That sounds brilliant. I’m busy today, but can set up a thread in the evening or tomorrow. (I think it’s better to do it in its own thread rather than this one so that it’s easier for everyone to see what’s what.)
(Or obviously anyone else can set up a thread too!)
Edit: @ChanceOfFire I actually had a bit more time than I anticipated, so here’s the thread 
Happy to set something up next month too if it would be useful.
My goal for this month is to finish Chapter 6 of AToH. All that’s left is writing the Aki fight and then the big dinner with Ignis’ family, both things I have planned out for quite a bit.
This is a shorter month, and I’m gonna be very busy since I need to prep for my graduation, but I’m gonna hope to get it done. I don’t care about word counts either, last month I simply did a 7,000+ words update and people really liked it, so worrying about ballooning up my word count isn’t productive.
Just rewrote the introductions for Little John and Will Scarlet to make it a bit more active while adding even more of their personality to the scene, and I really like how they turned out.
*label companions
As you walk past the carriage, another guard rushes you. The man nearly reaches the back of the carriage when a bear of a man, clad in a green hooded cloak steps out from behind it and immediately sweeps the guard's feet from underneath him. The guard grunts in pain but before he can get back up, the large man follows the sweep by bringing the quarterstaff down on his head. There is a loud thunk and the guard falls still, but still breathing. He looks up grinning at you.
"Man, he went down like a sack of potatoes," John Little laughs.
John removes his hood, revealing a kind face hardened by a rough life, framed by short, bushy auburn hair and an even scruffier beard. Your companion resembles a grizzly in his looks, even though you know he is really more akin to a teddy bear. His blue eyes, however, could switch from kindness to anger in an instant if you threatened his friends. As for his height…
*choice
#I'm tall, but he is even bigger than me.
*set height "tall"
*set motion 1
You were tall for your age, but John Little was even bigger.
*goto little_john
#I'm of average height, but he is much taller than me.
*set height "average"
*set motion 2
Your height is average for your age, but John Little is much taller.
*goto little_john
#He towers over me.
*set height "short"
*set motion 3
You were short for your age, and that made John Little tower over you.
*goto little_john
*label little_john
*set brawler true
*set target "john"
*gosub_scene bonds
His enormous height, of course, is why he is often called Little John, a joke he usually takes with a smile.
*page_break "Watch Out!"
A voice calls out, drawing your attention to a fourth guard who had almost reached you without either of you realising. You're going for your sword when the guard cries out and stumbles a few steps before collapsing face first on the ground. The curved knife sticking from his back reveal what had happened to him.
"How the hell could you not spot him?" Will Scarlet says surprised, as he twirls another curved knife with his thin fingers.
*fake_choice
#"I knew you'd get him for us," you retort.
#"I was leaving him for you," John replies with a shrug.
#"Thanks," you both say.
Will kneels down and yanks his other knife free, before wiping the blood from it on the guard's uniform. He stands up and sheathes both weapons with a flourish. He pulls down his hood, revealing a soft face full of youthful charm. Will is popular with the ladies of Nottingham, but not everyone is a fan of his sharp features; he definitely cuts the figure of what the common folk would call a dashing rogue. His blonde hair fell in curls down to his chin, and his dark green eyes often sparkled with a mischievous glint.
*if (height = "tall")
Will is much shorter than you, but that only went towards your first thought that he is very fox-like, and Will quickly proved that his claws, aka his curved daggers, were just as sharp.
*goto will_scarlet
*elseif (height = "average")
Will is a little shorter than you, but that doesn't stop you from agreeing with your first thought that he is very fox-like, and Will quickly proved that his claws, aka his curved daggers, were just as sharp.
*goto will_scarlet
*else
Will is the same height as you, which is why he quickly took a liking to you in a group where most of you were taller than him. Like you, he might be small, but you both proved your blades were just as sharp as theirs.
*goto will_scarlet
Edited to add todays word count; 1,217 words (probably more as I’ve altered other scenes such as the above rewritten introductions, but this is the word count of brand new content)
I’m editing and reworking some code right now and I am just smiling with childlike glee at the realization that this is good, this is really good but then I remember that this isn’t my main project and I feel almost ashamed about it. Like I’m cheating on my main project or something lol
Granted, this side thing was always going to be of a smaller scale. It’s not even entirely original, having one love interest and that love interest being from a video game. But I didn’t realize how effective a shorter IF is in telling a contained story, at least as the writer, because I can focus entirely on what would’ve typically been a “route” in a normal IF
This side thing really reminded me why I love writing, so I guess I shouldn’t view it as “lesser” just because it’s not a major project that I can publish as an official game, but I can’t help but feel a bit guilty anyway
my goal for this month is to release my WIP.
Finishing a smaller thing can teach you a lot and can be a great energy boost - no need to feel ashamed!
A weaker attempt today, only 724 words. Mainly because I got a bit wound up at home with misbehaving kids who I had to separate and a cat who has recently decided he just wants to meow constantly then when you do what he wants to just keep meowing. I’ve gotten too annoyed to focus on my writing.
It doesn’t help that it’s given me a headache too… 
Chance-san,
I think, if I get to enough …inner oomph and stability of process, to find myself ready to begin writing again, that it would be of benefit to me to receive feedback on the parts of my story not yet seen by the forum. I don’t fully understand my own psychology for why, but it really did help me to know my writing was being read and enjoyed, when it came to pushing myself to write more.
I’ve been thinking about trying to record a video of the writing process, wondering if that would be boring people to tears just watching a few hours of writing happen with some running commentary going on, or actually of interest for the right crowd like people here. Somewhat separate this, I do wish that I could share the raw writing with readers, the script itself, which hasn’t gone through the editing process to be posted properly, for feedback. I’m at a stage where that would benefit me for an attempt to get re-started somehow.
Dear person- this is still a good page and a half of writing, and 724 more words of story writing than I’ve done for a long time. Sounds like you might need some headphones to slip on when you start writing, and some music of choice to help defocus the outside world for a while. It also sounds like your world wants to refuse to be defocused, to which you must pay more attention to it first in order to have a chance to pay less attention to it. You’ve done well to write a page and a half under stressful conditions.
I pay attention to my family I only start writing once they’ve gone to bed and the wife goes off to watch her programmes.
I usually don’t have much issues. I just think the looming headache just amplified things.
Definitely.
Unless you’ve really good image/video/sound editing experience, it could be a lot of work to make one. Perhaps some blog posts or thread comments might be more manageable, with the same payoff.
Why not? I have a non-copyedited version of my HG release somewhere, because I wanted a public version of the raw product to exist somewhere. 
Join the club. I had a quiet couple of months, and then two migraines in one week (and today is shaping up badly, too).
Sorry to hear that. It makes it hard to concentrate!
I feel a little bad as I haven’t written a single word down this month so far, as I have been quite sick and been bundled up in blankets playing games or watching shows instead. Although, I did manage to open the project today and implement the visuals for disapprovals and approvals across three chapters so there’s that 
I’ve had an uneven start to the week, with being ill yesterday and having various disruptions to my writing routine today. I’ve made a decent plan for my chapter though, and tomorrow will hopefully be clearer so I can make the most of having time to focus on coding.
Hey, everyone!
First off, I want to say that I really hope you feel better soon @HarrisPS as you’re a phenomenal creative and one of my all time favorites.
Secondly, on Once in a Lifetime’s front…
A lot is going on, to say the least.
A long time ago, I created a community Discord for OiaL, in which I’ve been slowly growing (now over 100 users! )
Within this Discord server, I like to generally post what I’m doing or plan to do on a daily basis (I skip days sometimes as I just don’t have the energy after my kiddo, work, and college to do anything), but I am generally hyper-productive as of late after the hiatus with my brother’s passing on December 1st.
To give an example of that:
This was merely across two days, in which I’ve done a lot.
Further, I’ve recently been working tirelessly on building out database documentation, which is critical so I can properly organize and implement everything within the game without forgetting anything.
I’m relatively organized/meticulous with how I like to approach development, and so I love using my trusty Google Sheets! That said, this snippet gives an idea of just how deeply detailed Careers will be, seen just from an organization standpoint, and not even remotely counting how much will be added for events, interactions, ect.
Originally, Once in a Lifetime was at over 300k words of code, but is now down to nearly 100k words of code following multiple redundancy refactors which have improved loading times and led to cross-optimizations that will allow the game to operate with stability.
Above all, I have my eye on the ball for a productive February. My plan is ultimately to launch the Once in a Lifetime - Character, Lifestyle, Personality, & Family Creation Demo later this month, which will coincide with the launch of the Work-in-Progress thread on the Choice of Games forums. This Demo will be light on content, but will allow people to toy around with creation systems I’ve produced, take a look at the Glossary, and give an eye at what’s to come in the coming months as I chug ahead towards Update Zero: Beginnings.
Anyways, thanks for all those who have kept an eye on it, and I’m looking forward to showing more soon!
Is this a thread where we can update/check in on each other on how our progress is going?
Yes. There’s a new Writer Support Thread created every month, a tradition started by a beloved member of this forum who died last year. It’s a place where the writers in the community can talk about their aspirations, their progress, and the joys and frustrations of writing, as well as asking for advice on anything from coding to character development. It’s also a place where non-writers can show their support for writers via encouragment and enthusiasm. It’s pretty informal, and a lot of the best discussion on the forum in any given month is likely to happen in the Writer Support Thread.
People usually talk about the process of writing here rather than sharing excerpts, but there’s a tradition of posting on the 15th of every month to share a few paragraphs of what you’ve written, not specifically to solicit feedback, but in the spirit of mutual interest.
My condolences for their passing - It’s very wonderful to hear that this tradition being kept alive.
I will have to keep up with this thread! Much appreciated!
I’m not doing any writing today, but I thought I’d share the first three cases planned for UnNatural Season Three.
Down for the Count
Location: Pennsylvania
Count Armitage Shankley is requesting assistance in dealing with a small group of vampires hiding in his land. (Count Shankley is, in fact, the vampire who sired them, but they have proven unruly, so he wants someone to kill them for him.)
The Wolf Pack
Location: undecided
A nightclub that caters explicitly to Therianthropes for moonlit fun has resulted in a couple of human deaths. Whether these are accidents or not is unknown. (A hunter who is anti-therinrope is drugging unsuspecting Therianthropes, which causes them to get over-excited and causes them to hurt people.)
The Graveyard Shift
Location: undecided
An animator (either Marie, if alive, or someone else) has been hired to raise someone’s ancestors, but they have been dead for centuries. They are uncertain if it is possible at this point but are willing to try. There is a concern that the amount of power needed could have unforeseen consequences, so they require someone to provide support for the overwatch variety.
