January 2024's Writer Support Thread

I would think that most modern publications removes the mentions of stuff like slave dancing-girls who get upstaged by a pale-skinned girl who didnā€™t even have legs until recently and non-consensually black-facing a girl to make her look ugly, just like they update the language somewhat in general.

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Iā€™d imagine it depends on the age of the print, yes. (Although itā€™s also possible translations change stuff.) But Iā€™m curious now, considering legs, I assume Little Mermaid, but whatā€™s the second one?

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People were more casually racist in those days. It wasnā€™t only Andersen, it was Aesop, Enid Blyton etc. It wasnā€™t limited to a place or even an era.

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The Wild Swans. Not nearly as well known, because no disney adaptation, but I remember it fondly, because I made an illustration for it back in school, for a project week. Itā€™s one of the more over-the-top religious ones, though, in the original version.

Edit: Interestingly enough, both those tales have female protagonists who are unable to speak for magic reasonsā€¦

@S_Missions : Yeah, I just wasnā€™t thinking about it, so I was taken aback. Itā€™s been a while since Iā€™ve read any old texts, especially in my own language.

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IM GLAD I COULD MOTIVATE YOU! That said, Iā€™ve pretty much accepted that the only time Iā€™ll have to work on my game is Saturdays. TAT

Oh boy, I had this same question when I got started. I found what works best for me is to start with a bullet-point outline. Then, I pick a section (in this case, chapter one), and I start turning the bullet points into *comments. Then, as I finish the *comments, I start connecting where the choices would be mentally. Then I add those as framework code. Once Iā€™ve got the framework for each section set up, I start adding prose. Prose usually yeilds more choices or stats updates, so after Iā€™ve got a little prose, I add those in. And then, I do a final check for if the prose fits.

After that, I test it.

Anna, honey. TAT Omg.

You did GREAT! May I offer some advice that really helped me with writing creepy shit? other senses. Youā€™ve touched on feel, but what about Smell? Hearing? Do they hear the squishy noises of the blood climbing slowly up their legs? Do they see the wriggling of whatever it is beneath their clothing as it climbs higher? What about pain? Is there any sharp pain, swelling pain, heated pain? Does it feel like a violation, or does it feel oddly comforting? Can they hear the sharp and staccato breathing of those around them?

See this is what Iā€™m thinking too. My game was meant to be brutal, as physical punishment is the norm in the society Iā€™ve written, so having early endings just made sense. But I avoided it because it seemed to be frowned upon.

God would I love to see examples of these sheets. TAT

Ooooh. That sounds fun

IVE JUST BEEN USING TODO BUT THIS IS BRILLIANT.

NAME THE APP GOOD GENTLEPERSONā€¦ oh wait, nvm. You already did. XD Thanks a ton for that!

Iā€™ve been trying to randomise my choices too. That way I can make sure that players donā€™t feel railroaded into one character build type.

I started out with doing this as a default on my choices, but I think adding it as a choice would be a better idea (especially since my dumb ass forgot to keep doing it as the chapter progressed, so now I have to make a note about going back and setting it up. TAT)

Oh shit thatā€™s brilliantā€¦ How would you even code that though?

Your games inspire me a TON, Hannah. Like, I legit only got into choicecoding because I saw what you did with Creme de La Creme, and I fell in LOVE. Soā€¦ yeah, thatā€™s one. The other one is the Samurai of Hyuga series? I really loved that one so much so that I bought all of the games for it that came out. Heart of the House really hit me HARD, as a really great example of how emotional depth had such an impact on such a short game. And Weyrwood really drove home to me how easy it was to bring new genres into this sphere, and how well they could do.

THIS. ME TOO. OMG. Literally, Phoenix Rising came about because I was sooooo pissed about how the story was treating my fave guy in Legent of Yanxi Palace. XD

OOf, honey. I know that feeling. Insomnia SUCKS BALLS. I know youā€™re probably tried everything, but recently, Iā€™ve found that going back to my teenage habit of Maladaptive Daydreaming myself to sleep has been helping? Itā€™s basically where you lay down, and then tell yourself a story in your head while trying to see it mentally. And that usually ends with me asleep.

but how did you figure it out. TAT

I feel like this is why each writer should have a ā€˜style sheetā€™ for their own work. Note down important shit, like ā€œare the choice options italicized or notā€, ā€œI must capitalize this word every time whether itā€™s a noun or notā€, ā€œChoices are in stat orderā€, etc.

I wish I had creative energy. TAT Iā€™m so tired mentally at the end of every day all I can do is play a mobile game or read a fanfic.

AND NOW I WANT TO BE IN A GAME JAM?! When am I gonna have time for that. TAT Iā€™m dyingā€¦ flop

CONGRATULATIONS! You did so well, omg!


Okay, now that I have all the replies out of the way, I can say my own piece. XD That said, I havenā€™t even touched my computer this week. On the bright side Iā€™ve met my sales goal for the week at work. On the downside, Iā€™m so distraught from being unable to create anythingā€¦ I kinda wanted to die a little. Like in a, ā€œThis is not what Iā€™m meant to be and do, why should I bother living this wayā€ way, not a ā€œI have a plan and am a danger to myself and othersā€ way, so no worries. Iā€™m good there guys.

Justā€¦ I look at how long itā€™s taken me just to get what Iā€™ve got done done, and then I look at what I have ahead of me and it seemsā€¦ impossible, yknow? Iā€™m trying to tell myself not to think that way. I really am. But like. I donā€™t want this to be a game that takes me a decade to finish, yknow?

Ugh. If only I could clone myself so one could work on the game and the other could go to work and then I could switch them back and forth, that way each one gets a break. TAT

Edit: ANNNND I just saw the advance-royalties post that just got put up and holy shit, I gotta admit thatā€™s some motivation right there. What I would do with 15 grand. TAT

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I get it. Some days are so full of chores that I have very little time to do creative work. Also, I should specify that my creative energy does not equal my physical energy. I might be sitting down to work on a game right now but my body is telling me to go nap. Edit: I went and had a lie down. :rofl:

Every bit of progress counts. Keep going! I believe in you! :herb:

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I write this as I am waiting for a phone call back from 111, (they said theyā€™d call me in an hour, 6 hours ago.) Classic NHS.

This all comes after a week of general sicky feeling, and a really bad sore throat, which is not what I wanted on my birthday week, but hey ho. It all culminated in coughing up blood today, so yeah, ainā€™t doing too hot.

I am more annoyed than pained to be honest, since Iā€™m sitting with a 95% complete update that just needs like another 2k-ish words to be ready to release, and this was my January goal. So I will not be too happy if I am unable to complete this, but I hope I can push through.

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You did GREAT! May I offer some advice that really helped me with writing creepy shit? other senses . Youā€™ve touched on feel, but what about Smell? Hearing? Do they hear the squishy noises of the blood climbing slowly up their legs? Do they see the wriggling of whatever it is beneath their clothing as it climbs higher? What about pain? Is there any sharp pain, swelling pain, heated pain? Does it feel like a violation, or does it feel oddly comforting? Can they hear the sharp and staccato breathing of those around them?

Thank you! Iā€™ve been doing some research into the horror genre and thatā€™s one of the common tips Iā€™ve seen. My plan is to add in more sensory descriptions (among other things) on my second pass, and I will certainly reference your post to help me flesh it out further!

Justā€¦ I look at how long itā€™s taken me just to get what Iā€™ve got done done, and then I look at what I have ahead of me and it seemsā€¦ impossible, yknow? Iā€™m trying to tell myself not to think that way. I really am. But like. I donā€™t want this to be a game that takes me a decade to finish, yknow?

I know exactly how you feel. I had (have) the same concerns about the story I was working on prior to this current one. I am hoping that by completing a shorter story Iā€™ll be better equipped to keep my passion project on track and avoid bloat when I return to it. I hope you can find the right balance between writing and work.

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Oh no! I hope youā€™re feeling better soon.

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Iā€™m so exhausted. This was my entire December and January. One chapter to go.

image

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Like paying too much attention to ā€œreviewsā€, listening to ā€œconventional wisdomā€ when it comes to your design decisions, may shoot yourself in the foot and hinder you, rather than actually help you.

When it comes to atmosphere, world-building and setting, I feel you would be served better by adhering to your original design choices.

If your world that your story is set in dictates some choices leading to end-states, then you should stick to your design-guns.

With me, the addition is not dictated by the world-building, per se, but now that the inclusion is made easier by the new CS feature, it will be nothing but positive to include it.

I listen to my intuition a lot, so that is how I ā€œfiguredā€ it out. Sometimes it takes longer than other times to suss what the issue is. My intuition has been honed to a high degree of usefulness over the years, so I find that taking the time to figure out what is amiss is worth the effort.

Maybe I will put something in next monthā€™s thread.

I feel you made the monthā€™s goal in spirit, if not by the letter ā€¦ so if there is a day or even a week spill-over into next month, it is okay.

Health and keeping the long-term goal of consistent work over the life of the project is much more important in the long run.

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I look at writing advice and ā€œrulesā€ the same way I look at constructive criticism. I think you should listen to it, really think about it, then decide if it makes sense for you in general and/or your individual projects. As an example, I think describing all the senses in my fantasy world is a good idea. But I think doing that in my contemporary setting would be boring and unnecessary. We all know what a bathroom looks like, I can stick to describing the things that really stick out

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Finished and submitted my first chapter and associated minigames, so Iā€™m calling January a success I guess! (Weā€™ll ignore the fact that I thought I would be done with it two weeks ago. :wink: )

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Getting that home stretch feeling on this chapter! Almost donā€™t want to stop to play tabletop with my friends because my flow is so good.

Not especially looking forward to testing though. I know itā€™d be sensible to set aside the time to code an alpha build, but my brainā€™s all recalictrant to learn how.

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Good luckā€“and you got this!

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I am currently trying to sketch a scene where a NPC who everyone thinks is a total pushover pulls off a nigh-impossible sniper shot to save the day. The catch: I have no slightest idea what theyā€™re saving the day from yet. :sweat_smile:

(But my fav line must be ā€œPlease donā€™t make me practice gun unsafety.ā€)

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Thanks, and well done you on hitting your goal!

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I love it when characters who seem super casual turn out to be dead-shot snipers. That happens in some of the shows Iā€™ve watched and itā€™s always a thrilling moment.

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THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE, OMG.

TAT Thank you so much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sorry you feel sick. For coughing, I would suggest honey-and-lemon. Take a spoonful of lemon, and then a spoonful of honey. The honey is an antiseptic which will also help heal and soothe your bloodied throat. Anything with slippery elm or black licorice will also help a lot with throat problems.

Thank you for this. And I wish you the very best luck with finishing your smaller game. I hope it has the effect on your passion project that youā€™re hoping it will.

CONGRATULATIONS! Good job on working so hard! That is quite the milestone!

Iā€™m sorry, minigames???

That said, GOOD JOB ON YOUR HARD WORK. Iā€™m so proud of you!

TAT me either, hun, me either.

Holy shit thatā€™s my favorite line too, goddam. Might I suggest radioactive corgis? Or if you want something more serious, perhaps a Bear has caught Sight of them and her Cubs are on the Other Side of Them, and that is UNNACCEPTABLE. (athough tbf, I donā€™t think a single bullet will put down a rampaging bear)

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ā€¦Iā€™m suddenly reminded of how one of my charactersā€™ explanation for how theyā€™re such a hotshot lawyer is ā€œI was bitten by a radioactive law book. Obviously.ā€

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