Week 1 - Intro
Hi, and welcome to the introduction to my guide to making a PCM story. I hope you enjoy and learn from this, and if you don’t – oh well, at least I tried.
Let’s start off with some facts, that’s always a nice place to start (well, I say facts, I mean rough guesses from me):
About 80% of stories will not last past page 1 of the forums
About 40% of stories will either not actually begin, or will end before January is over
About 90% of stories will last less than 6 months
About 95% of stories will last less than a season
The final 5% will make it past the end of season barrier
These facts and figures take into account my view on stories from here, PPDB.nl, and Cyanide.
From Guido Mukk's Predictor Lotto story
So what does this mean?
Without stating the obvious, this shows that a story is highly unlikely to last very long. 1 in 20 stories (probably fewer actually) will last the period which generally makes them legendary in the community, and most attempts will splutter and die before they began.
So we learn from this:
For those who read stories:
1. Most of your reading won’t take you on a journey through a career – just a short review of a few races
2. Savour those which do last. They are extremely rare, and take a lot of time, dedication and perseverance
For those who write stories:
1. Writing a story is hard, especially trying to keep it going
2. It’ll take numerous attempts to actually write a story which lasts
So we see that a good story will therefore take time, perseverance and in many instances, preparation. I hope this guide helps you achieve all 3.
Should I write a story?
When you think about it, stories are extremely peculiar things for PCM. Everybody can play the game, so why do we need to hear about other players? And why do people put time and effort into stories? How can they derive enjoyment from sharing it with people they have never met?
As a story writer myself, it’s very hard to describe what it is like writing a long story, and why I did it. It’s something you can only understand properly if you write a story. Maybe others can explain it, but I sure can’t.
But I know what you do need to write a story – time, energy, and above all, an account at Photobucket (or similar site). In all seriousness, you’ve got to be pretty special (I avoid the use of the word weird, strange, demented etc.) to want to write a story that lasts for a long time. It takes a lot of time just to report 1 stage. Here’s how the timing for me goes down:
Play Stage: 20 minutes
Restraining self from throwing computer out of window as Cyanide does something wrong with PCM: 1 minute to 1 week
Forgotten to take screenshots during race, so hastily click replay button: 1 minute
Taking screenshots: 5 minutes
Writing race report: 10 minutes
Formatting screenshots and uploading them to Photobucket: 5 minutes
Posting: 1 minute
A total of 43 minutes – this of course has been exaggerated hugely, but it is roughly for the timings for a long and intense race such as Paris – Roubaix.
So story makers have to be dedicated
Do it Your Way – The Golden Rule of Story Writing
Remember, this guide is most definitely not a definite, and I always encourage people to experiment and do new and exciting things. It’s your story, do your thing. You can do whatever you want with a story, write whatever you want. The main thing is you should enjoy writing it – if you don’t, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons, and you should stop. So that’s what I like to call the golden rule of story writing:
Only write a story if you enjoy it
Another general rule is that if you enjoy reading the story as you write it, chances are everyone else will too
Breaking through the Barrier
But there are some exceptions to this. For those who make a successful story that lasts longer than into January, you will always hit a rough patch, a patch where you don’t want to go on. This is make or break time for a story.
Many people decide to give up. That follows the golden rule, and in many cases, probably is the best thing to do. But in some cases, you need to get through the boring parts, and you shall be rewarded. Generally, I find the transfers beginning on July 1 a major lure. From January to February, I get my initial motivation, then from June onwards, the transfer period is impending, so I look forward to that. Getting through from March to May is the tough bit, but ploughing through and you do get a reward
People are here to help – but ignore them
Well, I don’t mean everyone of course. A lot of suggestions are helpful, and only want to make your story better. These you can choose to listen to, and even alter your story for. But that’s the problem – don’t feel you should alter your story because one person has said so. Remember the golden rule – do it your way so you enjoy it, and only listen to suggestions if it wouldn’t alter your enjoyment. It could also just be that one person who has that view, not everyone who reads it may share it.
Don’t speak English? No problem
If you’re worried that your English isn’t good enough, be not afraid! First things first, you can always ask me, via PM, to check your story and correct the English, I always will do. Ask around, you’ll find people willing to help. You could also post your story in your native tongue on a different site (hit the Links button).
But remember, perfect English doesn’t matter. One of the best stories on this forum is that of Guido Mukk. He’s English isn’t perfect, he’ll admit that, but we can definitely understand him, and what’s more, we enjoyed the story. In fact, the story even helped him improve his English, as if you read the start and then the end, you see a very definite improvement.
Check it out in the PCM 07 stories forum
So what's coming up in the series?
So what will we see in this guide? Well, each week or fortnight, I’ll be giving you a run through a different style of story, or I may give a large hints and tips section. Here’s what I have planned in the coming weeks:
- Week 1 – Intro
- Week 2 – Getting from PCM to the forum (including screenshots)
- Week 3 – The pivotal questions –step-by-step guide to starting and writing a story, and what to actually write about
Styles of writing (week 3 to week 8)
- Week 4 – Style 1 – My exploits on PCM
- Week 5 – Style 2 – PCM is real life
- Week 6 – Style 3 – A real fictional story
- Week 7 – Style 4 – Challenging yourself
- Week 8 – Style 5 – One Rider Story
Hints, Tips and Everything Else
- Week 9 – Making a story last
- Week 10 – Video stories – coming soon, or already here?
That’s it for now, there will probably be more, or I may get bored. Each week will feature example stories, step-by-step guides, and a quick guide for those who can’t be bothered to read the whole thing
Until next week,
Crommy
Questions, Queries or Comments? Simply comment on this article, write in the special thread for this (look under everything else in the forum), or PM me
Are you a budding story writer? Want to see something in this series? Just PM me!
Are you a good story writer, who feels they want to help me out. Please do so via PM straight away.
|
