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Watchers Writing: Reading Circle
DeiraShadeweaver
Posts: 647 Member
Greetings!
CathyTea and me had an idea for a new reading circle, focused on Sim-Driven/Game-Driven stories. I know inspiration is mostly an intangible thing. And writing process is a multitude of shades and not just black and white.
My ideas are as following:
Gather a few like-minded people who love to play the game and watch the things happen. Of course we interpret the things happening a lot. I, myself, have begun spinning a whole story interpreting the things happening in my Sims4 game. But I rarely stage scenes or set up screenshots, I let things happen on their own. This is the approach we're looking for. Or something similar.
The thread would be a place to talk about the things happening ingame because, frankly, sometimes they are hilarious. And about our thought/writing process.
And last but not least, we would read each other's stuff, and maybe influence it a bit with our own thoughts.
And I had an idea for a game of sorts. Every week - or every other week because we all have lives and other projects - the 'host' would present a screenshot (the screenshots could be send to the host by others) without any explanation, and then it would be up to you to come up with background and explanation for it. It can be a one line or a longer scene, it doesn't matter. We could then vote for the most likes to choose a 'winner' who would be host for the next round.
Member's List:
1. @TheWingedShadow with Martell Legacy
2. @CathyTea with Whisper
3. @AllieMac with The Drifter Challenge
4. @pixelatedKar
5. @Thymeless with the Centauri Legacy
6. @supernatural103 with Isaacs Sisters
CathyTea and me had an idea for a new reading circle, focused on Sim-Driven/Game-Driven stories. I know inspiration is mostly an intangible thing. And writing process is a multitude of shades and not just black and white.
My ideas are as following:
Gather a few like-minded people who love to play the game and watch the things happen. Of course we interpret the things happening a lot. I, myself, have begun spinning a whole story interpreting the things happening in my Sims4 game. But I rarely stage scenes or set up screenshots, I let things happen on their own. This is the approach we're looking for. Or something similar.
The thread would be a place to talk about the things happening ingame because, frankly, sometimes they are hilarious. And about our thought/writing process.
And last but not least, we would read each other's stuff, and maybe influence it a bit with our own thoughts.
And I had an idea for a game of sorts. Every week - or every other week because we all have lives and other projects - the 'host' would present a screenshot (the screenshots could be send to the host by others) without any explanation, and then it would be up to you to come up with background and explanation for it. It can be a one line or a longer scene, it doesn't matter. We could then vote for the most likes to choose a 'winner' who would be host for the next round.
Member's List:
1. @TheWingedShadow with Martell Legacy
2. @CathyTea with Whisper
3. @AllieMac with The Drifter Challenge
4. @pixelatedKar
5. @Thymeless with the Centauri Legacy
6. @supernatural103 with Isaacs Sisters
Post edited by DeiraShadeweaver on
2
Comments
I'm not sure which story of mine this circle should read, so maybe the circle can decide?
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
ORIGIN ID: pixelatedK
For sure it would! We're mostly talking about stories that come from the game (play first, see what happens, then write), rather than stories that are written first and then the Simmer goes into the game to get the required screenshots. Of course, there's a lot of blending with approaches, and it's a spectrum, not a clear division, but your story seems like it could work!
And... I know I'd love to talk about ways you can work your distaste for your matriarch into your story! It could be really neat and interesting... We don't always need to have sympathetic characters!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I'm definitely interested in joining your circle. I started blogging with the Sims 4 (even though I've been playing since the original Sims came out), but haven't posted outside of the Drifter Challenge threads. I've lurked on a lot of the writing threads (short story challenge, different reading circles, and just joined @mastressalita 's online library). Anyway, I've been interested in joining a circle, but wasn't sure if I was ready to travel outside of the safety of my Drifter threads and expose my story to new people, until I stumbled on this thread. It seems to be a perfect match for what I've been doing.
Like I mentioned I've been playing the Drifter Challenge and am about to wrap up House 006 (generation 6). In the challenge you empty out the worlds, and rebuild your town house by house with unique parameters for each house, all while typically controlling only your heir. Each house can be played as a stand-alone challenge or as a generational legacy. As an extra challenge I use Pinstar's random trait generator, let the game dress all of the Sims but my heir, name the kids based on an interest of the parent, then as I play I take TONS of screenshots. After accumulating a small mountain of them, I just flip through and then write what I find. Each generation so far has a different tone, style, POV, from the previous one, so that's an extra challenge. Oh yeah, add that this is my first attempt at ANY creative writing, I'm definitely stretching myself in new ways each day.
Ok that was probably waaaay more information than was necessary. So sorry if I rambled too much. I'm not really sure what the protocol is here, so I guess I'll just close for now. Ohhh just have to throw in that I LOVE the idea of writing up something for random screenshots. I'd be curious to see how much harder it would be without "knowing" the Sims pictured.
(Is it crazy that I'm a little nervous to hit the post comment button?)
Here goes nothing....
Drifter Challenge Blog: https://alliemacsims.wordpress.com/
I love Drifter Challenges! Actually, the only one I've read so far is @Rainydayz179 's Drifter Challenge. It's so much fun to read. I'm looking forward to reading yours.
Funny thing: in your siggie file, I'm finding myself feeling very fond of the woman in the pink and black striped shirt, for the gen 8 heir in my Pinstar legacy had that shirt and I ADORE her! So it makes me smile to see your cute girl in that.
I'll add your name on our list on the main Reading Circle thread! So glad you're joining us!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Okay! I usually just play with whatever happens and then after I have a ton of screenshots build a story from there. I would love to hear your thoughts about working with the distaste for my matriarch into my story. I've never had this issue when I attempted it before, they fell at my matriarchs feet with love before, while this time around it's been difficult. For example, Bob Pancakes is high on the friendship bar. He swoons when she's confident and hits him with a bold pick-up line. After that he's disgusted with any other passes towards him. Plus other sims giving her dirty looks when she introduces herself.
ORIGIN ID: pixelatedK
Oh! Interesting! At first I thought you meant that you didn't really like her, but from what you're saying, it sounds like it's that other Sims are rejecting her romantic interactions!
I usually play with what I call the "True Love" approach (do you remember that from back in TS2 days? It was one of the extreme versions of a legacy). What I mean by this is that all romances must result from either autonomous actions or from whims...
So that's one thing you could try. Just be very, very patient and watch your Sim, letting her interact with lots of others to see who she's successful with.
From a storytelling perspective, failed romance and failed attempts at romance make some of the very best stories! Most of us can relate on some level, and you can really explore how your matriarch feels when her attempts at seduction or romance are rejected. And then, when she finally succeeds--and she will!--it will make the success all that more amazing!
(And in terms of game-play tips and strategies, if she's in a flirty mood--from a hot shower or the environment or setting--sometimes that can help the success. And... I've noticed that when Sims invite Sims over to their house or out for an outing, they often show up flirty! Plus, in my game at least, Bob is totally devoted to Eliza and wouldn't dream of cheating... if you have Windenburg, you could consider Paolo or Marcus--and Paolo creates beautiful kids, too!)
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
The Drifter challenge is a ton of fun and quite challenging. @Rainydayz179 is great! In fact she just helped me by explaining how to reduce the file sizes on my pics. If you find that you have troubles loading any of my pages, let me know and I'll go back and resize those pics.
I didn't learn how to take screenshots until I was already into House 002 on my challenge, so my blog really starts there. All there is for House 001 (gen 1) is a tour of the house I built for it. Dementia is the Sim in the pink shirt and her story definitely took off on some wild, unplanned tangents. She was a lot of fun to write for, as was her mother Chia. (I think Chia is still my all time favorite though. She definitely had her own perspective towards life.)
Hi @pixelatedKar I'm looking forward to reading about your 100 baby challenge. That's one I've never been brave enough to attempt, but am really looking forward to see how you manage it. Just in case you were wanting some more ideas to increase the success of your romantic attempts, don't forget the flirty paintings. She could have some enabled before inviting her dates to house and have a batch of the flirty cookies ready to go.
Drifter Challenge Blog: https://alliemacsims.wordpress.com/
Oh, I'm glad you've been reading Dr. Jasmine's Casebook!
I'm excited to read about Chia and Dementia now! It will be fun for us to talk about our favorite Sims!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I have to go off to work in a moment...
Drifter Challenge looks interesting by the way... I might attempt something like that myself in the future, but right now I have enough on my mind with just one story.
On the other note, I've been playing Sims3 yesterday, and it was a blast, because it was full of unexpected turns. I didn't really want to write about it, but as I went to bed, the 'story voice' went off in my head and started composing the first paragraphs... I hate the story voice sometimes, especially when I need to sleep but all I want to is get up and write. I stayed true to my intentions and did not get up. Plus, it would earn me some poisonous commentary from my partner because he doesn't understand my writing process. Or my painting process. But that's a whole different story.
My new Sims3 protagonist, Tony McGregor, has the LTW of becoming a master thief (which he only needs 2 promotions for). I haven't quite figured out how to swipe things from others, though he has somehow acquired a community bench and a picnic table (I think it belonged to the neighbours.) He lives in that trailer park area in Riverview. I absolutely adore the Broke house. But the trailers make it difficult to take screenshots of things going on inside, there is always something obstructing the view...
He spent his entire young adulthood trying to find a woman suitable for bearing his children, and tried to hit it off with his boss Rhoda Bagley for a while, and they were best friends really fast which helped his work performance immensely... but she was older than him and is now an Elder. As well as all the other female coworkers.
When he turned adult and had his midlife crisis I almost gave up the idea of a traditional relationship. (By the way, Tony was really cute with Yuri Ivanov, but my partner is strongly opposed to homosexual relationships so I don't even start...) I thought about adopting a child. I never did this in any game before.
Then his sink broke. Again. And he was tired and had to sleep. So I let him call repair service. And it was a woman, and she didn't look half bad, and he decided it was his chance and rolled a wish to kiss her. So it went pretty quick from then. They're living together now and I think she's pregnant.
I am very excited to continue playing tonight when I have come home from work...
Oh! That sounds so fantastic! I love when Sims who haven't fallen in love finally do! And I love it when it's a total surprise!
I know what you mean about the story voice! I usually do my writing at night (at least during the winter time) so story voice visits me during my morning garden time (which is very sweet) and often during my afternoon walks, which I have to be a little bit careful of because when I get back to the office, I really do need to concentrate on my job, not on my story!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
I have lots of Sim-driven/game-driven stories. In fact, most of mine are!
I'd like you all to select which one we read in this Circle. As candidates, I'll suggest the ones that I plan to be working on during the coming months:
Whisper: This TS3 ISBI, currently in Gen 2, is set in Moonlight Falls, where it always rains or snows and where gardeners hope to grow plant babies in indoor planters because the sun never shines outside! This is my current enthusiasm with both game-play and writing. I'm loving it! The chapters for this one are short, so it's easy to catch up with.
Houseful of Hippies: This is a TS4 game which is played loosely like an ISBI. It's written first person from my young SimSelf. There are quite a few chapters already (around 64) with lots of cross-overs with other Simmers' stories that happened during the story's first year. It's got an epic love story, and now, the hippies are approaching adulthood and are having families, albeit in non-traditional ways (because... hippies!)
New Word Symphony: This neighborhood rotation continues with the legacy family and their neighbors (many of whom are SimSelves). Of all my Sim-driven stories, this one poses me with the most challenges and questions, for I never really know what the plot lines are until they've completely unfolded, but I'm writing them as they unfold (when I'm mostly in the dark!) There are about 44 chapters written on this one.
I'll be happy to share any of these with you, and your feedback and suggestions on any of them will be useful!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Sci-fi/Fantasy Lover | Taurus
House: Hufflepuff/Pukwudgie
The Centauri Legacy | Can You Hear the Violins? | Drifting with Nifflers
Reading Circles: Reader's Nook
You surely can join.
Sci-fi/Fantasy Lover | Taurus
House: Hufflepuff/Pukwudgie
The Centauri Legacy | Can You Hear the Violins? | Drifting with Nifflers
Reading Circles: Reader's Nook
I don't remember hearing about that. During the beginning of the sims franchise I just played, half way through the expansions I was in the Facebook community then eventually moved to tumblr. Sims 4 has really opened my eyes for writing and such. That's a great idea though! To see who she gravitates to more.
I forgot all about the flirty shower! I need to make myself reminders about this.
My vote would be for Whisper, it sounds interesting and I love the supernatural pack from the Sims 3. I've never read an ISBI before, what does it stand for?
@AllieMac Why did I not think of that!? My matriarchs aspiration is painting. Silly me. There's flirty cookies? Where do I find this or how to I make them?
I look forward to your drifter challenge, I've never read one and excited to get out of my comfort-reading-zone just like with CathyTea's ISBI story.
@DeiraShadeweaver Thanks! I might have missed it but what story of yours will we be reading. Also I love your idea about a weekly game of sorts.
@Thymeless *waves* Hey there!
ORIGIN ID: pixelatedK
I only have a couple of minutes then I need to start school (I homeschool my daughter). I wanted to pop in real quick to drop some tidbits for @pixelatedKar before I forget.
First of all, it's easy to overlook the mood boosters. But I've learned to use them more since you can usually only control the main sim in the Drifter Challenge. (It's the only way to get those kids to autonomously do their homework. hehe) Also don't forget to buy reward traits with your aspiration points. I'm sure there are romance ones in there somewhere. Carefree is my current fave - never tense!!
Since you're doing the 100 baby, I figured your little Simmy will need to be in a flirtatious mood quite a bit. So for some variety, here's ways to get there off the top of my head...
flirty shower (of course), watching romance on the TV, reading romance novel, IF you have the mood plumbob lights (Sim 3 rewards) I would bet there's one for flirty (not sure though), also I think you can research pick-up lines using the web option on the computer, or use the mirror.
Once the Sim is in a flirty mood the options for a painting and cookie will appear when using easel and stove/fridge. Also you can get a flirty object as a reward for have a gold level date (the basket). Ok ran out of ideas. If I remember more, I'll pop back in.
FYI - I decided to try to fix my huge pic file sizes on my blog. I was able to get the first two houses done last night, so loading times shouldn't be an issue. I'll start resizing House 003 hopefully tonight. My blog may look long, but a lot of the post are really short especially for House 001 and 002. Ok enough rambling, time to get it in gear.
Have fun y'all!
Drifter Challenge Blog: https://alliemacsims.wordpress.com/
Oh, thank you! I'm having lots of fun with Whisper! It's kind of easy-writing, which works well for me now, since my job is currently demanding a lot of my creative and organizational energies...
ISBI stands for "I'm Surrounded By 🐸🐸🐸🐸." In an ISBI, one Sim is controllable--this is called the Torch Holder. The others can't be controlled at all! I'm switching to the new Torch Holder when the heir becomes a Young Adult.
It's really fun to play!
@Thymeless Welcome to the Watchers! I'll add you to our list on the Reading Circle Thread!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
ORIGIN ID: pixelatedK
I love the idea of coming up with a background/explanation for a single screenshot. It reminds me of an activity we did in a creative writing class I took. Basically the professor gave everyone a picture and told us to write a story about it. It was so much fun, and I still have my story saved somewhere on my laptop.
Oh, welcome!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Hang in there and drive safely!
I'm sure we all know that some weeks are busy! No need to be actively reading, writing, and posting every week!
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
Just got back from the dentist *shudders* and I have enough screenshots for the next two chapters of my legacy, so I'm gonna get organising and hopefully have a new chapter tomorrow
Sci-fi/Fantasy Lover | Taurus
House: Hufflepuff/Pukwudgie
The Centauri Legacy | Can You Hear the Violins? | Drifting with Nifflers
Reading Circles: Reader's Nook