# So, when do you read Story Hour?



## Nonlethal Force (May 25, 2007)

I just now used the controls at the bottom of the page to do a search for any posts having the "fiction" tag and posted within the last year.  [It is one of the easiest ways for me to find my first story hour, which is now completed and hasn't been updated since 1-10-07.  That means it's no doubt relegated to page 3 or 4 by now.  But I digress.]

Anyway, I was stunned by how many threads with the "fiction" tag don't make it past 10 posts!  I realize a few of them were one-post stories - the equivalent of the online short story.  But my assumption is that many of them were started with great intentions and then abandoned.

So, my question to you is this:  What are your criteria that makes you interested in a Story Hour?  What criteria do you use?

I meant to include this as a poll, but I took too long   So ... 

Here are my suggested criteria.  Any of them fit you?

*1.* You know the author ... or at least their work
*2.* The author employs proper spelling/grammer and knows when to start a new paragraph
*3.* The number of views is enough to catch your eye (please indicate what number catches your eye)
*4.* The post count is high enough to indicate that the author is going to finish the story(please indicate what post count tells you this)
*5.* The author uses (or doesn't use) colored speech
*6.* You saw the story hour advertised in a thread or in a sig
*7.* The title was interesting enough to catch your eye
*8.* The update schedule fits your need for the story (please post how often you like updates)
*9.* Other criteria not listed here (please post below)


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## Whizbang Dustyboots (May 25, 2007)

Nonlethal Force said:
			
		

> I just now used the controls at the bottom of the page to do a search for any posts having the "fiction" tag and posted within the last year.  [It is one of the easiest ways for me to find my first story hour, which is now completed and hasn't been updated since 1-10-07.  That means it's no doubt relegated to page 3 or 4 by now.  But I digress.]



Why not use the Thread Tools and just subscribe to it?


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## Nonlethal Force (May 25, 2007)

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
			
		

> Why not use the Thread Tools and just subscribe to it?




Oh, I do actually have it subscribed - and when I need access to the thread, that's how I get into it.  But the subscription page doesn't tell me the number of views.  That is still somewhat of a interest.  I check the number of views about once every other week or so.  It's a bit of a curiosity, I suppose.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.


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## Whizbang Dustyboots (May 25, 2007)

Ah, I didn't get what you were doing looking for it. That makes sense.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (May 25, 2007)

Hm...if you're only looking at the "Fiction" tab of things, you're missing out on probably the majority of the stories that are labeled as other things.

Of course, I would expect that expanding this you'd see much the same thing...a great deal of unfinished and low-view threads.


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## Capellan (May 25, 2007)

Nonlethal Force said:
			
		

> What are your criteria that makes you interested in a Story Hour?




I don't know about anyone else, but for me first and foremost, it has to be an actual game.  I don't read anything labelled as 'fiction' because that's not what I come to the SH forum for.


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## el-remmen (May 25, 2007)

Capellan said:
			
		

> I don't know about anyone else, but for me first and foremost, it has to be an actual game.  I don't read anything labelled as 'fiction' because that's not what I come to the SH forum for.





What he said.

Part of the fun of a story hour for me is imagining the players gathered saying the things their characters say and having the characters do what they do in reaction to the what the DM presents.

Among other criteria, is the use of paragraph breaks between all paragraphs and lines of diaglog (it is for this reason that I have been unable to get thru JollyDoc's Savage Tide - as much as I am curious how his Savage Tide is going).  

And of course, grammar, spelling and a sense of setting are all important to me. . .


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## Thornir Alekeg (May 25, 2007)

I agree that it has to be an actual game. 

I like it when it reads well as a story, rather than being a transcript of a game.  

I tend to dislike story hours told from the first person perspective of one PC.

And usually I won't start a story hour until there are a decent number of updates to it - a few sessions at least.  I usually cannot get into a story hour after only a couple of posts, I need enough to get a feel for the characters and the writing.  If I don't have that, I will probably won't feel invested enough in it to subscribe to it, and will end up forgetting all about it unless updates are frequent.

Updates can be sporadic, but if they are, it has to be a great story to keep me coming back (Piratecat's and Saigiro's SH and Capellen's Q Ship).  More frequently updated stories don't have to be as fantastic in quality, but I won't read something that isn't good (IMO, of course) just because they update a lot.


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## Cerebral Paladin (May 25, 2007)

I'm also in the "I only read storyhours, not fiction" camp.  I pay attention to word of mouth, page views, title, and update schedule in choosing storyhours to read.  Regular (preferably scheduled) updates are a big plus.

This raises a related question I've been considering recently.  Are you more likely to read Storyhours broken into separate threads at logical points or one continuous one?  In my Aphonion Tales Storyhour, I'm approaching a major turning point.  I'm trying to decide whether to start a new thread, as a way to let people get in without necessarily starting at the very beginning (while still continuing the same story).  But I'm not sure that the higher page view total of the old thread wouldn't be more effective at drawing readers.  Thoughts?


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (May 25, 2007)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> This raises a related question I've been considering recently.  Are you more likely to read Storyhours broken into separate threads at logical points or one continuous one?  In my Aphonion Tales Storyhour, I'm approaching a major turning point.  I'm trying to decide whether to start a new thread, as a way to let people get in without necessarily starting at the very beginning (while still continuing the same story).  But I'm not sure that the higher page view total of the old thread wouldn't be more effective at drawing readers.  Thoughts?





When I came to a point in my story hour that this question came up...I asked the readers. Now, I don't get a ton of comments but the responses that did come suggested they prefer it in one thread.

Now, I know a lot of people like breaking things up into neat single threads for each storyline/adventure, but there are as many that think the opposite from what I can tell. My best suggestion is to pose that question to your readers.


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## Nonlethal Force (May 25, 2007)

Ankh-Morpork Guard said:
			
		

> When I came to a point in my story hour that this question came up...I asked the readers. Now, I don't get a ton of comments but the responses that did come suggested they prefer it in one thread.
> 
> Now, I know a lot of people like breaking things up into neat single threads for each storyline/adventure, but there are as many that think the opposite from what I can tell. My best suggestion is to pose that question to your readers.




Yeah, I would definately ask the readers.  I brought the same question up at the end of my first story hour and got an opposite response - although I didn't get many responses, either.  What I did was provide a link to the new thread at the end of the old thread so that people who were reading the new thread didn't actually have to look for it.  They could just click on the link, and once they're there they can subscribe to the new thread.

Either way, there is no wrong anwer or wrong way of doing it.  It is merely what you as the author prefer and what your readers like.


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## Cerebral Paladin (May 25, 2007)

Asking the readers is clearly one of the steps, but I figure most of them will keep following it either way.  I'm mostly wondering which is better for attracting new readers.  (Ultimately, I write my storyhour for myself, and if anyone else likes it, that's just gravy--but it's still nice gravy.  )


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## Nonlethal Force (May 25, 2007)

Personally, I prefer a new thread.  Stories with high post counts (say 100+ if it primarily only the author posting or 300+ if the author is in dialogue with the readers) scare me off.  It is too daunting to think about reading a thread with 300+ posts - but that's for me.

Of course, this also depends on posting length.  I typically average about 1700 words.  Longer average posts would make it more daunting, while a shorter average post length would mean more posts wouldn't really scare me off.

However, this is just my opinion - and not necessarily the opinion of others on this board, especially your readers.  But if you are looking to attract new readers, give consideration to starting a new thread with links.  You're welcome to check out my story hours and how I ended one and began another.  There is really nothing special about it.  I just posted the links with an explanation of what was going on.

I've also discovered, however, that when you start a new thread you won't immediately get new readers.  What will happen is once your post count gets up t around 40 or so - then you'll attract some new readers.  Again, just my experience, though.  YMMV, and it probably will!


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## el-remmen (May 25, 2007)

Cerebral Paladin said:
			
		

> This raises a related question I've been considering recently.  Are you more likely to read Storyhours broken into separate threads at logical points or one continuous one?




I am not sure how I ma going to handle it for "Second Son of a Second Son" - but I did this for "Out of the Frying Pan", not because there were distinct chapters to the story of the campaign (more like indistinct), but because part of the usefulness of a story hour to me is as a resource for planning future adventures and plot arcs and reminding myself of past actions, NPCs, places, etc. . .  By breaking it up it was easier to find this stuff by knowing at least generally what thread it happened in.


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