Hardest part?

[mdale2k]

Hey guys;

Just wanted to get a little discussion on cards and circuits.

What's your hardest part on developing characters or angles.

I would say that I am too pro-heel and I write heels better then faces. I have a hard time writing for faces because I find them less interesting.

Anyone have any characters or circuits you routinely have difficulty writing?

[JoshiQ]

The hardest part for me is to find a happy medium between not enough information and too much. I like detail, but there is such a thing as too much. My favorite circuits from other people have cards that you can pop in and read one in a few minutes without a ton of thought. I sometimes start writing a segment and start thinking that I didn't show just how EVIL an attack was. Or how amazing a match was. So I start adding bits and pieces here and there, and I then have a card way bigger than I had planned. It also creates more work for myself.

As for actual characters and angles, I finally picked up the habit of working with people I like. With the NWF I hire some guys and I can tell within about 3-4 cards if I will be using them for the long haul or not. Big John Studd was fun to write when he was challenging for the World Title, not so much when he was in the mid-card and I didn't want to job him out.

Come to think of it, that might be my biggest challenge. Building up challengers to the World Title, having them lose their shot, and not depush them immediately. I've done an okay job with some guys, and not so well with others. It's hard to keep the upper mid-card going if they are not in the hunt for the World Title.

[snabbit888]

I have some trouble keeping everyone busy in something meaningful. I like the old style of booking where every wrestler or team at least had SOME storyline going, even if it was minor. That's tricky to do sometimes.

I also think it's hard to remember all of my history. I'm near 300 cards into GCW now, and over 20 years TNM time. I forget a lot of my old storylines because I'm always so focused on the current stories I'm working on. Hell, Josh has to remind me of things a lot and then I go, "Oh yeah." For as much shit as I used to give them, I can totally see how WWE sometimes can accidentally forget their past. It's hard to keep track of sometimes.

[rey619]

Aug 14, 2012 12:06:05 GMT -5 snabbit888 said:

For as much shit as I used to give them, I can totally see how WWE sometimes can accidentally forget their past. It's hard to keep track of sometimes.

Yeah, but you're just one person, WWE is a huge company. There's a difference.

I do agree that it's easier to write heels though. There are several ways to be a good heel, not so many ways to be a good face. The hardest part for me is also the funniest part - building to a PPV. Deciding on the card, figuring the build-up, setting up the matches, not devaluing someone who's going into the PPV... and I always try to think ahead with my booking, thinking 2 or maybe 3 PPVs ahead of time, foreshadowing, not rushing to a hasty conclusion, but not dragging things out either..

[snabbit888]

I can't remember who I heard say it - maybe it was Jericho - but being a face is hard. It's easy to make someone hate you, but it's hard to make someone really like you.

PPV build is hard if you don't do traditional squashes. You have name talent fighting all the time, so it's tricky not to bury someone to elevate someone.

[JoshiQ]

I think that is where part of the problem with the WWE lies. You can't have Ziggler jobbing to Punk, Cena, Sheamus, Kingston, R Truth, and Big Show all the time and then immediately be the top contender to the World Title. It just feels weird when one month it's someone like Miz beating everyone on the roster and the next month he is losing to everyone on the roster. What changed?

But that is wrestling for you, I guess. I'm guilty of doing the same thing, just hopefully not to that extreme.

[fwaroc]

If you want to get some ideas for angles, watch some soap operas. That's right...soap operas...not wrestling. Think about it. How often do you see action in a soap opera...not often. It's about being able to use a ton of characters in a short amount of time and then have a quick climax (i.e. match) to resolve the issue. There are so many parallels to soap operas in wrestling it's ridiculous. In fact, we used to dub wrestling as "soap operas for guys." (That was before it was cool to say you were a fan of wrestling.)

You can also easily adapt a soap's plot into an angle. You have love triangles, lots of characters, red herrings, people who want to see other people fail. Of course, the murder plots could easily be changed to title challenges.

Plus it's daily and you can get a good 3-4 months worth of angles from a 2 week session

Better watch them now before they ALL go away

Of course, you could also just go to a website that has some old stories on them and do the adaptation that way. I promise it will help if you ever get writer's block!

[snabbit888]

I watch a lot of old wrestling clips too to get an idea of some old style angles that just aren't done very often.

And the soap opera thing makes a lot of sense. I do theater as well. If you're patient and a reader, read some old plays too. You'll get some strange ideas that way.

[cardsflyinhigh]

One of my biggest problems I think sometimes I have a hard time not being repetitive with my heels. I noticed I tend to write the same blindside attack again and again. I think I need more variation in my heel angles.

[wickedrex1]

I have a couple of issues that easily come to mind. The first, which Ryan has so eagerly pointed out on a number occasions, is my use (ie. overuse) of outside interference in bigger matches. To me, as the writer/booker, it's easily my fall back option on how to progress angles - or even start new ones. I think I've gotten a little better at writing overall angles, and such, but that's the one I'm still having trouble with.

And, outside of the interference, my other big problem is using lesser-known talent. My HWL roster is filled with a number of people that are top stars in their respective feds, and I have a good sized roster filled with mid-carders, etc. I tend to always go back to using the bigger names for the top titles, which causes a problem of me not being able to build up any of the other talent.

[snabbit888]

Jan 3, 2013 6:46:39 GMT -5 wickedrex1 said:

I have a couple of issues that easily come to mind. The first, which Ryan has so eagerly pointed out on a number occasions, is my use (ie. overuse) of outside interference in bigger matches. To me, as the writer/booker, it's easily my fall back option on how to progress angles - or even start new ones. I think I've gotten a little better at writing overall angles, and such, but that's the one I'm still having trouble with.

And, outside of the interference, my other big problem is using lesser-known talent. My HWL roster is filled with a number of people that are top stars in their respective feds, and I have a good sized roster filled with mid-carders, etc. I tend to always go back to using the bigger names for the top titles, which causes a problem of me not being able to build up any of the other talent.

I'm such a dick.

[wickedrex1]

Jan 3, 2013 8:10:01 GMT -5 snabbit888 said:

I'm such a dick.

Yeah... but I just couldn't be that blunt about it. Hey, if your dickishness helps anyone run a better circuit, wouldn't it be worth it? Something to think about...