Maybe try asking specific questions? Like, “now that chapter 3 is out, what did you guys think of the characters” or “is the pacing too slow, or do you like it” etc.
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I’ve not gotten around to checking it out (yet) so I don’t know the specifics there, but I’ll gladly put it on my list and get back to you with all my (potentially annoying) thoughts on it and every error I spy noted down eventually. I for my part do best when I know exactly what is needed/ wanted, as I’m very much anxious about making people feel bad about their work/ bothering them.
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Thanks! And look, no worries at all - nothing you share will be annoying.
I won’t ever be in a position to implement every change everybody suggests, of course implementing feedback is always a balancing act between aggregating views from different parts of an audience and the authorial intent. But I’m definitely of the camp that believes all good faith feedback has value…
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Today, I’m having an urge to write a scene where the MC gets stuck in a self-hating internal narration and then goes “and now I’m spiraling and need to do something else”.
Guess my brain is weird today.
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@Hamartia np and we’ll see xD. You’re also very right there. It should be a balance.
@LiliArch Sounds nothing but relatable tbh. Weird brain days wield interesting results I think.
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Same. Invaluable.
Kiss from Death’s first review on Steam was a negative one from a guy doing a tight five standup routine. Reasonably confident that review alone has cost me 70-80% of the Steam revenue potential my game had. I don’t ever read reviews, but that one had an actual measurable financial impact.
Comparing mobile to Steam sales for the game is even more disproportionate than it usually is. Literally almost 1000x difference.
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What would an effective title be in your eyes? One that piques the player’s interest and makes them try it? A marketing-conducive title that’s easy to Google? One that effectively conveys what genre/tone/plot the player should expect?
There have been a couple threads on titling that may be useful:
Unfortunately, I don’t personally have any tips; I dislike naming things in general and usually go for the most heinous pun I can think of and call it a day. I find I either know exactly what title feels right as soon as I solidify the concept or I end up using something bland and am forever unhappy with it.
Thinking about titles I like, the ones that impress me the most are the ones that capture exactly what it is in a clever way. E.g.,
- Legally Blonde - stereotypical California valley girl goes to law school
- The Big Sleaze - parser game that parodies hardboiled crime fiction
- I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You - YA romance novel about a teenage girl who goes to a girls’ school for super spies
- Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover - same series
- The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window - parody of overly-serious mystery/psychological thrillers (cf. The Girl on the Train, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Woman in the Window)
For HGs, you can’t exceed 30 characters as the Google Play Store once again[1] restricts app titles to 30 characters.
It was 30, then they raised it to 50, then lowered it back to 30 for reasons known only to themselves. Apple caps at 50. ↩︎
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Hey everyone, I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I figured I might as well try lol.
I’m currently reworking a lot of the background lore for my world, and I thought it would be cool to add a banner for each noble house. The issue is I don’t really know if I can even include that many images in COGdemos.
Just in terms of scene files, I already have almost 60, and I’m not sure if other authors usually condense things into fewer files or if the volume just isn’t an issue. With images as well, it would be around 30 banners total just for that.
Is there any limit on the number of files on the site, or is it safe to upload everything without running into issues? I looked around the site but didn’t see any mention of a file limit.
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My WIP has 208 pictures on CoGdemos, and it hasn’t caused the website to explode yet.
Go nuts.
(I recommend using jpg instead of png to reduce loading times.)
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Oh, that’s great to hear lol, thank you! I was a bit worried about it, because a while back I saw someone mention a WIP that was considerably larger than mine but had less than half the number of files, so I got a bit concerned about it lol.
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I’m not completely certain, but I think larger files tend to cause more loading problems than a large number of files.
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I’d imagine the filesize is where the problems lie, if any. And the total size of all images, when publishing.
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Hello all! This is the first time I’m actually posting a goal for the world to see, so here it is:
Get Chapter Two of my WIP (working title Home Again) done by the end of April.
As for inspiration, that’s a hard one. I’ve always absolutely devoured anything in print, both fiction and nonfiction. I’ve also always created my own worlds in my head. I feel like ir’s time to actually flesh one out to share with the world at large!
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This was super helpful! I also have a horrible habit of giving my stories silly puns or alliterative nicknames. I can’t help it!
For me, I find effective story titles to (1) hook the reader and (2) have a new meaning once completing the story/book/game. Especially for the latter, because I am a unicorn who replays IF games upwards to 20 times—and that’s for my least favorite games.
Titles I find do this well (and this is far from an exhaustive list) are:
- Ender’s Game
- When The Moon Hatched
- Bloodbourne
- Evertree Inn
- Type Help
- Mockingjay & Sunrise on the Reaping
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Thinking of renaming my WIP!
- Original name: A Kiss from Death 2: A Dance with Demons
(too close to another Hosted Game’s title Dancing with Demons)
- Current name: A Kiss from Death 2: A Dance with the Devil
Some alternatives:
- A Dance with the Devil (i.e. not including AKfD2 in the title)
- The Touch of a Demon (ironic because the demon is actually not a romanceable character)
- A Kiss from Death 2: Nine Lives
- A Kiss from Death 2: Fully Making Out with Death
- A Kiss from Death 2: Requiem: This Time It’s Personal: The Return: Kiss Harder
Not procrastination. Surely renaming it will invigorate me with an indomitable spirit to write.
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Any chance of A Dance with Death?
I feel like having some kind of conceptual naming throughline for the series is neat, and A [romantic overture with/from/etc] Death is fun in that respect without getting into the whole Kiss From Death 2: Electric Boogaloo spiral.
Failing that, A Dance with the Devil definitely sounds the cleanest if the Death vibes just aren’t there for the sequel.
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I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but—
whenever I open my writing document, I start to feel anxious and a bit nauseous (it hasn’t actually made me sick though).
I’m not sure why this happens. It’s not because anyone is attacking my work or anything—everyone has been really kind and the feedback has been helpful.
It’s just a very subtle kind of anxiety.
At the same time, I still want to write a little bit every day, but I’m struggling with this feeling whenever I open the document, any suggestion?
btw I don’t even need to be actuallt looking at the document to feel anxious, just having the page open in my browser is enough to make me feel uncomfortable.
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Have you narrowed down what the source of this anxiousness is? Are you afraid of what others might think of what you’ve written once you’ve finished it?
Or is it something more internally driven?
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I don’t think it’s mainly about what others think, I usually don’t feel too affected by that.
I did consider whether it might be perfectionism or high expectations for myself, but I don’t think that fully explains it either. I’ve re-read my work and I feel like, while it’s not exceptional, it’s still readable. I’ve also shared it with friends before and their feedback was generally positive.
So I’m still not entirely sure what’s causing it.
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I have zero clue if this will help, but when I’m dealing with problems (of any kind really), I work through a guided journal practice. First, I describe the issue. This can take anywhere from a paragraph to a page (…or more…). Then, I read through what I’ve written and restate it as a question for myself. I then discuss the question on paper. What are the various elements/facets of the question, etc. I start brainstorming possible answers, etc. Once I can’t think of anything else to say, I read through what I’ve written and summarize it (even to the point of bullets sometimes). After I summarize, I decide on an action step or something to try. And I’ll schedule a check-in on my calendar so I can reflect on how well the action step is or isn’t working.
Sometimes problems take a few tries to solve, but they all do eventually get resolved. But this is what works for me.
Good luck!
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