 Writing Stories
Writing an FM story takes a lot of effort and creativity. Here a few tips for a great story.
Be Original
You get a lot of people writing stories with the same old clubs, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool etc. Be a team that nobody has ever heard of or a team that you wouldn't normally be. It doesn't have to be entirely about Football Manager, you can add your own twists here and there to make it unique.
Essentialy, make it different to the rest. The more different the better.
Layout
The layout of your story is possibly the most important part of the story, peoples eyes react to it straight away and it will be the difference between people reading it and people looking at it and just turning it off.
So make sure your first impression is good. Make it easy on the eye and easy to read so people don't feel at some discomfort when taking a few minutes out to read your latest update.
Colours, fonts, and everything to do with presentation are important. Use nice new fonts and good looking colours. Don't colour the whole thing though. Don't cram all your content into one paragraph, set it out nicely and you will have regular readers.
When you go on a news website you don't see all the weeks results crammed into one paragraph do you? They are put into a few paragraphs so it's easier to read. Don't make it really small either. Make it a nice size.
Content
Don't, i repeat don't make your story a fact sheet! Readers don't want a massive list of results and scorers. Add your own thoughts, media thoughts, player thoughts. Add things to read as well as who scored the 2nd goal to win you the League Cup.
Storyline
When people start writing their stories they usually have the same old story line..
"O'Neill sacked as Villa look for new manager"
Then, a week later, who's this? A random 15 year old from Shrewsbury is signed as manager! Well, there's a surprise. Add something new, have a strange but interesting why the manager got sacked, then have a strange but interesting reason why you were appointed.
Pictures, Bold, Italic and Underlining
All of the above mentioned things are very important to making your story stand out. Don't use too many pictures though and don't make the whole thing bold or underlined or it will just be crap to be fair.
Boring Players
Don't buy the same old players like Alex Fernandez and Esmir Sabic. Buy players that nobody has heard of or all stories are basically the same.
"Roberts signs Fernandez"
"Fred buys Fernandez"
"Boring fella secures signing of Alex Fernandez"
If you want to enthrall the reader buy players that your scouts have recommended to you and players that nobody knows of.
Physically Writing The Story
A lot of people see Story writing as a geeky thing to do, when in actual fact it is a good way of practising your creativity without being under the pressure of an exam. But most importantly, it's a good way to get everyone to praise you. Make sure when you write it you are very comfortable, you have music on low and you are fully concentrated, once you start writing you won't know you're doing it as it just flows through your fingers.
Try to avoid interuptions by getting a packet of crisps and glass of drink near you and also don't write them one after the other, not only does this not give people a chance to read and comment, but it increases your chances of getting bored. Once a day is a good benchmark but play about and see how your own mind fairs.
Length, doesn't deserve it's own subsection (poor it) but it's something that should be said, length is always something people aren't sure about for their updates, do they do one update a game?, one a month?, one every few? Obviously the answer will come from your own experience but do what you feel comfortable with till you get bored writing for another day, i tend to do months or sometimes a little bit more if I'm getting 'into it'.
So now you've read my thoughts, go ahead and try writing a story, just remember what I've said and be original!
-WozzaWolves | 
