From the little hints I’m getting with those choices, I’m very interested to know more about your story 
And, i feel you very much on insecurity. Half the time I’m worrying, is what I’ve written interesting enough? Engaging? Is it immersive? …and so on…
My story is now a lot bigger: over 6000 words!
I’ve mostly finished an interlude leading up to chapter 4 and after chapter 3… I might need to edit said interlude though, it’s a bit of a spoiler… but I could keep it in… and let the characters deal with the ramifications of the knowledge of what the interlude reveals about the primary antagonist! Although this also ties into chapter 4 has the secondary antagonist is an assassin, and the events of said interlude give Extinction MORE of a reason to send he’s herald/assassin/BFF after a certain character!
I’ve added an Easter egg in my story! The catch: you got to be able to read Morse Code to read it!
. .-. .-. — .-. / …- ----- …- -…- …- . .-. … … — -. / -… … .-.-.- …- —… / – . – — .-. -.-- / …-. … .-… . / -.-. …- - / — …-. .-.-.- / .-. . .- … — -. / …-. — .-. / -.-. …- - —… / – … -. -… / - .-. .- -. … …-. . .-. / -.-. — – .–. .-… . - . .-.-.- / -.-- — …- .-. / – … -. -… / … … .- .-… .-… / .-. . - . .-. -. / - — / -.-- — …- .-. / -… — -… -.-- / … …-. / … — – . - … -. --. / … .- .–. .–. . -. … / - — / -.-- — …- .-. / -.-. …- .-. .-. . -. - / … — … - .-.-.-
We are in Valencia and we’re under a strict curfew and can’t leave the city. Adapting to the situation hasn’t been easy and I didn’t get as much done in 2020 as I planned.
I’ve been adapting this year. I go for evening walks in Valencia’s old town and mull over my story. When I return from my walk I either write or write notes for the next day’s writing session.
I’ve been very happy with my productivity this past week I wrote 9,000 words. I was aiming at 10-12k but I’m very happy with the quality of what I produced. I also redefined the antagonistic force in my game, less vague, more seductive/compelling and they are very topical.
Best of luck to everyone this week on their writing. Good fortune.
This perhaps is out of writing support… but… just need to talk to someone…
How do you recover from witnessing death? It all “fun and games” seeing games or writing such things, but…
For some this might be weird as this is about an animal, not a human, but I take animals more to heart… Today I went for a walk, but somehow took a slightly different route than usual and… there was this cat on the sidewalk. I was approaching pretty fast and then he/she got scared and run (but slowly) over the street. And there was a car coming… the cat almost got to the other side and but… didn’t make it. There were like 5 seconds… that I could do smth? I hoped the driver would see the cat and slow down, but didn’t… and poor fellow died in agony… I feel so horrible and blame myself, but at the same time what could I have done???
And it looked like it’s not a stray… I put his body near the sidewalk and called our city shelter, but… it was someone’s friend/family I just can’t… imagining I would lose my cat like that… And here I am, a grown-ass man crying…
Witnessing death is hard- humans and animals alike. Blaming yourself is not going to help, but “Oh, it’s in the past, forget it” may not help either.
When my friend saw a stray dog die from starvation and the cold, they started working to help prevent other stray dogs from dying from the same ending. Maybe you can do something that- doing something good in honor of the victim?
Hi Kefs –
I can only speak for myself here. While I don’t witness death often, nor in intense situations as my sisters have, I have seen it strike.
The closest I’ve been in your situation was a terrified and lost dog that tried to make it through six lanes of traffic in a busy rush hour.
There were two others there as we watched what happened.
I’ve used those emotions that both I and the others experienced in my writing. Cliché, or not… it helps me to think at least this little is being done.
If you care to talk more, my in-box is open. Just send me a PM and we’ll talk this out more.
Here we are at the halfway point of the month –
Crisis averted, I have begun working in earnest, once again.
I’m in the process of rescripting and rewriting… something I am sure @Jose_Garcia can back me up on when I say it is more draining than it should be.
Despite this, I am pushing ahead, successfully passing quick-testing and randomtesting and with each hour working on this, I get closer to being able to write new material.
Like many others, we have experienced record snowfall for this time of year… breaking records most of us were not even born yet when made. Luckily this week, the storms will be easing up a bit, but by Friday, we are expected to get more snow.
I am glad to hear from everyone.
Thank you for speaking with me @Eiwynn, @Beth, @Mistyleaf123
This sounds horrible…
Thank you! I had good conversation with @AChubbyBlackCat last night and helped me calm down. I’m thinking to go to shelter and give home one of those cats (as we all know here they get killed in few weeks). At least give life to someone.
I have just noticed I am being accused of pederasty and rape stories for being spanish in tumbr. And I am being accused of being a toxic shit I just can’t stop crying, I am trying to do my best for this community and I found a Tumbr develop group insulting me and other people of the forum. Why? Why are there so cruel? When I tried to make this forum a better place and keep games safe of bad content.
I’m sorry this happened Mara.
Some good general tips for traumatic experiences
That is actually a great advice. Another is never feel guilty about sharing your emotions and search for help.
I know so many people (mostly men due social pressure) that never express their feelings to try to show they are stronger.
There is no strength in not showing the real feelings one has. That is very harmful to people’s minds.
I’ll make a goal for myself here because I believe that’ll anchor me to working towards it, otherwise I might move on to another one of my 50-bajillion projects and repeat the cycle of never finishing anything:
My goal is to finish at least one chapter and post my game on Dashingdon w/ a topic in the forums.
It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve published anything anywhere.
I finally made a small update after getting done with a rough spot of writing so I’m pretty happy
Just over halfway through the month.
Need to finish the prologue narrative (probably 2-4,000 workds), write the character bio’s (500 or so each), finish up all the writing for the main menu’s + some additional text (approx 1,000 total). Then write 2 or so in-game days worth of content (which is something like 25-30 scenes of 500-1000 words each).
Then code the event system, inventory management + associated bits and then some odds and ends that I’ve probably forgotten.
All by the end of Feb for the planned release of a WiP? We’ll see…
That’s a good goal. Sharing your work is a great motivator.
Sometimes the music you are listening to and the writing you are working on meshes together … that is happening for me tonight…
I am listening to: Wardruna - Kvitravn (White Raven)
and
I am working on material involving a murder of crows that “are real assholes” according to alpha feedback I’ve received.
Hope everyone is doing well this week.
Just saw this and wanted to comment…
I am probably as difficult or (at times) more difficult than you are, where personality is concerned. I have an opinion about everything and my opinions are rarely weak. If people that I care about phrase things the wrong way to me, I get my hackles up and become extremely snappish.
That said, years ago, I met someone who became one of my best friends (and is now a co-author with me on certain projects) when I joined an original online RP (picture more of an interactive story setting where you own certain characters and others own theirs, but there is someone driving the overall story without any of the typical D&D backbone of dicerolls/etc). He and I are like two halves of a whole when it comes to writing–I can write thousands of words in no time flat and can keep hundreds of characters in my brain, all with separate personalities and ways of speaking but when it comes to being forced to follow any sort of plot? BAHAHAHAHA! It gets out of control so quickly that I end up with a neverending story. Literally. But my buddy? He’s plot guy, he can curtail my insanity by focusing me, giving me scenarios and letting me roll with it. He’s also a master wordsmith. What I lack, he excels in. What he lacks, I excel in.
Does that mean it has been easy? Hell no. I’m still a pain in the ass. He’s a pain in the ass. Creative types usually are pains in the ass, so that’s not going to change. But we’ve learned to compromise and work together. Learned that every hill isn’t worth dying on. Learned that sometimes it’s okay to admit you were wrong about a scene or a character or a romance between characters (nothing like having two people writing a character in different chapters when one of us wants her with one guy and the other wants her with someone else–it comes through in the writing and you have to fix it, even if it’s a minor plot point).
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, don’t rule out writing with another person just because you’re stubborn. If I can manage it, you sure as hell can. You just have to find someone you can learn to trust. And learn not to kill when they piss you off. 
For me romance is both the hardest thing to write and the most enjoyable thing to write.
I was struck recently by something I heard David Mamet said in an interview. The key to romance is “what is keeping these two people apart”. This is tricky in a choice game because the author only controls one of the characters, the heart of the player is theirs and theirs alone. The challenge I’m finding is the make the problems mutual and not falling into the trap of either making the player the Constant Pursuer or the Happily Ever After romantic ending merely a prize.
I view it as a duality … both sides of the romance have an orbit and at times they are moving towards each other and at times away from each other – until they consummate the romance into a true relationship (eg marriage)