A Word on Legacies

How many legacies do you think there are on the TS3 website alone? I'm hesitant to hazard a guess, but I'm thinking maybe hundreds. Do you know how many of those hundreds I've actually been a regular reader of? Just one.

The one in question is, unsurprisingly, Aoxa's Smith Legacy. It's the only story I've found, besides Graycurse's legacy which I dip in and out of, that I've actually stuck with- but even then I didn't follow the Smiths when they moved to LiveJournal. Why? Well there's no real reason; nothing changed- the legacy didn't go all shit or anything, I just think maybe I have a short attention span.

Now why am I telling you all this you may be wondering. Well you see, ever since my legacy became quote/unquote popular I have a lot of people looking to me for advice. I'm honored that I'm thought of in such a high regard, but I fear the admiration is perhaps misguided.

If you ask me to read your legacy or story I can guarantee you one thing- I will definitely read it. What most people want though is comments, and that's not something I do lightly. Generally I only leave my scribe on items if I have something in particular to say- usually if I've been blown away by whatever I've been reading. Generally I'm mute.

It's not your fault, I'm just very hard to impress. Not in life really- I'm a cheap date and I'm happiest just spending time with friends- but when it comes to writing I definitely have set opinions. Consequently it will take something very special for me to pick up my, erm, keyboard and leave my notions.

When people ask me for thoughts on their legacies I don't know what to say- I can only tell you what I would do, and that's no good cause we're all different. In my Simmie stories, Escape to Riverview in particular, I pride myself on individual style, so it's hard for me to critique others. I know you might not want that- you'd probably just like a general nod of acknowledgment or a 'very good' but... what can I say? I suck. I'm a natural critic and I believe that old adage- if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all.

Hmm I'm rambling now. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you ask me for advice and I don't get back to you I'm not trying to be a cow, I just have difficulty in knowing what to say.

Something to consider though- a lot of people get disheartened when their legacy doesn't do particularly well recs wise. Do you know how some of the most-read stories out there got that way? The writers didn't give up. When I first started the Mars Legacy the first chapter got I think about eight recs. It took a really long time for it to become well known, so you have to have patience. Also, a lot of the legacy writers I know are in their late teens or early twenties, but the majority of TS3 users are children or have just become teenagers. You can't beat yourself up if your story isn't great- you can have a natural aptitude for something but skill only really comes with practice.

Hell, my legacy wasn't all that when it first began- these things take time yanno?

But anyways, after all this if you really want to know what I look for in a story do read this legacy from the Sims 2 website- it's pretty much perfection (in my eyes).