The Story Guide
So, you want to write a chapter onto the CyberYarn QTH, eh? Bwahahahahaaa! You obviously don't know what you are getting into, because interactive stories are proven to be addictive--Surgeon General's warning. Plus, if you love writing and having fun, then you might as well abandon all hope right now of ever slipping back into reality again. I should know. If I wasn't so busy running my CyberYarn pages, I would be adding on to every single interactive story on the net daily... But on to business.
This is the official CyberYarn QTH Story Guide. Here you'll find the guidelines for adding on a chapter to the stories on my site. Hope you'll bear with me while I get all this out of the way so you can get on to the fun stuff (a.k.a. writing chapters!).
When you write your chapter, you can either do it using the form on the CyberYarn QTH Chapter Factory page or you can e-mail it to me. I prefer you to e-mail it to me if you want something special added to your chapter like an extra choice. (I will go into more detail on customizing your chapter later.)
When you fill out the form, an e-mail address is not necessary. If you do give it to me, then you have a choice of whether you want your e-mail address to appear on your chapter. If you give me your e-mail address, I will notify you when your chapter gets posted.
If you do not write anything in the "Author" part of the form, I will just write "Anonymous" below the title of your chapter; however, every other part of the form except the "Author" and "E-mail" sections must be filled out if you want your chapter to appear on CyberYarn QTH.
As for the length of each chapter, make sure that your chapters are at least a good four paragraphs in length. (However, I will be pretty lenient on the lengths of chapters.) Don't write chapters that are designed just so you can put in more choices. Try to add something worthwhile to the story. I'll edit each chapter for any obvious bloopers before they get on page, so try to help me out by checking spelling. Of course, I realize that some people just don't have a knack for spelling, and I won't hold that against you if that's the case in your situation. Also, feel free to use HTML tags in your story, but don't try anything like adding a link back to your home page because I'll just delete it. Chapters are written in past tense, third person.
Because this site is specifically for writing Ham Radio stories, there are special rules that apply. One important issue that comes up is how to use callsigns. I have one rule here: Do not use the callsign of a person if in CyberYarn QTH unless you have their permission. This includes using callsigns that have not been used yet or making up callsigns. I'd prefer you use your own callsign, or one of a friend or family member that you have gotten permission to use. Of course, I'm not going to check up on every callsign that gets written into the stories here, so I'm going to trust everybody who adds onto the stories in this site to work with me on this rule. (Note: The callsigns in the first story are the ones of myself and my family.) Also, you might notice that the first story takes place in "8" land. Don't hesitate using your own callsign if you come from someplace else. Who knows? Maybe there's been a large amount of Hams moving from California to Ohio these days...
One important note about the chapters: I want to keep my site as clean as possible, so please don�t put anything in the chapters like porn, graphic language, or abusive language. Think of it this way-- I want my mom to be able to visit my site and read every single chapter in the interactive story without being offended.
As for the "Choices" option, you can write up to three choices using the form, or you can e-mail me your chapter if you want more. Make sure you fill out the introduction to choices too...there are examples filled out for you in the form. Choices are written in present tense, third person. You only need one choice to continue the story. If you want the story to end, include no choices and choose "Yes" for the option "Is this the End?"
Now for one of the only options that allows YOU to decide what your chapter will look like on the page! Drumroll, please! You get to choose your own BAR to put on the page! Wild, ecstatic cheering. Of course you can have the default bar:
Finally, to submit your chapter, fill in the number of the chapter that you are adding onto in the story and the number of the choice that you want your chapter to follow. (Right now there is only one story, so you don't have to choose which story you are adding onto, but I hope that later there will be more stories, maybe some of them started by you! Go to the Create A Story Page if you are interested.) Once you have the form filled out, press the "Submit" button.
Once the "Submit" button is pressed, the story eventually finds its way to my hands. If you followed the guidelines that I've gone through on this page, I should have it up soon. I will try my hardest to put new chapters on the page at least once every week, but my levels of work during each week can change drastically. Don't hold your breath! It'll be up eventually, and it's better late than never.
Amazing! You survived the CyberYarn QTH story guide! Give yourself a pat on the back. Hopefully you now know more about what my standards are, and what you have the power to do! Now, take pen (ahem, I mean keyboard) in hand, and WRITE! From here, the future of CyberYarn QTH is in your hands!
Is there anything that I am not clear about? Do you have any questions? If you do, please e-mail me, and I'll try to clear them up as best I can. Good luck!
This page is © 1998 by KC8ALW.