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1 of 1- n00bthtpwnz
- Starter
Online! 
- From: Wisconsin
- Registered: 5/18/2019
- Posts: 75
Creating writeups
For anybody that has a thread on here where they run their own league, when you make your writeups, whether for an offseason post, a season review post or just a single game post, is what you post everything that you have written up? Or is there more that you have written on a Google Doc or Word Document, which you then find ways to shorten to then post on here?
I've been writing what can essentially be seen as a novella (or mini-novel) outlining the early history of the fictional sport that I've talked about before in other threads I've made in the Writing Workshop (which have been over the past couple of years, so it almost seems like I'm just making this all up, but I promise you I'm not lol). The issue I've been running into, though, is I continuously get stuck on where I want to take the story, which hinders my progress on actually starting to simulate seasons and in turn, finally starting to post on here, which has been my long term goal with this sport.
Am I going a bit overboard with my writeup plans? I feel like I am, but I'd more than appreciate other people's thoughts so I know how to move forward with this and eventually (maybe...hopefully hahaha...) start posting this sport of mine on these boards.
- DireBear
- All-Star
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- From: Phoenix/Chicago
- Registered: 4/26/2020
- Posts: 627
Re: Creating writeups
Generally, whatever is posted to the boards here or the AFL's blog is the finalized version of my writeup. I do have a singular Google Doc where I store all of my writeups (which has reached over 250 pages at this point, nearly double the amount of the EFL, my old league) and mostly do all the rough-draft-into-finalized-product in there. I put some notes in on the key things I want to hit for the more story-based posts (i.e. everything not season or game related) in that section of the doc, and then I reference back to the vague plan I put together at the start of the league. Before I started posting and simulating for the AFL, I put together a rough 15-20 year plan of the key events I wanted to hit on during the first years of the league. I didn't fill every single hole that needed to be filled, waiting to either figure out a reason in-universe for it to happen or figuring out a way to fit a really good idea into the story regardless of what's already there. Even having a rough story and working out the kinks from there may be good enough to get the league going. Though I totally understand where you're at with being hindered by where you want the story to be taken. I still don't know what's going to happen after I finish my main first saga between the AFL and the PAFC (that's a problem for future me haha). But having something and having the sim assist you in the decision making process can take you further than you expect. This is just how I do my process, but you can copy it step-for-step or cherry-pick the stuff you like to make it more streamlined to your liking.
- Steelman
- superadminguy
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- From: The Wild West
- Registered: 5/19/2019
- Posts: 1,651
Re: Creating writeups
For me there's really two ways you can approach it:
#1, is writing a story with specific goals or storylines in mind and "soft" simulating sport results to suit those storylines, or
#2, simulate seasons and report what happens, while keeping in mind some of your overall story arcs and adjusting as things happen in your league.
I tend to go with the latter option for my leagues. I like to have specific things I'd like to do or stories I'd like to happen but often they are dependent on how things go with simulation, which I feel more closely mirrors real life. Like, I could plan for a team to move but then they go ahead and win a championship unexpectedly (as seen with the THL's Kurohara Killers) and it completely alters my plans. Where I think you can marry the two, is you are creating a new sport so you naturally need to create a history from the ground up. The "novella" is fine for story on a new sport and how it came to be and how the history of it developed over time.
I don't think you can go overboard with writing. It's always better to have more. I probably post 90% of what I write, sometimes all of it, but I'd rather delete stuff that is superfluous for post purposes than try to come up with stuff on the fly long after I've simmed or whatever. When it comes to a league, I think you've got to develop a style and adjust as you go.
On being stuck with where to take the story, I think you have to decide what kind of series you're creating. Because creating a new sport and history to go with it and creating a league series are two different things. I think you need to look at them separately, even if you end up presenting them together, and that will help your approach with both. For me, history is important, perhaps even more so for a fictional sport, but for a league simulation, you've got to find a starting point, make sure you have strong characters and teams, outline some basic storylines and arcs, and then press play and see how it goes. The fun and the intrigue will come through simulation. That's my take as a someone who has been doing this for awhile. Hopefully this helps.
AHS Admin. Creator of the THL, PUCH, WHA: Redux and Retroliga.
- ItDoesntMatter
- All-Star
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- From: canon coast
- Registered: 5/18/2019
- Posts: 1,274
Re: Creating writeups
to answer your first question, I post everything I write. I have a google doc for each post in the main canon of the ndl story and I copy and paste it directly onto the boards when I'm ready to hit send. I personally don't see the sense in writing something just for my own eyes, but hey, if you do, then by all means go for it!
I will, however, advocate for posting everything you've got, but allowing people to choose what they read. in the ndl thread, I frequently use spoiler blocks to allow people to expand on certain stories if they're interested. that way, you don't have to worry as much about having too many words because if people don't want to read it, it's a lot easier to skip to the next thing. if you want an example you can check out the last couple pages of the ndl (as of writing) for the offseason posts and a leaguewide recap.
as for where to take the story, I (like steel) generally prefer to let the simulation dictate the story, but that's by no means the only way or the more correct way of doing things. if you're struggling to come up with a direction, though, it might be the easier way to go about it. it's good to have some ideas of points you want to hit, but don't be too worried if you don't have everything figured out; sometimes, the results will force you to wing it anyway. for example, I had no intention of folding the colorado pinnacles until they got very injured and went 0-50, and that completely changed a lot of my plans for the next few years.
ultimately, there's no wrong way of doing things, and eventually, you'll find a system that works for you. hopefully this helped you get a little closer to that. feel free to let me know if you need any help - I do have some experience with fictional sports too :)
Last edited by ItDoesntMatter (7/06/2025 11:36 am)
