February 2023's Writer Support Thread

[Leinco]

Honestly, this is the best way to describe my progress this month.

There’s a looooooooooong road ahead for me…

[Rinnegato]

@Rinnegato

Will this writer succeed into finish a chapter started years ago?

Mwhahahahaaha! Ha! Ha! Ha! No!

@Rinnegato

I’ll try a full immersion day the 28th (my free day) and see how it will go.

Ha! Ha! Ha! Make 1 hour (being generous) rewatching (again) your notes.

Started reading Fallen Hero. I discover that me and @malinryden use the same word for empowered people: Enhanced. I took it from bioethics, it’s used for real in the scientific/philosophical debate.

On the bright side:
I conceived a Scooby Doo videogame during a just for fun discussion. Does it count?

Here for details

@Rinnegato

Ok, I’m joining and going to picture a potential Scooby Doo videogame

• The tone would be mostly light and humorous, the show is mostly a comedy after all;
• No openworld: it would be pointless and draining, I can picture a serie of chapters (one per case/monster) where you can freely explore the surroundings (mansion, village, lake…);
• These chapters could be either be self conclusive or soft connected into a bigger scheme/plot;
• Each chapter monster would have their own abilities to force you into adapting, they would also free roam around the surrounding, they would trigger a chase if they discover you;
• You would play as all gang, switching manually between characters (or with a friend in coop mode);
• The gang would mostly share the same abilities tree with specialisations and unique skills for each singular members, you would obtain skill points with exploration, completing cases/missions, passing gameplay challenge (finish the case without getting caught by the monster, hide X times etc.);
• During each chapter you would pass between exploring/investigating and do some scripted missions (the tutorial of the monster, a particular chase etc.), the MM and various safe zones would be the hubs (with unique features for the MM), if the monster catch one or more character, you should rescue them or they could free by themselves, if the monster catch you all is game over.
• You could split the gang, but certain areas and clues would be accessible only for selected members or certain combinations;
• You would gather clues and materials both with free roam and scripted missions, the clues would open a Sherlock Holmes like mind net (I’m thinking to Frogwares’s Sherlock Holmes) to find the culprit;
• When you would find enough clues to solve the case, collect enough materials, all scripted missions are complete and all the gang is reunite in a hub, you could started the final mission, the Big Trap (the one that actually catches the monster for the unmasking);

A few notes for characters skills

• Fred: strong in investigation and specialised in traps to temporary incapacitate the monster (you can’t capture the monster until the big trap), weak in escaping the monster if get caught (you could only free him with other characters)
• Daphne: specialised in sensing trap and escaping if get caught, week in running away and regaining energy;
• Velma: specialised in investigation (the mind net thing) and finding clues unavailable to others, week in regaining energy
• Shaggy: specialised in sensing the monster, strong in regaining energy (by eating) and running away/hiding, average in finding clues but week in other strategic/brain skills;
• Scooby: unique dog skills (enhanced nose and hearing for example…), specialised in regaining energy, the same as Shaggy for the rest

PS thank you @Eiwynn and @HarrisPS for your work as moderator. I know that some time this month things are not been easy. and I feel partially responsible

[HarrisPS]

Very tired today, but this month I did a lot! I did write up the Noblesse Oblige retrospective, did major work on the other things I’m doing, and made an outline draft. Very pleased with how things are going (despite the tired).

[malinryden]

@Rinnegato

Started reading Fallen Hero. I discover that me and @malinryden use the same word for empowered people: Enhanced. I took it from bioethics, it’s used for real in the scientific/philosophical debate

Ahaha that is nice to hear! I just needed one that wasn’t trademarked…

[Blunderbutts]

This month’s been a real drag for me, word count wise.

Honestly, I don’t think my original plan of writing a small amount every day is going to work out. Coupling that with a full-time job makes writing feel too much like work.

Next month I’ll be be trying a different approach, letting ideas and notes pile up during the week, and then writing for longer over the weekend. Hoping that works out to be a better way of working for me.

[Caronte]

I’m at a point where I basically know what I want to write, yet I find myself just sitting there staring at the document. Highly frustrating. I do write, but it’s way too slow for my liking.

[Cecilia_Rosewood]

Moderate success, I guess? Did some research, but not enough to really permanently structure anything yet. Didn’t even get to researching civil wars/internal (military) conflicts yet. Only army stuff in general and special operations units in specific this far. (And there are a lot of units that either directly or indirectly fall under that banner. And that’s with research this far being limited to the US army in specific.)

Actual writing? About 350 words of fanfiction.

[Anna_B]

February was made up of the semester going into full steam ahead mode, turning 21, 0 words written, and deciding to lean more into drama and fun royal stuff and less plotty, important stuff happening for WIP #2. The plot will still be there, I just want it to be more on the back burner, as opposed to the other stuff being subplot.

Sometime soon, I want to write a test scene for the “explicit” content. I want it to be vague and illusionary enough for it to be PG13. And that would make it easier for writing the different combinations. But I don’t want it to be so illusionary that it’s all flowery and you have no idea what just happened. After a couple try’s, if I just can’t make it work, then I’ll either make it eventually fade to black, or I’ll have to make it a bit more clear with some gender locks. I’ll decide if it comes to it

[sequeltodogs]

Finished one of my subscenes, started with another. I’m not sure on the pacing yet, but I’ll be able to check once I’ve fully finished all the flashback sequences (which if done right should be a nice intro/character building segment that also introduces some of the MCs relationships).

Which brings me to a pacing question actually. How do y’all manage to slow down while writing and avoid telling instead of showing? My method so far has been doing a telling draft, then rewriting it until it feels like it isn’t too direct. But I still suffer from telling too much.

[Havenstone]

Between sickness and a week-long visit from my sister and her family, I didn’t get as much actual writing done as I’d hoped this month. But I have a lot of maps and numbers I didn’t have before, all shaping stuff that will be relevant for the rest of the series. So I’ll focus on that, and look forward to March!