Lesson 1 - message board

[Radzeer]

Lesson 1: Message board topics

1. What are the challenges and fears you may feel before starting an AAR?

2. What do you think about the story setup in the three prologues you read? What were some of the differences?

[The Kybrothilian]

1. When I am starting an AAR, I began to think about if I can do better work than with the previous attempt of an AAR. I also fear that I lose my writing inspiration and allow the AAR to stop completely. Another thing is the game and it's AI, which tends to ruin all plans. (I nearly quit my "tale of the Celtic empire" AAR because the Roman AI attacked me when I didn't want it to.)

2. The first AAR had a very unique and interesting start into it, with the accounts made by the 2 professors (I still wonder if they are real persons or fictional ones) in the beginning. The second one had a more generic start with a first-person view narrator telling about the past. Finally the third one was rather image heavy, but you can see that there was effort put into them, as the author made use of 2 custom battles.

[Confederate Jeb]

1. Because my schedule changes, consistently updating becomes a challenge, so I tend to fear that I won't find the time to keep updating, or that the long pauses in between updates will undermine the AAR in some way.

2. I felt that the Nowhere Legion was incredible original and engaging. The Takeda AAR is short and sweet, but could have more depth in my opinion. The third sets the tone of the AAR as one that will focus on imagery via pictures, which is something I haven't seen used very often (the start, rather than the focus on images).

[Dance the older]

1. What are the challenges and fears you may feel before starting an AAR?

My challenges with beginning an AAR would be conjuring up some sort of originality to differentiate mine from others. This could be as much as doing a rarely used game mod for it, so it cannot be compared to one of the same faction in the same game mod, so I like to be as original as possible, and my fear is whether the reception will be met with applause, or indifference.

Another fear I have is trying to balance the "good and evil" of Story, and Game play, without one being predominantly more than the other. This is one of the fears I hope to assuage as I learn more in this course.

My biggest fear would be adequacy. It always seems to be a fear of mine in conducting such a feat as a completed AAR. I'm a perfectionist, and I could easily spend 15 minutes on one minute detail if I believe it can be better, even barely with some small change. That's my biggest issue with starting an AAR. I love to write, and play, so that parts not so much an issue.

2. What do you think about the story setup in the three prologues you read? What were some of the differences?

Nowhere Legion:
I thought this AAR was great in length, the detail was well done, it's the type of detail I use in my descriptions in the RPG forum, and I could picture myself watching the story, as if it were a movie, with the details he provided. A masterful prologue indeed.

Takeda:
I thought this prologue was short and decisive, it got the point of the beginning across, and I always love having images attached to the storyline, even though short, I think it was still a pretty good beginning. Myself I prefer more depth, as I plan my future AAR to be, but that's just personal preference really. Still a great prologue.

Primus Inter Pares:
A picturesque AAR, a favourite of mine. As much as I love a good read, I love imagery, and scenery to set the mood of an AAR. I can see the differences in style of these three prologues is what made them select choices for the message board portion of the assignment. My style will be slightly different from all of these prologues, as I will tend to focus a lot on dialogue, and person-to-person interactions. Still love the picturesque style.

I enjoyed all 3 of these prologues, and perhaps I can get enough inspiration to combine portions of these types into mine, and make a half decent prologue in comparison!

[Dejeyo]

1. What are the challenges and fears you may feel before starting an AAR?
I fear that I won't have enough time for regular updates and that I will eventually lose my interest in the AAR. But my biggest fear is that I'm not skilled enough to write good updates in English. I excel in writing in my mother tongue but I fear I won't be able to write good enough for the people to enjoy the AAR. Although I'm gaining more and more experience in written and spoken English, I still don't know if my grammar is good enough.

2. What do you think about the story setup in the three prologues you read? What were some of the differences?
Well, the Nowhere Legion is written in detail and very original. The Takeda is written in classic first-person view but it almost makes you feel the surroundings. And there was a lot of effort put in Primus Inter Pares prologue both in text and especially in visual aids.

[ChargerFlanker]

I fear that I may have a few problems. My writing style and plot may be lacking for the readers. Also, there may be problems such as the plot being simple and clichéd. Furthermore, I am worried that even if I start well, the AAR may degenerate into these issues if I am not careful. I would want my AAR to be original, something worth reading, rather than just another AAR on the web.

For the AAR titled “Nowhere Legion”, I thought that the prologue was very historical and complex in nature due to the specific terminology used. Furthermore, I also liked its point of view, since the story was told from a scribe, rather than that of a King. A different viewpoint creates interest, as many AAR’s start with a King or Prince.

I liked the "Primus Inter Pares" introduction. I believe the strong point of this prologue was the interesting plot. For example, I wonder what would become of the boys in the future due to the well-used foreshadowing. Also, I liked the use of pictures as it helped to visualize the events in the story.

For the Takeda AAR, I found the prologue to be well written. It gives a brief background of the faction, and its leader. This allows the story to get into action more easily. Out of the three AAR's, I believe that this is similar in complexity and depth to "Primus Inter Pares". "Nowhere Legion" would probably be the most complex due to its historical nature.

[Radzeer]

Ok, let me give you guys some feedback on the first question first. It is recommended that you all read everybody else's concerns and our responses.

1. When I am starting an AAR, I began to think about if I can do better work than with the previous attempt of an AAR. I also fear that I lose my writing inspiration and allow the AAR to stop completely. Another thing is the game and it's AI, which tends to ruin all plans. (I nearly quit my "tale of the Celtic empire" AAR because the Roman AI attacked me when I didn't want it to.)

You can always do better, because you have more experience. My first AAR was really a shot in the dark, it worked out ok, but the second one was better planned. Inspiration is indeed an issue, and we'll get to it later when we deal with writer's block. The AI can be a pain, but in my experience sudden AI moves tend to make your situation worse which in turn makes the campaign better for the reader. In my current AAR when the Bulgarians attacked Constantinople, first I was a bit pissed but then I realized that it could be fed into the storyline quite well. Not to mention that you don't have to write the AAR exactly the same order how the campaign goes. You can squeeze in an extra update if your plot needs to be changed to accommodate the sudden AI move.

1. Because my schedule changes, consistently updating becomes a challenge, so I tend to fear that I won't find the time to keep updating, or that the long pauses in between updates will undermine the AAR in some way.

That is a very legitimate problem. I just experienced the same thing with my AAR. Usually one can go 2-3 weeks without an update as long as he is responding in the thread and keep it alive. If you see a rocky period coming, you can put it on hold as well. The general idea is to keep your readers informed.

My challenges with beginning an AAR would be conjuring up some sort of originality to differentiate mine from others. This could be as much as doing a rarely used game mod for it, so it cannot be compared to one of the same faction in the same game mod, so I like to be as original as possible, and my fear is whether the reception will be met with applause, or indifference.
Another fear I have is trying to balance the "good and evil" of Story, and Game play, without one being predominantly more than the other. This is one of the fears I hope to assuage as I learn more in this course.
My biggest fear would be adequacy. It always seems to be a fear of mine in conducting such a feat as a completed AAR. I'm a perfectionist, and I could easily spend 15 minutes on one minute detail if I believe it can be better, even barely with some small change. That's my biggest issue with starting an AAR. I love to write, and play, so that parts not so much an issue.

Originality comes in many forms. For example in MTW2 AARs, Stainless Steel tends to be the most popular mod and there are a few factions that are played to death. Still, if you have an original plot, a new expansion direction or something like that it would work. A completely new mod could be great but it could be risky as well - what if people don't like the mod?
The good vs. evil story is the classic writer's dilemma. Most people want the good guys to win (in some form), but sometimes the most powerful characters are the evil ones. We'll get back to this in the character development session.
Being a perfectionist is what you have to be actually. If you look into the most popular AARs, you can see writers that had spent many hours on one update. Remember that you do this for yourself as much as you do it for the readers. When I was writing Primus Inter Pares, I have done a lot of background work without which the story could have been almost the same, but I felt I had to do it (if you read the behind the scenes part, you'll see what I mean). It was a great feeling for me, and it was also well received, so the readers are usually tune into details quite well.

I fear that I won't have enough time for regular updates and that I will eventually lose my interest in the AAR. But my biggest fear is that I'm not skilled enough to write good updates in English. I excel in writing in my mother tongue but I fear I won't be able to write good enough for the people to enjoy the AAR. Although I'm gaining more and more experience in written and spoken English, I still don't know if my grammar is good enough.

Regular updates are partly a writer's block issue, and we will talk about that later in the course. The English part is actually easier than how it sounds. My native language is Hungarian and even if I live in the US and speak English all the time, I do not have that vocabulary which I could deploy in Hungarian. Fortunately, you can simplify AAR writing. My first one was not text heavy and the language was quite simple. Then my subsequent ones became more complex as I picked up more skills. Still, I make grammar mistakes and have to be very careful to use period-specific language. I'm sure most people speaking native English could do better. But if you have an engaging plot, people will be drawn to that. Just avoid basic hiccups, like spelling mistakes or some very rudimentary grammar screwup, and you'll be fine.

I fear that I may have a few problems. My writing style and plot may be lacking for the readers. Also, there may be problems such as the plot being simple and clichéd. Furthermore, I am worried that even if I start well, the AAR may degenerate into these issues if I am not careful. I would want my AAR to be original, something worth reading, rather than just another AAR on the web.

These are common issues. Cliches in a story are good ways to kill the readership. What you need to ask yourself is where the cliches are coming from? These can be results of following the game campaign too closely which puts the course of the AAR on a known path. Feel free to pay no attention to certain things in your campaign and boost other aspects you feel original. Cliches can also come from characters that are not well-developed enough or get into situations that are predictable. We'll get to this point later in the course. And originality can come from all kinds of sources. For example, you can focus on one particular character and follow him, inventing various issues around him. Not all AARs need to follow a basic campaign walkthrough with some default characters.

[complete noob:(]

Forgot completely about this lesson

I will have it in by tonight/tomorrow if it isn't too late

[Radzeer]

Forgot completely about this lesson

I will have it in by tonight/tomorrow if it isn't too late

Sounds good.

[Robin de Bodemloze]

Some nice responses so far. Keep it coming guys

A couple extra questions based on the responses thusfar and the assignment:

1. Where do you draw inspiration? Books? Movies? What were the sources of your inspiration for your assignment 1 submission?

2. Do you think existing sources make your writing more or less prone to being cliché?

[The Kybrothilian]

Some nice responses so far. Keep it coming guys

A couple extra questions based on the responses thusfar and the assignment:

1. Where do you draw inspiration? Books? Movies? What were the sources of your inspiration for your assignment 1 submission?

2. Do you think existing sources make your writing more or less prone to being cliché?

1.I haven't watched enough movies or read enough books to draw inspiration from them. Thus I must say that my inspiration comes mostly from other AARs. My assignment was inspired by AARs and the movie king Arthur.

2.Perhaps. I don't think I'm all too good at coming up with anything original, but then again since I haven't watched or read enough clichy stuff to be influenced by them.

[Dance the older]

1. Where do you draw inspiration? Books? Movies? What were the sources of your inspiration for your assignment 1 submission?

Movies, and books mostly. I try not to take originality from other AAR's, as it is their own original ideas. At the same time, I believe I have some originality myself, which could help mine differentiate from any other, only time will tell.

Movies/Shows, then books, would be the appropriate order order for my inspiration.

2. Do you think existing sources make your writing more or less prone to being cliché?

I believe it works both ways. By using/following existing sources, one can gain inspiration, ideas to apply (seeing similar ideas applied by others), as well as a sense of idea on how to begin/climax/and conclude their AAR, to put it simply.

I also believe it can be a demon to use alot of existing sources, as it could potentially hinder creative writing of the author, and potentially, either on purpose, or by mistake, lead the author to follow the same ideas to a point, changing it to fit their own style.

In my honest opinion, the ideal AAR's for myself to read and enjoy, would be ones that have a form of individuality and originality. It's far more exciting seeing an idea not applied previously. I pride myself in a sense of atleast some originality, I believe may have not been used before. I just wait to begin my own AAR, to apply my original ideas I have in mind. Time will tell if it's met with a sense of "seen that, done that", or whether it's met with a slight awe from the reader for the ingenuity you put forth into providing a new read, an unexpected read for your readers.

[complete noob:(]

Lesson 1: Message board topics

1. What are the challenges and fears you may feel before starting an AAR?

2. What do you think about the story setup in the three prologues you read? What were some of the differences?

1. The challenges and fears I face before starting an AAR are mainly how much time I will be able to invest in it, since personally I hate it when an AAR just dies. I also feel like I take criticism, even constructive, a bit too seriously. It seems even worse when it is from people I don't know (probably because they won't suger-coat anything).

2. The Nowhere Legion's prologue had me a bit confused until I re-read it a few times. At first I thought that it was just going to be a normal prologue of something happening. Then, on the second read, I realized it was more like an announcement or letter from someone from the time period. Then I saw car, so it made me realize that is modern day. Then, instead of being so much as a story, it is a history of a roman army, which I think sets up quite nicely.

Takeda's prologue was interesting. It gives you some foreshadowing of coming war, and of a central character who certainly has pride, maybe a bit too much, who will probably be leading an army to glory.

Primus Inter Pares I really like. It intrigues and leaves mystery at the end, and has accompanying pictures (which if I haven't mentioned already I love) which certainly help set the tone of the battle/slaughter.

Some nice responses so far. Keep it coming guys

A couple extra questions based on the responses thusfar and the assignment:

1. Where do you draw inspiration? Books? Movies? What were the sources of your inspiration for your assignment 1 submission?

2. Do you think existing sources make your writing more or less prone to being cliché?

1. I draw inspiration from many different places, often without notice. Recently I've been reading Game of Thrones, so I will probably draw inspiration from there a bit. Movies and various articles I read will probably influence me as well, just because if I read something about martyrdom, and then see a documentary about Abe Lincoln, those things may morph into someone who tries to assassinate someone, killing themselves in the process. Things like that

2. I think if you used one and only one source for each thing, I think it would be rather cliche. But when you do what I do, which is combining a few sources, I think that it makes it a lot less cliche, just because even if someone else combined ideas like that, it would still be different than my own combination

[Paragon]

Can I still ask things here? I was out for a long while

[Robin de Bodemloze]

Of course

[Paragon]

Well, to question 1, I don't know about other things to critique, since I'm waiting for someone (The Forgotten probably) to read it searching for mistakes, but one thing I've noticed (and people tell me) is that I write waaay too long. Most of my updates reach 3000 words, and some of the longest ones (I'm trying to avoid reaching that number now) reach 6000. Of course it's normally closer to 3k than to 6k, but still, I guess that's one of the reasons I don't get read too much (or that people halfway trough have problems to catch up) and I don't know what to do.

Because making them much shorter would detract from quality, and dividing long updates in two might make my AAR last until 2013, more or less

[complete noob:(]

Perhaps one way to amend that would be to separate each chapter, but release them a bit more frequently, so if people regularly follow, they don't have to read a ton of stuff at once

Releasing them more frequently wouldn't make it last longer either

[Radzeer]

This is a quite good topic actually. Readers prefer different lengths. A lot depends on how you mix pictures with the text. If you have a few thousand words with just a few pictures, that would be a bit overwhelming for many. I would say length does not determine quality as long as you have an interesting story.

Also, the crucial thing is the rhythm of the updates. If there is too much time between updates, people may grew away from your story. In my Kievan story I was able to update frequently and quite long chapters, sometimes going up to the 35-40 picture range. That worked well, but it required tremendous time commitment. I cannot do it with my current story as my RL rhythm is different now.

[Paragon]

Well, before being forced into the two week hiatus I just got out (and having problems to update even before that) I updated twice a week, so it's hard to get faster than that, but I'll try I have to make up for the schedule slips after all I guess.

Oh I didn't see your post Radzeer.

Yeah, until lately that I had a REAL storm of problems (and a bit of writers block to boot, but that was nothing compared to, you know, LACK OF COMPUTER) as I say I try to keep a fast rythm, and have a good pic to text ratio (some evens ay I use too much pics)

[ChargerFlanker]

You can draw inspiration from any form of media from movies to poems, if they connect with you. I took inspiration from the alternate history stories found on other sites. I was intrigued by how changing one thing could lead to a complete difference in the timeline. I used a similar premise for my story, as I “pretended” William the Conqueror left many incredibly ambitious Nobles in charge of the land, and that his descendants could not control them.

I think sources can make your AAR more clichéd, but it depends on the quality of your source. If your story uses ideas from another badly written story, then it is likely that your story will be clichéd too. However, if you take ideas well-written story that avoids a clichéd plot and dialogue, then you will probably avoid them too. I guess ultimately, it is down to the author, to recognize and avoid clichés because he cannot avoid them if he does not recognize what they are.