Book This Help Thread

[Christian Battlez]

A help thread for starting a new Book This project. Hopefully this will help you get an idea on how to start your federation and give you an idea on which order to do things.

1.) Pick what kind of project you wanna do. Decide whether or not your gonna do a current WWE or TNA project, take over an indy fed people may or may not know about, do a fed from a different time period like WWE 2002, or make up your own fed with either real life or made up superstars. Doing a project you know alot about makes i easier to write shows. If you don't know anything about Ring of Honor don't do a project on ROH. I recommend a current WWE or TNA project if your just starting out as these are the easiest. Doing your own fed is more innovative and fun but also alot harder to do.

2.) Decide on your roster. A roster of 25-40 superstars would be best. 6-8 main eventers, ten midcard guys, five tag teams, around six jobbers, and then some divas or fill in guys. Deciding who will be on your roster is important seeing as how these are the superstars who will wrestle on your shows. If your gonna do a show with madeup wrestlers make sure you explain each wrestlers gimmick,name, everything your reader needs to know about your characters. If you made them up noone will know anything about your characters without explanation.

3.) Decide which championships your fed will have. Will you make championships up or use ones that have been around. If your doing a current promotion or one from a certain time period you have set championships already. But that doesn't mean you can't change them to fit your needs. If your doing your own fed you can make titles up just make sure you give names and explain the rules for your title. Like if it has a weight limit list it.

4.) Plan your shows in advance. You don't have to have a year of shows planned out but have a general idea of where you want your fed to go. Having a direction makes it easier to follow the template you've laid out instead of winging it from the get go. You can always make changes as you go along but plan a few months in advance. If your starting after Wrestlemania plan up until Summerslam.

Thats it for now I hope this tutorial helped you out in starting your new BT federation. I'll more than likely be adding things as I go along but these are the basics. Good luck and if you have any questions you can PM me.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Alright, since I don't believe Christian Battlez is here anymore and that he said he'd post more on help, let me be the person to take over.

General Presentation & Formatting:

No-one is going to read a bunch of word walls or poorly constructed articles as it is going to be too difficult to understand what you are definitely saying. You have to make everything neat and tidy, even though it may be hell for you to edit. It's better if you are having trouble reading it initially so when you have edited it, others can read with ease. Here are a few things:

- Paragraphs. Make many of these to space things out. If you are doing short responses, make one match a paragraph say. If you are going full ball and explaining every detail, segment the match parts and make new paragraphs where necessary.

- Colour coding. If you have dialogue or commentators, assign different and distinctive ones for every person talking so everyone knows who is talking. You may even want to add colours to distinguish between the faces and heels.

- Bold/Underline/Italics/etc. Only use these when necessary. Like for my one, I use italics to describe the situation, bold to highlight who is talking/determining commercial breaks and normal writing without any of these for people speaking. Make sure you assign these the same every show and do it sensibly.

- Use of quotes and spoilers. There are multiple ways of using these. For me, I use quotes for commentators and video packages. This makes it much more distinguishable. For spoilers, I use them to post titantron entrances, images and match results at the end of the show. Allows for the computer to load up less and gives you the option of watching the videos, as well as skipping the entire show if you don't have time. You could also use spoilers to post matches in to make your BT.

- Fonts and sizes. Try to stick to using one font, being the original default. Sizes aren't that helpful, but if you want to put disclaimers in or want to signify the matches... might be a good idea. For me, avoid touching these.

- Don't use emoticons, whatever you do.

Other than make it readable and tidy, there isn't much left to do here.


Writing Your Shows

You have to decide whether or not this promotion is going to be a huge following or something small. Say, if you decide to do something indy, it is best to keep the entire writings to something very simplistic. Record the important parts of the matches, create short promo's, limited mic time, etc. Simplistic would be best.

However, uping the ante to something huge like what RAW is, then you will have to write a whole lot of details to keep up.

- You will need to focus on writing different matches from start to finish, including stuff here that involves storyline.
- Creating intricate storylines and feuds between wrestlers.
- Making promo's/backstage segments/interviews/etc. all relevant and interesting to the reader.
- Using commentators to give short breaks when reading matches. Don't use them to describe everything, but only providing pauses to get your eyes and brain away from the details.
- Researching your wrestlers to find how each works in matches. For example, Mysterio is a luchador. Use him as a luchador.

You have to think of quite a lot when doing these big ones. If you aren't ready, make something small like an indy promotion and expand from there.


Real Or Made-Up?

This is concerning characters. If you are going to use wrestlers that are in real life and well-known, there is no need to explain who they are unless you have given them a specific gimmick. If they are real wrestlers, but not as well-known, you will have to explain them as you right your shows or actually state these people are real and typing their name into a search engine will give you solid information on their background.

However, if these people are like real-life local wrestlers, or made-up people, a profile page or something must be used to describe them. You must have to explain this to people otherwise no-one will understand.


Your Threads

When you first decide to make an e-fed, you must post your idea in the main section. Basically, provide a backstory, details on your e-fed and what it is going to be, your roster, other characters that you will be using, championships, etc. Then after that, use this to post shows, PPV's, special segments like wrestling talk shows not aired on normal programming and important updates.

What some people have done is make a thread in the BT Lounge that has (e-fed title).wz like, FWA.wz

What this essentially does is allow others who read your BT to post their thoughts on how you are doing or if they like something. It also allows you to post unimportant stuff like character profiles of unknown people and short announcements. If you can help it, make sure your readers post in that thread for what I have dubbed "IWC Feedback."

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I can't think of anything else right now, so I shall leave my addition to this. If you need any help, I am available for questions. Best to ask in the General Discussion Thread or by PMing me. If it is of major importance, expect this to be posted here.

Remember, if you want feedback, there is a thread somewhere in the BT Lounge where you can request feedback and I will post feedback in said thread. Here is the link if you need:

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=72816

Happy fedding everyone!

 

[future admin]

oh, some more help would be, (if you are lazy like me) to open a new tab of WZ forums, and do your Book This in chunks, but that is only if you're a lazy person

 

[Viola Moonlight]

oh, some more help would be, (if you are lazy like me) to open a new tab of WZ forums, and do your Book This in chunks, but that is only if you're a lazy person

It's probably best if you save the separate portions of the show in a Word document just in case the internet browser fails you. God knows how many times I attempted to write some segments for my older Book This! promotions and accidentally pressed the hot-key functions on my keyboard to close down the browser, or my internet suddenly cutting out.

However the tabs idea is great. I open up WZ Forums, Wikipedia and Youtube up so that way I have all-round access to everything I need when writing. Wiki has a quick move-set list for all wrestlers that can be very useful and YT for posting TitanTron videos before matches. I've got Word or something like that running in the background to keep all my saved progress just in case I need to double check or provide a reference for later on in the show.

 

[@smarkmouth]

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, and I apologize If I didn't read anything properly.

Book This! is essentially the reason I got back into wrestling forums. Not "Book This!" specifically, but I looked for a forum with the appropriate venue. Upon reading what some people have, I don't know if my idea of it is the same as everyone elses.

I am an accomplished writer who is a big fan of pro wrestling. I've been a fan since I was very young. In fact, somewhere at my parents house I have a photo of myself as an infant watching Hulk Hogan on the screen. Over the past few years I realized what has kept me interested for so long is that wrestling can be the best of two worlds: athletics and storytelling.

I write storylines in wrestling. I've been aiming to get my post count up to 10 (with only quality posts) so I can share them with you. My stories are more focused , as I write specifically to isolated events. I like what you guys do, but I don't write entire shows. I'd post entire storylines as they would play week to week.

My question; is that acceptable, or am I missing the point of this forum?

 

[TSG]

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, and I apologize If I didn't read anything properly.

Book This! is essentially the reason I got back into wrestling forums. Not "Book This!" specifically, but I looked for a forum with the appropriate venue. Upon reading what some people have, I don't know if my idea of it is the same as everyone elses.

I am an accomplished writer who is a big fan of pro wrestling. I've been a fan since I was very young. In fact, somewhere at my parents house I have a photo of myself as an infant watching Hulk Hogan on the screen. Over the past few years I realized what has kept me interested for so long is that wrestling can be the best of two worlds: athletics and storytelling.

I write storylines in wrestling. I've been aiming to get my post count up to 10 (with only quality posts) so I can share them with you. My stories are more focused , as I write specifically to isolated events. I like what you guys do, but I don't write entire shows. I'd post entire storylines as they would play week to week.

My question; is that acceptable, or am I missing the point of this forum?

You can basically do any kind of fantasy booking in this section of the forums. We've had people even book a single wrestler before. Anything can work, but it needs to be well formatted and easy yet interesting to read. Go ahead and post them, as it will be something new and fresh to the section and will be something to read. It also brings new traffic to this area, which is something it could always use.

 

[@smarkmouth]

Thank you for your help, but now that I have 10 posts, I still can't make a new topic. Anybody?

EDIT: I take it back! It works now.

 

[TSG]

Hmm...that's odd. Don't know what could be the problem there.

 

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

I have a question....

are we allowed to use wrestlers that people already have as a part of their company or can we use whoever?

 

[Theo Mays]

I have a question....

are we allowed to use wrestlers that people already have as a part of their company or can we use whoever?

Any superstar can be used in any book this. So if you want Jericho and despite him being in other promotions he can also appear in yours, as it is a completely different promotion and your fantasy booking.

 

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

Thanks Theo. I am looking foward to starting my Book This! and I have some good storylines I have been wanting to use.

 

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

Well I got one more thing...... How do I add videos into my Book This!?

 

[The Doctor]

The same way you put videos in posts. Check the FAQ.

 

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

Alright.

 

[TSG]

Here are tips on starting a new Book This! thread from resident booker GCB:

Right, here are some things I think need to be in the help thread. Any other ideas or changes? Also, a list of useful links might be good so feel free to drop them in.

1. Before even attempting a BT, read around. Get a feel for how to write one by reading other peoples. Maybe even review and feedback on others to get yourself known.

2. If you're new, pick a time period and a company you know well. Easiest thing for a newbie to do is use current WWE/TNA - you can attempt something more difficult once you've got the hang of it.

3. Peep will tell you not to plan too far in advance - it can sap your motivation as you want to get to the exciting things you've planned in the future. GCB will tell you that you need to know where you're going and what you've got coming. In truth, you need a balance somewhere in the middle that suits you. You have to know what is coming next in your BT so you can begin to build people correctly, so you don't use all your big ideas in one go etc ... but Peep is right that it can de-motivate you if your current shows aren't as good as the future ones. I guess you need some short/medium/long term plan but you also need to make sure you've spread the excitement around to keep you interested as you get to the future.

4. Learn how to format your writing. Knowing the basic code for bold, italic, underline, alignment, colour etc ... can be a big help when you're writing in Word. Don't rely on writing in the box on the forum - if it crashes, you can lose the lot. Write in Word and then copy in later.

5. Preview your posts - how can you make them look better by formatting them? Nobody wants to read a wall of plain black text, it puts people off. You have to break it up and make it easy to read. Also, make sure you use paragraphs and pronouns (He, She, It, They).

6. Promos - watch old YouTube videos of the superstars being interviewed or cutting a promo and get a feel for the things that they say and do. You need to make them sound realistic in your BT.

7. Matches - whether recap or full detail, you need to write more than a line or two. One paragraph is fine for recap form, a few paragraphs are better if you want the reader to get into the match. I like to use the 3-count to break up the paragraphs (or commercial breaks or comments from the announcers) so it is easier to read. Using the correct moves is important: Wiki has movesets for the wrestlers, SMACKDOWN vs. RAW games are useful for WWE wrestlers and I find YouTube useful - type in 'top moves of John Cena' and see how many videos there are of the top 5, 10, 15, 50 moves (does he have 50?) of Cena. It is the same for all of them.

8. Listen to constructive criticism. Nobody is going to like every thing you do. Think about how you can improve your shows based on what people are saying.

9. Anything goes in your BT: if you want to push Hornswoggle to the WWE Championship, you can. It's not realistic right now but if you write it well and give enough ammunition for it, you can do it. Check out what people are doing already - you have to try and stand out. In my BT, for example, Kofi Kingston is getting a push and is challenging for the top titles. In real life, not realistic. But people who have read all my shows know how Kofi's push has got him there and it is realistic. Try and be different: if someone else is doing something, try and do something different.

10. YouTube videos: ask yourself a question. Do they add to the thread? If not, get rid. Each to their own but I don't watch them and they take up room and time to load. I include one at the start of the TV show and I add them where I can use them (i.e. to show something that happened before my BT started IRL or as a vignette for a returning superstar).

11. Have fun!

Any questions, just ask us here.

 

[Arcade]

I have a question. Can you format your Book This on a phone?

 

[ZBroski28]

I came to this forum primarily to "be a booker", but I've posted 10 times, since can't open my own thread. I hope it starts working. I have some brilliant ideas, or at least I think they are brilliant

 

[TSG]

Good luck man. Just follow the tips provided here, you'll be successful. And creating a thread should work for you soon, give it time!

 

[ZBroski28]

Officially, I can post now. Thanks for the help..& the motivation, I guess.

 

[Captain Mike]

I can see that no one has a problems with created wrestlers, feds etc but what about dead wrestlers? Say I want to write WWE, WCW, ECW or TNA in an alternate 2011 where guys like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Mike Awesome are alive, is that allowed or frowned down upon?

 

[Theo Mays]

It's a booker's choice, at least that is how I see it. If you wish to use an alternate reality where passed wrestlers are still alive then go for it. There are really no rules to that scenario around these parts. I know for me it isn't something I would do, but I wouldn't be against someone else doing it.

 

[Captain Mike]

Thanks Theo, it sorta gives me a bit of a gauge to go on with what I can do creatively on these forums. Such things were frowned upon at other boards I have been too...

 

[GCB]

It's a tough one. It depends on the wrestler used for me.

For example, if you wrote about Eddie Guerrero, that would be a sign of respect and I'd not have an issue with it. However, using Chris Benoit, I don't know how I'd feel about that. I don't think I'd like it.

 

[Captain Mike]

Does that have more to do with how they died than anything else?

 

[GCB]

Does that have more to do with how they died than anything else?

Yeah, I think so. The idea of a face Benoit doesn't work for me no more and the idea of glorifying him as a heel is worse.