Sims talk: funny sims dream and possible story recap

[strangetomato]

Last night I had a dream about cheating on my SO with some guy I recently found attractive. While we were trying to work out the logistics of it all (damn "woohoo" dreams never really work out for me that way), my SO walked in and caught us in the act. Then, to determine how serious the situation was, I checked his relationship panel.

*blinks*

Umm, what? That can't be a good sign...

In other news, I'm thinking of doing up a story recap, since it was recently suggested by Petchy as something that might help potential newcomers to the story, as it grows ever more complicated and unwieldy by the update, to the point where even I occasionally need to be reminded of my own plot points (no, really...). The problem is, I'm feeling way too lazy to do it. There's just so much of it to summarize at this point, and it feels like a chore (and honestly, part of me feels like they should just read the back chapters if they want in on the story, but I know how daunting it must be, and I want to be welcoming instead of being a dick about it).

Also, how should the summary even be organized? Should I do it by character? By plot arc? By household? I have no idea. I'm okay with some of the plot points being mostly forgotten and dropped, since I now see them as questionable missteps, and maybe rehashing it all will just draw attention to all the plot holes? Should I just go ahead and draw attention to them so we can all laugh at them? Again, I have no idea what to do.

Any suggestions? Do you think I should do this? I already have a bit of a chapter-by-chapter summary in the story directory, but that doesn't cover all the little details. Do people really need to know these details? Is there anything you, personally, are confused about? Lay it on me, dear readers and friends.

Comments

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

I say re-cap only if you're revisiting a major plot point you haven't visited in a while. And keep the summary brief (like a few sentences). That way a newbie won't feel totally left out, but if they want the full experience they can do the leg work (if you feel nice, a link to where they could find the info could be included). Summaries of relationships and such will be too long and involved (and really, to get the full experience you need to just read all the stuff).

Your summaries could just happen right before a new chapter (if the chapter contains stuff that needs refreshing).

[pnkpnthr334.livejournal.com]

I honestly think that your story is too far in and too complicated to be summarized by a little re-cap. Anyone new to the story that would just read that, then jump into the newest chapter will still likely be confused or missing something down the line. Then they'll have to go back and read past chapters anyway to understand the new stuff.

I came into the story pretty late and I went back and read through every last chapter, and I have the attention span of a squirrel!!! So I know if I can do it, anyone who really wants to get into this story can do it.

But if you really want to be welcoming and do re-caps I think you could do it by every X number of chapters. That way you can do it in stages rather than a huge summary.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I agree with Madame. A re-cap of a major plotline that you're getting ready to develop and haven't touched on in a while might be helpful... but I don't think you need to do a complete Clift's Notes version of the whole story. That just sounds like way too much work.

[petchy-14.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I had no idea that it would entail so much work for you D: My bad! (LOL)

you see, most of the time, a reader can simple pick up the story and just read the chapter or two, because your writing is *so* versatile and natural, its simple to just go along with the flow. However, sometimes as one does this, you can feel a smidge left out of he "plots" so to speak - I mean, its easy enough considering (as you said yourself before) S,HWC doesn't *have* a main plot. it does, however, bumbles along, which is what makes it so popular! - and the character developments. It gets even more difficult when characters appear which aren't actually in the game - your own creations, or offspring that have occurred in your playing - because it just goes a liiiiitle confuzzling xD

Maybe, you could post some handy links in the chapters to the main "plots" and to "biggies" in the characters - I mean, if you posted a link in "Chapter XXX.IV" that included characters which first appeared in Chapters "X.V" and last appeared for a reason in chapter "XX.II" then a link would suffice instead of rewriting it all out, CMD?

I agree that you shouldn't really need to rewrite the *whole thing* out - that is just silly - but.. I dunno, Maybe a little summary of the main characters that can be archived and updated when something *major* happens and a little note at the end of chapters? *shruggles*
I'm ~terrible~ at putting my ideas into realistic and practical proportions, aren't I? *smiles*


If the whole thing is just too overwhelming for you, then don't worry. I'm sure that most new members would just reread it all anyway - I've read most of it.. But I still keep up with the current affairs! *grinz*

[peasant007.livejournal.com]

If you were to do a recap, arc by arc might be the best way to go. At least the major arcs. Heck, it wouldn't even necessarily be for new readers, as even a recap doesn't get into all the details; some old readers might need a refresher on some stuff that's happened but hasn't been touched upon in a while.

[ikichi.livejournal.com]

I think by arc would be easiest for all involved. You can always not who's involved in it. (Also, I go back and reread often, and I navigate by what was going on at the time more than who else was around).

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

I say just recap this latest arc, remind people of how the timeframe is working. IDK, I feel like it'll be near impossible to condense the story in a way that it wouldn't end up being convoluted and back-tracky?

If you feel up to recapping the WHOLE story, I'd definitely go arc-by-arc. Or maybe try and put major events on a timeline?

[purpleseas.livejournal.com]

LOL, I've had Sims controls pop up in my dreams before, as well as actual Sims. I've also tried to click on my cats to see what they're doing when they make noise in the middle of the night, and I don't even play with Sim cats. XD

[petalbrook.livejournal.com]

I wanna know what was in your SO's relationship panel!

I started reading at the beginning, as I do with every story I read, otherwise it's just way to confusing for me.

[purekickass.livejournal.com]

Umm... I almost always have a relationship panel and pause button in my dreams. Does this mean I have a problem?
Also, yes I do think a recap would be a good idea. Especially for first time readers and people (like me) who might be confused with the order of some events. In my opinion, going by plot arc would be your best bet. By character might be a bit much, simply because there are a lot of them. And by plot arc, it's a simpler, more linear method of recapping.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how you would do a recap, soul. I guess you were k9issing when you asked me to do it.

I'd just do it by chapter, filling in the details revealed in other chapters- fpor example, with the Don thing, you could mention all of the things that happened to him when you recap the first chapter he appeared in, etc.

[swhedonberry.livejournal.com]

I find that recaps are the most interesting when they are done as a sort of sub-plot within themselves, using a few minor characters who are loosely connected to "gossip" about what's been going on. I've seen it done as an actual gossip section, aliens making observations about human subjects, evil masterminds explaining the course of events to minions, and even a historian taking notes for a future book.

That's my two cents. Hope it helps.

[zepheera.livejournal.com]

I'd say maybe expand a little bit on the blurbs you have in the master list, and have a little header at the beginning of each story directing the reader to the appropriate parts of the story that it would be best to read before starting the current chapter.

Such as

Chapter 32.5 continues the story arc of Jaxy and Zoe from Chapter ...

That way people could get the information that they need to follow the chapter without you having to type up a detailed recap every time you post a new chapter.

You have enough work to do churning out the new chapters without having to retell the entire story as you go.