Help with an AAR... "style" you'd probably call it

[random_Italian]

Hi guys, it's my first post here but not really, since I was briefly registered some years ago.

I'm thinking about doing a non-TW AAR. I already tried in the past but it's very limiting and ultimately stressfull for me to write in a foreign language. The final product is obviously poor in every way.

Thus I don't want to write a narrative AAR and I don't even like "creative writing" to begin with. Ideally I'd write a list of events... but I know nobody wants to read a list of events...

So, how should/could I write? Any suggestions?

I really have no idea, I've never been able to find a way to write in a foreign language that doesn't end up being stressfull or poor.

Hope everything is clear enough.

Thank you in advance.

[Alwyn]

Welcome to TWC and the Writers' Study, random_italian!

You said that it's stressful to write in a foreign language. Some AARs use many pictures and few words, such as The Drakkar Saga. You could try that, or you could write a comic-book style AAR, like The Lost Colony (one day, I'd like to continue that story).

Another option would be to use a small word limit. For New Town (my current AAR), I use a word limit of 500 words per chapter. I can write a chapter quickly, so there is more time for editing.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Hi, random_Italian!

Alwyn's suggestions seem good to me. It sounds as though you'd like to have a way to post an AAR using as few words as possible, and using pictures as a way of giving us information certainly seems like something that might help to make that work.

You definitely don't have to write a narrative AAR or anything that might count as creative writing, though. I agree with you that just a list of events probably won't appeal to many readers - but some kinds of game allow you to almost do that, I think. If you can say things like "I moved this unit to this place, and this unit to this other place, and learnt this new technology. Then the enemy faction attacked me in this third place," (with more details of the units and so on, of course!) to describe your game, and if you don't feel that's too much writing, I think that style could work well, especially with pictures to illustrate it.

[random_Italian]

Thank you guys for the welcome (back) and for throwing ideas at me, it's exactly what I was seeking.

Your ideas also prompted me to elaborate the issue better: it's not that I lack things to say or I want to highlight the gameplay (I'm not a gamer, I'm not particularly good at any game), it's more a problem of having things to say but not being able to say them, or to say them the way I would want to.

One of the few things I wrote last time was a post in a thread started, I believe, by Tigellinus, where he asked what are the problems we face when writing an AAR (or in general a piece of creative writing, can't remember). I was the guy pointing out the language, the fact that I'm frustrated by not having the same rich word pot that I have in my native language, and thus also being unable to be as precise.

This is probably important because it points out that I have a narrative/story in mind and that's ultimately why I do the AAR, but I'm unable to write is as efficiently as I would in my native language. And that frustrates me and always make me quit because it's ultimately not what I wanted to write.

So I should probably find a way to build the story around some sort of list of events with basic narrative, probably. Some sort of chronicle probably, more on the chronology side. I don't know if somebody would read it anyway.

I pointed out that I don't like creative writing, nor tropes and the likes... because the reader likely likes them and expects some sort of heroism or a narrative arc, etc. This concerns me since I still would like people reading it.

Just a note: at first limiting the length was an appealing idea, but for the reasons I hope I made more clear I think it would be even more difficult, since I should be more precise with less words.

[Alwyn]

It sounds like this is partly about the frustrating with expressing yourself precisely in another language. It's also about not wanting readers to expect something which you don't want to include - a heroic tale or a narrative arc.

An AAR doesn't have to include creative writing or a narrative arc. A list of events with a basic narrative could work. You could think about what would motivate people to read your AAR. For example, an AAR can be in the style of a history book (so it's interesting to people who enjoy history), or demonstrate and experiment with strategies and tactics for a historical nation (so it's interesting to people who are interested in military history), or explore an alternate time-line (so it's interesting for people who enjoy alternative history) or illustrate the game-play which is possible with a mod (so it's useful for people who are considering which mod to use.)

What interests you about the AAR which you are considering writing? You are considering writing a list of events. If, for example, you're interested in the causes and consequences of those events, then you might want to try writing an AAR in the style of a history book (instead of writing an AAR in the style of a novel, where readers' expectations would be different.)

[Cookiegod]

random_Italian: I know exactly what you mean. You can't say what you want to say, because you lack the words. You know how you can get the wordpool you need? By reading. One novel and your wordpool will already have improved.

When I started my AAR, I hadn't read any normal literature for a long time. Only news articles and engineering books.
Then I read one novel, and I immediately got better.

[Turkafinwë]

@random_Italian I can understand it is difficult to write in a non-native language, whether it is your second or further down the line language, it is indeed a problem but not an insurmountable one I believe. Like Cookiegod says reading books and other peoples' writings will improve your own abilities considerably. Of course I don't know how good your english is and how much you had of it in your education nor do I know how well you learn languages. Some people are really good at it and catch on very quickly. Also the more your practice it, the better you get at it so maybe start with a short experimental project to get the feel of it and work yourself up from there. Just try something and members of the community will provide critique and suggestions with which you can improve yourself, if you so desire. I also believe it's mostly your own perception of your writing skills that is the problem here and though it is important to like your own work, it may be that people disagree with you and think it is rather good. Perhaps the perception of others may change your mind regarding this subject. You never know and that is in regard of writing skill/style as well as the sort and style of AAR you produce. I've seen AAR's written in complicated english do worse than AAR's written in simpler english. Not everything has to be a piece of grand literature in here.

To end it all, I always advocate people to post their work whether or not they think people will like it or not. It might be a hit straight of the bat or it may flounder a bit but the most important thing is that we all learn from said experiences and they give us opportunities to improve ourselves. You would be surprised by what people like in these fora. Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves in regards to our skills.

That is my piece of advice on the matter. I do hope this may be of some use to you. If I have interpreted something wrongly or you outright disagree with me you are, of course, welcome to tell me.

[EmperorOfNothing]

Thank you guys for your suggestions... I'll keep in mind your advices and I'll try writing something anyway... and I'll see.

The more I think about it the more I think a "mixed style" (aka "the f- I want" ) would be better for me... if I'll feel like I can and want to dig a bit deeper into the narrative side of a particular event I'll do it, if I won't feel like it I'll be drier. I still don't know how much will be worth it for the reader to read it... but okay, I'll try and see

Thank you again for your precious advices and the time you've dedicated to me.

[random_Italian]

Thank you guys for your suggestions... I'll keep in mind your advices and I'll try writing something anyway... and I'll see.

The more I think about it the more I think a "mixed style" (aka "the f- I want" ) would be better for me... if I'll feel like I can and want to dig a bit deeper into the narrative side of a particular event I'll do it, if I won't feel like it I'll be drier. I still don't know how much will be worth it for the reader to read it... but okay, I'll try and see

Thank you again for your precious advices and the time you've dedicated to me.

Woah, for some reason my PC logged me in with the old account...! I didn't even remember the nickname!!

I bet it's against the rule to have two active accounts, so please delete that old one then. I'm sorry for this mess... I swear I didn't even remember the nickname. What should I do? I'm a criminal now...

[Leonardo]

It sounds like this is partly about the frustrating with expressing yourself precisely in another language.

It is indeed frustrating, as I am not a native English speaker since Swedish is my native language, and sometimes I make mistakes. Which I sooner or later notice and when I write something in English I always try to remember what mistakes I've had made in the past.


@random_Italian: When I want to say something in English, but are not entirely sure, I always try to repeat that sentence for myself in English and if it sounds right then I write it as I would saying that when speaking to someone else.

Below is a good example about what I mean (I know Caillagh understand Swedish a little).

In Swedish - "Det får du fråga honom eller henne om."

In English - "You need to ask him or her about that."

Note that this is a rough translation, so perhaps I made a mistake here and there.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Woah, for some reason my PC logged me in with the old account...! I didn't even remember the nickname!!

I bet it's against the rule to have two active accounts, so please delete that old one then. I'm sorry for this mess... I swear I didn't even remember the nickname. What should I do? I'm a criminal now...

You have nothing to worry about - it's not against the rules. The relevant part of the Terms of Service can be found here.

Leonardo, that translation sounds perfect to me!

[Leonardo]

In Swedish - Tack, Caillagh.

In English - Thanks, Caillagh.

[Kilo11]

Hey random_Italian, a lot of the important things have already been said above, but I'd like to draw attention to a specific comments and ask a question/make a suggestion of my own.

I've seen AAR's written in complicated english do worse than AAR's written in simpler english. Not everything has to be a piece of grand literature in here.

To end it all, I always advocate people to post their work whether or not they think people will like it or not. It might be a hit straight of the bat or it may flounder a bit but the most important thing is that we all learn from said experiences and they give us opportunities to improve ourselves. You would be surprised by what people like in these fora. Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves in regards to our skills.

Turk's points are both really important to bear in mind. Some of the most renowned writers are famous because of their simple style, so don't think you need any complicated language or anything. Writing can be compelling in many different ways. And if it isn't compelling, then so what. I assume you're not posting here to become a world-renowned author but instead to put some stuff out there, practice some things, get some feedback, and have some fun. Given those goals, I'd say "Don't overthink it!"

The second thing from Turk that is super important is the point about posting and just seeing what comes out of it, and also not worrying too much about what others think. Critique from others can be a great help and get you improving quickly, but if your style is irritating to someone, then that doesn't necessarily mean there's any problem with what you've written, it just means that reader doesn't like it. Hemingway is arguably the most famous American author of the 20th century, but I can't stand most of his stuff. Does that mean Hemingway sucks? Probably not (or maybe so ). It just means I like a different style. So, write things, post them, and take criticism seriously, but make sure you end up writing what you want to write, and not what some random reader wants to read. After all, writing is much more work than reading, and you should like doing that work.

Now, for my own question/suggestion: What type of AAR are you thinking of writing anyway? Like, for what game or backdrop? The reason I ask is because one way of writing that can be interesting to read and is really just "listing events" is to make a journal. Now, some people might not be into that, but I for one could see that being very interesting to read. To have a TW AAR cast as a first person journal of a soldier on his way to war would be cool, and wouldn't demand rich narrative throughout. In fact, if it's from a lowly soldier, small mistakes or gaps in language might add to the feel of things. And if you start to feel more comfortable as your writing progresses, you can always insert small updates from a third person perspective that include more narrative elements, just to get a feel for that. It's just a thought, and really depends a lot on what kind of AAR you'd like to produce, but it might be worth considering.