Seeking advice for first time AAR writing

[Bagricula]

All,

With the inspiration of General_BT's epic...I've been considering writing a much smaller family epic, based around the Wittelsbachs. It'd be a narrative AAR, fairly gothic, very atmospheric, recalling the old black forest and the ancient blood soaked earth of Germany. It'd also be primarily character motivation driven, and probably result less in a unified singular German Wittelsbach state and more a grand diversity of exceptionally divergent branches of the family. There will probably be a vague but poorly understood sense of destiny or grand sweep of history sitting behind it, but it won't be clear if this is a benevolent or malevolent force.

So...as this is to be my first AAR, some inquiries:

1. What are people's preferences around images? How important are images beyond screenshots for your immersion?

2. Experienced AARers...what's the best way to manage save games and to keep track of the narrative as it is developing. Do you just play at a very slow pace? Do you have a schedule for saves? Do you just try to keep a weather eye for unusual events? How do you maintain the mindset of the character you're trying to write while you're playing?

3. Would the premise I've outlined above be appealing? For how long? Suggestions?

4. What're people's preferences for pacing? Zoom in for a few years of intense character action then move forward a generation? Even pacing throughout?

5. Thoughts on mixing in different writing styles? History book, narrative, legend?

This is mostly motivated by my desire to have a writing outlet...what with the forum RPGs completely moribund.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

[loki100]

Well, problem is its all so subjective.

There is quite a tradition of great CK AARs with no screenshots at all, others use nothing but in-game images and others, as General_BT tend to use very few images from the game.

I save often if I'm writing an AAR and take masses of screenshots (far more than I would use), so if I need to go back I can to check something. But it depends if you are on a cycle of play-write its not too important, if you want to play the game and then write its critical.

Mix styles to suit - everyone does to some extent.

It comes down to what style suits both you and your AAR. And there is no harm in starting with one pattern and letting it adjust over time to something else. Best advice is to write to enjoy yourself, find a style that suits but at the same time its a superb place to try things out and experiment.