How Do You Do It ?

[KWOAOA]

I'm sure I can't be the only one who goes through this. But at times I have trouble wanting to run my circuit. Not that the game gives me issues just myself not sure if I want to do an event.
So how do you keep wanting to do things in your mind ?

Keep in mind I don't know if this has affected me or not but I don't watch wrestling, I do have various promotions bookmarked but in all honesty I just read results I may check clips online if things intrigue me to do so. But I don't sit down and watch things.

Which is no doubt why at times I go months or a year or so between running events... I know one thing I kinda want to see apart of TNM7 and thought about asking tnmlyger but I don't think others would want it. But a random card generator where it will just toss together a random card so the booker/promoter (like myself) doesn't have to think... But I see me being the only one who would want this.

[mdale2k]

Hey...great Q. Sometimes I come up with great ideas (or so I think) and make an excel with it, whether i gewt there or not.

I find what bogs me down is if I am trying to have nice write ups for the cards vs. just whats in my mind.

Right now I am in 2005 of a NWA TNA circuit started by the beginning. I considered posting it now with just write ups for the big shows as I like to do those write ups but the TV I just sort of know what my PPVs are gonna be etc.

[tnmlyger]

For me, it's all about the finishes. I get most of my booking ideas from moments that happen during matches. Sometimes the cards just flow. And other times it takes me weeks to come up with an idea for the next card.

I think that's a completely normal process.

[cardsflyinhigh]

I ran into a similar problem. It kind of comes and goes in waves. When I sit down and start to put together cards, I'll do a bunch at a time. In fact my WCW circuit I think I'm right around early 93 posting, I already have events ran through TNM into Mid 1996. But That's kinda why I choose the format I did for my WCW circuit where I only do the big shows with minimal recaps especially for lesser storylines (thought that will change once I enter the Nitro era), I don't bother with weekly TV to tie things together, especially since the era I started in was mostly enhancement talent matches on TV. I didn't feel running all those would keep my interest very long. However, doing big show after big show did keep my interest.

My biggest problem was taking the time to write everything up. Especially with my old job where I did a lot of writing, it made it hard to get motivated to sit down and write for fun. But I moved to a different position that didn't involve nearly as much writing and a lot of down time which I decided to fill by doing write-ups. In fact, my shift just started 20 minutes ago.

But long story short, you just got to find what will keep your interest.

[mgdukester]

For whatever reason, I’ve never had the most confidence in posting many of the write ups that I did as it was difficult to get what was in my head across to readers in an exciting format.

I’ve tried doing small indy based monthly circuits, I’ve tried the typical wcw/wwe style with a weekly show and a PPV every 4 weeks to build and even the alt-history type circuit trying to rewrite history in my favorite era ( Attitude/Monday Night Wars) and after 25 cards or so I hit motivational blocks and look for reasons to start over.

I’ve always been impressed with those on here that could put together such creative Feds with consistent long term production.

[LillaThrilla]

Jul 23, 2020 21:30:52 GMT -5 mgdukester said:

For whatever reason, I’ve never had the most confidence in posting many of the write ups that I did as it was difficult to get what was in my head across to readers in an exciting format.

The only way to find out (and get better as a writer) is to post them. Writing is definitely like a muscle - you have to exercise it to get it stronger. Even if you don't get a lot of feedback, the act of writing and proofreading yourself should help you improve.

I think the biggest thing that sets a circuit apart (because most people struggle with it) is not so much the booking, but describing the action beyond what TNM gives you. Yes, you can infer feuds and angles (a TNM-RG circuit is a great way to see one card logically flow into the next simply from the basic match results). But I think most readers care most about how you communicate the promos and other extra-circular action that flesh out the characters and the angles. It's not just the story, but the storytelling too.

It doesn't have to be an essay full of extensive details (Kirk's SMWA). If you want solid examples, Peter's WWF and Ryan's GCW are two of my favorites (any of the GCWverse circuits are solid). Matt's NAWA is a long-running circuit with a good level of detail. Any of those will I think give you an idea of "good skirt" circuit writing (short enough to be interesting, long enough to cover the subject). Or heck, find your favorite online recapper of real wrestling events and do something similiar. If you can put your own spin on it - find your voice - all the better.

[LillaThrilla]

I write a fair bit in my career, albeit all non-fiction. So sometimes I'm a little "written out" especially as I am not a fast writer. I read a lot, but almost entirely nonfiction (and I don't just mean wresting recaps).

While there are times in circuits where I don't have a lot of ideas, I've rarely quit a circuit for a lack of ideas. My issue is more one of time - booking and writing a circuit can be very time consuming process. When I was doing my WCW93 circuit I would watch the old episodes of WCW Saturday Night before booking the card. I don't copy them exactly, but some of the matchups, promos, and moments are well worth recycling. It also helps me get a feel for the authentic product. (When I started that circuit I had never actually watched WCW in 1993, although I had read recaps of the major events.)

The other problem is the conversion of ideas to execution. I come up with lots of moments that I think are cool, but the challenge is stringing those moments together into a coherent, interesting narrative. And also the delayed gratification - those moments are often weeks or months of cards down the road.

Having a booking sheet helps. (I used to book mostly week-to-week and I don't recommend it for a circuit you want anyone else to read.) Don't hesitate to make notes. Heck, if you think of a great promo for Wrestler A to cut on Wrestler B, write it out and file it away until you can put them in a feud together.

This evening I jumped ahead to write part of a special WCWF event a few months ahead on TNM time. Hopefully that clears some mental hard drive space and helps motivate me to get there. I'm in mid-1984 but I know what my top two matches at Wrestlemania I in 1985 are supposed to be, but I have to get there. A few weeks ago I randomly thought of a promo I want to do a few years from now, involving two wrestlers that haven't even debuted yet (though they're in the long-term plan). I should probably write that down too (I have a lot of really random stuff floating around in my head.)

[mdale2k]

Here's another question. How long do you wait to try and rehire someone who quit? I just had my top heel (had a really long world title reign) didn't resign (luckily it was the card before his rematch for the title and he lost. I figured after next PPV I am going to try and rehire, still had plans for him, but curious as to what others do.

[KWOAOA]

I've never been one to do write ups, I'm one of those guys who just puts matches together and runs them, the match may have originated from a past event where one wrestler interfered and I figured I would set the two up in a match or if it was just randomly chosen. As for the comment about writing, I agree it is like a muscle but my writing talent goes to my 160+ ebooks I've written that range in various subjects. I think that' why I don't write out storylines is because for the most part like the latest ebook I've written called Neighbourhood Stalker as the new one is out on Halloween... (shameless plug) it should be up for preorder on all your major ebook retailers (end shameless plug) ... Where what I wrote couldn't be used in a story line to a certain extent, some aspects could be used but things got violent and included death rather violent at times. So I guess I can't be bothered to write up storylines as it's all in my head.

@lillathrilla also being a writer, not really as a job more so for a hobby at times I also feel written out as it were and I think that's why I don't do them.

When I'm in my zone I never have problems coming up with ideas and at times I feel like my brain is flooded with them, which is why I have two different circuits on the go even though at this time one of them listed under "my past" as I have my main one KWOAOA then I have KVW which is dedicated female.


mdale2k - If it was me and a wrestler quit I think I would depend two things:
1 - how often I ran cards
2 - if on my site/blog I announce everything to help build hype,etc on the site

I think I personally would focus on option 2 because if I announce everything I would announce that he quit for sure after the match as I have done similar in the past.. However I would give things a bunch of cards before I attempted to resign him and perhaps make him do interference during the main event if it was a title match and write it up as a surprise like you had no idea you thought he quit. Maybe even set it up as a triple threat match right before a PPV. Since to me if he quit and you resign him if you do have an actual site and you do announce things like that, trying to resign him and getting him back in the mix fast says that you can't live without him even if he was a former champ with a long running title reign. At least if you let the current champ have a bit of a run before doing anything you can start to establish him since you also have to look at the other hand, what if the former chooses not to resign with you ?.

[cardsflyinhigh]

Jul 25, 2020 14:09:25 GMT -5 mdale2k said:

Here's another question. How long do you wait to try and rehire someone who quit? I just had my top heel (had a really long world title reign) didn't resign (luckily it was the card before his rematch for the title and he lost. I figured after next PPV I am going to try and rehire, still had plans for him, but curious as to what others do.

If it's a valuable member of my roster and I got plans for him, I'll try to rehire him as soon as possible. If it's someone that maybe I don't have long term plans for, or I can write someone else into their roll, I might give it 2-3 months circuit time, then I can write an angle around their return.

[mgdukester]

Jul 25, 2020 14:09:25 GMT -5 mdale2k said:

Here's another question. How long do you wait to try and rehire someone who quit? I just had my top heel (had a really long world title reign) didn't resign (luckily it was the card before his rematch for the title and he lost. I figured after next PPV I am going to try and rehire, still had plans for him, but curious as to what others do.

I’ve had just that topic to deal with right away in the recent circuit that I’ve started posting for this weekend. At the end of the debut ppv, I had a main eventer quit immediately after that initial card and another talent that wasn’t on the debut show turn in notice but I was able to at least job them out on the first episode of the weekly tv broadcast.
I’m just thankful that the ME talent didn’t win the title as my kickoff was in-booked.

I’m big on booking once I have stories to tell, but big payoff or setup matches give you direction. While I had plans for both of them, it’s early enough that I can work around not having them.

[tnmlyger]

I'm currently expanding the TweakCirc SE plugin and adding it as baseline functionality to TNM 7 SE Build 12.

One of the new options will be disabling quitting for any circuit.

[porch1976]

tnmlyger - any chance of getting a circuit-specific "Strict Pushes" option in TweakCirc instead of having to rely on a global setting?  I'm running an unbooked fantasy universe, and one of my circuits is highly push-based by design, while the other is geared to more random results.  It's a bit of a chore to always have to remember to turn strict pushes on or off in the main general options before running a card in one of these circuits.   Making it a seed option would be great too, since it'd be cool to allow a 10-20% chance for upsets, kind of like New Japan.   

[tnmlyger]

That option has already been planned and implemented.

Unfortunately I can't turn it into a seed-based setting because I don't have the free RAM space when the match engine is running. I only have on average about 400 bytes left, and I need to hang on to those in case anything needs to be patched or if there are other emergencies.