Editing Coordinating Pause (section)

==Planning a Story==

There are near-infinite ways for a Coordinator to come up with a story. However, this section will focus on creating a story in which multiple voices lend to it – both the Players and the Coordinator.

===Inspiration===

There is always something that gives someone the idea for something else, be it an event he or she has witnessed, a value or moral that is held dear, the sight of something unforgettable, so forth and so on. The same is true with creating a story. Something, somewhere can jog up an idea worth exploring further.

This nugget of information may lead to developments elsewhere: the location of the story; the nature of the characters; the link between the normal Time Flow and the Pauses; the reason for the Anchors' functions. The possibilities are endless, but try to keep them organized as not to create a convoluted mess that none of the Players could follow.

===Premise===

Before writing a single word of the story, the Coordinator should consult with the Players beforehand. What are their characters going to be like? Do they do well in social situations? Do some of them have a criminal history? What are their goals and aspirations in life?

The answers to these questions, along with the inspiration, may help a Coordinator in many ways: to understand how the characters will react to a Pause; to figure out how to get the characters together over time; to fine-tune how the elements of a Pause work in relation to the characters; so forth and so on.

===Details===

Stories written by singular authors tend to go into extended detail about the characters, the events, and the world encompassing them. That is usually because the authors have  a lot of control over the elements of the story. Coordinators do not share that luxury due to the Players' participation in the story.

As such, it is best to simply outline where the Coordinator wants to go with the story. Offer a basic sequence of events which can be edited at any time – the Players will likely do something, at some time, which will not at all be predicted. Allow the Players to fill in the blanks and the story could perhaps go to greater heights than originally planned.

===Bangs===

One way to maintain a minimal set of details and still manage to keep the story moving is through the use of bangs. A bang is an important choice between events which the characters can make that can significantly change how the events of the story progress.

For instance, the characters have come to a point where the usual means of closing a Break have failed. They have to think fast because the Aberrations they defeated are again showing signs of life. One of the characters comes up with the idea of using themselves to put his or her Anchor into the Break itself.

However, doing so will surely cost his or her life. The rest of the characters need to decide whether to let him or her go through with the plan, or to stop him or her from doing so and come up with an alternative somehow. Either choice will lead the story in an entirely different direction than the other, while also allowing the characters to put in the fine details of the moment.

===Encounters===

While the world beyond the Time Flow can be a dangerous place as in the previous example, the danger should be incremental in relation to the story's progress. Initial Pauses should be more about the characters discovering what makes a Pause work rather than throwing a bunch of Aberrations at them from the start. Later on as the characters get a handle on how a Pause works, they can use that knowledge to deal with the more dangerous enemies which come to oppose them.

A Coordinator should break up the combat once in a while during the Pauses as well. Instead of making the characters fight enemies all of the time, perhaps present a difficult puzzle once in a while to allow the characters to build upon the knowledge they gained during the story.  

===Length===

The length of a story can vary from story to story. There are some stories which can work well as a one-shot, meaning that the entire story from beginning to finish can take only one or two game sessions. Others can go on over a longer period of time, meaning that it can go over weeks or months worth of game sessions.

Creating a one-shot is noticeably easier than a longer story. As such, if a Coordinator chooses the latter of the two, it would be useful to divide the action by game sessions. Think of each session in terms of a chapter or two in a novel. There is a definite series of events in each chapter, as well as a place to begin and a place to end in the chapter.

Again, keep the details reduced to those which must absolutely be explored. When planning a longer story, keep in mind where the story should lead, but considering the unpredictability of the Players, detail out only a chapter at a time and work on future chapters based on the actions of the characters in the previous chapters.