#-and so 3. i have to scroll down and EXPAND EACH BLOG TAB INDIVIDUALLY and THEN click the notification/activity link THERE to check

[iraprince]

also wow this new ui on desktop.... SUCKS................. on one hand i can see that they're TRRRYYYYING??? to listen to us when we say "cluttering the page up w a bunch of garbage is bad" but they've overshot it and decided to hide every useful/regularly-clicked button from us behind a nesting cascade of additional unnecessary clicks. that is not what we meant but thanks for trying

[something-wicked-sims]

Do you have any tips for writers who want to write sim stories but don't know how to get them posted in order?

Hi Nonny! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure what this question was asking, but I don’t like to give advice that isn’t at least somewhat well-thought out. So here are my tips for starting out and how to format/order your posts (or something like that.)

Jade’s Super Awesome Tips For Getting Your Simblr Story/Legacy Off the Ground i.e. Potentially Helpful Formatting Tips For New Simblr Writers

First of all: If you want to do a sims story, DO IT. They’re great creative outlets, and someone will want to read it! And remember, it is your blog, so do whatever you want, and don’t feel pressured to have to make things a certain way. But, if you want to be organized, these are some guidelines: 

1. Identify your posts in some way. Doesn’t matter how. Some simblr writers use episode, some use chapters, some use a mixture of both (i.e. Chapters for longer portions, like an entire arc, and episodes for each individual scene. Example: Chapter 1: Episode 1, Chapter 1: Episode 2… etc.). This is helpful in letting regular readers know if they’ve missed a post, and follow along linearly. It’s just helpful all around.

2. Linkage. My dudes, this is so important, which is why I made a previous post about it. A lot of simblr writers are already doing previous/next links on their posts, and that’s GREAT. Everyone should definitely be doing this. Personally, I really think the movement should expand to include “beginning” links. On my own posts I have all three, a link to to the start of that particular story, the previous post in the sequence, and I update all posts to include the “next” link once I have it posted. Tumblr’s post formatting makes this SO easy, there’s no real reason not to do it, because it’s super helpful to readers, and trust me, people want to read from the beginning. Maybe not everyone, but you also don’t want to turn people away because they couldn’t find the start of your cool story. So, I repeat, all stories should have this format: Beginning/ Previous / Next links on each post. I’m beating a dead horse here, but it’s so nice, as a reader, just to be able to flip through someone’s story via easy linking, because I don’t have to break my immersion of the story by tabbing out or looking around, or scrolling through your posts to find the next one in line.

Helpful side note: If you’re the type of writer who posts things out of chronological order, using these links would still be a good idea, because you can go back and edit them at any time, and you can link to any post on your tumblr, so if you post something later down the line that you think should have happened at an earlier time in the story, you can just rearrange your links to reflect your correct chronological timeline.  

Here is my tutorial on how to link your story posts with beginning/next/previous links!

3. Tag correctly. Some simblr writers have more intensive tagging systems than I do, so I won’t speak too much about this, because as a reader, I don’t really use tags to navigate new stories I read. But it is still important to tag all posts in a story the same, so either with the title or legacy name, and then you can tag individual chapters or episodes if you want to. Also be sure to tag if you’re doing a story, or a legacy, or whatever type of story. I use #ts4 story #sims story #ts4 storytelling, there’s a whole other slew of legacy tags which I don’t use, cuz obviously I am not a legacy simblr.

4. Have a table of contents or story page of some sort, especially if you’re doing multiple stories/legacies at once, but even if you’re not, it will help people who are lurking around your profile navigate through your story. If you’d like an example of how to format them, here is my story page and here are my table of contents pages.  As I am not the be all and end all for formatting, I think another great example is @beverlyallitsims index page (she made it SO easy to catch up on her MLSC story and now I’m just another Randy fangirl. I’m a living testament to this process working wonders!). 

5. Billboard advertising. Okay, now this one is totally optional, but if you are doing a legacy or story, it’s a really nice little touch to have a banner or some tell, even if it’s just a small one (you don’t need to be some Photoshop wizard), to let people know that this is an ongoing thing you’re doing, not just a random collection of photos (those are cool too!), but some people go looking specifically for stories and/or legacies to read, so having a banner or something with your story title or legacy name (generation number) is a good idea, too. 

Bottom Line: Make your stuff accessible! Unless, of course, you don’t actually want people to read it lol, which is totally fine, too. Some people like to use their blogs as a personal outlet, and don’t need to be noticed. But there’s nothing wrong with trying to be visible, and if you do have a small pool of readers, be generous and help them along. Total strangers want to read your work, put in a little extra time to make sure their stay is a pleasant one. You know, before you rip out their hearts with your edgy theatrical sim-drama. 

Again, idk if this answers your question, Nonny. But I do want to help! If anyone has any questions or is looking for advice, feel free to message me, either privately, or on Nonny, I don’t mind. My inbox is always open.