So lately I’ve been thinking about trying something new with my legacy story. What are everyone’s thoughts on fast forwarding and filling in the blanks through flashbacks that would be triggered through events that would relate to the flashbacks?
An example would be a family dinner would trigger a flashback about why someone isn’t at the family dinner.
Certainly not a bad idea. It's what I did for a majority of Part Two of No Stars over Uptown. It was structured with many out-of-order flashbacks that arose from whatever trigger made sense. It was originally a way to show that the main character had schizophrenic symptoms and very disordered thinking/relating to the past, but while I dropped that, it still made sense. Who thinks of their life in order?
I’m so glad that I’m not the only who thinks about doing this! I’ve already aged up all the characters to where they should be in the story. I’ve started thinking about the next generation and I was thinking about splitting it up into three or four different sections.
Section One would be like childhood and background type of stuff. I would introduce the new set of characters who get their own chapters and establish what connects them all together.
Section Two would move into more of the plot as they age into teens and everything isn’t so clear cut. Get some romance into the story again and of course what naturally follows romance.
Section three would be the young adult arc and this would be more plot based as well as discoveries. I’m not really sure what I could do for the next section or if I should make section three one big section that wraps it all up.
So lately I’ve been thinking about trying something new with my legacy story. What are everyone’s thoughts on fast forwarding and filling in the blanks through flashbacks that would be triggered through events that would relate to the flashbacks?
An example would be a family dinner would trigger a flashback about why someone isn’t at the family dinner.
Certainly not a bad idea. It's what I did for a majority of Part Two of No Stars over Uptown. It was structured with many out-of-order flashbacks that arose from whatever trigger made sense. It was originally a way to show that the main character had schizophrenic symptoms and very disordered thinking/relating to the past, but while I dropped that, it still made sense. Who thinks of their life in order?
I’m so glad that I’m not the only who thinks about doing this! I’ve already aged up all the characters to where they should be in the story. I’ve started thinking about the next generation and I was thinking about splitting it up into three or four different sections.
Section One would be like childhood and background type of stuff. I would introduce the new set of characters who get their own chapters and establish what connects them all together.
Section Two would move into more of the plot as they age into teens and everything isn’t so clear cut. Get some romance into the story again and of course what naturally follows romance.
Section three would be the young adult arc and this would be more plot based as well as discoveries. I’m not really sure what I could do for the next section or if I should make section three one big section that wraps it all up.
What does everyone think?
@LillyDoves So what happens if at first you're planning on one of the first two girls (a set of triplets and the 3rd is a boy) to be the heir and yet when they're teenagers they get a baby sister who actually becomes the heir? So that means 2 sets of "Section one" and "Section 2" one with the older sisters of the heir and then again with the heir. With Gen 2 alone
So lately I’ve been thinking about trying something new with my legacy story. What are everyone’s thoughts on fast forwarding and filling in the blanks through flashbacks that would be triggered through events that would relate to the flashbacks?
An example would be a family dinner would trigger a flashback about why someone isn’t at the family dinner.
Certainly not a bad idea. It's what I did for a majority of Part Two of No Stars over Uptown. It was structured with many out-of-order flashbacks that arose from whatever trigger made sense. It was originally a way to show that the main character had schizophrenic symptoms and very disordered thinking/relating to the past, but while I dropped that, it still made sense. Who thinks of their life in order?
I’m so glad that I’m not the only who thinks about doing this! I’ve already aged up all the characters to where they should be in the story. I’ve started thinking about the next generation and I was thinking about splitting it up into three or four different sections.
Section One would be like childhood and background type of stuff. I would introduce the new set of characters who get their own chapters and establish what connects them all together.
Section Two would move into more of the plot as they age into teens and everything isn’t so clear cut. Get some romance into the story again and of course what naturally follows romance.
Section three would be the young adult arc and this would be more plot based as well as discoveries. I’m not really sure what I could do for the next section or if I should make section three one big section that wraps it all up.
What does everyone think?
@LillyDoves So what happens if at first you're planning on one of the first two girls (a set of triplets and the 3rd is a boy) to be the heir and yet when they're teenagers they get a baby sister who actually becomes the heir? So that means 2 sets of "Section one" and "Section 2" one with the older sisters of the heir and then again with the heir. With Gen 2 alone
I had never thought about that lol it’s a very real concern! I guess my next question is now do you think i should stick with one sibling for gen two or have them have another child?
So lately I’ve been thinking about trying something new with my legacy story. What are everyone’s thoughts on fast forwarding and filling in the blanks through flashbacks that would be triggered through events that would relate to the flashbacks?
An example would be a family dinner would trigger a flashback about why someone isn’t at the family dinner.
Certainly not a bad idea. It's what I did for a majority of Part Two of No Stars over Uptown. It was structured with many out-of-order flashbacks that arose from whatever trigger made sense. It was originally a way to show that the main character had schizophrenic symptoms and very disordered thinking/relating to the past, but while I dropped that, it still made sense. Who thinks of their life in order?
I’m so glad that I’m not the only who thinks about doing this! I’ve already aged up all the characters to where they should be in the story. I’ve started thinking about the next generation and I was thinking about splitting it up into three or four different sections.
Section One would be like childhood and background type of stuff. I would introduce the new set of characters who get their own chapters and establish what connects them all together.
Section Two would move into more of the plot as they age into teens and everything isn’t so clear cut. Get some romance into the story again and of course what naturally follows romance.
Section three would be the young adult arc and this would be more plot based as well as discoveries. I’m not really sure what I could do for the next section or if I should make section three one big section that wraps it all up.
What does everyone think?
@LillyDoves So what happens if at first you're planning on one of the first two girls (a set of triplets and the 3rd is a boy) to be the heir and yet when they're teenagers they get a baby sister who actually becomes the heir? So that means 2 sets of "Section one" and "Section 2" one with the older sisters of the heir and then again with the heir. With Gen 2 alone
I had never thought about that lol it’s a very real concern! I guess my next question is now do you think i should stick with one sibling for gen two or have them have another child?
I think that the child should have a little sibling just so that they don't get only-child syndrome.
As some of you may know, I am rewriting and rereleasing my main story KCLKF. I finished reworking the first six chapters I broke up the original posts so they are somewhat shorter which means I'm only done with the Prologue and chapter 1, part 1. Haha. Even so I'm feeling accomplished, especially since I'm waiting to have access to my game again on my desktop (and my desktop has issues right now).
My goal is M-F posts, though I'm debating about two things:
1) waiting until I'm finished editing all of the posts, then releasing, so I'll work on the next two stories in the series while readers are reading KCLKF 2nd edition, or
2) releasing as I go, and I'll start releasing chapters this upcoming Monday and try and keep up and release as often as I can. Thoughts?
As some of you may know, I am rewriting and rereleasing my main story KCLKF. I finished reworking the first six chapters I broke up the original posts so they are somewhat shorter which means I'm only done with the Prologue and chapter 1, part 1. Haha. Even so I'm feeling accomplished, especially since I'm waiting to have access to my game again on my desktop (and my desktop has issues right now).
My goal is M-F posts, though I'm debating about two things:
1) waiting until I'm finished editing all of the posts, then releasing, so I'll work on the next two stories in the series while readers are reading KCLKF 2nd edition, or
2) releasing as I go, and I'll start releasing chapters this upcoming Monday and try and keep up and release as often as I can. Thoughts?
Personally, I'm stressed by deadlines and prefer to be ahead of my posting schedule! I think it would be less pressure on you if you have chapters ready ahead of time. Another perk of writing far ahead is being able to plan foreshadowing even in game driven stories!
I changed the planning stage of one of my legacies so that I play through an entire generation before going back to write about it and it's given me a much different perspective on the way I write it.
Hi, fellow thread-goers. I kind of have a little writing idea/dilemma that I've been trying so hard to flesh out, but the more I think about the more I'm not sure I'm capable of actually producing at the level I want, or if it's been something people would even be interested in reading.
The idea is to take a couple of "legacy" Sims from The Sims 3 (in particular, Kaylynn Langerek, Bella Bachelor, Mortimer Goth, and Malcolm Landgrabb) and stick them into University with a couple of supporting characters from The Sims 4 that I like and some OCs, building a story that revolves around their growth as people and friends but also with some supernatural elements involved for added suspense and drama.
It sounds simple enough, but there's the issue with presentation, or rather, me being a complete and utter novice at taking pictures in an aesthetically pleasing way... and currently not having access to the Sims 3 at all (my laptop is... 5 years old and the computer I did have the Sims 3 on is out-of-service at the moment).
I almost want to forgo the pictures entirely save for making character profiles, but... I've seen the way stories are written here and I don't think anyone would have an interest in a story without visuals. And I know, writing for validation isn't the best way to go around things, but I've been in a low point with my confidence in my writing, so I'd like to know that there would at least be some interest in my work before I commit to it.
So, TL;DR, I want to write a Sims 3/Sims 4 story but I'm not really able to produce the visuals for it and I'm not sure if I should bother with it if I can't.
Thanks for the advice in advance.
Hi, fellow thread-goers. I kind of have a little writing idea/dilemma that I've been trying so hard to flesh out, but the more I think about the more I'm not sure I'm capable of actually producing at the level I want, or if it's been something people would even be interested in reading.
The idea is to take a couple of "legacy" Sims from The Sims 3 (in particular, Kaylynn Langerek, Bella Bachelor, Mortimer Goth, and Malcolm Landgrabb) and stick them into University with a couple of supporting characters from The Sims 4 that I like and some OCs, building a story that revolves around their growth as people and friends but also with some supernatural elements involved for added suspense and drama.
It sounds simple enough, but there's the issue with presentation, or rather, me being a complete and utter novice at taking pictures in an aesthetically pleasing way... and currently not having access to the Sims 3 at all (my laptop is... 5 years old and the computer I did have the Sims 3 on is out-of-service at the moment).
I almost want to forgo the pictures entirely save for making character profiles, but... I've seen the way stories are written here and I don't think anyone would have an interest in a story without visuals. And I know, writing for validation isn't the best way to go around things, but I've been in a low point with my confidence in my writing, so I'd like to know that there would at least be some interest in my work before I commit to it.
So, TL;DR, I want to write a Sims 3/Sims 4 story but I'm not really able to produce the visuals for it and I'm not sure if I should bother with it if I can't.
Thanks for the advice in advance.
First off: this sounds like a really fun idea! I've seen a number of stories take characters from previous games and move them forward, but none that go backwards.
Regarding access to the game: Unless you intend this to be game driven there is nothing wrong with jumping right in and getting the writing done before you can get into the game. You can always change things in the writing later if something doesn't end up fitting properly.
Regarding screens: Although screenshots are an integral part of most simlit, it can be done with minimal or almost no screenshots too. Perhaps @chalicen could weigh in here, as one of the authors I know of who doesn't use much if any in-game screenshots.
Don't feel pressured to include screenshots, but if you do want to include them it doesn't have to be in the traditional style. You could have 1 screen per chapter, perhaps as the banner? Or you could work the screenshots into the characters themselves. Selfies are common among university students! Could any of them be a photographer? That could be an interesting way to incorporate some of their art.
@Xylorta-XV: I'm very glad you're trying to take a stab at simlit! I like your premise and don't really have much to say on it.
Regarding visuals: yes, some people have written about their sims without visuals. I definitely supported my dear @rednenemon when she couldn't play The Sims but still had a story itching to be told about them. And if your heart is truly set on that, who can stop you? But most readers are going to expect pictures. Even if they're bad. Even if your graphics are bottom-tier. Even if you don't have many. So my heartfelt recommendation is at least try. It's something you'll get better at the more you practice. And it can be super-satisfying to watch someone go from bad screenshots to better.
Thank you @Karilan and @InfraGreen for the advice. Considering that most of the setting would be in TS3 locations (since we don't have a University pack yet), I *might* use minimal screenshots. Definitely one for the banner and a few for critical moments? I do have a few of the Sims I'm going to use for this story built in TS4.
I almost wonder if it's too ambitious a story to jump immediately into SimLit for the first time with. I think I've got the capabilities to write it out properly but I don't want to fall apart on the visual aspect for a story that's so... advanced, for lack of a better word.
@Xylorta-XV: nah I don't believe there's anything technically too ambitious for simlit. For example, university isn't hard to fake in TS4. There are a lot of uni lots for download. Students IRL have diverse living situations (shared houses, apartments, mooching off parents, etc) that wouldn't require proper dorms or fraternities or whatever.
I wouldn't get hung up on having screenshots you don't feel are up to par. Do you read any other stories? What are you comparing yourself too? Could you learn anything from them?
@Xylorta-XV in my Swanson story- Jane and HAM (Gen 7) are living in an apartment when attending an off-screen college (well not excaty off-screen-because I just made a scene (or is it scenes?) of Jane's drama class).
I'm going to be turning Jane's second dream into a several part dream and if Dream!Jane and Dream!Henry have woohoo despite him being married to Dream!Charlene what do you think would happen to any kiddos of Jane+Henry (wish someone could give my sim couples nicknames I have only one nickname for any of my simcouples and that's Jomeo)?
Hi guys, I've been debating about sharing a plot I've been working on for a non-legacy story - I outlined the whole thing, but it definitely needs revising. I wanted to share the draft "prologue" just to get some feedback:
The town was shrouded in darkness as a man made his way through the overgrown grass to the ruins, from which he could detect a faint light. The town was also shrouded in a certain ignorance, he mused, moving towards the heart of the crumbling architecture. The cloaked figures that greeted him with silent bows in the candlelight were the only ones who lacked this ignorance. The world may be aware of their existence, but they had no knowledge of the new era that was upon them. An era, the man thought, that he would lead them into. And he would succeed. For the prophecy - of course there was a prophecy - foretold of his victory. He would not fulfil the prophecy alone; their skills were required. And so was the key. “Show me.” The cloaked figures led him silently to a glass display case, inside of which was a dagger. The man peered down and traced the weapon with his eyes. The dagger gleamed in the night, the ancient magic contained within its very core still strong after all these centuries. The dagger was the key to unlocking her. It was his destiny, it was the prophecy; they would succeed. “Mór Ríoghain.” The whisper sent shivers through his nerves, and the cloaked figures took up the name as a low chant. Meanwhile, the town slept on, ignorant of what was coming. Of what had been set in motion thousands of years ago. But they would soon be awoken to the truth.
I definitely like the format of giving a little prologue/hint of a backstory before diving into the main character's chapters :P I might make it longer, but I might keep it this short to not give away too much at the beginning. Definitely going to keep the "show don't tell" concept in mind more in my stories too.
Comments
I’m so glad that I’m not the only who thinks about doing this! I’ve already aged up all the characters to where they should be in the story. I’ve started thinking about the next generation and I was thinking about splitting it up into three or four different sections.
Section One would be like childhood and background type of stuff. I would introduce the new set of characters who get their own chapters and establish what connects them all together.
Section Two would move into more of the plot as they age into teens and everything isn’t so clear cut. Get some romance into the story again and of course what naturally follows romance.
Section three would be the young adult arc and this would be more plot based as well as discoveries. I’m not really sure what I could do for the next section or if I should make section three one big section that wraps it all up.
What does everyone think?
Of Myth and Magic
@LillyDoves So what happens if at first you're planning on one of the first two girls (a set of triplets and the 3rd is a boy) to be the heir and yet when they're teenagers they get a baby sister who actually becomes the heir? So that means 2 sets of "Section one" and "Section 2" one with the older sisters of the heir and then again with the heir. With Gen 2 alone
I had never thought about that lol it’s a very real concern! I guess my next question is now do you think i should stick with one sibling for gen two or have them have another child?
Of Myth and Magic
I think that the child should have a little sibling just so that they don't get only-child syndrome.
@CathyTea
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
My goal is M-F posts, though I'm debating about two things:
1) waiting until I'm finished editing all of the posts, then releasing, so I'll work on the next two stories in the series while readers are reading KCLKF 2nd edition, or
2) releasing as I go, and I'll start releasing chapters this upcoming Monday and try and keep up and release as often as I can. Thoughts?
Find me elsewhere:
My EA App ID: livinasimminlife
Livin' A Simmin' Life Stories
My Worldbuilding Blog
Simblr
My Sims Pinterest
Personally, I'm stressed by deadlines and prefer to be ahead of my posting schedule! I think it would be less pressure on you if you have chapters ready ahead of time. Another perk of writing far ahead is being able to plan foreshadowing even in game driven stories!
I changed the planning stage of one of my legacies so that I play through an entire generation before going back to write about it and it's given me a much different perspective on the way I write it.
My hubby causes chaos in How To Live With Grace - - Pine Point tells Miranda Cole's survival tale - - Criminals build legacies in Glassbolt Prison
@AdamsEve1231 TS4... it's to explain America's stealing habbit which Harley got her into-how she went from small items to bigger ones..
The idea is to take a couple of "legacy" Sims from The Sims 3 (in particular, Kaylynn Langerek, Bella Bachelor, Mortimer Goth, and Malcolm Landgrabb) and stick them into University with a couple of supporting characters from The Sims 4 that I like and some OCs, building a story that revolves around their growth as people and friends but also with some supernatural elements involved for added suspense and drama.
It sounds simple enough, but there's the issue with presentation, or rather, me being a complete and utter novice at taking pictures in an aesthetically pleasing way... and currently not having access to the Sims 3 at all (my laptop is... 5 years old and the computer I did have the Sims 3 on is out-of-service at the moment).
I almost want to forgo the pictures entirely save for making character profiles, but... I've seen the way stories are written here and I don't think anyone would have an interest in a story without visuals. And I know, writing for validation isn't the best way to go around things, but I've been in a low point with my confidence in my writing, so I'd like to know that there would at least be some interest in my work before I commit to it.
So, TL;DR, I want to write a Sims 3/Sims 4 story but I'm not really able to produce the visuals for it and I'm not sure if I should bother with it if I can't.
Thanks for the advice in advance.
First off: this sounds like a really fun idea! I've seen a number of stories take characters from previous games and move them forward, but none that go backwards.
Regarding access to the game: Unless you intend this to be game driven there is nothing wrong with jumping right in and getting the writing done before you can get into the game. You can always change things in the writing later if something doesn't end up fitting properly.
Regarding screens: Although screenshots are an integral part of most simlit, it can be done with minimal or almost no screenshots too. Perhaps @chalicen could weigh in here, as one of the authors I know of who doesn't use much if any in-game screenshots.
Don't feel pressured to include screenshots, but if you do want to include them it doesn't have to be in the traditional style. You could have 1 screen per chapter, perhaps as the banner? Or you could work the screenshots into the characters themselves. Selfies are common among university students! Could any of them be a photographer? That could be an interesting way to incorporate some of their art.
My hubby causes chaos in How To Live With Grace - - Pine Point tells Miranda Cole's survival tale - - Criminals build legacies in Glassbolt Prison
Regarding visuals: yes, some people have written about their sims without visuals. I definitely supported my dear @rednenemon when she couldn't play The Sims but still had a story itching to be told about them. And if your heart is truly set on that, who can stop you? But most readers are going to expect pictures. Even if they're bad. Even if your graphics are bottom-tier. Even if you don't have many. So my heartfelt recommendation is at least try. It's something you'll get better at the more you practice. And it can be super-satisfying to watch someone go from bad screenshots to better.
outrun / blog / tunglr
I almost wonder if it's too ambitious a story to jump immediately into SimLit for the first time with. I think I've got the capabilities to write it out properly but I don't want to fall apart on the visual aspect for a story that's so... advanced, for lack of a better word.
I wouldn't get hung up on having screenshots you don't feel are up to par. Do you read any other stories? What are you comparing yourself too? Could you learn anything from them?
outrun / blog / tunglr
Dream 1:
Dream 2
I think the latter should have some more photos...
any ideas?
The town was shrouded in darkness as a man made his way through the overgrown grass to the ruins, from which he could detect a faint light. The town was also shrouded in a certain ignorance, he mused, moving towards the heart of the crumbling architecture. The cloaked figures that greeted him with silent bows in the candlelight were the only ones who lacked this ignorance. The world may be aware of their existence, but they had no knowledge of the new era that was upon them. An era, the man thought, that he would lead them into. And he would succeed. For the prophecy - of course there was a prophecy - foretold of his victory. He would not fulfil the prophecy alone; their skills were required. And so was the key.
“Show me.” The cloaked figures led him silently to a glass display case, inside of which was a dagger. The man peered down and traced the weapon with his eyes. The dagger gleamed in the night, the ancient magic contained within its very core still strong after all these centuries. The dagger was the key to unlocking her. It was his destiny, it was the prophecy; they would succeed.
“Mór Ríoghain.” The whisper sent shivers through his nerves, and the cloaked figures took up the name as a low chant. Meanwhile, the town slept on, ignorant of what was coming. Of what had been set in motion thousands of years ago. But they would soon be awoken to the truth.
I definitely like the format of giving a little prologue/hint of a backstory before diving into the main character's chapters :P I might make it longer, but I might keep it this short to not give away too much at the beginning. Definitely going to keep the "show don't tell" concept in mind more in my stories too.
cheating.
@friendsfan367 That's already on my list but I can't just use that one! Thanks though.
secrets get revealed.