Bloggers and Story tellers.. I need advice!

Kitaelia

Ok so I decided to start the Wishacy Legacy Challenge with my Avatar sim as the founder.. And I would LOVE to blog about it but I seem to have a problem.. I dunno maybe the problem is all in my head LOL! When I attempted the original legacy challenge a couple years ago I tried blogging it then.. had everything all set up nice and started getting some followers reading it.. I made sure all the pictures were perfect.. the font and colors on the blog had to be perfect.. AND I had to be somewhat creative in my writing to boot! I ended up giving up the blog about half way through the second generation and continuing the legacy in secrecy so to speak due to the blog just being SO MUCH WORK. I found that I spent more time blogging about my legacy than actually playing it!

Is this normal? Oi.. So here I am now.. And I started a Wishacy.. And with every fiber of my being I want to somehow document my progress and share it with you all, because I see all the fun going on in this thread and well.. I wanna be a part of it too!

But then I think of ALL THAT WORK.. Oi.. I'm not very experienced with blogging or even having a thread blog on the forums.. What is easier? How can I make it easier on myself so I don't start pulling my hair out and dub it unfun? I really want this to be fun and exciting AND share it with the sim world ANNND have it be easier than my last attempt.

I suppose I want my cake and eat it too.. What good is having cake if you can't eat it! *snickers*

-So what can I do?

-Is it easier to have a blog site like wordpress?

-Or is it easier to just have a thread on this forums that I keep updating and linking new updates in the first/second post?

-How do I keep the story interesting enough that it entertains people but short enough that I'm not writing a WHOLE BOOK every update? (I have a habit of getting carried away.. but I want my updates to not take weeks to get out.)


I'm personally leaning towards trying to have just a thread here that I update..
If I do that what do I do with the pictures?
Can I upload them to the sims site and use that link to post them here?=
Or do I have to upload them to imageshack or photobucket?
Do I have to resize them or will the thread do that for me?


Sorry for the log crazy post you guys.. But I feel so conflicted! ANY advice would be much appreciated!

camimh

This is just personal preference but I prefer reading on blogs to on the forum for a couple reasons:

1) I can add a blog to my blog list and see when it's updated.
2) Some forum threads have a LOT of chatter between updates which is a great way to connect with readers but actual updates sometimes get lost (solved by linking on the front page) and a lot of posts/pages can be overwhelming to new readers.
3) The forums are less than reliable. They often don't work, occasionally there is maintenance and sometimes threads are even lost. If you choose to use the forum, just be sure to back up your work somewhere else so that should the tragic happen, you don't loose months of work! Aside from that, the unreliability can make it hard for readers to access or comment.

---

All that being said, it's all personal choice. I follow maybe 3 stories here that are forum based, all the others are blog based.

For me, once I got into the routine of using the blog, it was very quick to post my updates (once I had them written and all the pictures uploaded anyway).

I usually type my chapter up in some sort of document first. Depending on if I've already taken the pictures or not, I will either insert the picture code as I write or just put a marker for the picture and put it in later.

mojot89

i agree that sometimes blogging your story can feel like a chore. The best way I have found to not make it that way is to update when you feel like it and you want too. I just updated my story after about 2 months of not writing anything because i was too stressed. Now i have at least 4-5 chapters worth of photos sitting on my computer waiting for me to write a chapter for them. It's totally up to you when you want to update them.

for me I have a thread on here and a wordpress site. The actual chapters are on wordpress. I update the thread here on the forums to let everyone know that i wrote a new chapter. Once again, it's up to you to decide what you think is best for you. Just make sure that if you do make a thread and only update here, you keep a list of links to the chapters on the front page so that readers aren't shifting through lots of pages to find the update they are looking for.

As for keeping the story interesting, I find that it's easier to keep both readers and myself entertained by creating a plot to go along with my story. Develop the characters so readers come to love or dislike them. If you find that your chapter is getting too long, find a good place that you can split it into two chapters.


I hope this helps you and if you are interested, you can take a look at my thread/story and see if it helps you at all.

Forum Thread and Wordpress Site

Nicarra60

I agree with Cami.

Blogs tend to be easier to follow. I can add a new blog to my list and know when it's been updated. Forum posts can be very annoying and easily lost when the forums are busy.

You can slowly work on your post on a blog. Either offline like Cami or save a draft copy (blogger does this for you as you update.) A forum post has to be completed in one sitting.

As for how long it takes, well, that one is definitely dependent on you. Some of the blogs I follow, I know that some of their screenshots took them hours to arrange. Me, never that long. I have been known to spend a few minutes setting up a shot but never hours. For me, it's the characters that are important, not the settings.

Cami has about 6 running stories in her blog (follow the siggie link) I have one blog per story - 5 Sims 3 blogs in all. Follow the link in my siggie for one of them.

Kitaelia

Thank you so much for your replies! I'm still unsure how I'll do mine yet.. I was right down there almost deciding not to blog it at all, but you guys have have given me hope!

camimh

Good luck making the decision. Gotta do whatever works best for you!

wickichick

Kitaelia: Please feel free to check out my thread, What happened in your sim's stories. There are several different styles for presenting your story and discussion concerning current events in the simming world, etc. Stories are always read and feedback is always given...so it is a choice what format you use and how much time you want to devote to it. Consider it a learning experience.

Kitaelia

Thank you wicki! I will take a look!