How do you merge stories into a table of contents?

Hello! Just in case anyone cares, I wouldn't mind beta-ing someone's story. I happen to be a grammar freak (even though I don't like how that sounds, but that's me in a nutshell) and I have some free time! Yay! XD

So, if you would like your story beta-ed PM the wording to me. I can even help with making it sound interesting. I have a lot of practice.

Oh, that reminds me. Here's another word repeatedly misused.

Practise - 1: do something repeatedly or habitually.
2: be working in a particular profession.
(verb)

Practice - 1: repeated exercise to improve skill.
2: action as opposed to theory.
3: a custom or habit.
4: a doctor's or lawyer's business.
(noun)

HOWEVER, practise is spelled practice in the US. You lucky things...

As you can see there is a few little differences. I doubt that any average person reading your story would notice.

Ok, so perhaps someone can help me out here. I'm thinking of doing a story and have done some test shots (that I may use later), but the problem I'm facing is getting the right facial expressions/body language. I know it's pretty much a crap-shoot and you just have to work at it, but I was just wondering if there were any interactions (with people or objects) for things that you've found that may get a desired result (eg surprised, upset, etc.)?

Like I said, that's the biggest problem I'm facing now so any advice on this would be welcome. Thanks!

There is a wonderful hack for animations called the "Hula Dance and More." It can be found here. That is the main hack I use for my stories as it holds SO many interactions, poses, animations and more (hence the name ). There is also a mighty list in the Lists Section titled "Movie Making and Posing Mods" toward the top half of the page. Check those out, and you should be more than ready to take some stelar pictures

Ah! Thank you so very, very much! That should really help out.

Youre very welcome

I likey this sticky ! These tips are out of this world, well out of my world :smash: ! Well I super duper loved the pictures part, I just likey taking pictures :valentine

i fink dat dis iz a reli helping fing....
*shudders* No, no, I joke. But really, I do think it's very helpful. Constructive criticism will only improve us all!

Wow, this was very useful! Thank you so much for sharing this!

I'm with you here! I always emphasize the inherent ridiculousness of the Sims 2 game. The Sims is a world where men get pregnant from alien butt-probes, and ecological gurus wear fig leaves to work while beaming up to the sky like Superman. It's a funny game. Use it!

Thank you very much for this. Helped me a lot. I know just have to try and remeber it all. =]

My worst problem is in-depth grammer. I get the plural thing, and all that. I do have a bit of a question though. When typing, do you NEED to space twice after every punctuation like periods and stuff?

I always double space after fullstops and colons, it's grammatically correct, and just because that's how I was taught to type! However, I don't really think it will make any difference to your story if you double or single space. most people wouldn't notice.

Anybody got tips on how to write all types of fight scenes?

The best way to write a fight scene depends specifically on what type of scene you're using. Different techniques are used for hand-to-hand, weapons, large-scale battles, etc. The only "general" rules that really apply are the ones that apply to all writing: pay attention to detail and don't let the reader loose sight of the objective.

I've been writing action/adventure for a long time, and my best fight scenes are hand-to-hand. In my experience, the best way to come up with an exciting fight scene is to act it out yourself. That way you can visualize each move and come up with a realistic sequence of events. Also, watch Yuen Woo Ping movies. He's the best action choreographer alive.

My first currently planned story has hand-to-hand combat in it.
Any specific tips?

Well this is my opinion

When story-tellers write in such a way like "Hey my name is Ashley and this is my life" i walked into the bedroom carefully with my eyes closed so i couldn't---blah blah. That kind of thing gets me bored for some reason. It never really gets my attention. I dont like it as much as i like the way of--Gerald: Hey. Lisa: Hey whats up. Idk just me

This is a pretty useful thread. First-time writers can get a lot out from this thread.

If I may, I'll add some more tips:

-If you could, try having your pictures to the size allowed on this site. And photoshop them, if possible.
-Try and use a screenshot taker. The in-game camera produces blurry and compressed pics. FRAPS is an excellent example, but there are other alternatives out there.

I'll add more later.

woww Lifa lol. Right now im planning a story to put on Sims 2 Community Forums and im definitely referring back to this when im in a rut.

the link from GhengisJohn will come in handy

I'm a heavy writer myself. I'm also trying to write a book (if my own computer EVER gets out of its hibernation... *cries* It barely starts now...)

All the writing tips that makes you go "oh, I did not know that, but I'll try" are good, and I got a few of them from that link.

both pictures and writing have to be good. If the pictures are crappy, and the story don't capture me sometime in the first chapter, then It's more than likely that I drop it all, and don't even bother looking for updates. Though, if the story is funny, then I might read on... There should always be something in the first chapter that makes you read on. Not the entire plot, but a little thing that capture the reader immediately. A sentence, a few words, a conversation, something that happens... anything.

grammar and pictures are pretty much equal in my eyes. If a story can tell anything either only in words, or only in pictures, then you know it's either strong text, or strong pictures - or both. If the pictures tells something the text doesn't, the pictures are even stronger. You can put a lot into a picture - feelings, character presentation, symbols and so on. The pictures should not just be an illustration that follows the text - but it should be a way to tell the story, just like the text. And at the same time, the text can show so much more than a picture ever can, no matter how you do it.

The best writing tip, however - is to read a lot. Even if you don't think about it, you pick up a little here and there, and expand your writing skills. Try to not hold on to the same words and descriptions - but use new words (that fits the text, of course - use a dictionary if you're not sure of the meaning and use of those words). This expands your vocabularity very much. I'm not at all english speaking myself (been to England once in my entire life), but since I read mostly in English, I've learned a great deal.

for my last two stories (only the last chapter in MAF), I used Gadwin printscreen and photoshop. It gives you a lot more to work with than the C-button pics does. Besides - if you have to crop the pictures, it gives you a lot more freedom, since the picture is a lot bigger and easier to work with.

What an awesome thread, Lifa! Might I add a word of advice about Beta Readers? I saw that Padlock had mentioned them, but didn't see this anywhere...

When choosing a beta, make sure it's someone you know to have written a story, here or on another forum or even in RL, and ask to have samples of their writing. That way you can get a good feel for whether or not you'd trust them to help you with your story. They should have good grammar and spelling above all! Once in fourth grade I let a girl edit my story simply because I was editing hers. It was handwritten in our journals, and when I got it back I discovered that she had crossed out quite a long series of descriptions - that, were to be honest, pretty good for a fourth grader (how I hate myself for typing that sentence!)- and that every 'made' (there were a lot of those) had been crossed out and replaced with 'mad'! I confronted the girl about this, and she just said, "I didn't like reading that part." Oh, and my favorite bit, "But the word is spelled M-A-D. There's no E."

Also, when two characters are talking, don't type their sentences in the same paragraph. For instance:

"All this rain is ruining our fun," Perry said angrily. "I don't think so," her brother replied.

Once you hit the second character's sentence, you should press enter and be done with it.

I'm not sure if there's an exception, like '"I hate dogs," Lisa huffed. She turned to Jim and watched as he looked at her vacantly and replied, "You have no good reason."'

One more thing, then I'm done! XD It is a general rule that, unless you're writing a formal invitation or the like, all numbers one through twenty should be typed using letters, but 21+ can use numbers.

Once again, this is a wonderful thread, and it helps a lot!

Gunmod on MTS2 has a great camera mod that will let you get very close and very far away - its cool.

This was very helpful! Thanks!

haha. bunnies!

Important!