So now I’m a weaver and I’ve been able to see exactly what that means. Weavers are supposed to coordinate stories and manage the details of bringing a story to light (make sure articles are ready, details are fleshed out, consent is obtained, etc. etc. etc.)

But this brought up one hell of a question. How, exactly, do we develop and publish a story? Now the implication here is that if we can’t really define a process by which DE develops and publishes a story, we’re going to have endless difficulty managing things. Because everyone’s creative style is as unique as a finger-print, there can’t be a concrete or comprehensive process. Still, the process below will give authors transparency into the decisions being made and bring sanity to an otherwise chaotic endeavor.

Assumptions made while thinking about the proposed process below:
1. Players submitting a story might be at any level of readiness for publication, therefore the process must be able to accommodate a writer from idea to publication.
2. Players must maintain an attitude conducive to collaboration throughout.
3. Stories will change, the needs of the SIM will change, the expectations of the community will change, some stories simply won’t be able to get published without drastic change to suit the above.

So without further ado, here is a process flow for the publication of stories, large and small, in Dead end. For a cleaner version with proper formatting, go here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XSPCbRpGUlkhMXOBZcJSejPCH8w7Q_EroJXQDC5QkMo/edit?usp=sharing

1. Story Concept and Submission
a. Author documents the concept. They should be able to clearly communicate the concept of the story at a high level to include a title, a goal for the story to accomplish, and a summary of the RP that would be generated.
b. At this point, authors should be encouraged to use friends, business leads, and the forums to gauge general interest in the concept.
c. The story is considered officially submitted when it is shown to a story weaver and posted to the story weaver forum with attribution of original authorship. At this point, acceptance is based only on whether or not the concept of the story is in keeping with SIM rules and community expectations of role play. (i.e. no magic, the bad guys can do bad things, city agencies function much like city agencies would in real life, etc.)

Tips for this stage: Develop a 15 word MAX summary of your story. It will be used endlessly as a quick and dirty way to sell the excitement your story brings. Also begin keeping a list of people who help you along the way. Write them down now along with how they helped so you can credit people for positive contributions. Grow a thick skin as a writer’s work will be constantly judged and criticized throughout the process. Story Weaver's are listed as staff on deadend.sl/help.

2. Early Story development
a. Author takes the concept and fleshes out the idea to the state of an outline. The outline should include a fleshed out plot and a readable timeline of activities such as posting daily articles, making forum announcements, and how on-SIM events fit into the flow. Fine detail is not expected, but there should be a clear relation between the items of the story outline to the plot’s concept. The story should also now have a list of needs and logistical considerations (props, actors, scripts, consent, location planning, etc.) that will need to either be secured or planned around.
b. At this point feedback should be a closed process to protect the integrity of plot twists and surprises.
c. Story weavers will screen outlines and suggest changes prior to approval of the story by admins. When the author and story weaver agree, the outline, fleshed out plot, and logistical considerations will be posted to the weaver’s forum so staff can suggest changes and/or approve.

Tips for this stage: The details of the story can be fun, but keep in mind that staff requires certain things of stories. Over developing a story can lead to a lot of heart ache if staff needs to alter certain details in order to make another story fit alongside this one. Expect change! The most successful writers work with the needs of the SIM, as presented by staff, and are reasonable even when facing a top-down change in the story.

3. Late Story Development
a. Authors flesh out fine details including actors, props, scripts, locations, daily articles, forum announcements, dates and times, consent, and collaboration with stakeholders. Stakeholders include city agencies (PD, FD, H/A, and DE Daily), businesses impacted, the leaders group, and individuals. All stakeholders should be in agreement with what the story might do to their RP group and to their own stories so that they can plan accordingly.
b. Feedback is still mostly closed, though will need to open up some in order to collaborate with stakeholders. Stakeholders may inject requirements that require small alterations to the story in order to secure their full participation.
c. Weavers help a late development story by providing legitimacy to the author as well as a point of escalation on staff. Weavers should help to identify stakeholders, facilitate introductions, advise authors in effective ways of selling story participation, and continuing to be a collaborative resource for authors. SIM admins and GMs should be used as a last resort.

Tips for this stage: Protect your twists and surprises, but don’t neglect the author’s duty to obtain consent. Stories In this stage will be given precedent over other stories, regardless of perceived quality. Attempts will be made to fit similar story lines in, but stories with less development may be rejected in favor of the more developed story. SIM staff seeks to keep the SIM active with stories; therefore repeated development cycles - like to replace a developed story with a newly proposed one - are avoided.

4. Final approvals
a. Authors make last adjustments to details and double check that everything is in place and ready to go. Instructions for running the story are provided to story weavers so that staff participation can remain constant, even in the absence of a regularly involved story weaver/staff member.
b. Feedback may open further as the story might benefit from pre-announcement to the DE group leads and/or the forums, though changes made to the story at this point
c. Weavers work to clarify the provided instructions so that they are clear on what is expected of staff and when. Final approvals is given by admins and the story moved to publishing.

5. Publication
a. Authors must oversee their story. Check and double-check that required plot points are being hit. Ensure articles are posted in a timely manner and that the SIM has a chance to be engaged in the story. Adjustments might need to be made as a result of actions in role play and so the author’s involvement is still crucial.
b. Feedback is now open to the SIM. Remember that thick skin? Grow it even thicker because public feedback can be far harsher than anything experienced thus far. Though the expectations that the community remain polite while providing feedback have been made clear, there is always an element that will prefer condescension and insult to a productive critique.
c. Weavers, GMs, and admins all work to support the story as much as possible. From directing players on how to engage to in the story to supporting the author in last minute adjustments.

Tips for this stage: Certain behaviors are desired in writing that may or may not be observed when the story becomes a role play. For example, you may have thought that a certain mechanism would attract newer players, but then it turns out those newer players weren’t really interested. Try to dissect the mechanism and determine what went wrong, and what went right, to obtain the behaviors you’re looking for next time.