tango -chapters...
Anyway, my problem right now is (aside from confused villain-motivations) that the last couple of chapters feel aimless and fragmented (and not in a good way) because I can't tie those setting-up-plot -things (yay for good vocabulary ) to the kind of narrative structure I'd want most of my Tango -chapters to have. I'd like each chapter to have a self-contained arc or a small story or a coherent series of moments that tie into the larger story, but it has all pretty much fallen apart some time ago. I know plot-writing is not one of my strengths but man, I wish I could do a bit better than this.
Well, I think this might be one of those writerly moments... as the writer, you probably want to feel some control of the story--or at least an idea of where it's going and to feel like it's all fitting together.
From a readerly perspective, I have loved the last few chapters. As a reader, I like chapters that break the established structure somewhat, introducing new rhythms and pacing. And these chapters did that.
They also contributed a lot in character-building, relationship-building, and world-building, so they filled in a lot of the gaps in a really satisfying way.
Plus they were leisurely and enjoyable: all very good things for readers! They were like desert between the main course, or going for a walk during a busy work day--really nice elements to have in a story.
In my own writing, I usually aim at self-containment for each chapter--like you say, some self-contained arc or story. Mine's usually arranged thematically, and structurally, I always aim at a type of contented sigh at the end.
Yet when I read other stories, and I see how engaged the readers get when each chapter ends without resolution but with further entanglement, this makes me believe that maybe my resolution-oriented style, while satisfying for me as the writer, is not so satisfying for the reader: readers often seem to love being left hanging on for more!
I've been watching the Canadian TV series Heartland since December--one to two episodes an evening. And I notice that Heartland nearly always ends an episode without resolution. It's quite addictive! I feel I could stay up all night sometimes just to get to the resolution! But it's gotten to the point, too, where it's feeling rather manipulative. "Tune in next week!"
Yeah.
So, I guess, maybe I like variety? I do love those chapters that are self-contained--and "sprung fiction" is probably my favorite form of novel. At the same time, it is fun to not have everything tied up and to have a few loose ends!
And I seriously don't feel that art needs to wrap up everything. I don't mind when the messiness of life creeps into literature and art.
Okay, there's my angst. I'll now try to form this into actual questions we can ponder... ahem... If you have a longer, overarching plot in a story/stories, how do you set up future events in that? Do you drop hints of future events or weave in a specific theme, etc.? Or do you later draw from previous moments? Or both? How can smaller moments be woven well into a larger story?
And have a good day/night, you all, and sorry about the angst!
So! This is something that provides me with quite a bit of angst in New World Symphony. The thing with this story is that it is game-driven but I'm writing it as if it is plot-driven. I'm trying to be prescient and to have some idea of what will happen--but of course I don't know! So, when I do foreshadowing or other types of indications of what will come, I kinda don't know if I'll be able to bring that about. I feel at loose ends quite often.
With My Digital Life, this happens to some degree, as I have an idea of which themes I want to present and also a very clear idea of who Yesenia the narrator is... but I have no guarantees this will happen in the game!
I love the approach that @DeiraShadeweaver will be taking with her Drifter story. She's going to play it all first, and then write it. I'm thinking of maybe doing that with a Murkland challenge next fall.
In Thirty Sims at Three Rivers, I used "sprung fiction" as the model for the narrative structure, so I felt that the entire thing was smaller moments woven together into a larger story, but by its nature, this was relatively easy, for the "larger story" was simply telling the story of the residents of the region of Three Rivers.
@CathyTea I'm glad you liked my chapters, at least. I do like variety too, but I don't know... in these last couple of chapters it has felt less like I'm actively aiming at variety and more like the chapters just come out all disjointed because I can't weave them in better. But I guess they do sort of work as a break between the more intense and/or plotty chapters.
I guess I'll reread them or at least skim through them again to make myself (hopefully) feel better. I am pretty excited about the upcoming chapter, though, as it'll be a brief return to the self-contained arc/exploration of a theme -format (before the more action-heavy chapters will break the mold again), and it'll explore the theme I've been wanting to write about for a while now in this story... though I'm also dreading it because it's also a theme I always feel very insecure about writing.
Hint: It has to do with romance
Also I really like how your Three Rivers had all the little stories tying together. It all felt very natural, and I think that - in addition to great writing - it had a lot to do with how the whole story was built and set up to begin with. I really like fiction like that... short stories that come together. Though I do also definitely enjoy a long, twisty plot with foreshadowing and subtle hints at future stuff.
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Hi guys! I'm on a roll with Forget-Me-Not! Or then I sort of had a chapter already mostly written but hey, the important thing is that I got a new chapter out!
My Sims stories: The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE) The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE) Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Comments
Chapter 6: Lost and Found
Sonny gets lost, but finds a friend.
I hope you guys enjoy and have a lovely time!
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
@CathyTea I just recently updated my Tumblr so I tried to make it easier to navigate. If you're on my Simblr, and click on story overviews, Darkness May Dream comes up first. You can read in chronological order or most recent. If you need a table of contents, I have one on my WP here.
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
Oh, thanks! I have such a challenge with Tumblr! I think it's a generational thing--or maybe just age. I would have loved it when I was around 25! I would've lived on it!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
bad alana i changed my mind. not because of her but because rylans so happy. i knew she was a shark. lol
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
It's a sign of an amazing good work if I'm willing to brave Tumblr to read it!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Tumblr is a challenge for me too, but I wanted to have another writing platform to use and I have a decent following. That's why I have a TOC listed on my WP.
Thank you @RipuAncestor for your kind words. I've enjoyed exploring Mal's psyche a little more and the world of Sunlit Tides is beautiful, even if it is similar to IP.
Oh thank you @CathyTea and @RipuAncestor. I feel honored.
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
Chapter 34: Of Schemes, Corpses, and Birthdays
A spectrum of emotions, a spectrum of life and death... that's what both questionable schemes and everyday life often entail.
I hope you enjoy, maybe give some feedback, and have a lovely time in general!
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
For those of you who are reading DMD, I have a few questions.
Related questions... how believable do you try and make your Sims characters or how realistic do you try and make your stories? Or is it realism in the sense that this is what exists in the Simsverse? Or do you subscribe to the thought that the Sims live somewhere on Planet Earth? To me, all my characters are "real" in a sense, but all of us have elements of game quirks and magic and supernatural and technology and science fiction and fantasy in our stories. Some of us are more game-driven than others. Do you think this affects the believability/reality of the Simsverse...wherever you subscribe that to be (meaning, does game-driven vs. story-driven make a difference)?
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
The relationship between Mal and CoraMae feels very believable to me: it's got that love-addiction thing going on. And you know how those chemicals work! Feast and famine! Also, the cultural value of Mal's world very much comes through. We're watching "The Tudors" right now, and I can see a lot of similarity between Henry VII's court and Mal's court.
Also, CoraMae has this strange delusion that she's somehow fallen under: her life's gone through the looking glass, and she's in a world that has a different sort of reality, so her emotions are affected, too, and also her mores. It feels very believable, too.
You know, I think the whole thing has a sort of Poe opium-cast to it!
(and that's actually what draws me in... it's got that Gothic surrealism.)
So, very effective. Very believable within the world you've created--really enchanting and slightly addictive in itself!
Related questions... how believable do you try and make your Sims characters or how realistic do you try and make your stories? Or is it realism in the sense that this is what exists in the Simsverse? Or do you subscribe to the thought that the Sims live somewhere on Planet Earth? To me, all my characters are "real" in a sense, but all of us have elements of game quirks and magic and supernatural and technology and science fiction and fantasy in our stories.
Each one of my stories/games exist in a world that is specific to them. So, when I set out initially to play that game, from the very first, I'll think about what world it is.
Some are worlds within the game: Sim-worlds. And the characters are Sims who may or may not become aware of me as a player and aware of the game as something that exists on a hard-drive on my Toshiba laptop or my iMac. If I set out to write a Sim-world game, then I'll leave it up to the Sims themselves to develop their awareness through their AI to the extent that they do: and this is definitely something that varies from Sim to Sim.
Some are speculative worlds (like what you'd find in speculative fiction). I recently read Paolo Bacigalupi's short story "The Gambler." (In fact, we'll be using it in a class I'm teaching this fall--SOOOO excited! We're also using a graphic novel adaptation of Doctorow's "Anda's Game!" Wheee!
In all of my stories, I like to refer to mathematics, physics, theories of consciousness, and spirit--for me, these elements exist within all my Sim games, no matter what type of world I set them in.
I guess the decisions as to where to set the stories comes from what I want to explore in the writing, and which "medium" feels the best for it. (I think of the worlds as a type of medium for the story.)
Some of us are more game-driven than others. Do you think this affects the believability/reality of the Simsverse...wherever you subscribe that to be (meaning, does game-driven vs. story-driven make a difference)?
I tend to be 70-90% game-driven, even when I'm story-driven! It's because I have really strict parameters regarding what I'll ask Sims to do. I don't have that many Sims who agree to be actors, and so I want them to live the types of digital lives they want!
I do think that what a Simmer asks the Sims to do makes a difference in the type of story that results.
My TS4 stories always end up crazy-happy because TS4 Sims are happiness junkies. They also tend towards the transcendental, mostly because of the blissed-out animations of TS4.
My TS3 story has a very different mood! And the happiness is a much different flavor and a bit more illusive.
Early on, a former friend referred to Sims in regards to stories as tarot cards: and I've found this to be consistently accurate for me. As I play the game, thinking about what I want to write about, things happen in the game that connect with what I want to explore in my writing, and so themes that are very alive for me in my life seem to play out in the game. I'm sure this is the interpretive power of the individual: but it feels like magic. And maybe it is! For what is our imaginative energy, but the source of magic?
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
In my stories, the world is sort of "like Earth, but..." -kind of world. One big difference from the real world is that USA is SimNation, and in some other countries there exist some Sims-world places (like Monte Vista is in Italy and Shang Simla is in China etc.). Also there's plenty of fantasy elements going around. I think that I try to keep my stories realistic in the setting they have. So the more dark, low fantasy story Fey of Life has somewhat realistic characters and events (or I try to make them realistic) aside from the magical elements, while the more whimsical Tango can have characters and events that are more exaggerated.
When I play, I have the game-driven phases where I let my Sims be Sims and live their lives, though I'm also steering it in the direction of my stories (and sometimes they steer the story for me). But when I have to do a tricky photoshoot, I treat my Sims more like actors on set, mostly because the photoshoots often require me to cheat and use mods and stuff in ways that could affect the game negatively if I saved my game afterwards, so a lot of the photoshoot-events don't permanently happen in my game. But for me, the reality of the story is in my head and in the finished chapters. So I imagine that even though some things don't happen in-game, they still happen, if that makes any sense.
Not sure if that answered any part of your question.
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
That's such a sad title, @friendsfan367 . I need to catch up with Benders.
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
Anyway, my problem right now is (aside from confused villain-motivations) that the last couple of chapters feel aimless and fragmented (and not in a good way) because I can't tie those setting-up-plot -things (yay for good vocabulary
Okay, there's my angst. I'll now try to form this into actual questions we can ponder... ahem...
If you have a longer, overarching plot in a story/stories, how do you set up future events in that? Do you drop hints of future events or weave in a specific theme, etc.? Or do you later draw from previous moments? Or both? How can smaller moments be woven well into a larger story?
And have a good day/night, you all, and sorry about the angst!
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
I think we're done! Thanks, everyone, for giving me a chance to talk about my stories!
Well, I think this might be one of those writerly moments... as the writer, you probably want to feel some control of the story--or at least an idea of where it's going and to feel like it's all fitting together.
From a readerly perspective, I have loved the last few chapters. As a reader, I like chapters that break the established structure somewhat, introducing new rhythms and pacing. And these chapters did that.
They also contributed a lot in character-building, relationship-building, and world-building, so they filled in a lot of the gaps in a really satisfying way.
Plus they were leisurely and enjoyable: all very good things for readers! They were like desert between the main course, or going for a walk during a busy work day--really nice elements to have in a story.
In my own writing, I usually aim at self-containment for each chapter--like you say, some self-contained arc or story. Mine's usually arranged thematically, and structurally, I always aim at a type of contented sigh at the end.
Yet when I read other stories, and I see how engaged the readers get when each chapter ends without resolution but with further entanglement, this makes me believe that maybe my resolution-oriented style, while satisfying for me as the writer, is not so satisfying for the reader: readers often seem to love being left hanging on for more!
I've been watching the Canadian TV series Heartland since December--one to two episodes an evening. And I notice that Heartland nearly always ends an episode without resolution. It's quite addictive! I feel I could stay up all night sometimes just to get to the resolution! But it's gotten to the point, too, where it's feeling rather manipulative. "Tune in next week!"
Yeah.
So, I guess, maybe I like variety? I do love those chapters that are self-contained--and "sprung fiction" is probably my favorite form of novel. At the same time, it is fun to not have everything tied up and to have a few loose ends!
And I seriously don't feel that art needs to wrap up everything. I don't mind when the messiness of life creeps into literature and art.
So! This is something that provides me with quite a bit of angst in New World Symphony. The thing with this story is that it is game-driven but I'm writing it as if it is plot-driven. I'm trying to be prescient and to have some idea of what will happen--but of course I don't know! So, when I do foreshadowing or other types of indications of what will come, I kinda don't know if I'll be able to bring that about. I feel at loose ends quite often.
With My Digital Life, this happens to some degree, as I have an idea of which themes I want to present and also a very clear idea of who Yesenia the narrator is... but I have no guarantees this will happen in the game!
I love the approach that @DeiraShadeweaver will be taking with her Drifter story. She's going to play it all first, and then write it. I'm thinking of maybe doing that with a Murkland challenge next fall.
In Thirty Sims at Three Rivers, I used "sprung fiction" as the model for the narrative structure, so I felt that the entire thing was smaller moments woven together into a larger story, but by its nature, this was relatively easy, for the "larger story" was simply telling the story of the residents of the region of Three Rivers.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I guess I'll reread them or at least skim through them again to make myself (hopefully) feel better. I am pretty excited about the upcoming chapter, though, as it'll be a brief return to the self-contained arc/exploration of a theme -format (before the more action-heavy chapters will break the mold again), and it'll explore the theme I've been wanting to write about for a while now in this story... though I'm also dreading it because it's also a theme I always feel very insecure about writing.
Also I really like how your Three Rivers had all the little stories tying together. It all felt very natural, and I think that - in addition to great writing - it had a lot to do with how the whole story was built and set up to begin with. I really like fiction like that... short stories that come together. Though I do also definitely enjoy a long, twisty plot with foreshadowing and subtle hints at future stuff.
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)
Chapter 7: The Wild Carol
Growing pains and changes shake up the life of the Eldridges.
I hope you enjoy! Have a lovely time!
The Fey of Life - fairytales in life are few and far between (Forum thread HERE)
The Chrysanthemum Tango - a story about life, death, magic, and how to be a good landlady (Forum thread HERE)
Forget-Me-Not - some things just refuse to stay buried; an Ambrosia Challenge story (Forum thread HERE)