The Not So Fancy Sample Journal!
Ahem. Welcome to the not so fancy sample journal that Zac has worked so hard and long on to put together. There are several sections that will cover the basic post/journal types to get you started. This guide is mainly for those that have never set up a proper* pet journal. I need to stress though, since I will probably be the one that has time to check journals everyday, you may want to listen to my words. I perfer journals that people have fun with and stretch to the limits. If you only write first-person journal posts I'm not going to be very impressed.
Note: I am not telling you how to make your journal. I'm only trying to give some helpful suggestions to those who have never had a journal pet before/those who are unsure of how to make their journal.
*By "proper" I only mean that it will be as descriptive and actually fun to write as possible. These journals are very open-ended and you can actually do this however you want to.
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Profile Posts
Profile Posts
Possibly the most important posts of the journal, the profile posts inform the reader about the caretaker and/or pet of the journal. These posts should contain in character information only. Be sure to include the intrests, personality, and history of the characters in order for others to understand them. Any important notes you have for your character should be included, even if it doesn't seem nessecary.
Sample profiles: Posts 2 & 3
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Friends, Family, and Enemies Posts
Friends, Family, and Enemies Posts
It is important for the reader to know who all is in the pet's life. Certain interactions with other characters may have affected the pet's viewpoints and personality. Pictures are always helpful in these posts, as is linking to the friend/foe/family's journal. Remember, you can add other pets that you own. If you own a lot of other pets or do not wish to have them involved in this pet's life, then don't include them.
Sample posts: Posts 4 & 5
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News Post
News Post
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT POST! I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH! Sometimes a reader may not have enough time to read an entire journal. By highlighting the most important events and summarizing them with one or two sentences, you can save many impatient readers a lot of time. Be sure to include the date of when it happened. (Even though this post is number 6 in the sample journal, it is usually better suited as post number 2 under the introduction post.) If you do not include this post MS, Emi, and I may get to your pet on the growing list later than others. It's not that we are upset with you, it's that we don't have time to read all the posts. (Though we will get around to it eventually and the more posts the better.)
Sample post: Post 6
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Items Post
Items Post
This is not a required post, but knowing the items that affect a pet's life is very helpful. If you're lucky and include a certain item in the pet's life enough you may get that item drawn with your pet when it grows.
Sample post: Post 7
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Copyright Post
Copyright Post
This is seriously the most important post. (Yes, I know I've said that a million times already.) Any art, ideas, pets, etc. that you include in your journal MUST BE GIVEN CREDIT TO! If you do not add this post, you have the chance of being banned. Remember, if you use pets from another shop or a piece of character art for your profile, GIVE THE OWNER CREDIT.
Sample post: Post 8
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Journal Posts
Journal Posts
The meat of the journal! To tell about the recent happenings of your pet, you must have some journal posts. There are many different ways you can present them, but the two most common are...
Traditional Journal Style:
(Sample on post 9)
Like the diaries that so many people keep at home. Include the date and make sure the entry is in first person view. This is very useful at showing a certain character's viewpoint on an event, but don't do this all the time. These journals are for your pets, but surprises cannot be hidden with frst person writings and we don't always want to read a short journal post. (Can get very boring if we had to read a ton of these every day.)
Story Style:
(Sample on post 10)
Write a story about the character or an event that you wish to happen to them, or has already happened to them! Include a title and make it interesting. If all you're going to write about is how they walked down the street with no conversation and no important happenings, then it's best if you decide against that. If you're going to write it about their violin lessons, then that's perfect! This is basically a roleplay between your pet and their owner, and is very useful if you have something that you want to happen, but you're afraid someone else will mess it up if you rp with them.
There could be other styles that you can use. Make one up! Be creative!
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Roleplay Posts
Roleplay Posts
This is how your pet makes friends. Since I made this sample journal alone, I did not make any types of these posts. How you go about making these is by either making a transcript of a roleplay that involved your pet or by linking to the the start of the rp and stating which pages it goes through on the board. (Do not link to an rp unless it is in the Bellus Pupa guild, make it a transcript. We perfer transcripts, but linking is alright.) When transcripting it is up to you how exactly you do it (look at other's journal's for an example) but please include any font colors people have used to show a difference between characters.
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Quests Posts
Quests Posts
This will be made by the shop mule. Quests can occur at any given time to help strengthen your pet, give them a new soul to harbor, or maybe even give them a special surprise. The quest presents a prompt in the form of a problem and it is up to the gaurdian and pet to solve it. This can be solved in story, journal, or roleplay format. It can be as many or few parts as you like, and as many people as you want can help you if they wish. Be creative with your solution. Don't be boring and say that you "magically" solved the problem! Quests are optional and you can PM the shop mule to request that we don't send you any quests. Quests help your pet reach the special stage as well.
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Gift Posts
Gift Posts
If a friend in the shop wishes to give you a gift, they may pop into your journal and deposit one in the form of a gift post. Usually it just has a picture of the gift and a little rp entry of the owner giving it to you. If you do not wish for others to do this, then please create a rules post for you and make a rule against it. I personally, think these are awsome. It is so cute for the pets to make friends by being generous. I AM NOT TELLING YOU TO BUY THINGS FROM MINISHOPS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO!
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Rules Post
Rules Post
If you have certain rules or limits in your journal, create a simple post near the introduction. Make sure you include specifics about certain things that really tick you off. Also add a list of people who you've allowed to post here (the shop mule must be on that list.)
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Introduction Post
Introduction Post
This will be made by the shop mule and will be the first post of your journal. It will have the pet's name, the owner's name, and the pet's certificate. If you choose a certain font color for your pet to type in, we will probably update the introduction to reflect that, just because we're so damn cool. cool We may also give the option for you to send us a small introduction to the shop mule that we will add under our writing.
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Tips and Tricks
Tips and Tricks
Making banners for your post headers looks more professional. Going with a theme makes it more cute. Using a certain font color for certain characters makes the journal much easier to decifier. You do not have to use banners, but please give each character a different font color. When I'm tired I don't want to have to think about which character's doing what.
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If you have any questions about journals, please PM me and I will explain any misconceptions to the best of my ability.
