Three Methods Of Journalling According To My Reckoning
I recently reread this article on solo RPG journaling and structuring sessions on Substack. The author, The Holly Roller, shared their technique, which I found both logical and neat.
Though I must admit, I think I would find it challenging to implement because I currently write quite a lot for each session. The article did prompt me to compare their approach with my own and ask myself: **Could I reduce how much I write and still enjoy it? And is there a middle ground between the two?**
Building on The Holly Roller’s idea, which I’m labelling Method 1, I then landed on two other main journaling methods:
Method 1 — The Session Summary: A concise record of the important events.
Method 2 — The Narrative Summary: The whole adventure told in order, but routine material compressed and just the important scenes and/or dialogue expanded.
Method 3 — Full Narrative: Detailed scene-by-scene play with full dialogue, actions, descriptions, combat, and all the little details.
Vote on your prefered method. Let's see what's the most popular.
There is one caveat, the mechanics of the play loop are recorded elsewhere.Things like oracle rolls, skill checks, combat rolls, and other mechanics aren’t included in this discussion. I’m looking for storytelling.