Which is better?

[abailey3313]

I'm going to start working on my own Dynasty Report to release some of my creative writing energy, but I want it to be something that can be enjoyed by whomever is reading it.

So out of curiosity, which is the better read: a single player report or a franchise report?

I figure that with a single player report, it keeps things nice and concise. It allows you to focus on just one thing instead of an entire team, and I'm developing an idea for this concept as well.

In a franchise report, you can focus on a whole team, which gives more details to report. It allows a game-by-game blurb instead of a week-by-week, because something of note should happen everyday, as opposed to a single player, where a bad game isn't necessarily news worthy.

Any input you guys have would be nice.

[ctorg]

I've done both. I initially thought that the single player route would be more rewarding. My single player dynasty was a little odd, though, because it was only partially about baseball. Anyway, it was fun, but it started to get somewhat monotonous I think, and doing it started to become more of a chore. Then I hit a sort of writer's block moment and it's been dead since.

The team dynasty is turning out to be much more successful, though I've had to abandon it temporarily to concentrate on schoolwork. There's a variety of stuff to follow, so there's always something interesting to look at. I only wish I had done this with a fictional league instead of a historical one.

A third idea that combines these is to take the point of view of someone who is with the team or even on the team: the manager, a reporter, a bench coach, the trainer, whatever, and report from their point of view.

[abailey3313]

Originally Posted by ctorg

I've done both. I initially thought that the single player route would be more rewarding. My single player dynasty was a little odd, though, because it was only partially about baseball. Anyway, it was fun, but it started to get somewhat monotonous I think, and doing it started to become more of a chore. Then I hit a sort of writer's block moment and it's been dead since.

The team dynasty is turning out to be much more successful, though I've had to abandon it temporarily to concentrate on schoolwork. There's a variety of stuff to follow, so there's always something interesting to look at. I only wish I had done this with a fictional league instead of a historical one.

A third idea that combines these is to take the point of view of someone who is with the team or even on the team: the manager, a reporter, a bench coach, the trainer, whatever, and report from their point of view.

Yeah, I've considered all of those options at least once.

My only concern is like you said -- having it become a chore.

I love to write, but I don't want it to get to the point where, if writing about a single player or person, it becomes a whole lot more than baseball. If that's the case, I may as well make myself more useful and write a novel about a baseball player.

I'm thinking, since this will be my first report, it'd be better to start off tracking an entire team. This will give me something to report all the time. I'm debating between fictional and historic though.

With fictional, it's all new and different. That's my preference for solo leagues, because I get something other than what's on ESPN. The problem is, for a report, that's a lot of coverage, because no one know's whos who.

[ctorg]

Originally Posted by abailey3313

Yeah, I've considered all of those options at least once.

My only concern is like you said -- having it become a chore.

I love to write, but I don't want it to get to the point where, if writing about a single player or person, it becomes a whole lot more than baseball. If that's the case, I may as well make myself more useful and write a novel about a baseball player.

I'm thinking, since this will be my first report, it'd be better to start off tracking an entire team. This will give me something to report all the time. I'm debating between fictional and historic though.

With fictional, it's all new and different. That's my preference for solo leagues, because I get something other than what's on ESPN. The problem is, for a report, that's a lot of coverage, because no one know's whos who.

I still think fictional's a better route. Sure, you have to do a lot of introducing upfront, but everybody here knows what the numbers mean. I thought it would be easier to do a historical one, so I did, and it's fun, but I wish I could take more liberties with the players.

As for what you mentioned about writing a novel, I've actually considered doing that with the Johnson Dulle and the Post-Apocalypse dynasty thread I was doing. It's actually much more suitable as a novel than how I was doing it.

[abailey3313]

Originally Posted by ctorg

I still think fictional's a better route. Sure, you have to do a lot of introducing upfront, but everybody here knows what the numbers mean. I thought it would be easier to do a historical one, so I did, and it's fun, but I wish I could take more liberties with the players.

As for what you mentioned about writing a novel, I've actually considered doing that with the Johnson Dulle and the Post-Apocalypse dynasty thread I was doing. It's actually much more suitable as a novel than how I was doing it.

Well I know going in that if I do a single player, I need to focus on a little more than just baseball, because part of why you like or hate a player is because of the person he is. So that right there will involve a lot of writing.

And I'm a big fan of "chapterizing" (is that even a word?) things, books or even movies, like Quentin Tarantino does in Kill Bill.

So I know that if I write a single player, most of the non-statistical information will be written in "chapters", so I may as well write a novel.

I'm leaning towards a fictional league. I think what I might do is introduce only my major league roster, and then introduce other players as they come along. If a minor leaguer comes up or is close to coming up, mention him. When I play a series, mention the best opposing players so you get a feel for some of the league's best.

I'll probably get a start on that this afternoon, so keep an eye out.

[phenom]

ya know, I've been thinking about doing something like this.

Since I started a new solo league a few weeks ago and am only a couple weeks in, maybe now is the time.

[abailey3313]

Originally Posted by phenom

ya know, I've been thinking about doing something like this.

Since I started a new solo league a few weeks ago and am only a couple weeks in, maybe now is the time.

If ya' write it, I'll read it.

I find that I get a few seasons in, and start to get antsy to start a new season to change things up. The main reason is, no matter what happens in my league, I'm the only one who notices. It should keep it interesting if your league has ''fans''.

[ifspuds]

I've tried a single-player dynasty and barely got anywhere with it. I think with a team or a league, you have a lot more freedom to decide where to base your story from post to post. You can concentrate on one team or player, but it's nice to have a little extra latitude as well. I'm working on a team dynasty thread about my team in Time Warp Baseball that's gone pretty well so far, I think, though I don't know how many people are actually reading it.

For anyone considering a dynasty report on a single player, I simply have to demand that you go to the ITP Dynasty board and read Tib's SHORT HOP. It's incredibly entertaining and will give you an excellent idea of how to go about it.

Originally Posted by ctorg

My single player dynasty was a little odd, though, because it was only partially about baseball. Anyway, it was fun, but it started to get somewhat monotonous I think, and doing it started to become more of a chore. Then I hit a sort of writer's block moment and it's been dead since.

I wondered what had happened to Johnson. I'd still like to know more about what happened to the western US, if you ever feel like getting back around to writing about him.

[abailey3313]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

I'm working on a team dynasty thread about my team in Time Warp Baseball that's gone pretty well so far, I think, though I don't know how many people are actually reading it.

I actually plan on keeping up with that beginning with next season. I just got the game and joined the board last week, and you've got 2,000+ posts, so I figured I'd wait until a season ended and then start keeping tabs.

[ifspuds]

I should clarify. I've got a thread separate from the main Time Warp thread, which is Matt from TN's brainchild. My thread is just about the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates in the league. The main thread is about the whole league, and I highly recommend working through it if you get a chance -- the 1948 season just finished.

[ctorg]

Originally Posted by ifspuds

I wondered what had happened to Johnson. I'd still like to know more about what happened to the western US, if you ever feel like getting back around to writing about him.

I still like what I was doing with that, but I hit a wall. I actually have about 3 or 4 more seasons of "letters" from him, but it got further and further from baseball until it was inappropriate as a dynasty thread. There's even a year where he quits baseball completely. I realized it was too detailed a story to effectively get it across in the manner I was trying, especially since it had less and less to do with baseball over time.

I'll try to finish up his story at some point, even if it's just to summarize things and tie up loose ends. I feel kind of bad for abandoning the thing, but it was starting to become a pain to work on because of all the non-basebll stuff. I kept having to cut things out.

[ifspuds]

I figured that's what had happened. Even if there's not a lot of baseball in it, I'd be interested to read what you write about him someday. I'm a sucker for a good post-apocalypse story.

[seth70liz76]

It also depends on what you want to accomplish with your dynasty. My dynasty serves more as record keeping for myself, and if I see something interesting or want to take the make-believe backstory out of my mind and share it with someone other than the wife and cats (who really don't care anyway) I have that opprotunity. The worst thing you can do with a dynasty is ask what other people want to see. I know mine isn't the most interesting, in depth or entertaining, but it's what I want to do with it.

[ctorg]

Originally Posted by seth70liz76

It also depends on what you want to accomplish with your dynasty. My dynasty serves more as record keeping for myself, and if I see something interesting or want to take the make-believe backstory out of my mind and share it with someone other than the wife and cats (who really don't care anyway) I have that opprotunity. The worst thing you can do with a dynasty is ask what other people want to see. I know mine isn't the most interesting, in depth or entertaining, but it's what I want to do with it.

Very true. Even though making a dynasty is putting your league in a public forum, it's more for your own entertainment than other people's. That might sound weird, but dynasties that take that approach are usually the more successful ones.