June 2024's Writer Support Thread

Game Development Writing and Content
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Welcome all to the support thread for June 2024.

:spiral_calendar:

:birthday: Happy Birthday to June babies.

:rainbow_flag: June is Pride month – be sure to show your support to those you know that are part of the LBGTQ community :revolving_hearts:

This month, I am focused on my pre-beta testing that ends on June 15th. Whenever I run a test like this, one of my goals is to try to expand who I think my audience is and offer an opportunity for these people to play my game (or demo, as the case may be).

Sometimes, I am surprised and someone who, I think, will not enjoy my game does, and because of their often enthusiastic feedback, a whole new set of opportunities open up to me. When this happens, I end up expanding features and elements to accommodate them and potential readers like them!

Other times, someone I hope will enjoy the game does not, and I end up searching for answers as to why.

This brings me to the topic of my “audience” aka: “Who I am writing for.”

Searching for my audience is an ever-changing affair – those who I canvass to read my stories has shifted over the years and in a very apropos way, it has been tied into my identity as a writer.

The articles I am sharing this month are about discovering your writing identity and through that exercise, discovering your audience.

The first article is both basic and general in nature.

The next article uses a “shotgun” approach to get you thinking about these subjects. Pick and choose what works for you:

https://www.writersdigest.com/publishing-insights/15-ways-earn-audience-writer

My June goal is to continue to run the pre-beta test I started on May 15th and wrap it up in the second half of June.

While I am still laying the groundwork for future editing runs, the wonderful and much appreciated feedback I have received thus far has inspired me to make some changes both to the narrative and to the mechanics to hopefully embrace and celebrate new members of my audience.

What type of delay this means, I do not know, but I intend to take the feedback I have received and use it to take Patchwerks to the next level.

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I really enjoyed June 2 in theatres

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My goal for June is to write 15k words of Meteoric, and put out Chapter Three on the demo.

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I’ve just participated in one game jam – the Safe In Our World Mental Health Game Dev Champions 2024. This game jam, as evident in the title, aims to tackle mental health issues based on real-life experiences, and lasts for five months.

There are two options in participating in this jam. I either join one team as a writer, or develop my own game as a solo developer as usual. For the former, I’m waiting for the reply of the leader of the team I’m applying for first before acting.

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With Asphodel officially submitted and undergoing the editing process, I’m turning my attention to its sequel (and hopefully getting a bit of work done for Diaspora as well, which is now over halfway through being edited for submission).

So, concretely, I’d like to:

  • Finish the planning phase of the sequel, and in particular to have a scene-by-scene outline to work from this time.
  • Finish the additional epilogue scene for Diaspora
  • Make about 20,000 words of forward progress on Blood of the Living

All together, this would give me something substantial to show first readers by the end of the month, but I don’t think I’ll be dropping any official demos until I have at least 2-3 chapters done this time.

Happy Pride :nonbinary_flag: to all who celebrate, and good luck to everyone with their goals this month.

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Well, I didn’t get anything useful done (apart from filling some forms, and getting rid of a nosebleed) last month, and I’m getting pretty stressed because I have deadlines, so here’s hoping I’ll get my groove back soon.

Wery fittingly, my best from last night, reconstructed since I forgot to write it down originally and am not 100% sure, but anyway... that just makes it MORE fitting.

“We are, as always, making poor decisions.”

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Happy Pride! :bi_flag:

I don’t think I’ll be able to do much this month :confused:
Mainly because the [Neo-Twiny Jam - Submit for Charity!] is quite a handful to mod :sweat_smile:
But I would like to try to sneak in an entry or two if I can (maybe even in ChoiceScript?).

I’ve struggled with that one in the past quite a bit (burnt out) and I personally realised that I am the happiest when I write for myself! Or I let my brain run wild with ideas that are probably not what most people following me look for. But as long as I have fun doing it, :woman_shrugging: It’s helped me write so much!

On a :partying_face: note, I found out I ranked third on a competition I participated earlier this year (a big jump compared to last year). Turns out, making tutorials for games is pretty hard!

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After finally getting my update out last month, my goal is to get my next one up and running in June! I took time away from writing after I updated, but I think I’m ready to get back in the saddle this weekend.

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Happy pride, everyone.:rainbow_flag:

I have finally laid out character arcs and planned day 2 out of 14, which is better than not doing anything at all. Now I only have to finish writing day one to seven, proofread it, test it and post a demo. Easy! (it’s not)

P.S. lol, my tablet only has trans and general lgbt flags.

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I am very happy, I asked several people to read my first mini game for the charity jam.

And they replied back and gave me feedback! It sounds like normal but it is the first time it happened. So I am very happy and for me is a big step.

Maybe someday I try a public beta, I am not ready yet. But someday.

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Happy Pride Month to all who partake & celebrate! :pan_flag:

I’m a newbie joining all you lovely folks to continue writing my game. This month I’m aiming to add 10000 - 15000 words and finish up Chapter 1. Then package it all together, test it and get the game out into the public eye. I’d like some early feedback ( hopefully :crossed_fingers: ) on my chosen time progression and stat systems.

Hopefully checking in here every so often, and updating my wordcount, will keep me productive. :sweat_smile:

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Congratulations! I get very nervous when asking for feedback too! I want it, but I’m also constantly on the defensive, not truly knowing how to respond or what to do. Getting it feels strangely liberating.

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My problem is just the contrary I acept really well bad feedback and flaws. My problem is accept compliments. I start to get paranoid that they are only saying it to makw me feel better and it is impossible I am doing it something right. Therapy is helping me to understand that if they say something is wrong and it is true they are saying the truth when it is something positive as well.

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Same for me, funnily enough. It helped for me to just… distract myself to take my mind away from thoughts about my writing. The less I say or think “this shit is trash” about my own work, the better it will be for me in the long run. Just fall into a trance and write. No thoughts, head empty. And then, after I publish it, do the same. Watch gacha videos, play games, start doing literally anything else. The more I distract myself from my own thoughts, the easier it comes to write.

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I’m hoping to finish off my non-CoG freelance work this week, and then will be fully back on Honor Bound. Chapter 7 is going up on Patreon on 4th June and I’m hoping to finish planning (and maybe coding if I’m lucky?) Chapter 11 that week. After I’ve got that done, I’ll be writing as much of Chapter 11 as I can before the end of the month.

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This month I start my one summer class and an online writing retreat. So it’ll be a bit busier, but hopefully it’ll be a good month

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I hope June will be a better month. May was kinda rough. I want to finally go back to the beginning and fix the issues with Chapter 1, then I want to write Chapter 3 as much as possible. This is my first time writing something so that others can read and I was so scared when I first posted my WIP. My anxiety is fading slowly and I feel the feedback helped me a lot, even though it can be a bit scary sometimes.

And yeah, Happy Pride Month :bi_flag:

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Thanks as always @Eiwynn for the thread! :revolving_hearts: Happy Pride month to all :heavy_heart_exclamation: :rainbow:

Congratulations to everyone on last month’s milestones! It’s exciting to see everyone making progress. I didn’t post much in May bc life + keeping on top of a massive alpha update, but i’m happy to say I was successful. I can’t believe how much I did in the past 31 days - I’m a little burnt out but very proud. I’m going to take it easier this month. I’ve got a lot already prepared, which should help with that.

Also it’s my birthday month ^.^ :sunflower:

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Hello everyone and happy June!

Its my first time in these writer support threads in a while. I had to take a break while I finished up my last few months of my undergraduate degree, which I am proud to say I have finally finished!

I’m excited to get back into working on my IF. I spent a lot of May working on some preqriting aspects of my project and added about 5,500 words. I’m going to set what I hope is a modest goal of 10,000 words this month as I am still getting back into the practice of writing everyday.

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Happy Pride!

Goal for June is to get my dang Villain Juice chapter finished. I’ve been working on it longer than any other single chapter and it’s becoming a drag on my morale. Sort of a self-sustaining thing where because it’s been ongoing for so long, it gets harder to get large amounts done per day, so it takes longer… and so on and so forth. The finish line is approaching and I expect I’ll regain momentum once I get a change of scene as it were, but wurgh.

Second objective is managing my writing alongside my freelance gig. I need to be productive with both rather than one at a time, and it’s an adjustment.

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