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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jul 7, 2017 15:11:19 GMT -6
Well! I've just finished the longest thing I've ever written in my life, and I learned a lot. While it is fresh in my mind, I thought I would make a couple points. 1) As my good friend director advised, "play ahead." Many times in this story I got to a point where I had to pause and think, "well wait a minute, how am I going to make this work now?" If you play your game at least 18 months out from your writing then you can narrate events so-as to take advantage of opportunities which you might not expect- for instance, my fortuitous realization that Alex's harsh deriding of England for re-seizing New Zealand had occurred exactly 12 months before England pulled out of the alliance; instant cause and affect. You also avoid a pace-killing flashback piece to retroactively explain something; i.e. the colonial addition of the Dominican Republic. 2) If you create a character and put him on stage, be prepared to use him. I discovered that having come by the quasi-comical invention of Minister Kleeburg, if I did *not* use him later in the story it left his whole introductory episode with rather a "what's the point?" air. If you breathe life into someone, you are responsible for that life. - don't leave them lost and future-less like Commodore Hoffman and the Praga (Did he go to sea again? Was he censured? Did he resign? Take up a pro-bowling career?). 3) At a certain point you will need to decide, "Am I recording a chronicle, or telling a story?" If recording a chronicle, the classic AAR, you are more able to simply go turn by turn with the brass tacks of what the game is giving you. The game provides the entertainment with you as its conduit. Once you commit to telling a story, you reach another new level of responsibility; to entertain and not disappoint (I hope I did more of the former and less of the latter!). 4) On a personal note, I have discovered a surprising tendency in regards to writing in serial format. I have noticed that *far* too often I have reused the Same word within the same paragraph instead of (per grammar protocol) a synonym. I can't quite explain why this happened, but I bet I could find a dozen examples in the PLC AAR, the most egregious of which I went back to correct. An awareness of your writing is crucial, and a 30 minute pause before posting to give you a proper last re-read is most beneficial. 5) DON'T COMPOSE ON A WEB-PAGE!!!!!!!!! See my chapter on the end of the Great War for explanation. Compose in a word doc, and save often. Those are my immediate observations of this. - I am very thankful for the hundred-or-so who seemed to be following the work, and while I'm at it let me say it wouldn't have happened without director 's Byzantium as inspiration. However! Let's keep this thread to the art of AAR writing. Anything you learn, know, or observe that could help future authors, feel free to post it here. Cheers!
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jul 7, 2017 16:34:09 GMT -6
I would suggest to all, that the group develop a standardized format for Naval After Action Reports. I can go to DTIC and see if they have the format for actual AAR or I can provide locations for real WWII AAR as a guide. Just an idea.
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Post by cv10 on Jul 7, 2017 19:52:29 GMT -6
A big +1 to everything garrisonchisholmI'll add my two cents in for what its worth: #1: Make sure that AAR writing fits in with how you like to play: One of the reasons that my China AAR went belly-up is that delaying my game to write the AAR did not really work with how I like to play (rushing through till the dreadnought era). As such, it was hard for me to really enjoy that China game, and it was one of the reasons that I let it die. In contrast, my SAI AAR is alive and kicking (I've been on vacation, it will resume once I return) is that AAR writing is much more compatible with my SAI playing style (slow and deliberative). #2: Use a common heading for each major content post: I think director and garrisonchisholm did this well, and I've tried to incorporate this into my SAI AAR. Having a standard heading for each major entry really makes an AAR look sharp and helps the reader find the major bits. #3 Imgur is an AAR writer's best friend: Imgur makes it really easy to organize pictures and place them into an aar (copy the bb code). Each turn of my SAI AAR has its own album. You just have to be careful not to ticker with them too much after you create the,. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words, and sometimes a picture of an event is far superior to a paragraph explaining what happened. This applies in particular in this game, as we are dealing with naval actions. A picture of the decisive moments can really bring an AAR to life.
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Post by parrot on Jul 7, 2017 21:03:15 GMT -6
I think my Ottoman semi-aar-forum-game-sort-of-thing has been a bit awkward in the way I've told the story (but good fun for all involved, I hope!). The ability to play ahead is obviously very limited: the pace of the story is determined by the arbitrary (in a certain sense) marker of when I order new ships. Maybe a good idea would be to really make the format more interactive, story-wise? People can introduce characters and help shape things based on what has transpired in-game. Have some people take a political role and some a ship-designing role? That might get around the fact that I was a bit unsure of how I wanted to do things. There was one fairly in-depth section of story telling (the coup & associated stuff), while the rest of it was mainly just some background stuff to give a bit of flavour. Then of course the write-ups of battles, given the game we're playing. I haven't introduced a single actual character by name (beyond two historical Sultans, almost in passing) in the whole thing because of the reason you've given: I'm unlikely to actually use them more than once in the story. The post about the coup probably could've done with some more names and faces, as I think it was half-written in the same way as the rest of what I'd done, despite being a more in-depth personal thing.
And yes, having lost more than one long post which I've had to write again from scratch: use a word processor and save regularly. Or at least ctrl+c what you're writing as you go! I can also recommend imgur for your images. It's free and easy.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jul 7, 2017 23:35:27 GMT -6
I would suggest to all, that the group develop a standardized format for Naval After Action Reports. I can go to DTIC and see if they have the format for actual AAR or I can provide locations for real WWII AAR as a guide. Just an idea. You know that sounds pretty interesting- I bet there was just a blank form that a commander would pull out of a drawer and fill out. Probably different for each service branch of course.
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Post by parrot on Jul 7, 2017 23:47:33 GMT -6
I would suggest to all, that the group develop a standardized format for Naval After Action Reports. I can go to DTIC and see if they have the format for actual AAR or I can provide locations for real WWII AAR as a guide. Just an idea. You know that sounds pretty interesting- I bet there was just a blank form that a commander would pull out of a drawer and fill out. Probably different for each service branch of course. It'd be interesting to see, but I don't think it'd be particularly useful in this context. AARs here (and for most games) more often than not involve a significant story-telling element. Even if we disregard the parts outside of the battles, reports on combat tend to be given more as a story meant to entertain than a full factual recreation of events. Having said that, I could probably benefit from a bit more rigour in writing about my battles!
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Post by director on Jul 8, 2017 1:18:33 GMT -6
In stage work it is referred to as 'Chekhov's Gun' - if you make a point of showing a gun in Act 1, then at some point that gun gets fired.
My advice is to play ahead - a long way ahead - if you are telling a story. If you are just showing off gameplay then you can take it as it comes, but if you have a tale to tell then you need to know what happens so that you can shape the arc. It would not do, for example, to tell it from the point of view of a submarine officer if you don't build any subs.
The more planning you do the happier you will be. Write down the main characters and some keys to their characters. Write down important facts (such as where the naval bases are). You may not use the information, but if you use it once and then need it again it can be painful to comb through pages and pages trying to find it. The better you understand your world and the people in it, the better you can convey it to the audience. It can be embarrassing to have a character's hair color or even name change... readers do notice.
One thing I enjoy is the challenge of weaving the game events into the narrative. Sometimes you can use a really strange one, or put enough spin on it and make it work. But - for me - the story matters above all and the game provides color. I stuck to the game and game events pretty closely in 'Byzantium' because it was intended for an audience that needed to be persuaded to buy the game. Hence, lots of 'showing off' the game mechanics and play.
I insist on composing in Word. I write, put it aside, re-read in a day or more and edit. Then once I copy-paste it on the website I re-read and re-edit - things look different on the webpage.
I don't use a lot of pictures - I am more text-oriented. But I did use a 'common header' for 'Byzantium' so that readers could easily tell what was 'official text' as opposed to casual comments. I like it - I didn't use that before but I likely would in the future.
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jul 8, 2017 6:41:58 GMT -6
I would suggest to all, that the group develop a standardized format for Naval After Action Reports. I can go to DTIC and see if they have the format for actual AAR or I can provide locations for real WWII AAR as a guide. Just an idea. You know that sounds pretty interesting- I bet there was just a blank form that a commander would pull out of a drawer and fill out. Probably different for each service branch of course. I will post some AAR's from WWII battles from Hyperwar but get on DTIC and see if they have any suggestions on AAR. I know the Army Historical Center does, I think.
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Post by babylon218 on Jul 8, 2017 8:44:23 GMT -6
I would suggest to all, that the group develop a standardized format for Naval After Action Reports. I can go to DTIC and see if they have the format for actual AAR or I can provide locations for real WWII AAR as a guide. Just an idea. You know that sounds pretty interesting- I bet there was just a blank form that a commander would pull out of a drawer and fill out. Probably different for each service branch of course. I have actually read WWI After Action Reports from the Suffolk Regiments at the Battle of Arras, 1918. They literally are a stance form file out by the CO detailing to conduct of an action, casualties, objectives, etc. But they tend to vary in detail from just basic facts to detailed explanation.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jul 8, 2017 9:13:12 GMT -6
You know that sounds pretty interesting- I bet there was just a blank form that a commander would pull out of a drawer and fill out. Probably different for each service branch of course. I have actually read WWI After Action Reports from the Suffolk Regiments at the Battle of Arras, 1918. They literally are a stance form file out by the CO detailing to conduct of an action, casualties, objectives, etc. But they tend to vary in detail from just basic facts to detailed explanation. Hmm. Probably depending upon how much time the CO cared-to/was-allowed-the-leisure-to invest in it then.
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Post by babylon218 on Jul 8, 2017 9:29:28 GMT -6
Okay, here's what a WWI British War Diary (the British Army's term for an After Action Report) looked like: You can go on the National Archives website and they have all the war diaries digitised and available to view for about £3 or for free to read at the National Archives in London. I would not personally use this as a model for writing a forum AAR, but I could see them being useful as 'sources' for a wider AAR (possibly an excerpt from the force commander's log?).
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jul 8, 2017 9:38:45 GMT -6
I can't tell you how much I love that because of the divisional rugby reference. 6th Welch must have been on form!
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jul 8, 2017 15:07:34 GMT -6
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jul 8, 2017 21:55:45 GMT -6
Well, I can't say I'd ever think to post a forum AAR that way, but its cool as heck. :]
Thanks Pops! Our "Resident Forum Researcher" ^.^
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jul 8, 2017 22:13:49 GMT -6
Well, I can't say I'd ever think to post a forum AAR that way, but its cool as heck. :] Thanks Pops! Our "Resident Forum Researcher" ^.^ I agree, it is a bit much. But it does give a sense of what the AAR has to accomplish. I am not certain the whole forum will agree that I am the "Resident Forum Researcher" but those were kind words and appreciated.
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