SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

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SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Abby »

SimNaWriMo is very challenging, for some of us, even getting one update out a month can be a chore!

Do you have some tips to share on getting motivated for writing updates? Maybe you've hit a brick wall and just can't bring yourself to write your update. Maybe you've got some questions and concerns you want to ask others!

Here is a place for sharing your hints, tips and questions for this event!

This it not a competition - the medals are open for all - it is a challenge! So help, and support each other!
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Teresa »

A quick question so that I make the update long enough - when it says 20 slides, that equates to 20 pictures?
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Abby »

Yeah sorry, 20 pictures!
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Mauricette »

So you said sims stories are acceptable for this challenge; what if the story in question doesn't come with pictures and doesn't actually require any game play? In essence, just writing. Would that be allowed?
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Abby »

Mauricette wrote:So you said sims stories are acceptable for this challenge; what if the story in question doesn't come with pictures and doesn't actually require any game play? In essence, just writing. Would that be allowed?

Hmmmm... interesting question. We created this event with sim playing/stories in mind, as its an area of the board that dosnt often get any competitions. If you are interested in events/competitions that involve just writing, we do hold monthly writing competitions in the newsletter, and also NaNoWriMo is in November which is just writing - this event was designed to be an 'alternative' to NaNoWriMo, for those who write in the form of sim stories, with an aim of increasing activity in the sim stories section of the board. I think those competitions/events would be more tailored towards your story!

Do you have any current challenges or legacies going? Or a willingness to start one? I honestly think you'd enjoy the competition more if you did it in line with everyone else, you wont feel as 'alone' in it. Obviously, I dont ever want to say 'no' to someone joining an event, so if you really want to just do writing we'll allow it - but word count would probably have to be higher to subsitute for the 'no playing' time.
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Mauricette »

no sweat, just asking, i'm sure i can whip up a legacy/challenge by october, thanks!
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by DSLady »

I know that my posts are usually 80+ screenshots and who knows how many words, so asking for people in a similar place to me - can these count as two or is just cutting them down to shorter posts acceptable?? Don't want to be cheating!!
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Heather »

DSLady wrote:I know that my posts are usually 80+ screenshots and who knows how many words, so asking for people in a similar place to me - can these count as two or is just cutting them down to shorter posts acceptable?? Don't want to be cheating!!
Cutting them down is absolutely acceptable, Livy! The only requirement is that the cut down updates are at least 20 slides/pictures, or 1000 words in length. :) I'm absolutely cutting mine down, because my usual updates are around 10k words and 100 slides, lol. :lol:
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Mauricette »

damn, sorry, I already signed up for this october challenge, totally spacing that my wedding and subsequent honeymoon is in October, not to mention Inktober. Would it be possible for me to participate in the month of september instead of october? I can wait until october to submit them if that makes things easier, but that might seem as though i've had two months instead of one. unless i submit them on the first day of october?
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Heather »

If you can get them all posted during the first week of October, I'd say yes. We are allowing players to use September to play, take pictures, and plan for their updates, so I think allowing you to work on your updates during it would be fine.

Really, we won't be able to monitor how much of the work is done when. Posting it asap in October would definitely indicate that you completed the challenge in a month.

Also, congratulations! :D
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Mauricette »

Great! Thank you!
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by MichelleCYoung »

I think a whole lot of sim-writers play through for quite a while, and then go back and see what sort of story they can make with the pictures they took. Others, meanwhile, spend hours posing everything, and plan it all out in advance. And some play and write as they go, basically letting the game take the story wherever it will.

I have also seen some people write long stories, and just use the sims basically as illustrations. So, a picture of the characters, and sometimes they're posed, or in a particular scene, or what-have-you. It's mostly writing, just like a novel, but instead of drawings, you get sim pictures.

If that's what floats your boat, I say go for it!
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Heather »

Oh, I'm definitely a combination of the meticulously staged pictures, and 'sim-illustrations' (so much quicker than real illustrations!) I'm hoping that doing this challenge will help me relax a little when it comes to doing my pictures, and start using some actual game play again.

Like I said in my sign-up post, I think I'm going to do a sidestory instead of working on my main storyline, because the next chapter is very plot-heavy, and I really don't want to rush that. I'd rather do a fun little story about, say, Jimmy and his family, than lose my mind trying to write a very plot-heavy chapter in a month. :spin:

Anybody else thinking the same, or are you all going to put me to shame by doing actual, proper updates? :lol:
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by MichelleCYoung »

Interludes are da bomb!

No, seriously. In fact, I've actually started an apocalypse as an interlude! Which I hope to update before October. Anyway...

Interludes, side-stories, cross-overs, fan fiction of your own canon - these are all excellent ways to break off, while still maintaining ties to the original story. You can play fast and loose, not worry about breaking a plot-heavy story by rushing it, and still have oodles of fun with the characters you know and love.

If you have the ability to use SimPE (it's for Windows, not Mac), and can extract your sims, you could put them in a whole new world. Maybe use established characters for a challenge? The thing about challenges is that you focus more on the rules of the game than on plot. That does tend to speed things up, because you spend a whole lot less time posing and forcing your characters to take the McGuffin from point A to point Q and get the Quest Points, and more time just enjoying the game and being surprised.

One of my favorite sims stories, and one of the things that drew me into writing sims stories was "The Time Turner Incident." Someone (I think they went by the LJ handle cloudlessnight?) used the Sims 2 to illustrate the Harry Potter novels. Well, she needed to create Lily and the Marauders for a flashback scene, and they started showing up on lots, roaming around the neighborhood. After a few really cool out-takes, she decided to do a little side project, called "The Time Turner Incident," where she focuses on Lily and The Marauders, as characters who had been brought from the past into the present time somehow without changing the past, and yeah, it doesn't really work, but it was HILARIOUS! It was so much fun, it actually wound up taking over the website, and the focus switched from Harry Potter to Lily and the Marauders. Even Snape got into the act.

So, yeah. Too late to make a long story short, but I think doing a side-story would be awesome! I like Jimmy, and would love to see more behind-the-scenes with him and his family.
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by DSLady »

I'm the person who plays and then looks at my 80 screenshots and captions them all. Either according to what was actually going on, or what it looks like is going on. My sims and game very much dictate my writing - my games are all so unpredictable I don't think I could plan it in advance!!
I've considered playing a whole generation and then looking back on it, but I've never yet tried it!

So, do we have this month to play for updates? I have about three backdated from months ago already, but I assume that writing them now and queueing them for release in the first week would be cheating??
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Abby »

DSLady wrote:I'm the person who plays and then looks at my 80 screenshots and captions them all. Either according to what was actually going on, or what it looks like is going on. My sims and game very much dictate my writing - my games are all so unpredictable I don't think I could plan it in advance!!
I've considered playing a whole generation and then looking back on it, but I've never yet tried it!

So, do we have this month to play for updates? I have about three backdated from months ago already, but I assume that writing them now and queueing them for release in the first week would be cheating??

Im very much the same - I just play and take random pictures then go and caption them afterwards. I dont really do anything plotty, I just commentate what actually happened in my game.

In terms of your question, we are not going to class playing in advance as cheating no, that would be a smart well thought out strategy. XD Its why we gave a month notice, so people may want to get a little ahead of playing to give them an edge at the beginning. Although, I dont know about others - but I hate playing really far in ahead. I think I'll hold back any updates late september though to post for in October. :D Bit touchy on the pre-writing thing, but being completely honest we have no way of proving that you didnt write it in October! So just go with whatever. Every update posted in October will count. :D
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Jesslb429 »

I was wondering if I could sign up early with a TBA title for the actual story I'm working on? Mostly because, thanks to some advice, I have found an idea that I am super excited about, but needs intense updating elsewhere to be viable. My main concern is that, while I know the end destination, there is a lot to consider as to the full nature of what will be done and spoilers to those who...aren't me.

If I can't do that, when do the sign-ups end? I don't want to miss out because of prep for the event.
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Heather »

A TBA title is fine! Just make sure you post something in the sign-ups thread to let us know you are participating. :)
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Radiochocolate »

1) The medals will be given after the event has ended, right?

2) Do we get points for both the achievement and receiving a medal? For example, if I manage to post over 10 updates and thus get 75 points for my house, do I also get 30 points for having achieved the medal?
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Re: SimNaWriMo - Hints, Tips & Questions!

Post by Heather »

Yep, the medals will be awarded as soon as we've confirmed that you have reached x amount of updates in October. :) And since we have specified how many house points you will receive for each medal, there will not be an additional 30 points to go with them.
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