Samulated

So I am a simmer (FosoSam on the forums) and have just returned to the community this week. I often come and go as my infatuations change.

One thing that I often want to do, however, is create a Town (like with the Create-a-World tool) but I am not even committed enough to make a family. I get to a certain point and lose my motivation, starting another one ad infinitum.

So I will try doing a thing where I develop an area and it's people, with one thing each day, so by the end of a certain amount of days I have basically half a story.
I will brainstorm for a moment.

Rule: Keep mistakes. Do not fix them, if you forgot to add lights to your house, make a reason why that is. If your protagonist has blonde hair, and everyone else has red hair in their family, make a reason why that is. Be creative, not destructive.

The Protagonist. Who and what are they?
Do they have secrets, special abilities, or habits?
Are they popular, smart, funny?
Give them a fatal flaw or an oddball trait.
Give us a bit of backstory.
If you haven't already, make them in the game, and post a screenshot.
The Family.
Who do they live with?
Who did they used to live with?
Who are their parents, how close are they to them, how much have they influenced the protagonist?
Siblings, Half-siblings, Step-siblings, Blood-siblings, Foster-siblings, etc etc etc. Give their family some interesting backstory and a few quirks.
How wealthy are their family, what kind of values do their family members have, does your protagonist agree?
Are there any dark secrets from your family's past?
Make the various parts of your protagonist's family, it doesn't matter if the game hasn't linked them up yet, or if you have to split the family over multiple households, just make sure everyone is there.
Post some screenshots and little introductions for each family member.
The Neighbors.
Who lives next door on each side, across the road, up the street?
Any quirky or interesting characters? Or even remarkably dull characters?
How do the members of your protagonist's family get along with the neighbors? What about your protagonist?
How long have the neighbors been there? How long have your protagonist's family been living there?
Any history between the families?
How do the neighbors view the family, and the other neighbors?
Again, any secrets that might affect your protagonist's family?
Whip up some of the neighbors, screen them, introduce them.
The House.
Now you can make the family their house.
First, how many members in the family, do they all have beds right now?
How poor are the family, this will affect the house and facilities, ect.
When creating the bedrooms, consider each family member's personality. The little details matter.
Make sure you take your time, consider who maintains the house (eg, the mother, the unemployed one, grandma) and who makes the money. The one who maintains the house's personality will come out in the decor of the kitchen, lounge, etc. The one who makes the money is more likely to be the one whose personality will come out with the more functional parts of these rooms.
Has the house been renovated at all, is it new or old?
Are there places where each family member practises their interests? If you can't fit it in, don't worry, they might go out into the community to do these things, or their friends' houses.
Take screenshots of the house once you've made it. Think about why you put some of the things in that you did.
The Street.
Think briefly about what your other family's houses will be like (you may make them if you want, but it is not required)
Are there any new houses on the street? Is this a new or old part of town?
Are there any places that aren't houses on the street? For example a park, pool, shops, blank lots.
Are there any houses or areas that have been abandoned? Why?
Are there any houses or areas with stories about them? How true are they? Why do people tell the story? (Eg. Genuine fear, warning, for fun)
Are there any community groups along the street? Any gangs or alliances that are interesting?
You may create some more neighbors if you wish.
You may create neighbors' houses, or some shells at least, if you wish.
You should create some of the non-house areas in game (parks, pools, shops, etc)
Screenshot your creations, tell us about your street, the people living on it.
Name your street for us.
The Others.
Consider other areas of your town, where does each member of your protagonist's family go to school, work, play? Where do the politics happen, where is the main shopping? Where do your protagonist's friends live in town?
Create your protagonist's friends (and foes, if you wish) and consider how they met, as well as the family's opinion of them.
Who is the mayor? The local celebrities? Mother's boss? Founding families of the town? New families? Quirky interesting characters? Cliche characters?
Where abouts in town is your street? Where are they in relation to the other places in town?
Is the town near any features or other towns/cities? Beach town? Lake town? Forest town? Plains town? Desert town?
Now consider the history of the town, and what the features and such around the town mean and how the town was formed. For example, a forest town might have grown from lumber trade, so there may be an old abandoned lumber mill or something.
Consider some nice miscellaneous parts of the town to add. For example, water treatment plant, or power plant, army barracks, occult store, community garden, sporting fields, train stations, piers, etc etc etc. Variety is the spice of life! And it colours your world like nothing else.

If you are to add a lot of small things to your town, it may help later on when you start writing. For example your protagonist may be having a romantic tryst with the school bully, but must keep it a secret, so they meet at the old abandoned military facility at the edge of town, because no one ever goes there.
The Plot.
Now you can start writing.
Consider your protagonist's current position.
How do circumstances change, how do they react? Consider their traits.
How do others react? etc etc etc..

Don't be afraid to be unconventional, variety makes your story stand out from the rest.

And there you have it, FosoSam's 7 Day Story Challenge.
We can do this and then compare notes on how we go. We could even keep a post of all the people who completed the challenge. Exciting!

I'll start mine right now!

Samulated

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Beneath our Radiant Southern Cross

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Creating my own Town

Monday, 25 March 2013

Introduction