Flight Rising Discussion

I'm planning on creating a Pinkerlocke, although it's less Pinkerlocke and more lorelocke, considering it follows a distinctive story. I've never done one of these things before, so I wanted to ask for some tips

For all you Pinkerlocke owners (owners? writers?) out there, what is it like doing a Pinkerlocke? How do you manage to keep up with the daily demand?

what is pinkerlocke?

I didn't keep up with mine for very long because my concept was too, uh, narrow? Ig? It didn't allow for a lot of room to make new lore or incorporate more places that weren't included in my main clan's lore. So, my suggestion is to keep the beginning open-ended so you can do more with it later down the line.

@LogrithmGames [quote name="Nightwind" date="2018-03-27 19:26:55" ] @/FireHeartSong It's a personal challenge based on Pokemon's Nuzlocke. This person wrote up a good summary of the rules: http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2383762/1#post_31900504 [/quote]

@Dragonfire546 [quote name="RadioReprise" date="2019-08-26 19:01:22" ] I didn't keep up with mine for very long because my concept was too, uh, narrow? Ig? It didn't allow for a lot of room to make new lore or incorporate more places that weren't included in my main clan's lore. So, my suggestion is to keep the beginning open-ended so you can do more with it later down the line. [/quote] I agree with this. I started out with zero plan for plot threads, taking all inspiration from the dragons themselves, their origins, etc. If I'm stumped for something to write about, I'll use the pull as inspiration. This has led to a number of plotlines that ended up HUGE, and also a few one-offs that just turned into occasional easter eggs later. Most of the Pinkerlockes I've read that started with a distinct plan have fallen apart for one reason or another before completion (although @Petall is currently doing one that's going pretty strong and has significantly more of a base idea than mine ever did). I, personally, don't write daily anymore. I think it's a good idea to start out writing daily for a while, to get the feel for it, but sometimes you're busy, or aren't inspired, or just don't want to write. Just keep track of your pulls and maybe combine two or three in each post. Sometimes that makes it easier to figure out what to write, too. Or keep writing daily if you want. Just don't get down on yourself if you can't. Since it sounds like you're focusing more on writing, I'd say it's fine to change the rules so that, say, certain dragons are too plot-important to die right now, or maybe you flip a coin for their death instead of killing them outright. Essentially, my advice is to be cool/casual about it, or you'll end up beating yourself up about it and possibly quitting out of frustration at your inability to Do It Right. Also don't use Culex's build - or most farming builds - on your dragons. You don't want glass cannons when your goal is to survive. If you want to chat more, feel free to hmu :) I'm running two Pinkerlockes at once, alternating between them, and I've been Pinkerlocking for about two and a half years.

@Dragonfire546

Hello! I love pinkerlocking and am a big fan of using it as a story structure. My favourite thing to do is start out with an idea with a potential overarching plot that isn't dependent on any specific dragon or sets of dragons (I've done pinkerlockes in the past where I've found my plot depending too much on specific dragons and having the whole thing fall apart if an important dragons dies). Of course, there are situations where your plot will be derailed by deaths, because that's part of the challenge of a pinkerlocke, but the key is not letting them be so big that the entire story is ruined by needing to reroute your plans. For an example, my current pinkerlocke's main plot is about a group of dragons trying to revive a fallen kingdom while fighting the curse that lies over the city to restore it to its former glory, but I have smaller dragon-oriented plots going on among it all, like disputes over the crown, or dragons facing their own deep-rooted personal issues.

My biggest piece of advice is be flexible. Be flexible with your lore plans, with your character development, and most of all be flexible with your rules. If your running a pinkerlocke for the story, let the story lead it. Don't be afraid to bend or break some of your rules if you need to. For example, I recently had a death in the family, so I've decided to take time off from the Coli in order to enjoy my pinkerlocke without fear of character death while I grieve. The rules are meant to be guidelines, something to make it an interesting story and to add a flair of unpredictability. The most important part of a pinkerlocke is having fun, and if its lore-centered, telling a story. As long as you are clear about what you are doing so your readers understand, I don't see any problem with shifting things around a bit to suit your needs. In the end, it's your pinkerlocke, so it's your call, and nobody else can tell you how you're going to do it.

Another piece of advice is to make sure that you don't write yourself in any corners. This can require a lot of thought and brainstorming, but there is nothing more disappointing than having just the wrong character die and not knowing what to do about it. One way I've done this in my current pinkerlocke is to have a lot of the lore focus around the leadership of the clan, but have mechanics in place so that I always have someone ready to take the current king or queen's place if they die. I also make sure to write from the point of view of as many of my characters as often as I can without making things too confusing, so there isn't one character who becomes the 'main' character. I find that only works in pinkerlockes if you give the 'main' character death immunity. I don't write from more than one POV per scene, but I make sure to mix up my scenes so the story is being viewed from multiple angles.

Another thing I've done to help this is to stop and consider every once in a while what would happen in the circumstance that a character were to die? I make a list of my characters and go through it one by one, asking myself what would change in the plot if they were to snuff it. How would it affect the other characters? How would it affect the clan dynamic and how would that change things? How could I use the death itself to further the plot and not make it a meaningless death? How could this event spur things forward or provide more challenges for the characters to overcome? That sort of thing.

Basically, if you make accommodations in your story planning for the unpredictability of the pinkerlocke rules, and accommodate the rules for your story, its a lot easier to stay on track and keep the story moving. Also, it's not a requirement to do things daily. Track your pulls, for sure, and find some system for using them or spacing them out, but remember that you are a human being with a life and other commitments outside of flight rising, and I've found my own readers to be very understanding of that. Take time off if you need to, don't beat yourself up if you find you hit a period where you're struggling to write daily.

All in all, I love pinkerlocking and the challenge it brings, and it makes me very excited to hear someone else is considering doing one, especially if its so story centered! Please ping me when you start it, I'd love to see what you do!