Question to Dynasty Writers - How do you define dynasty writing?

[StLee]

Hi, all.

I am giving a presentation at a conference in a few days about my Fallout dynasties, and I was looking for some input from you guys.

I was selected to present because it is a literary conference, and I proposed that I have participated in a community of like-minded writers who write dynasty reports.

Well, I was thinking about how I could explain dynasty reports as a genre. Technically speaking, I could narrow down dynasty reports (in the case of my themed Fallout games dynasty) as a subgenre of Fanfiction.

However, at the same time, I know Dynasty Writing is more complicated than just simply being fan fiction, and it most certainly takes on a different structure than traditional creative fiction.

So, help a writer out! How do YOU define dynasty writing?

[Orcin]

I always viewed my dynasty reports as a journal of my game experience. However, I thought a diary would be pretty boring for the readers, so I used my imagination to spice it up a bit.

So, I think it is more like writing fiction than anything else, with the game providing the rough outline of the plot. Consider it like improv, except you are writing a story instead of acting on stage.

[majormet]

Dynasty writing as we know it here is a broad genre. I think the best way to describe it as the fictionalization and characterization of a random simulated environment.

We are creating prose to create unique journalism of the simulated events. The writing extension would be the added details that we create that run the game from the simple statistical output to the development of singular players, unique leagues, and the story lines that derive it.

In a lot of ways it is fiction that can expand and limit the author at the same time. You can create a character named Ted Donald that the simulation generates and even gives a hometown, nationality, and attributes, but you also have no idea where the story goes. The player could never make it to the big leagues or they can morph into something large.

In a nutshell the fictionalization and characterization of random simulated events.

[Tiger Fan]

I am always amazed and impressed by the quality and variety in the various dynasty reports I follow here. In my opinion all of them are at the heart simply the product of a desire on the author's part to share his enjoyment of his own gaming experience or 'world' with others. It is done in many different ways - some tell a rich backstory using their imagination to bridge the gaps the game might have and bring their universe to life, some follow a specific team or player and add creative anecdotes to help the audience relate to and perhaps root for those players or teams, while others focus almost 100% on merely documenting the in-game events without feeling the need to add beyond that. There are many examples here how each approach can work very well as it is the quality of the writing and how the author presents this information that for me makes the biggest difference, regardless of the particular style of the writer.

For all of the dynasty reports I have done over the years starting with the old History of Baseball replays beginning with OOTP2, thru my multi-sport historical reports and now in penning 'This Week in Figment Baseball' that follows the online league I am a member of I have always had the common theme of trying to assume the role of a sportswriter trying to make the documentation of my league feel like a newspaper of whatever era I happened to be playing in. That is just the style I feel the most comfortable writing but I appreciate many different styles of reports that I read here.

I think the core motivation of most dynasty writers is the desire to convey to others the excitement we feel about our particular sports sim project and regardless of the approach the writer takes, I would say dynasty writing might simply be the author's 'Love letter to his sim universe' documented in whatever style of writing he is most adept at or comfortable with.

[Hrycaj]

STLee,

This is a fantastic question and I really wanted to add something for your research. However, I think both Tiger Fan, Orcin and majormet nailed it with their responses. So I guess I will just reiterate what they already wrote since we cannot like posts anymore.

To me writing style is not what makes the dynasty report. What separates a dynasty report from fan fiction is the game engine. Like majormet already posted this simulated world is what drives the writing. Even in cases where the author spends hours upon hours building back story, logos, uniforms and what not at some point they are going to hit the advance button and release their creation to the game engine. Writing about the results of that action is what makes it dynasty report in my eyes. To me all dynasty reports are really after action reports but with a much cooler name.

[majormet]

Originally Posted by Hrycaj

STLee,

This is a fantastic question and I really wanted to add something for your research. However, I think both Tiger Fan, Orcin and majormet nailed it with their responses. So I guess I will just reiterate what they already wrote since we cannot like posts anymore.

To me writing style is not what makes the dynasty report. What separates a dynasty report from fan fiction is the game engine. Like majormet already posted this simulated world is what drives the writing. Even in cases where the author spends hours upon hours building back story, logos, uniforms and what not at some point they are going to hit the advance button and release their creation to the game engine. Writing about the results of that action is what makes it dynasty report in my eyes. To me all dynasty reports are really after action reports but with a much cooler name.

This is spot on, what distinguished dynasty from fictional writing and why this has it's own universe is that this become writing on the fly. If you write a story, you know the outcome and where it heads, but this is more complex actually because you do release your creation and at some point it creates the story that you write about. And the amazing thing is that baseball is such a sport of oddities that you will have so much to write about.

The league threads are always going to end up being recaps of what happens, but you get the odd trades, signings, winning streaks, extra inning games etc that deliver the story

The character threads have more creative freedom to an extent. You can take a fictional character and make him a pastor from Sheboygan Falls, WI with a dark past and write about that as if you are writing a novel, but then it is a roulette wheel. And oddly enough the pastor will end up either in a decadent city like New Orleans or Las Vegas or in your small market town where people ride the Bible like Tulsa. That is what is fun.

And don't even get me started on hall of fame, record book, expansion.... I am amazed how I have stuck with this game over so much time and how the dynasty threads shape a hobby for me.

[The Game]

my dynasty threads are more about the recorded history of my leagues. The accomplishments not so much about the writing. Someday i want to go back and write a 35+ history novel about Wilbur Duggleby since all his events except for his entire managerial career has already happened and he is already a created player with a great backstory.

[pauwoo]

I see dynasty writing as both a tribute to the game and view into how people interact with it as a sandbox. As a low-key hobby writer, the simulation engine, coupled with baseball lending itself to storytelling so well, offers a multitude of prompts for me to sort of turn my imagination loose – this is true whether I am writing about my game world or just playing it completely offline.

The statements above call this out much more eloquently – but, to me, dynasty writing is a way to really immerse myself into my “creation” where I don’t have to dictate all the action. Instead, I get to fill in the gaps with nonsense and enjoy a little burst of creativity while advancing the game. I also spend a lot of time reading people’s dynasties on the forums and find it fascinating to see how others interact with the game – some create this great fictional narrative, others report out on the entirety of their world, there are those that focus on stats/trends… I greatly enjoy that variety as it has led to me learning about other aspects of the game.

There also is a community element that I think is important – reading and commenting on other peoples work really adds to the experience.

[BirdWatcher]

Although I have long-held literary interests (B.A. in English Literature, used to publish/edit a small, local arts magazine, dabbler in poetry, don't even get me started about all of the partly written novels I've abandoned), I have always hesitated to move my W.P. Kinsella League reporting into this Dynasty subfolder because I am intimidated by the levels of creativity and literary ambitions of many of the threads here.

I think of what I do here in terms of sharing about my fictional league as more reportage than fiction writing. Some of it is more in the vein of beat reporting and probably most of it is more akin to analytical reporting on baseball, inspired by folks like Bill James. Occasionally I also like to offer some feature writing flavor, capturing the more anecdotal and personal aspects of the league (or my engagement with it.)

For me the key is to find a way to open up some small cracks into the alternate reality of my baseball world to let people get a peek and to perhaps lure them in, wanting to see more. I can't possibly share the entirety of how I interact with this baseball world, and I have many backstories and narrative immersive elements that I don't report on in any depth here but that I do offer small teaser glimpses of at times.
In earlier incarnations of my reporting on the WPK, I at times tried to report in great detail game by game, or at least series by series. For me this grew overly burdensome and now my approach is more to give snapshots over time that at least attempt to capture the narrative arc of the league, the flavor of things, the characters and storylines, the rise and fall of dynasties, the vast richness of it all. In other words, my main approach is to convey, to the best of my abilities, my own great enjoyment in and love for this league and this game and how much this fictional universe has taken on a reality of its own in my imagination.
And if I am even at least a little bit successful doing that then hopefully the personal becomes more universal and I'm not just a solitary figure with an odd little hobby talking to himself.

[majormet]

Originally Posted by The Game

my dynasty threads are more about the recorded history of my leagues. The accomplishments not so much about the writing. Someday i want to go back and write a 35+ history novel about Wilbur Duggleby since all his events except for his entire managerial career has already happened and he is already a created player with a great backstory.

We have similar dynasties for sure, so I gravitate to yours because it is similar in style to mine... but do like to write so I have to resume one of my character threads.

[legendsport]

I know I'm jumping in late here and everyone's responses thus far have been spot on. There are in fact a wide variety of styles and you might say even "genres" of dynasty writing. Some are more reporting based, some are really stats heavy relying on including images of in-game screens and so forth.

For me personally, my goal with the dynasty writing is to tell a story that has, in its core, the OOTP universe I'm creating/playing through, but with an external focal point with the Barrell Brothers being the latest and perhaps best example of this. The story is about a family of characters, several of which are players in my OOTP league, but I try to flesh out the lives of these players, and the other characters, in the wider world.

Ultimately, for me, it's a creative writing vehicle that's built on OOTP at its core but encompasses a lot more.

[StLee]

First of all, thank you all for the feedback. It led to the most informative section of my presentation. Among a conglomeration of creative writers' interests, I introduced them to newer ideas of what creative writing could be.

If anyone wants to see any or all parts of my presentation, please let me know through PM, and I will send it.

[StLee]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I always viewed my dynasty reports as a journal of my game experience. However, I thought a diary would be pretty boring for the readers, so I used my imagination to spice it up a bit.

So, I think it is more like writing fiction than anything else, with the game providing the rough outline of the plot. Consider it like improv, except you are writing a story instead of acting on stage.

I appreciate you responding, and your dynasties have been a long-term inspiration for me. In my dynasty, I have fun with naming players, and I feel the Fallout universe lends itself to alternative names. That is why I incorporate some players based on dynasty writers here.

So let me introduce you to RF Orcin Cardinal:

[StLee]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

I am always amazed and impressed by the quality and variety in the various dynasty reports I follow here. In my opinion all of them are at the heart simply the product of a desire on the author's part to share his enjoyment of his own gaming experience or 'world' with others. It is done in many different ways - some tell a rich backstory using their imagination to bridge the gaps the game might have and bring their universe to life, some follow a specific team or player and add creative anecdotes to help the audience relate to and perhaps root for those players or teams, while others focus almost 100% on merely documenting the in-game events without feeling the need to add beyond that. There are many examples here how each approach can work very well as it is the quality of the writing and how the author presents this information that for me makes the biggest difference, regardless of the particular style of the writer.

For all of the dynasty reports I have done over the years starting with the old History of Baseball replays beginning with OOTP2, thru my multi-sport historical reports and now in penning 'This Week in Figment Baseball' that follows the online league I am a member of I have always had the common theme of trying to assume the role of a sportswriter trying to make the documentation of my league feel like a newspaper of whatever era I happened to be playing in. That is just the style I feel the most comfortable writing but I appreciate many different styles of reports that I read here.

I think the core motivation of most dynasty writers is the desire to convey to others the excitement we feel about our particular sports sim project and regardless of the approach the writer takes, I would say dynasty writing might simply be the author's 'Love letter to his sim universe' documented in whatever style of writing he is most adept at or comfortable with.

You have definitely been one of my favorite dynasty writers here, so I appreciate you commenting here, too.

I agree that we are looking to convey excitement. I have tried that, too, through my fan fiction depiction of the Fallout universe.

BTW, you are in that universe (young but appearing to be a future star!):

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by StLee

So let me introduce you to RF Orcin Cardinal:

I had a good laugh at the personality traits.

[StLee]

Originally Posted by The Game

my dynasty threads are more about the recorded history of my leagues. The accomplishments not so much about the writing. Someday i want to go back and write a 35+ history novel about Wilbur Duggleby since all his events except for his entire managerial career has already happened and he is already a created player with a great backstory.

I have viewed your dynasties for a long time. I know you are not about the creative writing, but you have certainly created a creative universe.

You are also in my dynasty. It looks like the character took a bit of a potential hit, but your character appears to be well on his way to CBO status, either with the Quincy Gunners or another team.

[StLee]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I had a good laugh at the personality traits.

Well, not everyone can be a Bob Gibson!

[StLee]

I am adding all of you who were not in my Fallout dynasty to the new crop of players, except Hrycaj since you were already in the game but got a ratings hit and only two pitches, so I bumped that up to make the HS freshman pitcher have better potential in the future. I also added a curve and changeup to his arsenal with better movement and control potentials.

Here is the player card:

[Hrycaj]

Originally Posted by StLee

I am adding all of you who were not in my Fallout dynasty to the new crop of players, except Hrycaj since you were already in the game but got a ratings hit and only two pitches, so I bumped that up to make the HS freshman pitcher have better potential in the future. I also added a curve and changeup to his arsenal with better movement and control potentials.

Here is the player card:

So I finally learn how to throw a changeup??!!! Excellent! I could never figure it out in real life!!