Post by anthonycaffrey on Oct 16, 2021 21:53:20 GMT -5
Hi all! In order to encourage match writers of all skill levels to try (seriously: if you've never written a match, we would love to help you give it a shot!), I'm publishing our match writing guide. Stay tuned underneath for a bonus conversation about submissions (from a convo with Mongo no less), but this is the basic foundation that should help you get started.
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○ If you need a refresher or are learning match writing concepts for the first time, Teeps’ writing guide is a great basic foundation. I did not become the match writer I am now without learning a few concepts from this (though as he says, none of it is gospel). It is a great place to start, and then as you get going, riff on it as you please. You can also ping me w/questions.
○ Unless there's other circumstances, matches should be generally be at least 1500 words (check in your choice of word counter) + commentated entrances. This is not a perfect science and fluctuates based on many factors, the important thing is entrances. I often write the beginning of the match as a bell ringing, that’s where your word counting should begin.
○ If this is intimidating, please reach out! Really for everything, reach out. I’m here to help, I’ve written a lot of these (probably 70% of FIRESIDE's matches since its inception) and can help ease your anxiety. I would way rather answer your fifteen questions than try to navigate a broken mess that you were ultimately disappointed in because you didn't ask what was on your mind.
○ The match is not over until the last line of post-match commentary. No wrestling match in real life immediately cuts away after the pinfall. This is your chance to put over the winner, give some praise to the loser (RPing is hard, not everyone can win), and put over your own work. It’s not uncommon for us to write something like “a great match” in the post-match commentary.
○ For dialogue, we write name: dialogue, with no quotation marks around the dialogue.
○ Dialogue names are bolded up to and including the colon. Ex: Name:
c You should be formatting in the BBCode section, then switching over to preview to check. If you do not do this, you will accidentally double space everything, which is a huge pain in the ass. If you suck at formatting, try your best and message me when you get stuck.
○ Don't worry about videos. We only use videos for the main event and/or world title matches.
○ Your ring announcer is Walter Stanford. His color code is #b69fb8. The rest of the color codes you need are available below.
○ Your referee is either Chris Mardinly or Melanie Davenport. Both are equal levels of competent.
○ Your play-by-play commentator is Oliver Wright. Oliver is new to the industry, for XHF-only matches he won’t know the wrestlers as well but he fully buys into characters. (He knows FIRESIDE people by now). He is a former futbol commentator, he is naturally excitable. If you want a voice, it’s actually Idris Elba. He’s a face, so he’ll hate dastardly deeds, especially as he loves the fans. Color code is #e61919. Better at putting over the characters/people going on.
○ Your color commentator is UnJoo Park. In a past life, she was known as the “Collector of Arms”, having one of the most devastating armbars in all of wrestling (she’s even broke Caffrey’s arm). She swears she can still go, but the two ACL tears say otherwise. More likely to like and dislike a wrestler based on their abilities, desire to win (cheating is good), and experience level. For XHF-only matches, she’ll know the wrestlers well. If you know ESPN, her voice is Mina Kimes. Her color code is #f0ed1e. She is great at putting over the actual wrestling going on. Has a strong spot in her heart for women’s wrestling.
○ Send your matches to the admins. Make sure you’re scrolling down to the bottom and copying and pasting over into the BBCode tab when pming us (or shoot us a Google Doc, that works too).
○ We generally ask for non-admins to hand in their match on Tuesday night their time. Communicate with us if you can't meet that (totally fine, often our fault).
○ Lastly, FIRESIDE firmly believes in the mental health of our writers and writing staff. If shit is stressing you out, please message us as soon as possible so we can work out a solution.
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FIRESIDE Match Writing Guide
○ If you need a refresher or are learning match writing concepts for the first time, Teeps’ writing guide is a great basic foundation. I did not become the match writer I am now without learning a few concepts from this (though as he says, none of it is gospel). It is a great place to start, and then as you get going, riff on it as you please. You can also ping me w/questions.
○ Unless there's other circumstances, matches should be generally be at least 1500 words (check in your choice of word counter) + commentated entrances. This is not a perfect science and fluctuates based on many factors, the important thing is entrances. I often write the beginning of the match as a bell ringing, that’s where your word counting should begin.
○ If this is intimidating, please reach out! Really for everything, reach out. I’m here to help, I’ve written a lot of these (probably 70% of FIRESIDE's matches since its inception) and can help ease your anxiety. I would way rather answer your fifteen questions than try to navigate a broken mess that you were ultimately disappointed in because you didn't ask what was on your mind.
○ The match is not over until the last line of post-match commentary. No wrestling match in real life immediately cuts away after the pinfall. This is your chance to put over the winner, give some praise to the loser (RPing is hard, not everyone can win), and put over your own work. It’s not uncommon for us to write something like “a great match” in the post-match commentary.
○ For dialogue, we write name: dialogue, with no quotation marks around the dialogue.
○ Dialogue names are bolded up to and including the colon. Ex: Name:
c You should be formatting in the BBCode section, then switching over to preview to check. If you do not do this, you will accidentally double space everything, which is a huge pain in the ass. If you suck at formatting, try your best and message me when you get stuck.
○ Don't worry about videos. We only use videos for the main event and/or world title matches.
○ Your ring announcer is Walter Stanford. His color code is #b69fb8. The rest of the color codes you need are available below.
○ Your referee is either Chris Mardinly or Melanie Davenport. Both are equal levels of competent.
○ Your play-by-play commentator is Oliver Wright. Oliver is new to the industry, for XHF-only matches he won’t know the wrestlers as well but he fully buys into characters. (He knows FIRESIDE people by now). He is a former futbol commentator, he is naturally excitable. If you want a voice, it’s actually Idris Elba. He’s a face, so he’ll hate dastardly deeds, especially as he loves the fans. Color code is #e61919. Better at putting over the characters/people going on.
○ Your color commentator is UnJoo Park. In a past life, she was known as the “Collector of Arms”, having one of the most devastating armbars in all of wrestling (she’s even broke Caffrey’s arm). She swears she can still go, but the two ACL tears say otherwise. More likely to like and dislike a wrestler based on their abilities, desire to win (cheating is good), and experience level. For XHF-only matches, she’ll know the wrestlers well. If you know ESPN, her voice is Mina Kimes. Her color code is #f0ed1e. She is great at putting over the actual wrestling going on. Has a strong spot in her heart for women’s wrestling.
○ Send your matches to the admins. Make sure you’re scrolling down to the bottom and copying and pasting over into the BBCode tab when pming us (or shoot us a Google Doc, that works too).
○ We generally ask for non-admins to hand in their match on Tuesday night their time. Communicate with us if you can't meet that (totally fine, often our fault).
○ Lastly, FIRESIDE firmly believes in the mental health of our writers and writing staff. If shit is stressing you out, please message us as soon as possible so we can work out a solution.