Okay, I'd like to ask all of you to read this thread and return to it often. This is to encourage you as a potential QM, help you avoid pitfalls and show that running a Quest is not so complicated when you know what you're doing.
I've compiled some stuff from the old
/qu/ sticky and added some of my own. I skimmed through all of it and did a little outline to tell you what you can expect and how useful can it be. I'm leaving this open so you can contribute advice, materials, informative images and whatever too. I'll add it to the OP if it sounds good enough.
Asking for questing/writing advice, discussion of ideas, roleplaying and quest mechanics belong here. Meta discussion about the board itself does not, and such posts will be deleted to avoid clutter.
Remember it's all about making it fun to read and write. Follow these guides only if they help you, and in a way you see fit. Don't try to make a masterpiece, just try to do your best.
My personal advice is
STOP THINKING ABOUT DOING IT AND JUST FUCKING DO IT. So what if you mess it up? You're on an anonymous board, one in its infancy on top of that. There is no drama or witch-hunts here
yet If you're concerned about it so much, set up a deletion code just in case. If you mess up BADLY, just change your Name and/or Tripcode.
You're never going to learn anything if you don't try.
CORE READS - Texts I feel are so important they got their own category. These are the ones you
should read, everything else is useful but optional.
[Exa's Guide to Questing]
http://pastebin.com/yc1gy632 - Very good Beginner's Guide to Questing. Tells you how to patch your idea into a premise and how to interact with your players. Makes an excellent point that the story doesn't need to be huge, ambitious and full of mechanics to be good. If it's just fun for both players and you, you're doing it right.
[How To Make Yourself Write]
http://pastebin.com/RrXff0M8 - There are lots of ideas thrown in every while and often. Most of them are never turned into Quests which is kinda sad. This text explains some common behaviors that can kill your story before it even comes out. Makes a great point that even shit work at least has a value of existing at all, compared to people who don't even bother to try.
Questing guides - Articles directly related to Questing.
[Constructive Criticism for Idiots]
http://pastebin.com/1s1fLktL - Politeness goes a long way. Good reading for QMs and players alike. Originated from erotic writing parts of 4chan, but remove all the sex parts and you can apply it to ordinary Quests.
[Preliminary Dice Guide]
http://pastebin.com/MhwpNLBm - Explores how do dice rolls affect storywriting and plot, where should you use them and where not. Also helpful for preventing failed rolls from messing up your Quest.
[TGChan's Questing Advice Article]
http://tgchan.org/wiki/Advice_for_Running_a_Quest - Could be read as an expansion to what Exa wrote. Written from Tgchan's POV which is very different from /tg/, and intended for its own userbase, but there are some good tips to pull from it.
Writing texts - Grammar and general things related to creative writing. Sophisticated language really makes a difference.
[Grammar Handbook]
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/ - How to English. You'd be suprised how many people need a refresher. Well organised.
[Self-Editing Checklist]
http://www.ravenscourtpress.com/uploads/4/8/0/6/4806696/a_self-editing_checklist.pdf - List of common mistakes to look for when self-editing. Short, useful and straight to the point. Have this in front of your eyes when you check your text.
[Varying Sentence Length]
http://www.kristisiegel.com/variety.html - Short guide to removing clutter, linking sentences and making it all more clear and pleasant to the eye.
[Self-Editing Article]
https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/self-editing-back-to-basics-part-i-guest-post-by-karin-cox/ - Similar to the Sentence Length article, though more focused on improving the narrative. Many good examples.
[Writing from Female POV]
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/16/why_do_men_and_women_talk_differently/ - Maybe you'll find it useful in your narrative if you wanna go that deep into it.
Roleplaying - Things related to RPing, can be applied for Quests.
[RPG Mechanics Explanation] -
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/systemdesign/ - HORRIBLY TL;DR. You probably won't be interested in this unless you want to integrate some established RP mechanics like DnD into your Quest. Otherwise contains lots of info and links.
[Character Sheet] -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2_8lKX8mCRGdXBWNlVWSjBtRXM/ - Posted by /qu/'s old Owner. I haven't checked it out, but if it's still up you may find it useful.
Websites - Informative and useful websites.
[1d4chan]
http://1d4chan.org - /tg/'s wiki. Trivia about fa/tg/uy culture, 40k and lots of info about RPG and mechanics.
Tools - Software or web services.
[FocusWriter]
http://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ - I'm using this one and it gets my personal seal of approval. It's an awesome, free text editor concentrated solely on writing, and not creating documents. Its minimalism and forced fullscreen prevent distraction and it has customisable themes too. Should definitely be a writefag's favourite.
[WriteorDie]
http://oldandbusted.drwicked.com/#Web+App - "Motivational" writing app. Forces you to write by using punishments you set for yourself, ranging from annoying noises to deleting parts of text if you stop writing for too long. There's a paid desktop version of this too, but the free one should suffice.
https://www.sendspace.com/file/5tcv9e
[EditMinion]
http://editminion.com/ - Automatic self-editing web service. Paste the text and watch.
[boredMuse]
http://boredmuse.com/ - Very weird story idea generator.
[Synonyms and Wiktionary]
http://www.synonyms.net/ - Great if you're overusing some words or if you want to find more expressive or emotional terms. Goes well with Wiktionary -
http://www.en.wiktionary.org
Inspiration - Suggestions for a setting or ready-to-go Quest ideas
[Cabal Idea Vault]
https://factor.cc/pad/p/r.KEob5HNWCqLGmpUY - /tg/'s pad of Quest premises, feel free to adopt one and show it some love.
[Cabal Suggestion Box]
https://factor.cc/pad/p/CabalSuggestionBox - Same as the above, containing stuff that didn't make it to the official list yet.
[Cabal's Quirk list]
https://titanpad.com/mCILgQ4wEZ - It's FUCKHUEG. Can be used to help you make Character Development easy.
Useful boards - Other places on 8chan where you may find something of interest.
>>>/cyoa/ - Our sister board and a long-time ally. Basically a whole directory of potential Quest ideas handed to you on a plate.
>>>/drc/
>>>/loomis/
>>>/art/
If you need something illustrated for your Quest, you can try one of those (in that order) /art/ may be reluctant to take requests, but if you're polite about it and give them a challenge, someone may try.
>>>/lit/ - Further writefag advice, you can never have enough of it.
>>>/tg/ - Our parent board. RPG mechanics, GM advice, stories, ideas and so on. Don't explicitly mention you're running a Quest while there - just call it a "campaign."
OP will be updated over time.
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Edit: OP is now mostly restored thanks to the increased character limit. Big thanks to One-Eyed for making this sticky.