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The Art of Sims Storytelling

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  • Kellogg_J_KelloggKellogg_J_Kellogg Posts: 1,548 Member
    Where do you write? For example, what programs, applications and/or websites do you use?

    Blogger hosts my story, Imgur is where I keep the publicity images.
  • RipuAncestorRipuAncestor Posts: 2,332 Member
    @RipuAncestor I do not think I know who Tad is but I remember I followed your Ambrosia story for a long time and I was very touched by it. I actually think I posted a link to the story on my blog :)
    @MonaSolstraale You did? Thank you! That's so cool! Tad made a few appearances in my Ambrosia story, actually, but he was not a main character in that one (and I don't remember many using his Tad-name a whole lot in that story). He was this guy:
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    SnowBnuuy wrote: »
    @RipuAncestor I'm glad you think so <3 I have my creative friends to thank for that. When I get into low moods it bleeds into my creative work sometimes, and that tends to be when I go into 'everyone hates everything I do!' mode and then the likes of Yimi or Snuffy ends up having to talk me out of it, bless them both. :p I always make sure I'm writing for myself first and foremost, since if I don't enjoy what I'm doing neither will anyone else. Sometimes due to my moods and mental health I end up just not caring about my story, so sometimes I have to take a break until I find myself actually connecting with it again. I'm trying really, REALLY hard to not ruin my current story : P
    @SnowBnuuy It is important to take care of oneself and to create when the headspace is right for it. Forced art rarely turns out as good as not forced. Though sometimes it can help to just get something done. I'm glad you have friends here! My SimLit friends have been a huge inspiration and support for me throughout the years. I can only hope I have managed to support them as well at least a little bit.

    SnowBnuuy wrote: »
    This was an issue I had when I first joined. A lot of the writers I followed, and who were my readers, went on long hiatuses very soon after I arrived here, so getting used to the different 'cycles' of authors and readers can be hard to get used to. Of course, real life should always come first and we all go on and off certain games and hobbies- but still, I do miss some of my favourite stories getting updated at the same time : P
    I came back to SimLit around 2015, I think (I first started writing and reading SimLit back in the TS2 days, but then I had a looooong break from it and didn't even know SimLit was a thing anymore until I checked in 2015). Back then this community was really thriving. We had reading circles and book clubs and all sorts of events here, but at some point it started to dwindle and I too fell out of a lot of it. I see there's a sort of new generation of writers reviving stuff like this thread now, which is really nice to see.

    Also it's comforting to see I'm not the only one who is struggling with romance-writing. :smiley:
    doublebannerpic.jpg?w=676
    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)
  • SnowBnuuySnowBnuuy Posts: 1,767 Member
    edited January 2022
    Where do you write? For example, what programs, applications and/or websites do you use?
    All the Snowbnuuy drivel is under the Spoiler cut:
    This is a really good question! Also yes I've seen Yimi's colour-coded wild tables and cried a little on the inside because I could never, EVER be that organised...The trouble is organisation has never been my strong suit, in anything. It's why I forget plot points a lot when I'm commenting on people's stories AND whilst I'm writing, and why I tend to forget tasks and/or do them all backwards. It's always been a problem ever since I was a kid. Also @haneul I like that you write your notes next to the screenshots, since there's been too many times that I've forgotten the story context of a particular screenshot I've taken...Also I think I ought to look into Scrivener, but the trouble is it can take me a long time to get used to a different program's layout.
    @MonaSolstraale i actually didn't know you wrote with a translator until after I was telling Yimi how nice your writing style is. That's really cool.

    Speaking of screenshots, I know this is off-topic of the question: the way I organise them is- each story has its own folder, and then there is a folder for each chapter. There are also 3 or 4 folders just called 'dump folder' where I dump all the screenshots from my OneDrive into. I do all the screenshot-editing there, and then once I've put those screenshots in the story, they get moved into the relevant chapter's folder. The reason there's multiple dump folders is so that I don't forget which chapter or event the screenshot applies to (ideally). Dump Folder 1 is for stuff for the current chapter, and then Dump Folder 2 will usually be screenshots intended for the next chapter. I try not to play too far ahead otherwise I'll forget everything.

    And now for the relevant stuff about what I use to write, and also how I (attempt to) organise things.

    For most of my stories, I either wrote rough notes down in my gaming journal next to where I wrote the challenge rules down for quick reference. I also have a 'writing journal' but I rarely use it these days. Then I'd make a Word document and just note down major plot points to eventually include, even if not all of them got included. Also I used it to track points for the challenge-based stories. Now, I use a free program called Jarte for note-taking, which is basically just Wordpad +1, better layout and more features- I'd highly suggest it actually. The third story required a lot more planning, and is the first time I've ever tried to properly plan a story out. I can't post pics of it but this time because of spoilers :p For planning, I have a one-row-wide table on a WordPad/Jarte document with numerous rows, so it's just a huge row of boxes.

    I take my screenshots before I write out the actual chapter in Blogger, since I need to make sure I get the shots as specific as I possibly can since I can't rely on CC or poses, or capture the 'perfect image' of the scene in my head in the game as a result. Also it's easier to write dialogue this way. I sometimes have an exact piece of dialogue written in my head, but not often. I need to see the characters' faces and expressions to help me try and get the right attitude/intonation across. Okay, so for how the table is organised...

    TITLE IDEAS: Self explanatory, also detailing the meaning of the title ideas.

    - THE STORY WORLD: the background of the world, and how it has changed since the second story. How things have changed in regards to the way people perceive magic, mainly, since originally, that was what the story was going to be about mostly.
    - THE ANTAGONISTS/WHY ARE THEY MAD?: A rough summary of the antagonistic figures, and why they're antagonists in the story.
    - OVERALL PLOT IDEAS: Absolutely anything that could happen in the story, preliminary ideas for plot points, characters, etc.
    - There are a few boxes dedicated to preliminary ideas surrounding the main characters, and their relationships to other characters in the story, and how they might change later on.

    Then the actual story planning, aptly-named 'THE ACTUAL PLOT (HAHA WHAT EVEN IS A PLOT?):

    - To begin with, each story event had its own box which would clearly denote where each scene took place and with whom. Then each box was separated by chapter instead, and it's just a summary of chapter events written in much detail as possible. The way I organise those events in the chapter isn't necessarily how they end up organised in the story, and a lot of events get held back for a later chapter, some omitted entirely. I usually plan only one chapter ahead at most. Any ideas I have for much later, go into the 'UPCOMING STUFF' box.

    After the chapter boxes, it's all the misc. stuff I need to keep an eye on:

    - (CHARACTER) LORE: Ideas for the lore behind a specific character who pops up later on that I need to try and remember to stick to. Most of this got scrapped, but I leave scrapped ideas in the plan in case I can recycle them for something else later.
    - PLOT THREADS: Bits of plot that will eventually need answers or resolving, in an attempt to minimise plot holes.
    - UPCOMING STUFF: Ideas for later chapters.
    - MISC.: More miscellaneous ideas. These are usually ideas that have more to do with character than with plot, and also includes quotes from characters or from the text of the other stories in the series, that might have stuff that will become relevant later.
    they/them or she/her
  • MonaSolstraaleMonaSolstraale Posts: 1,372 Member
    @RipuAncestor Oh! Now I remember him! It was the kind guy in the underworld. It's been a couple of years since I read your story, so you must forgive me if I do not remember correctly. :blush:
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,952 Member
    edited January 2022
    Regarding screenshots, I don't really plan in advance, so my first step is screenshots (any written stuff I have almost always comes second). I keep them in 2-3 central folders, until I have what I feel like is too many, and then I back those up/move them to a different location, and start a new folder. I edit the ones I like in Lightroom/Photoshop at the same time as I try to sort out the basic chapter structure in OneNote. I export the images I like to another folder.
    Also @haneul I like that you write your notes next to the screenshots, since there's been too many times that I've forgotten the story context of a particular screenshot I've taken...
    @SnowBnuuy Haha, then maybe the way I do it is really bad because I only write such things months, or if it's a flashback years, after I actually take the screenshots. (ETA: I was a rebel student so there's no way I'm stopping gameplay to take notes or doing that kind of long write-up immediately afterwards. It's easier for me just to remember or if there's a particularly specific detail like a score or something given in in-game text - I'll screenshot that.) I like to keep a lot of information in my head and sort it out later, so I take a ton of screenshots during gameplay and then later pull the ones that I like or can work with. Sometimes, I accidentally leave UI in the shot or otherwise don't have a good shot. If it's just a picture of an empty room or a building, I might redo it, but otherwise - nope.
  • ElliandreElliandre Posts: 2,468 Member
    Unfortunately, I haven't written any stories to participate here, but I do really enjoy reading everyone's stories and blogs and looking at the storytelling photos. Can anyone recommend some favourite stories or blogs to read?
  • SnowBnuuySnowBnuuy Posts: 1,767 Member
    edited January 2022
    @haneul I do love your screenshots <3 Especially the banner one of Asher and Adelise. I imagine it being like a magazine cover, ‘THIS YEAR’S POWER COUPLE’ :p And nothing wrong with the way you do notes at all, whatever helps the author ~

    I was always bad at organising notes in school as well. I used to try and do mind-maps and colour-coordinated notes to help with association, but now my memory and attention span is so bad that nothing really helps even if I colour-coordinate it all :s

    I also actually have my own Discord server for me alone, which I use as a sort of digital notebook in a place where I can’t lose it and a place I’ll see it every day. I just stick my chapter block notes as a post in the server to quickly get it from computer to phone whilst I’m on my XBox doing all the screenshots.
    Post edited by SnowBnuuy on
    they/them or she/her
  • MonaSolstraaleMonaSolstraale Posts: 1,372 Member
    @SnowBnuuy I think you're pretty organized. I'm quite impressed with your system of tabs in Jarte.
    Although it's not part of the question, I feel like saying that I can fully recognize your way of organizing photos.
    Thanks for your kind comment about my writing style. When I think about it's more than 40 years since I was taught English in school. Maybe closer to 50! :dizzy:
    I've not used it that much since, so it makes me a little proud :blush:

    I store all the plots and ideas in my head. After my summer vacation, I made an effort to write a fairly detailed script and then the game took me somewhere completely different. It just ended up making me frustrated that I could not get the script and action to fit together :joy:
    Once I finish my current story, maybe I should give myself a more rigorous task?
    That's unlikely to happen. My mindset is far too impulsive. Oddly enough, it's completely different when I paint. I have to think about it.
  • SnowBnuuySnowBnuuy Posts: 1,767 Member
    edited January 2022
    @Elliandre Good to see a new face here! I can recommend some stuff for you to try out!

    - Tales of Camelot by _sims_yimi if you like narrative-based SimLit and are into fantasy. It can get pretty emotional, so depends if you want feel-good or not.
    - Fier Legacy by haneul, a rules-loose legacy story featuring vampires
    - Tusnelda and Trix by MonaSolstraale, a story that follows the life of woman and her cat and those around her. For me, it is mostly about human nature in general and deals with a lot of different themes. For me it's a nice story to relax to.
    they/them or she/her
  • ElliandreElliandre Posts: 2,468 Member
    SnowBnuuy wrote: »
    @Elliandre Good to see a new face here! I can recommend some stuff for you to try out!

    - Tales of Camelot by _sims_yimi if you like narrative-based SimLit and are into fantasy. It can get pretty emotional, so depends if you want feel-good or not.
    - Fier Legacy by haneul, a rules-loose legacy story featuring vampires
    - Tusnelda and Trix by MonaSolstraale, a story that follows the life of woman and her cat and those around her. For me, it is mostly about human nature in general and deals with a lot of different themes. For me it's a nice story to relax to.

    Thank you! :smile:
  • MonaSolstraaleMonaSolstraale Posts: 1,372 Member
    edited January 2022
    @Elliandre It depends so much on what you are interested in.
    Most of us have links to our blogs in our banner. I think we all put quite a lot of work into our storys.
    I would suggest you shop around a bit until you find something that appeals to you.
    The first story that really grabbed me was Dust to Dust by @CitizenErased14 A tale of life, death and love and a boy who wants to revive a ghost with Ambrosia. After reading it, I chose new stories based on those who commented on her story. Suddenly I had opened up to an infinite universe of adventure.

    @SnowBnuuy Thank you for the recommendation <3
    I would also like to mention Almost Eternal by @SnuffyBucket A vampire story with endless dramas and intricacies.
  • RipuAncestorRipuAncestor Posts: 2,332 Member
    @RipuAncestor Oh! Now I remember him! It was the kind guy in the underworld. It's been a couple of years since I read your story, so you must forgive me if I do not remember correctly. :blush:
    "The kind guy in the underworld"! I love it! Yup, that's him. He should make that a part of his job description. :smiley:
    doublebannerpic.jpg?w=676
    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)
  • HermioneSimsHermioneSims Posts: 774 Member
    edited January 2022
    Where do you write? For example, what programs, applications and/or websites do you use?

    It depends a lot. For the first few stories I wrote, back in 2014-2015 or so, I was definitively planning everything in advance, writing a summary of the chapters I was planning to write (I managed to stick to something like the 60 % of that, I'm impressed), then organising all the chapters within numbered folders (each one with its pictures sub-folder), and I also used to write whole sections of the story down (like 20-30 chapters), then return back to read it all, make some changes for consistency and so forth. Back then I was mostly using Microsoft Word for the actual writing part, later I moved to google Docs when I changed PC and moved everything on drive. Around the third part of the story I started to use that file also for noting down the scenes I had in mind and trying some versions of them, and I also reasoned on the possible ending. That file reached 58 pages, scary stuff...
    rJoB8vW.png
    ^pre-writing summary for the first part of the story.
    I'm wondering how I found the time to write all this stuff, without being able to find any answer...

    For the new Legacy I'm writing now instead I decided to take it easy, and to write each chapter quickly just after playing. Sometimes I was writing directly them directly as blog posts, some other times (when I didn't have enough time to write a whole chapter at once) I took notes on any available program, even notepad. I tend to have a vague idea about the direction the story will take, but then a lot of the actual developments depend on what I managed to play, and on the unpredicted thing happening time by time.


    So that I'm translating all my stories from the original ones I wrote in my language, now I also decided to use some "support programs" to help me with the translation. I start to put the original text I wrote into google translate, usually the Italian-->English translation is quite horrible and I need to rewrite half of it, but it still takes less time and energy than to translate everything by myself. Sometimes google translate also suggests me some curious term I would not have thought of otherwise, which is also a plus.
    I also added an extension to my browser called "Grammarly", it activates more or less every time I'm writing in English (even posts like this one) and points out spelling mistakes, or when I write "in" instead of "at", forget an "s" or this kind of things. So that I'm still learning, such extensions are definitively useful for me.
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    You can follow the Legacy Miller from my blog and the forum thread, *Chapter 8.12 posted on the 25th of March 2024*
  • SnuffyBucketSnuffyBucket Posts: 569 Member
    edited January 2022
    Where do you write? For example, what programs, applications and/or websites do you use?
    Word and Excel. I have a huge as heck Word document where I lay everything out, with links to many more Word files in many folders.
    0pkJH71h.jpgYgX0EhXh.jpg

    @MonaSolstraale
    I would also like to mention Almost Eternal by SnuffyBucket. A vampire story with endless dramas and intricacies.
    I'm gonna have to start paying you for all this advertising you're giving me.

    @Elliandre As well as those mentioned here, The Writer's Lounge is also a good place to find links to stories.
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    Almost Eternal
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,952 Member
    Elliandre wrote: »
    Unfortunately, I haven't written any stories to participate here, but I do really enjoy reading everyone's stories and blogs and looking at the storytelling photos. Can anyone recommend some favourite stories or blogs to read?
    @Elliandre Many good ones have already been suggested, but to add to those already mentioned.

    I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting/haven't read yet.
    @haneul I do love your screenshots <3 Especially the banner one of Asher and Adelise. I imagine it being like a magazine cover, ‘THIS YEAR’S POWER COUPLE’ :p
    Thanks so much! :D<3
  • SnowBnuuySnowBnuuy Posts: 1,767 Member
    edited January 2022
    Thank you for the recommend, it makes me feel all important <3
    I would definitely suggest trying out Ferosha’s stuff if you haven’t already @haneul , it’s good fun with a lot of lore and worldbuilding. Also she does a brilliant job of breathing life into the premades. She’s just started a new story which is a sort of reworking of BBD, in a way. Most of the same characters but a different plot and focus:
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/996579/the-strauds-dark-family-comedy-paranormal-romance-updated-1-9-22#latest

    Speaking of premades, I hope it’s not too soon to ask something else? I don’t know if this has been asked before (sorry if it has) that I’d like to ask people.

    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?
    - Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?
    - Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?


    I’ll answer these after work, since looking back on it, reading SimLit is the only reason I started playing the game with premade Sims in the first place.
    they/them or she/her
  • GlacierSnowGlacierSnow Posts: 2,301 Member
    edited January 2022
    Where do you write? For example, what programs, applications and/or websites do you use?

    For planning: Random scraps of paper grabbed out of the recycling bin, and post-it notes on my living room wall.

    For writing and assembling the chapter: Softmaker's "TextMaker". It's basically like Microsoft Word, but cheaper.

    For image editing: GIMP, and Softmaker's "Presentations" (similar to Power Point).

    For sharing with readers: I export the finished chapter as a PDF and email it to them.


    Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?

    Vlad Straud is in one of my stories, but I'm not sure yet how important he will be to the story. Brent and Brant Hecking are also in that same story, as the parents of the best friend of one of the main characters, but not sure how much they will feature either. In my other SimLit story, premades only appear as extras/walk-ons. Usually by accident (it was a community area and they just happened to get in the shot on their own). They won't ever be part of the story.

    When I am actually playing the game, rather than using the game as a creative studio to write a story, premades and randoms get involved a lot. But for my SimLit stories I'm intentionally creating, I don't really feel like using them much. I'd rather make all my own characters, even for minor roles.

    The only premade I've ever actually played for any length of time is Vlad.

    Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?

    Not really. See answer to next question.

    Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?

    I think most of the SimLit stories I've read so far, the main characters are the writer's own original characters, and premades (if they appear at all) are in minor roles. I did find @LadyLobster 's version of Vlad and all the descendants of the Straud family-line in the "Fangs" series extremely entertaining. And I loved the @CitizenErased14 version of the Grim Reaper in (Para)Normal Neighborhood. "Fangs" and "(Para)Normal", incidentally, are my two absolute favorite SimLit stories.
    Forum-Banner-01.jpg
    Seventeen & Maldusk Forum thread link
    My name on AHQ (and the upcoming sims forum) is "GlacierSnowGhost".
  • GlacierSnowGlacierSnow Posts: 2,301 Member
    edited January 2022
    I hope no one minds two posts from me in a row. I only visit the forum a couple times a week, and it's hard to get caught back up on the discussion without spamming. But I found the discussion about romance writing interesting. I think that romance is deceptively hard to write well. It seems like a common and simple concept, but actually making it feel natural in a story, and not forced or sappy, is actually tricky to do. Not to mention, what seems natural and what seems forced or sappy, is very subjective.

    It's also not a totally universal experience, as some others here have commented on, so it's not necessarily easy for everyone to relate to, but it still gets treated like it is universal and expected. Often, especially in movies, it's sort of tacked on, almost in a token way, without being really developed well. I used to enjoy romance to some degree, but I think over time I've developed a sort of "romance fatigue" due to the over saturation of romance in western storytelling culture, and I've become a lot pickier regarding which romances actually interest me.

    Generally speaking, I find unrequited crushes and unspoken/unaddressed romantic tension much more interesting than actual overt romance. I definitely enjoy writing that kind of unrequited or unaddressed attraction, but I'm finding myself more and more inclined to leave it hanging and not resolve it, or in some cases to allow "no" to ultimately be the answer. However, I worry what readers are likely to think of that. The "couple got together" ending is so clearly expected.

    On the flip-side, I've become more interested in exploring characters who are already with a partner when the story starts, and stay with them through the whole thing, where that's simply part of who they are rather than the point of the story. Stories often focus on the beginning or end of these relationships. Very little is ever written about the middle. And I think that's a shame, because that's where the friendship and partnership part actually resides. There are plenty of good "buddy comedies" and "power of friendship" stories that could be written about long-term couples.

    Heh. I feel like I was going somewhere with this thought, but now I don't know where that somewhere was supposed to be. :joy:
    Forum-Banner-01.jpg
    Seventeen & Maldusk Forum thread link
    My name on AHQ (and the upcoming sims forum) is "GlacierSnowGhost".
  • rednenemonrednenemon Posts: 3,206 Member
    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?

    Twinbrook from Sims 3.

    Let's just say most of the premades I've written about came from there :p
    AO3: Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth <(Where I'm usually at nowadays)
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    Part One(Complete 9/24/16) /Part Two(on hold)/Short Stories(on hold)/Twinbrook 1996(on hold)/Ten Crystal Hearts (on hold)
    I own the TS3 Store as of 12/11/16 (sort of. It's complicated)
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,952 Member
    @GlacierSnow I'm glad you decided to share your thoughts about romance in media. I guess the "couple got together" is expected, but I'm also very used to stories where the main couple doesn't end up together and opposite trajectory stories with a toxic couple breaking up. I don't have a preference.
    SnowBnuuy wrote: »
    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?
    - Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?
    - Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?
    I like reading about premade Sims in other people's stories and I wrote a few into mine, but I wish I hadn't because I'd rather have only my Sims + random townies. I avoid premades when I can now, but I don't always know who they are. I don't have any favorites.

    I've mostly learned about premades from others' stories, which has been fun. I've learned about Morgyn from @SnowBnuuy and historical versions of Travis, Liberty, and Summer from @Kellogg_J_Kellogg.
  • SnowBnuuySnowBnuuy Posts: 1,767 Member
    edited January 2022
    That's really cool : ) I don't know a huge deal about TS3 premades to be honest; I exclusively played original Sims in TS3. Whereas although TS2 is my least-played game, I exclusively played the premades in TS2 because I liked the stories behind them.

    @GlacierSnow - Honestly I've seen some amazing Grim Reaper portrayals, one of my friends' stories that they're currently planning has a lot of built-up Reaper lore and I love it. Also yes to Vlad, he's awesome! I like that he got his own official diary entry as well- was a bit of fun. I kind of wish more premades had some sort of focus like that. I wrote Vlad into an older story, but he wasn't a particularly in-depth antagonist, but he also wasn't quite 'moustache-twirlingly' evil. :pBaking by Death has my favourite portrayal of Vlad so far. Eerie and pretty terrifying at times, it's great.

    Also you've made so many good points about romance in writing. For clarity's sake I'm going to put my response to this under a Spoiler cut, since the rest of my post will be about the pre-mades and I think sometimes my switches between topics can be confusing for others to read. Also no need to apologise for double-posting! <3 We are always happy to hear from you.
    You're right in that it's really not as simple as it comes across, especially when you're trying to write it. Yeah that's the other problem, it's hard to get it 'just right' because some people prefer subtlety, and some people prefer in-your-face cutesy stuff.

    I don't mind more formulaic types of romances sometimes, the ups and downs and the not-quites of romance are also a lot of fun. I love stories about messy romance. The 'people who act lovey with each other but haven't said anything yet' are always fun, even if they just accept it for what it is and just don't bother putting a label on their feelings. In all honesty, I think 'no' being the answer is such an unused situation and it's not the 'letdown' for me that it might be for other people. In my own work, at one point I let the game decide if two characters got together or not- the game said no. Instead of having it be a 'oh okay then' by the end of the story,The guy accepted it, and he and the girl he liked stayed friends with no awkwardness. For me, couples not getting together wouldn't be a letdown ending. For me the fulfilling bit is 'hey, they spoke about their feelings, I'm glad they felt confident enough to do that at this point.'- that sort of thing. I also like stories about couples who are together from the start, but it's not something I've written much of in SimLit myself.

    Also that means a lot @haneul <3 My portrayal of Morgyn is actually based a lot on one of my best friend's headcanons of them, mainly the flamboyance and their flowery speech.

    Okay, and now onto answering my own questions:

    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?

    It was TS2 SimLit that got me into being interested in premades at all, and I think it helps that TS2 (in my opinion) had some of the most pre-fleshed-out family storylines. For me, the fun of reading/writing about premades is seeing different representations of the same character. It's fun to see what different writers do with the same starting point.

    I haven't played much TS2, but I really like the Grunt and Curious families from those games- the Grunts for the interesting family situation and people's various headcanons about their mother, and the Curiouses for the setup of three brothers trying to raise one kid would make for interesting gameplay stories. Also I like playing as aliens. The Pleasants are an interesting family as well, what with the issues between the parents as well as the siblings. I need to actually play TS2 properly, it's not one I've given a huge amount of attention to other than just on-and-off playing in Strangetown.

    In TS4, I really like Vlad Straud, and I like to think he's feared and well-respected as a result by most vampires (except the Vatores, anyway.) Caleb and Lilith are also great, I think a brother and sister is something I don't often see written about in stories. A lot of SimLits deal with same-gender siblings so it's fun to see when it's opposite. Maybe because it's more relatable for me possibly?

    I also love Morgyn Ember and their predecessor, Áine. It's mainly because Untamed magic, as arguably the most chaotic and powerful of the schools, for me is the coolest one- and of course a master of such magic might have some kind of dark motives and ideas deep down. I haven't seen as much of Áine in SimLit, but what I have seen she's often portrayed as being pretty scary. I've read so many interesting portrayals of Morgyn, from cold-blooded manipulator to an actual ancient embodiment of Untamed magic itself, to an ancient dark spellcaster with a cult who's trying to revive them.

    - Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?

    I once read a good story that revolved around the Grunt family, and I became interested in them as the first premades I actually wanted to play as. My first SimLit was about them, but in TS4. Baking by Death made me more interested in Vlad Straud. I liked him anyway, but the story made him cooler. I used to read a SimLit blog years back written by someone who was seemingly obsessed with Strangerville's Erwin Pries (in a good way!), and it made me want to include him in an eventual SimLit which I plan to do at some point.

    - Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?

    - An offsite best friend's portrayal of Morgyn, and also the portrayals of Morgyn in FeroshaCoutura's Baking by Death and mercuryfoam's Between2Worlds. Can't really say without spoiling either, but they're both very fitting for how I picture the character.
    - Vlad in Baking by Death as well. Terrifying but awesome, and a well fleshed-out character.
    Post edited by SnowBnuuy on
    they/them or she/her
  • HermioneSimsHermioneSims Posts: 774 Member
    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?

    In TS4, most of the time I empty the whole neighbourhood of premade before starting, or I ignore them and sometimes just see them appearing in the background at random moments during my legacy. With TS2 instead I used to play a lot the Strangetown premades, in particular the Curious family, but I wasn't writing any SimLit at the time (I was like 13-15 years old...) Some time ago I got nostalgic and I wrote a one-shot story about them, it was probably the time I had the more fun when writing ever.
    Oh, that's right, at a certain point of the Miller Legacy I found a role at least for Erwin Pries, he was impossible to replace XD

    - Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?

    At this very moment I can't think of a particular example, but it's also because most of the examples I can think of features premades I already liked before.

    - Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?
    @SnowBnuuy Morgyn, of course :) I haven't read enough in here to know other examples (but I will catch up, soon or later). I remember a couple of other examples from the other forums I'm in and Instragram (incidentally, the both of them settled in Strangerville), which were also mostly using premade sims and making quite interesting stories with them as protagonists or co-protagonists (both those stories are not written in English though).
    2if86miljyb3.png
    You can follow the Legacy Miller from my blog and the forum thread, *Chapter 8.12 posted on the 25th of March 2024*
  • friendsfan367friendsfan367 Posts: 29,362 Member
    haneul wrote: »
    @GlacierSnow I'm glad you decided to share your thoughts about romance in media. I guess the "couple got together" is expected, but I'm also very used to stories where the main couple doesn't end up together and opposite trajectory stories with a toxic couple breaking up. I don't have a preference.
    SnowBnuuy wrote: »
    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?
    - Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?
    - Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?
    I like reading about premade Sims in other people's stories and I wrote a few into mine, but I wish I hadn't because I'd rather have only my Sims + random townies. I avoid premades when I can now, but I don't always know who they are. I don't have any favorites.

    I've mostly learned about premades from others' stories, which has been fun. I've learned about Morgyn from @SnowBnuuy and historical versions of Travis, Liberty, and Summer from @Kellogg_J_Kellogg.

    elsa berjenenson is a pre made i use starting in generation 2 . cathteas favorite although i din't know that in 2015 when i first started he benders. one time during a starover i could not remember where to find her so i said to cathtea where is she. she gave me not only the lot adress but the world.
  • MonaSolstraaleMonaSolstraale Posts: 1,372 Member
    - Do you write premade Sims into your challenges/stories? Do you have any favourite premades (from any Sims game) and why?
    I often use premade Sims in my stories. If their path happens to pass by and they have something to offer my main character.
    In my current story, two townies now act as main characters. In fact, three if you include Blue.
    Townies are often quite quirky in attire and their personality, but there are also positive surprises in between.
    I love taking advantage of what the game happens to give me.
    If I choose to use a premade sim from one of the game's old families, I pretty much do not care about their prehistory. I create a new prehistory to fit my story.
    A few years ago I wrote a story where Don Lothario, all the Caliente women and Travis Smith got a big role.
    I came to like them all, but most of all Don. I had so much fun completing his Serial Romantic Aspiration and throughout my story he underwent a huge personal development. He actually became honest and responsible :joy:
    In another story, Cassandra Goth married my vampire Keoni.
    People who have been following the Goth family since Sims1 will probably be very disappointed with my interpretation, but the stories of the premade families have never interested me very much.
    - Are there any stories/challenges you’ve read that made you like/play a premade Sim you had no interest in before?
    I can not just figure out who it should be right now. Maybe I will return to that question.
    - Do you have a favourite portrayal of a premade Sim in a story/challenge in someone else’s work?
    I would especially like to mention @ThePlumbob 's story The Blackwell Chronicles. The story she has written where Morgyn, L.Faba and Simeon appear is heartbreaking and dramatic. I always think of that story when I see Morgyn appear in other stories.
    A very different story taught me to love Vlad. It is more precisely a Challenge that has not yet come to an end.
    @MaggieMarley 's Straud Legacy Bachelor Callenge. Vlad is so funny in her interpretation. I actually do not hate vampires anymore. ;)
  • SnowBnuuySnowBnuuy Posts: 1,767 Member
    Thank you @HermioneSims, I’m glad you like my Morgyn :) I’m enjoying your legacy. Alien-related stories are always fun, and I like the plot buildup.

    Also @MonaSolstraale yeah I remember that story. Blackwell’s Morgyn was chilling, and a very different approach to the character than my own was. I liked the story’s version of L as well; I remember her backstory a bit. I always love seeing what everyone does with the Sages, and the different dynamics between Sages as well.

    Thanks everyone for answering my questions. I actually asked because: After I finish my current project it will be a while before I start a new one, but now I have some ideas of different premades I can mess about with. Something involving Strangerville is a plan I will eventually do. I’ve already dealt with it in the Aliens stories, but a different-universe story sounds like it might be fun. Part of me wants to do more things in the Magic Universe, but I also don’t want to beat a dead horse (unicorn?) everyone bringing up the Goths, I should try to do something with the Goths. I like the mystery and luxury about them, but also it’s a very iconic character that I might botch by mistake. We’ll see. Thanks everyone for sharing ideas!
    they/them or she/her

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