How To: Writing a War Story

[Our Wasted Years]

So it has come to our, the Staff’s, attention here that some members wanted to write a War Story, but weren’t doing it quite right. I’m going to try and explain how to do it the best I can, and I’m going to leave this thread open so if there are any questions other people can answer them as well. Now writing a War Story isn’t hard at all, but it’s supposed to be pretty long.

Before you write a war story:
-Make sure that the battle you’ve had was very good, if not one of your best.
-Have a list, or at least a very good memory, of what happened basically every turn.
-Be as descriptive as possible. Remember the more you describe things the more enjoyable and informative the story will be.

Writing your war story:
-Somewhere in your thread title put "War Story"
-Tell us a bit about where and how the battle came about.
-List your team before the story.
-If there were any special rules or clauses make sure to tell us that.
-Tell us your thought process, and if you were chatting online or in person with your opponent include some of those details as well.
-Describe every turn. It’s a must, even if a Pokemon used Protect and that’s all that happened.

Many warstories are boring because they lack thought. Battle commentary shouldn't be restating what we can clearly can see/read, they should include insightful comments on how the turn affected the match, or the thought process of the player on how they planned to get out of a sticky situation, or something else along those lines, as you mentioned. There are some situations where you don't need to describe every single turn in detail (for instance, a stall war where only the last turn really has relevance); it should be just enough to keep things informative and interesting.

-List stats of each Pokemon IN THE BATTLE. Like the HP amount and if there is any status condition.
-Tell us how many Pokemon each person has, or if you’re up or down(Pokemon-vise).
--For example: Your Lucario knocks out your opponents Gengar the first turn. Say at the end “Gengar down, I’m up 6-5” Or something like that.
-You can end the War Story any way you’d like, but don’t have it really short, but then again don’t have it really long…unless you want to.

Also, people may want to get rid of leftovers recobery, sandstorm damge, etc, after mentioned once. That way it doesnt get overly long and boring. Speaking if which also the war story should have some pictures and be colorful so your eyes dont hurt towards the end.

So these are the basics in my opinion. Writing one isn’t hard, but some people probably don’t do it because of how much you have to type. I’ll leave a link to Smogon and their War Story Archive at the end. You may only use Smogon’s War Story Archive FOR REFERENCE and NOTHING ELSE. If I catch you ripping off anything from someone on Smogon you will be infracted, and after that you will be banned. Respect other web sites and people, DO NOT RIP.
If anyone wants me to add/change/delete something please say so. Any questions about War Stories go HERE, and feel free to answer questions if you know the answer.

References:
~http://www.smogon.com/
~http://www.smogon.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=57
~http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45074

 

[F-22]

Though I'm aware of current trends in warstory writing, I would suggest not making listing your opponent's entire team at the beginning a requirement. Since the story writer had no knowledge of the opponent's team beforehand, it makes battles so much more interesting to read because the "surprise" of what the other person is using isn't spoiled, and certain moves in the match proper would be more understandable when you don't have that knowledge. A minor nitpick, but spoilers aren't fun in my opinion.

That isn't to say I'm against listing your opponent's team: it should be at the end instead.

Also, you should expand/edit this since it seems too vague:

Describe every turn. It’s a must, even if a Pokemon used Protect and that’s all that happened.

Many warstories are boring because they lack thought. Battle commentary shouldn't be restating what we can clearly can see/read, they should include insightful comments on how the turn affected the match, or the thought process of the player on how they planned to get out of a sticky situation, or something else along those lines, as you mentioned. There are some situations where you don't need to describe every single turn in detail (for instance, a stall war where only the last turn really has relevance); it should be just enough to keep things informative and interesting.

Hopefully my suggestions are helpful.

 

[Our Wasted Years]

Though I'm aware of current trends in warstory writing, I would suggest not making listing your opponent's entire team at the beginning a requirement. Since the story writer had no knowledge of the opponent's team beforehand, it makes battles so much more interesting to read because the "surprise" of what the other person is using isn't spoiled, and certain moves in the match proper would be more understandable when you don't have that knowledge. A minor nitpick, but spoilers aren't fun in my opinion.

That isn't to say I'm against listing your opponent's team: it should be at the end instead.

Also, you should expand/edit this since it seems too vague:



Many warstories are boring because they lack thought. Battle commentary shouldn't be restating what we can clearly can see/read, they should include insightful comments on how the turn affected the match, or the thought process of the player on how they planned to get out of a sticky situation, or something else along those lines, as you mentioned. There are some situations where you don't need to describe every single turn in detail (for instance, a stall war where only the last turn really has relevance); it should be just enough to keep things informative and interesting.

Hopefully my suggestions are helpful.

I added your quote in there...hopefully it makes more sense to people.

 

[coolking503]

Thank you for writing this, though I'd like to add a few things.

-List each person’s team before getting down to the actually story.

I think that unless its a two person war story (where both players show their insight), its usually better to only show your team first, so that the reader understands why a player made certain predictions, etc. If they know the opponents team you cant play along as well, so many war stories list the opponents team last.

Also, you may want to link to the war story formatter for battles on shoddy. I dont use it (I'm a mac, it doesnt work on macs), but most people do. you can find it here.

Also, people may want to get rid of leftovers recobery, sandstorm damge, etc, after mentioned once. That way it doesnt get overly long and boring. Speaking if which also the war story should have some pictures and be colorful so your eyes dont hurt towards the end.

 

[Our Wasted Years]

Added your quote too and the link. I'm too lazy to reword it

 

[AuraSoul93]

Not to sound like a complete noob, but what's a "War Story"? :dumb: I've never come across them online, only been told about them.

 

[Our Wasted Years]

Not to sound like a complete noob, but what's a "War Story"? :dumb: I've never come across them online, only been told about them.

<_< it's when you write a story about a really good WiFi battle you had with someone else.

 

[AuraSoul93]

Gotcha. I take it those that are unable to record these battles are the ones who came up with the idea?

 

[Our Wasted Years]

Gotcha. I take it those that are unable to record these battles are the ones who came up with the idea?

I don't know who came up with it but they had the battle recorded because I'm not sure how people would remember what happened each turn.

 

[coolking503]

Actually most of the battles for warstories are from shoddy battles since you can save he log and avoid typing as much.

 

[timoteyo7]

I never even heard of these "War Stories" until now. Thanks for the info.