Just wanted to wish a Happy Pride to the COG community, and good luck to everyone embarking on their writing projects this month! 
19 Likes
I also read your WIP, and feel bad that I didn’t comment. I thought the bones of a good story were there, just that it needed context. I particularly wanted to tell you not to give up.
I used to write like my life depended on it in high school, I’d get home and move in behind my keyboard and write, because there was nothing I loved better. It was trashy teenage romance featuring an MC that was suspiciously similar to me, and very unsimilar in how everyone was in love with her, lol, but I loved it. And then adulthood and university beckoned, spare time was rare and I lost that ability to write in droves just for the fun of it.
For the past ten years I’ve wanted to get that back; that all-consuming need to write and bask in it.
The point of my self-involved diatribe is that you haven’t lost it. You clearly still have that ability to write in droves and enjoy it. I’m envious of that. Keep writing.
My personal writing goals for the month have sadly stagnated due to the big work contract I have. I don’t have much spare time 
I’ll probably only be able to pick it up again properly after August.
But in the meantime, I wish everyone in this thread luck with your goals. I’m rooting for you!
7 Likes
Damn, weeks just disappear when you’re depressed. Happy to be back at it again! Hope everyone’s enjoying pride as much as is possible.
7 Likes
I have learned that pitches and concepts are different so I’ve had to do a little rewrite of the concepts I’m on about the third or fourth drafts with one of five concepts at a point I’m mostly happy with. Will be working on them again later this evening but would like to submit them at some point during the next week as I know that the concept is just the first step in the process.
7 Likes
So the concept comes before the pitch? How does that work exactly? And what would you say is the difference?
2 Likes
How they explained it a concept is a one paragraph summary that describes the genre, setting and theme of the game as well as a few other things which changes depending on whether it is a concept for CoG or HC.
But it’s things like the goal of the game, how the player can guide their character and in the case of HC who they can romance.
This is the stage I’m at. A pitch expands on the concept and is only wanted after a successful concept is accepted.
The process AFAIK is the submit a writing sample then they would ask for concepts. But I think that because I am coming from Hosted Games they are allowing me to submit the sample and concepts together.
6 Likes
So you submit a concept, they ask for a pitch if they like the concept, and then if they like the pitch they offer you a contract?
2 Likes
-
You email [your CV] to CoG
-
If your CV demonstrates sufficiently your background as a writer, we will invite you to submit a writing sample.
-
If your writing sample works for us, we will invite you to submit concepts written against a guide to writing concepts that we provide.
-
If one of your concepts works for us, we’ll invite you to submit a full pitch for a game, in the form of an outline, again, written against a guide to writing an outline we’ll provide to you.
-
If we accept your outline—most go through several rounds of revision with our team—we’ll offer you a contract to write a full game.
-
Once you’ve signed a contract with us, we’ll review your work and give you editorial notes and feedback at a number of word-count milestones. Your game will have a lead editor who will support you and your work throughout the writing process, as well as other staff who will contribute editorial input at various milestones.
This is the process as explained on the website but my experience has been slightly different because of me being a Hosted Games author so I’ve not had to provide a CV.
8 Likes
Ah yes, I’ve actually read that on the website but I didn’t really stop to think about the terminology of concept and pitch, since I thought of concepts as being part of the pitch process. Thanks for explaining. And best of luck with your concepts! 
5 Likes
Yeah, I always thought pitches and concepts were the same thing so even though I was following the guide I was still writing it as pitch which is why I went back and rewrote them a couple of times and will probably do a few more until I’m happy.
I’m at a point where even if they aren’t what CoG/HC are looking for I can always submit them as Hosted Games (although one concept is my next game if I’m not successful).
I love being a Hosted Games author but having a CoG or HC would mean reaching a higher goal. Like getting promoted.
Thank you for the luck, I’ll need it to be able to keep my muse inspired.
7 Likes
Best of luck with the concepts! It can be a weird, hypothetical sort of stage to be at but my advice is to make sure that you like all your ideas roughly equally so you feel confident that you’d be happy making any of them 
9 Likes
Thanks I’m just glad I kept referring them to pitches otherwise Jason wouldn’t have let me know they were different. Ooo just heard some thunder, might get some atmosphere to work on the concepts!
9 Likes
I confess that I call the concepts “pitches” and “concepts” interchangeably and call the pitches “outlines” (and all the jargon shifts depending on the situation, person talking, or time of day in non-CoG work too) so you are not alone 
8 Likes
My wishes are powerful. You’re welcome.
7 Likes
Hey everyone! I’ve been lurking on the forums for something ridiculous like two years now, finally taking the plunge to actually post something meaningful.
I’ve had the idea for a world, certain characters, and the bare bones of a plot rattling around in my head for over a decade. When I joined the forum originally I was excited to try turning these ideas into an IF game. And then life (and a terrible boss at work) happened… as it does… and I just let it drop.
About two weeks ago I got a massive burst of motivation out of the blue, and now I’m back at it! I have a rough outline of book one, a more detailed outline of the first chapter or so, some new characters, and I genuinely can’t wait to dig into some coding and see how it goes.
18 Likes
Welcome and good luck!
My latest update is I finally feel I’ve got the concepts down for four ideas and the writing sample done. Just waiting for a reply of how they like it sent as they are currently Google docs should still be submitting the submissions in the next few days
11 Likes
My goal for the rest of the month is to work out a consistent writing schedule. My job thankfully leaves me with plenty of free time, but it can get… busy. Ideally, I want to finish writing the first half of ch2.
Mostly I just want to enjoy writing. And reading. And writing. I find it relaxing 
editing, on the other hand…
9 Likes
There we go. Writing sample and concepts submitted now to wait and see whether CoG/HC are interested in any of them.
For those curious, the titles for the four concepts I’ve submitted are…
Quiver- a Robin Hood Tale [HC]
The Vampire’s Servant[HC]
Daemonglass[CoG]
A Tale of Blades and Brethren [CoG](formally called Rookfall)
17 Likes
Good luck @Nocturnal_Stillness !
I love reading this threat. It’s nice to see new(er) people, the informative stuff and what people are doing.
I haven’t done as much as I wanted the last week and a half. Getting sick kind of took the wind out of my sails for a bit (my immune system acts like it owes money to a loan shark and needs to repay them by occasionally not working properly) and only just starting to feel like a person again. Unfortunately, that’s meant I’ve been unable to sleep properly so actual writing is just pretty much just planning stuff right now and hoping I understand what my notes mean later.
9 Likes
If I remember correctly, the 14th is a day where we can share some of our work! In a small sneak peak at the new extra story, here is the closing statement of a very pissed off doctor.
Robert took a deep breath and turned around, once again shaking his head, and this time with watery eyes. “A drop in the bucket…” His time was nearly up, but he knew he had to hammer home his point. One final nail in the coffin. A closing statement.
“We pride ourselves on protecting our people. Billions of dollars spent on policing. Trillions of dollars spent on military force. You tell us that the biggest threat to our country is terrorism… The war on domestic and international terrorism. Well there’s a whole other war going on, and for once, all you need to do is listen.” Robert leaned forward on the desk with his arms and the room fell silent. Deathly silent. All except for one noise.
Ffffffft… Khhhhhhh…
Ffffffft… Khhhhhhh…
The sound of the single respirator.
“That, congresspeople, is the sound of war… And we’re losing.”
Another brief pause as the last seconds of the timer trickled down.
“…Thank you…” Robert hit the button to manually switch off his microphone.
Obviously things will make more sense when put into context, but I am so close to being done with the new update I can taste it. I just got my new computer in so I’ve been transferring things over to that so far, but I will hopefully have the update out by the end of the week!
EDIT: I was one day off, nooooo!
10 Likes