How to write a story: S&T tricks and tips

I think it will be a good thing if there is a place were experienced writers can share there experience with newer writers. This way people don't have to invent the wheel over and over again (think of the annoying CIV game that would be )
This way people might be more encouraged to write there own story and maybe the quality of the stories of starting writers will go up (no offense to anyone)

People can leave hints and tips as what they find useful when writing a story. The different types of stories you can write. A list that explains abbreviations, you get my drift.

I will maintain this thread as good as I can by archiving the tricks and tips in the upper posts so new writers can quickly .

(don't post directly under this post, I want that one for the archive)
(I will btw ask a mod to make this a sticky if it catches on)

How to start a story​

Before you start writing a story it is smart to have a global plan in mind. Here are a few pointers of what you need to think about.

1. What kind of genre will your story be.

• Comedic: Glory to Greece, God Save the King
• Historic: The History of the Arab World, Empire of the North
• Fantasy: History of the Horselords, The Splintered Court
• Something that’s never been tried

2. What writingstyle will you use.

• Narrative: The Celestial Bureaucracy, Princes of the Universe
• Chatbox: Ulm: This time, it's going to finish.
• Descriptive: An Iberian Love Story

3. What will be the theme/plot of your story.

• Will you write of a kid growing old with his civilization: Intelligence isn't overrated
• Will you write of a succesful dinasty: Ragnar's Revenge!

4. Do you want the game to manipulate the story or will you manipulate the game for your story?

• Don’t be afraid to use worldbuilder if it improves your story.

5. How will you start with the story and how do you want to end it.

• Have a clear plan for your ending but be flexible for the middle.

6. Think of your RL schedule.

• If you don’t have the time, write down your ideas and use them when you do have time

Tip 1: Update fast
Tip 2: Parrots make good stories

parrots do make good stories but I don't I'll include that in the list

It seems the parrot is losing power over me..
now I'm not!
ohw...

anyway... think of this... in several years when this is, hopefully, a respected thread the new members have no idea what this is about

Tip 3: Allow room between updates, as to initiate discussion about how terrible you are.
Tip 4: Concentrate. Put all other games into a seperate folder and hide it in the deepest corner of your hard drive if you want, but get the story done first.

Tip 5: Upload pictures to imgur
Tip 6: SPAM PICTURES!!!

Tip 7: Putting random pictures in your story is called a "Copaczin Story"

Tip 8: Putting the Jersey Shore Pic in a story is called a The Journey of a Thousand Fails Story. Don't do it or Copa will get you.

I see this constantly mentioned in many new threads so I'll try to put the matter to rest right here, right now for the sake of future generations.

How To Take Screenshots

1) Look at your keyboard.

2) On the right hand of your F12 key, there should be a button called PRTSC SYSRQ.
It's often abbreviated as other things on other keyboards but it always generally carries the same meaning.

3) When playing a game of Civilization IV, you may simply press this button at any time to make a screen capture (in .JPG format)
that is automatically placed in your Screenshots folder.

4) To view/access the image you just took; go to My Computer -> (Your Hard Drive) -> Program Files -> 2K Games -> Firaxis Games -> Sid Meier's Civilization 4 Complete / BtS / whatever version you happen to be playing -> Beyond the Sword / Warlords / the vanilla root folder you just entered -> Civ4 ScreenShots

NOTE: If you happen to be playing on Steam; you must access the game files through the common folder in your Steam folder.
I have no idea for Macs, but I assume the process is roughly the same as the PC.

Remember, the photo that you took corresponds to whichever BASE version of Civilization IV you are playing on. For example, if you are playing Beyond the Sword, you find the photos in the Civ4 Screenshots located under the Beyond the Sword folder. If you're playing on a mod, it isn't any different. If you launched RFC from Beyond the Sword, then the photos you take will be in the Beyond the Sword folder.

5) Uploading photos. You can always upload them directly to CivFanatics and display them as thumbnails but the site often has issues on photo hosting. Try to find an image hosting site instead. Most of them have free memberships available and provide a modest amount of space for you to host your images on. I personally use Photobucket and have a separate unused Imageshack account, but there are many other viable options out there, like someone mentioned; Imgur.

very nice

Starting next week I'll start processing input.

Yoshiegg737 said:

Tip 7: Putting random pictures in your story is called a "Copaczin Story"

Click to expand...

Does that make me an experienced writer?

Also, the Egyptian armed forces have declared any territory under their control a "Parrot-Free Zone". Parrots and Parrot lovers are advised to evacuate before bombs start falling.

which bombs?

Civ'ed said:

which bombs?

Click to expand...

Okay, so i din't finish it yet, but I'm almost done.

Also, I'm calling it the "Vorpal Nuke".

Headline:

today mansa musa was eaten by a parrot. Mali is now a parrot subject.

Click to expand...

boys and girls. I know I have indulged myself in some parrotfun in this thread but could you please leaf it at that... I kinda want this to be an educational and respected thread which people will understand years after this parrot thing is over.
So parrotfun please in other threads..... or better in the original thread

ok, but he started it.

Tambien's Tips
1. Have fun with your story. Otherwise you will stop writing. (AND NO, this does not apply to RP France ILDUCE)
2. Do not let ilduce join (THis is a Joke)
3. Put in screenshots or everyone will hate your story and yell at you.
4. CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR AND SPELLING. Too many stories that had great potential were ruined by terrible typing.

As for the parrot thing, the Hugemungo Roman Empire (that includes all of historic rome, persia, and Mali, and 2 cities in the new world(est. 812), the Mayans as a vassal with all of Central America and Aztec Lands, etc.) has banned all parrots.

Tip 9: Do not anger Tambien, or post slow updates on any thread that he shows lots of interest in

They also banned le Yoshi du Egg.

Also, I ban that tip

Tip 10: Do not put Tambien in any story tips