Writing an aar-A guide

[Vasiliyi]

Writing an AAR- A guide.
Intro
Hello everyone, I am Vasiliyi and some of you may know me while others not.
I have noticed over my time in the .org that many attempts were made to write
an aar. Although there were attempt were wholehearted and could have been
great stories, they eventually died. Whether it be to ctd or something esle, we
loose to many aars.

I think that there is some confusion as to "how" to write an aar. I know that
I was quite confused before I started writing my own. In this short guide, ill
discuss the ways to write an aar, where and how to post screenshots, slightly
edditing them, and creating your own "personal" aar.

First off Id like to say that really anyone can write an aar, but writing one
demands much time and preparation. Yes, you will have to spend many hours
writing a good aar. But the good thing about it that you don't have to all at
once. Don't think that the readers demand you to post every day. I think if
you did that, people wouldnt be able to keep up with it and just give up.

Second, remember RL is way more important than an aar. Unless you like to
skip school or work a lot anyways, I dont suggest doing it.

Grammar

Third, Grammer and proper sentence structure is very appreciated. Owen Glyndwr
created a very nice and comprehensive guide to grammer. Read it.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=112596

In addition to grammer and sentence structure, I once read a thread where
someone mentioned using the "Enter" button generously. Obviously, if you
paragraphs are long and thick, they can be hard to read and turn off the
reader. Try to keep them long enough to be a paragraph, but, do use the
"Enter" button generously.

Screen shots

Now, everyone likes to read an aar with some really cool screenshots. First off,
taking screenshots takes a little while to get used to, but you will get there.
First off, if you do not have the app to create screenshots, you can download
Fraps. Fraps is free, although there is a payed version . Here is the link for the
download. http://www.fraps.com/download.php

Well, when you do get fraps installed, go to the screenshots tab and set
up the key of you choice to take screen shots. I use the "Print scr" button.
Next, go to your documents and create a folder which you can call "Screenshots".
Go back to the screenshots tab in Fraps and change the folder to the one you
created. This will make all your screenshots go to that folder, which is convienent.

When you plan on taking a screen shot, you should, turn off the banners and
those ugly green arrow markers. This will make the screen shot to look more
real and pleasing to the eye. Next, you should always take at least 2 screen
shots. Who knows, maybe you wont like the first one. To be honost, I usually
take 5 or 6, sometimes more.

When you are done taking screenshots, you should go to your screenshots
folder and look at the screenshots. Then decide whichones you plan on using.
Then, you should open them up in the standard paint program that all (i think)
computers have. Crop it so that doesn't show anything except the actual screen
you want to show. That is, get rid of the Units and the map and the battle
commands. This makes the screenshots look a lot better.

Here is an example. An unedited screenshot:

The same image after its been cropped, notice how much better it looks.


If you are good at editting, or wish to tinker with it, feel free to download a
program called Gimp.
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
Its essentially like photoshop, except free. Now, before you have Cropped your
photos, you should create another folder and call it "WIP" or work in progress.
Essentially its for the screen shots you are going to upload, because looking for
them later is a pain.

Now, to upload screen shots, you need to create an online account to host your
images. I use www.Imageshack.com Its free,
once again and fairly easy to use. Now, after you have uploaded your images, create
another folder for your finished aar screen shots. Move the screen shots that are
already cropped and uploaded into the finished one. You really don't have to keep
the screen shots at all, but I do, for nostalgia.

Now that you have all your screenies are on imageshack or whatever hosting site
your using, your going to need to post them in your thread. To do this, first go to
your hosting site and find the correct line to copy for "forums" Its easily visible if
you use Imageshack and click on the "I" that's next to each photo. Now, uncheck
include details and what you have is a screen shot ready to be used.

I understand this might sound a bit confusing, but you'll get into the swing of it after
a couple posts. Trust me, im not the most computer savvy person myself, and I got it.

Content and Format

Now, on the actual content of the aar, that is up to you. How detailed do you want
it to be? Do you want it to be a story with characters and a plot line? Or maybe you
just want to report what is going on in your aar. The choice is up to you. But do, try
to make your aar a bit personal. There are many ways to do this. Here are some ways.

Create a character who is a merchant, soldier, citizen, king, or whatever you
please. Heck, may 5 or 10 characters. Give them personalities and try to paint
a picture for the reader. Dont make them all heros or famed warriors. Make
some of them cowards or worry worms or even just crazy!

Also, you do not need to post EVERYTHING that happens in your campaign,
infact, please don't. Post important things, things that are going on. Earlier on
in your campaign, you can post screenies of the buildings that have been
finished, but later on, its not as important, if at all.

There are many different formats for writing an aar. Find your own format.
Or copy one you like, (be sure you ask permission before hand, just in case).
There are even "Video" aars, although i think they are all short lived because
of the sheer amount of work you have to put into them.

Formats that I can think of:
Story format:You have a Characters with feelings and personalities.
Your story should have a plot along with plot twists (to keep things interesting).
Historical Format: weather it be like a history book or through
the eyes of a character, it doesnt matter doesn't matter.
Ahistorical Format: Your story does not follow history at
all, but instead follows its own "History"
Unserious Format: Well, like the format says, its not
serious, yet its still very interesting and a fun read.

Other tips

On cheating. Well, I can say that in order for a good story to prevail, On may cheat.
I must admit I cheat in my aar, even though I look down upon in any other campaign.
Its needed. Install the force diplomacy mod which can be found in the Unofficial
modding projects section. Its good, I don't use it, but I imagine it being very good.

Also id like to remind you all to make sure you save your campaign at every point you feel needed.
I save my campaign at every update I do. That way its easy to go back to anything if needed.
I would HIGHLY recommend it, as ctd's and bugs happen.

Conclusion

What else can I say? Im not sure. Just remember that its your aar,
and the point of writing it is to express your creative self, and to woo
us readers of course. If anyone has anything at all to add to this guide,
feel free to.


Disclaimer: Owen told me that I was allowed to post a link to his Guide,
but asked me to say that his Grammar guide is incomplete.

I also want to give a really big thank you to all the AAR writers out
there. They are magnificent stories and I read every one of them in the
EB AAR sections. Keep it up guys (and gals).
One last thing, I do not proclaim myself to be an expert writer,
as you can see with all my spelling errors, nor do I say that my
aar is truly awesome either, Im just posting this guide for all those who need help.

Also read the other things people have posted, as I could not remember everything.