The Inkwell - Updated

[Lord Durham]

I have updated The Inkwell and reformatted the Index so there is less scrolling.

So, any one who was holding off on updating their particular slot, or adding your name and AARs, now would be a good time. I'll be monitoring The Inkwell for any new additions for the time being.

Also, The SolAARium is there for those interested in all things related to writing and discussing AARs. There's an exhaustive Index appended to the first post. Currently there is an ongoing questionnaire relating to characters and how you utilise them in your AARs.

Finally, The bAAR remains open and has seen a bit of business. It's a great place to mingle and recommend the AARs you are currently reading or have read.

Write on!

LD

 

[Chac1]

So good seeing one of the Founders return! AARland has surely benefited from all your good work, now and in the past too. Thank you.

 

[coz1]

It is great to have you back with us, LD. For 20 years plus, I have enjoyed so many great figures pass in and out of these virtual walls and many of them a huge influence upon myself. You know my debt to you (which can never be repaid other than a virtual glass of milk in the bAAR unless I somehow make it to Toronto.) AARland thrives when people get involved and I concur...get involved! It is great fun and we don't bite...much.

 

[Lord Durham]

Thank you @Chac1 and @coz1. @coz1, I'll take you up on that milk and the trip to Toronto, if it's ever in the cards. For those scratching their heads, the 'milk' reference is a long standing joke.

In listing the links to the SolAARium, bAAR and Inkwell, I failed to mention another very important thread. The fAARq is an outstanding collection of links and information compiled by @coz1. Begun in 2006, it continues to be updated to this day. It should definitely be used as a prime resource for all things AARland.

 

[Rensslaer]

Thank you for doing this @Lord Durham!

I had noticed in recent years folks were not using The Inkwell as much and it's too bad - it's a really great way to advertise in freeform without the Twitter-like space restrictions of the signature banner (which doesn't show up in Mobile anyway).

Also great to link to the other helpful stickies many have forgotten. Lots of "player aids" as it were. The FAARQ is a WEALTH of information. Thank you @coz1!

Rensslaer

 

[Nikolai]

Thanks for your work @Lord Durham ! Much appriciated!

I had noticed in recent years folks were not using The Inkwell as much and it's too bad - it's a really great way to advertise in freeform without the Twitter-like space restrictions of the signature banner (which doesn't show up in Mobile anyway).

I know my own inkwell surely must be closing in on a word or at least length limit at some point soon, it is getting really long. Mostly links, of course.

 

[Lord Durham]

Thanks for your work @Lord Durham ! Much appriciated!

I know my own inkwell surely must be closing in on a word or at least length limit at some point soon, it is getting really long. Mostly links, of course.

Holy crap! You weren't kidding. That has to be some kind of record . Good on you, @Nikolai.

 

[Nikolai]

Holy crap! You weren't kidding. That has to be some kind of record . Good on you, @Nikolai.

I do believe I might be the one in here with the most AARs. Over 40 so far, and almost all has been completed. One or two I think I abandoned, at most.

 

[Macavity116]

I do believe I might be the one in here with the most AARs. Over 40 so far, and almost all has been completed. One or two I think I abandoned, at most.

Its not just the sheer volume that's impressive. You complete multiple AARs per year, often pivoting between different PDX games. You are a force of nature.

 

[Nikolai]

Its not just the sheer volume that's impressive. You complete multiple AARs per year, often pivoting between different PDX games. You are a force of nature.

Yeah, and imagine then all the stories I do not have capacity for! Like my current game in the same mod that my Elysium AAR is in, only this time the mod WORKS PROPERLY (take note @Rensslaer ). Since yesterday I have played about 60 years and made the ERE, in a similar position of decay as IRL Ottomans, albeit a little better off, to the prime power of the world. All of the Middle East to Baghdad under my control, Hungary, Poland-Lithuania, half of Germany, some of Australia, Africa, South America, and now also a good chunk of North America. It begs to be told.

But I have no capacity beyond the two I already do.

 

[Lord Durham]

You are a force of nature.

Couldn't have said it better. That should be @Nikolai's new Custom Title.

 

[Nikolai]

Couldn't have said it better. That should be @Nikolai's new Custom Title.

I have had my Basileus Romaion custom title for over 20 years, though.

 

[Lord Durham]

I have had my Basileus Romaion custom title for over 20 years, though.

True. You know, we've been writing AARs before some of these newer members were born. Scary, eh?

 

[Nikolai]

True. You know, we've been writing AARs before some of these newer members were born. Scary, eh?

Don't remind me. I'll feel old.

But yeah. I was 15 when I registered. I'll be 38 in a few days. Crazy. Scary.

 

[Lord Durham]

Try pushing 70, then we'll talk about feeling old .

 

[Chac1]

I hope I am not too far off topic here (but I can always get into the feeling old competition as not many here have my years) but the bAAR is now occupied again with music on the jukebox and a new fire. Everyone's invited if they are in the mood.

 

[DensleyBlair]

True. You know, we've been writing AARs before some of these newer members were born. Scary, eh?

Too late in the day for me to do the precise maths now, but I’m not far at all off the point where I’ll have spent more of my life as an AARlander than not. And I’ve still never finished an AAR…

Many thanks for all the admin work, LD. The Inkwell is a fine resource. Hope it starts being better utilised by our newer comrades.

 

[Rensslaer]

Since its opening in I'm thinking 2004 or 5 The Inkwell has been a tool to advertise and to find interesting AARs to read. Thank you so much for your stewardship @Lord Durham!

I have updated my page with my latest (pretty sure) but I need to reorganize my page and replace the "cover" image so it doesn't have an imageshack overlay.

Oh, and I suppose maybe I could add a link to my novel, with a cover image? I hadn't thought about that. Is that allowed do you suppose? Maybe a link to my author page and not a direct sales link?

Rensslaer

 

[Lord Durham]

Since it's opening in I'm thinking 2004 or 5 The Inkwell has been a tool to advertise and to find interesting AARs to read. Thank you so much for your stewardship @Lord Durham!

You're welcome. And yes, everyone should take advantage of it.

I have updated my page with my latest (pretty sure) but I need to reorganize my page and replace the "cover" image so it doesn't have an imageshack overlay.

Oh, and I suppose maybe I could add a link to my novel, with a cover image? I hadn't thought about that. Is that allowed do you suppose? Maybe a link to my author page and not a direct sales link?

Rensslaer

I can't see why not. I linked to some of my earlier works.

Too late in the day for me to do the precise maths now, but I’m not far at all off the point where I’ll have spent more of my life as an AARlander than not. And I’ve still never finished an AAR…

Many thanks for all the admin work, LD. The Inkwell is a fine resource. Hope it starts being better utilised by our newer comrades.

I hope these newer comrades utilise it, too. That's what it's for.

And I can't believe you never finished an AAR. Your Norfolk works were brilliantly funny.

 

[DensleyBlair]

And I can't believe you never finished an AAR. Your Norfolk works were brilliantly funny.

Yes, it’s true: six stabs at finishing one and I’ve still never made it. Though all but one of my works on here I started while I was a teenager, so that is maybe not so surprising. Historically I was very good at embarking on projects, but as for finishing them…

I am tantalisingly close, however, as the next update to Echoes of a New Tomorrow will be the last update-proper before I take a bit of a break and start again on a new story from that world later this year. Of course, so far writing and publishing the preceding bits of the final chapter has taken me the best part of three years – some going for a project yet to celebrate its fifth birthday!

And it’s kind of you to recall my Norfolk tales. Thank you for the compliment. I had a lot of fun writing those, even if they subsisted massively on plagiarising drawing inspiration from Blackadder. They’ve received a call-back in my current work, where one of the recurring sources is a Blackadder analogue called (what else in socialist Britain?) Redadder. There are two regular episodes (here and here) and a Christmas special. I have been assured they are passably funny.

A broader lesson I have taken away from all of these attempts is the importance of stamina, enthusiasm and flexibility in seeing an AAR through. When I was much younger I simply didn’t have the stamina to complete works on the scale that I wanted to complete – sweeping histories with detailed research and narrative elements – in the limited time I had available to me around school. And often my enthusiasm was more founded on wanting to emulate incredible AARchievements of the forum’s past (Resurrection, Lords of France, Paris ne vaut pas une messe, Timelines…) than on the necessary work of e.g. plotting or characterisation. (Which reminds me, I’ve been meaning to answer your survey above, LD. Will try to get around to it this week.) When I got a bit older and found that I’d discovered a proper enthusiasm for those things, and also reigned in my ludicrous ambitions a little bit, fate decided to give me a load of exams to sit and so I had to give up AARing for a period anyway. Which is what taught me the importance of flexibility: don’t get too wedded to one update structure or posting schedule if it isn’t sustainable. Far better slow, steady and completed than fast, uncertain and abandoned.

(I’ll report back in a few months’ time to let you all know whether my own advice works for me with Echoes. )