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PCM.daily Tips & Tricks Section
How to make a story
By: The Hobbit | Average Rating: 3.33 | Game version: PCM12
Stories are a fantastic feature of the PCM daily community, that are loved by all, and with a talented writer at the helm they can also be utterly riveting and brilliant to read. But they are quite hard to do and can be quite overwhelming, but once you get used to it they are a joy to write, as long as you keep your motivation high.
Ideas
If you want to write a story I would recommend that it is something you want. Other people might prefer if you do this or something else but the only one that matters is you. If you love your story it will evolve and become something great, and something others will like. If not it will probably stop early and it will never be as good. Don't worry about ideas, you can just start the story and if you come up with a new idea then you can add it in, it helps to pre plan, but is not necessary, as if you don't know what is coming then neither will your followers.
Setting Up
The first part of a story is generally an introduction. Then there will be places which later you will edit in the results or teams or just general descriptions. This makes it neatly laid out and ready to go. Then it is normally one of two things, either a presentation of your team/ rider, or a series of non PCM story parts which set the scene and build tension and following. Then you are ready to start proper.
Things you'll need
The most important part of a story is the picture based reports. To share pictures on the forum you can't just copy and paste! The first issue is that photos have to be JPEGs or JPGs, whereas screenshots are done with PNG file format. You have one of two options. One is get a bulk converter which can change file types quickly and easily. Or you can just use Microsoft paint where you can open then save as JPEG. This is much more time consuming.
As said though, this isn't enough! You will also need an account on an image sharing website like imageshack.us, which I use. You must upload your photos onto this. Then it will supply you with image links, one of these will be called forum. Then copy and paste that into your reply. Sometimes it will have an annoying extra bit like 'uploaded with imageshack' which you can just delete. Then you are ready to go.
Taking screenshots
To take a screenshot you must simply press ctrl+t , and a photo will go to my documents, pro cycling manager, users, screenshots. To get into the right place to take a screenshot hold down the middle mouse button and move it around. Press # and ctrl+u to remove the menus.
Taking Notes
While the stage it is a good idea to take notes, on time gaps, people who attack, when they attack, etc. This means you can write it up nice and quickly after writing or take your time. I use my ipad but you could use word, or hand write. Some people write their whole report as they play, but I find this can be difficult so I create it after, as you don't know what will be important.
No offense but Crommy's Guide is better It can be found via Search, or there is a link to it from my Definitive Story Guide (DSG (link in Sig)).
Converter i use (and many other writers as well: Picture Converter... duh
I would not recommend ImageShack to host the files, but PhotoBucket. ImageShack does some weird stuff at times, and will always link to site if you try and enlarge the image. PhotoBucket does have limited bandwidth but is easier to use, functionally better and more established.
Pre-Planning is incredibly necessary. As demonstrated countless times (example in the DSG) lack of structure and direction is a recipe for disaster. You have to have a clear idea of how you want your team/rider/game/whatever to develop over the first two seasons. This will give you the bit more motivation and the story some much needed direction. All of this also makes the story easier to write and read.
Not saying you have to know each report in advance, but a general aim such as Promotion or Win X race.
You actually don't need a major introduction. Many of the great stories just had one initial post and things grew from there. While having 2-3 (seriously, more than 3 is excessive) can keep things neater they are often ignored for long periods and become fairly redundant.
Also you don't need to have picture based reports. A couple of screens/images helps but it does not have to be more than that. If you write well no-one will care, and it will stand out as different. Some really good Stage Race based stories use minimal images.
But yeah. It is the absolute basics of story writing, but there are some slightly better resources available with more depth and discussion.
Crommys Guide
Definitive Story Guide
General Story Discussion Thread
Just to clarify, I made this for people looking to start off a story and are maybe a bit more casual and not so serious.
For example when I was starting my story I looked round and I found the guides you've pointed out to be extremely confusing and occasionally a bit contradictory, maybe that's just me though.
I'm not 100% agree what you said about your best rider doing behind of the group you will lose then to much riders your best rider's energy is full and the other riders will lose to much energy. wobble man game free
