To start off, I'm a rotational player and I've made tweaks to the premades regarding traits, appearances, and clothing. I usually have an outline in my head of what kind of life my sims will lead. I've been looking at the Sims wiki for inspiration but I don't always follow the lore.
I started with the Landgrabbs but Nancy and Geoff haven't disowned Johnny Zest yet. Their marriage is also stable(...for now) and they both went to uni. I actually wasn't planning to send Nancy but she got a pop-up event asking if she would become a whistleblower and I chose yes, leading her to get fired from her secret agent career. Figured she should go back to school and then become a secret agent again...but now she wants revenge! So she got a degree in villainy and became a double agent.
Next were the Goths. Decided to make Mortimer the Edgar Allen Poe of the sims world and he has started to gain traction for works like "The Tell-Tale Plumbob" and "The Fall of the House of Crumplebottom". The family is friendly with the Landgrabbs but Bella has a bit of a rivalry going on with Nancy. Cassandra sells depressing paintings on Plopsy and Alexander doesn't really have a thing yet I'm afraid.
I've moved on to the Caliente household (along with Don Lothario) and Judith Ward but their storylines are still in their infancy. So this is where I'm at so far!