Preparing Stories
Having been a member long enough to be considering a command position, you've probably already got some idea of how to put together a story and how they're generally run around here. For the sake of better understanding, however, we're going to run through the two main aspects of story writing and a couple of other factors you'll want to keep a watchful eye on.
Run-On vs Planned Stories
The stories written, for the most part, in concert with a fighter squadron, are simply called "run-on." Run-on implies that the stories have some degree of improvisation, or that unplanned events or elements are introduced by the writers. Note that we say "degree" of improvisation; there have been times, though rare, where stories have been started with absolutely no planned events or predictable ends in sight, though, and they've usually ended in failure. Those can also be ridiculously fun, of course; a specific competition was once created for this style in particular. However, for our purposes, we'll be looking at a slightly more practical means of the run-on story. Before we can talk about that though, we should mention it's polar opposite: the planned storyline. In a planned story, just as the title would indicate, the events are already set in stone, almost like you would plan a novel. Though the writers would have the freedom to express the events in any frame of light they wanted, or introduce external elements (extra character plotlines, etc), the main idea is not going to be any kind of surprise. Again, this is kind of an extreme and may or may not take some of the fun out of the situation; there is a place for it, however: personal stories, for instance, may run more along these lines.
In a squadron story we're looking for a these ideas to come through: involvement from all of the members (not just the folks looking to fly up the latter), enthusiasm and high activity (which basically means lots of posting), a sense of continuity from beginning to end (the story doesn't start in one place and end on a totally different planet fighting a separate battle), contains challenges (this can mean leaving cliff-hangers for other members to finish-up or write about, or literally challenging characters by forcing them to make tough decisions), has a body that is both improvised/inspired and planned (most events may be introduced ahead of time while others are inserted through surprise), and it successfully fulfills the aesthetic needs of your members (if a member has an idea for a story, you use it and put it into practice in one way or another).
Before we jump into what mixtures work and those that don't, let me jump to that last idea: working with your members. It's important that we know who's going to be writing and working on this story before we decide anything. Generally speaking, you and your XO are in charge of story planning; you'll want the FLs to be very filled in and have their own two cents about it, but you two generally put the story up. Can the SC work alone? Yes, but if you've got an XO to bounce ideas off of- use both of your heads and come up with an even better, more diverse storyline. If you want to involve the rest of the squadron, however, you can ask for ideas from your FLs, or open up story ideas to the entire squadron. Ask them what they'd like to see. One idea is to ask for volunteers to help you and the XO plan a story; it can be an FL or even an FM. Either way, if you decide to open it up to the squadron, you'll still only be taking ideas; you want the story planning to be done by much fewer people (three-four at most) so that the rest of the group is still not totally aware of what's going to happen (this creates suspense/surprise). Also, by allowing more people to become involved with the story-planning process (though your FLs, when filled in, should be able to kind of cover this for you), in the event you disappear, you've got two other guys who can keep that story rolling. So- get your people involved!
Basic Elements of Story Writing
As you may have suspected, everything starts with an idea; you'll need a basic plot before you can do much of anything. While I trust you can come up with a storyline on your own, I'd like you to keep in mind that you want your men to actually be interested in the story taking place. If you don't convey some level of real storyline (romance, good vs. evil, man vs nature, man vs machine, whatever) then your members will feel like they're just fighting one space battle after another; you need to make sure that there is conflict, not just between naval forces, but between characters. And remember- you can build stories around your NPCs; you'll almost need to in order to keep things from becoming repetitious (the FL is dating the FM again- really not too surprising!). For our purposes, I've created a simple plot:
"Arc is the last of his seven brothers and sisters to join the armed forces, but also the only living sibling. After the deaths of his family members, Arc has felt the need to bring honor to his family by surviving in combat, but he knows his family worries. Upon joining Alpha Squadron, his commander receives a letter from Arc's mother, expressing her worries; the commander, after watching his performance in the sims, is worried as well. Meanwhile, a local squadron of hot head pilots has been making raids on Imperial installations on the planet of Yasor; when they finally strike the city base of operations, will Alpha be strong enough to defend the capitol and keep the rookie alive as well?"
Alright- not too much going on here, but we've got a singular center of interest- the pilot known as Arc. He has a background and interesting history; your characters will be able to interact with that. Some may be sympathetic and try to coax him to be strong, or to leave for that matter, while others may remain indifferent. We have another factor as well- the hot headed planetary squadron that continues to shoot up Imperial property, what will we do to put it to an end when they go too far and attack the base?
So now we need to set up a simple diagram of events:
As you can see, we've got four basic steps to this story now, we've broken it up into a timeline, and we've created an alternate ending. Also, we've identified the variable- does Arc live or die? Let's operate around the premise that he lives and Alpha takes these punks down a peg or two:
The next step is deciding on your forces: what type of fighters do we want to use, and what types of equipment does the enemy have? We'll say we're using basic interceptors and the enemy is using x-wings: simple. Let's introduce another element though; what does our local city hall have to offer? It's situated just outside of the city, but it's got some defense: we'll say three un-manned, anti-air cannons. Furthermore, it has some strategic locations: a supply bunker, a hanger bay, and a central facility (not too big though). So- in this first battle, your squadron is going to have to not only chase these boys away, but defend a couple of strategic points, all with the assistance of only three anti-air turrets. This is pretty constructed, but the level of destruction that the enemy manages to make on that base is up to the writers as well as the livelihood of all the pilots and people involved; members can be shot down, enemies can be killed, and people inside the base can be killed; all of these are factors. Note that you'll maybe only be telling your Flight members that there's going to be an attack and that you need to defend (you'll want to tell them only to take down four-five members to be realistic). Then, as soon as they escape, spring on them that there's going to be a counter-offensive. The element of surprise?
Now, just as we figured out the armament and created strategic locations for the first half, we can do the same for the second. In regard to the number of fighters taken down or the amount of damange done: that's really all up in the air. You'll want to kind of keep a tab on it, but there can be any number of things that happen here; members may even introduce other elements that you haven't discussed- try to use 'em, even if they change the shape of what you originally had in mind (you don't want to have to ask a member to go back and edit what they've written- that's just not good, so you'll have to be flexible if that happens).
And that's the basis of the story; you'll want to write the first post and set a tone for the events to come, of course. Maybe you'll all be hanging around the bar or working on fighters? Maybe some of the folks are in the nearby town getting supplies? These introductions really set up the thoughts and motivations of the characters for the rest of the story, so it's actually pretty pivotal, so your members may want to think on it for a minute or two. But that's the basic behind creating a story: introduce a plot, break it into a timeline (one that the members will be aware of, and another with events that you can introduce), give your members a basic layout of the key targets, or situations of interest as well as some fighter types and numbers: and the rest is up to them.
Other factors
First, you'll want to be aware that the above plot/story plan is pretty skinny and also pretty well prepared; you'll want to be careful that you're not running too much of the show. If your pilots feel that you're making all of the decisions and decide what comes next, they may not post for fear that they'll screw things up. You can eliminate that by setting the story up as a "situation." Let it appear as if it's unresolved, even though you've got some idea of where it'll be heading. This way everyone comes to the same conclusion, you just end up introducing that conclusion in a formal manner.
Also, complexity can be a problem: be careful that you don't introduce too many elements. If the number of statistics are just staggering, then you're thinkin too hard about this. Some stats, like missiles numbers, are variables that your pilots are meant to work with and make up, that way they create the interest of the story. Furthermore, too much info can just flat out overwhelm folks: they don't know what's going on because they're on information overload. Of course, you can also provide too little info, so you'll need some practice and time to find that happy medium.
In large battles (as this one was fairly small and uncomplicated), you may need to create a larger series of events, projecting them as "objectives." Using objectives, you can easilly make sure that one event comes right after another and that all events are fulfilled. Larger battles, simply put, are more complicated though and require more planning. All of the above ideas apply, though.
With all of the above in mind, I hope you'll enjoy writing stories (I certainly did), and that you'll take what we've provide you into consideration when putting them together.
