how do you start out with making a clangen blog? i wanna make one but i dont know where to start
like, what events do you decide are interesting enough?
how do you not burn out? so on
Long reply incoming! I hope this is helpful.
It's definitely different for everyone. I've been casually playing Clangen for like 3 years, and I've been reading Clangen blogs for a little less than that. I started taking notes on my Clangens for fun. When I decided to start my own Clangen blog, I found the document I'd kept on DaisyClan (I'd played and taken notes for about 50 moons at that point) and decided to continue with that one because I liked the stories and the characters that emerged, and I knew that the Clan wouldn't die out immediately (which sometimes happens with challenge playthroughs like DaisyClan's started as).
I'd reccommend playing through a few moons and taking notes as you go before you commit to a specific Clangen save. This helps with motivation as well as story, because even if there's a lull moon or two, if you're always playing a bit ahead, you know what big interesting things are coming, and you can foreshadow or build up to them (in a plot way or with emotional beats) instead of having a totally random death, murder, etc.
My notes look something like this (no spoilers here):
I screenshot the cats when they join the Clan, and/or when they change appearance with age to remember their design, but also because it's easier than noting down their traits and age and names every time. There's probably a better way to do this but I'm quite technophobic lol. You'll never catch me delving into the code of the game, though lots of people do interesting stuff with that.
I also thumbnail about 15 pages ahead at a time. Here's an example from the last update:
As for what I think is most interesting, it's definitely easier the fewer cats there are because you can pay more attention to the relationships and dynamics instead of scouring for them when you have like 60 cats in the Clan, lol. I usually take note if a prompt or an event inspires an immediate image in my mind like the following:
Or a dialogue exchange (funny or serious or plot/character relevant) like the following:
But I also take note of prompts that reveal and build character or add to an ongoing plot thread.
And you can always take liberties if you want something to happen! Like, the second update for Moon 24 wasn't inspired by an event or prompt, but I felt it needed to happen for character development and to move the plot forward.
As for burnout, playing ahead definitely helps when you know there's big stuff to look forward to. And once you have an audience there's an incentive there. But I've only had this blog for three months! I haven't gotten bored yet but that's not to say I never will. I don't put pressure on myself to get pages out because as glad as I am that people are reading DaisyClan, I started this because it's fun for me. Once/if it ceases being fun, I'll take some time away or maybe stop for good (not unannounced).
I hope you go forward with your Clangen blog! The tumblr Clangen comic community is sooo welcoming and supportive to everyone, including newbies like me (though I'm not that new anymore lol).
