May 2024's Writer Support Thread

[Eiwynn]

Welcome all to the support thread for May 2024.

Happy Birthday to May babies.

---

---

Since my mind has been focused on the genre of “Horror” as I get Patchwerks ready for pre-beta testing, I decided to highlight three different authors of horror that might inspire others.

First up is a master of early 20th century horror, who introduced his first work with the following words:

If you don’t care for this, you won’t care for anything of mine.

The terror of reality was the true horror for H P Lovecraft | Aeon Essays

The classic Lovecraft tale often focus on optimistic endeavors for knowledge that are thwarted by incomprehensible terrors and a horrifyingly arbitrary cosmic order. These revelations shatter the minds of Lovecraft’s truth-seeking characters, including doctors, archaeologists, lost sailors, metaphysicians, and scientists of all kinds.

From the early 20th century to the late 20th century and early 21st century, we take a look at Stephen King, the master writer who focuses on the forbidden.

Friday essay: in praise of the ‘horror master’ Stephen King

My favorite Stephen King quote is:

If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.

I totally buy into this and am amazed at the depth of talent that gathers here. Occasionally, I think we lose track of just how much talent is in this community.

Then we come to Koji Suzuki, a rising author (in America and Europe) that first wrote his Ring series in the 1990’s and whose credits include books, inspired manga, inspired movies, and inspired video games:

Complete RING series by Koji Suzuki: “I really dislike most horror writing.”...

Although he made his mark on the horror genre with his Ring series, he later told the NY Times:

I actually don’t like all that supernatural stuff. I really dislike most horror writing.

Nevertheless, ghostly girls, deadly videotapes and postmodern creepiness are what his fans really enjoy about his writing.

---

---

My May and June goals are to run a pre-beta test (May 15th to June 15th), to lay the groundwork for future editing runs, and to work on art and other missing elements for eventual submission.

[ChanceOfFire]

It’s May already? Well… despite a difficult and stressful start, April did turn out to be quite productive in the end. I’ll probably get a new WIP thread ready with about 110-130k words of content sometime in the middle of this month (this is not a promise).

@Eiwynn

My May and June goals are to run a pre-beta test (May 15th to June 15th), to lay the groundwork for future editing runs, and to work on art and other missing elements for eventual submission.

Best of luck. I need to try to hit my goals too.

On another note, my game is getting released tomorrow. I am kinda scared.

[HarrisPS]

Hello, May! Thanks for setting up the new thread @Eiwynn.

April didn’t go as well for me as I hoped, writing-wise, so I’m still on Chapter 10 of Honor Bound, but I hope to complete the draft and do some playtesting/edits before submitting it. If I can at least do a broad-strokes plan for Chapter 11, that would be a great bonus.

For those who missed it, do check out the long list of new games and updates from April!

And this GDC talk from writer/narrative designer Nessa Cannon about narrative branching may be of interest to writers here:

Game Narrative Summit: Branching on a Budget: Creating Agency Without...

[Dash]

I’ve been keeping up to date with Dance of the Night on a seperate thread, but work continues. The main issue is whether to call it Vampire’s Kiss: Dance of the Night or not. The games are linked (with a few returning characters, often in ways you won’t expect) but the story’s scope is very different.

I’m also struggling a little to accurately convey the passage of 30 years in a way that feels meaningful, and allows players to actually feel like their character developed based on choices they made, while equally acknowledging that the in-betweeny bits aren’t really linked to the romance. Also very excited to say that, while Chapter 1 is largely chaste (unless you go to the brothel, and even then it’s very small), Chapter 2 is where you can start getting into a spicy meatball with two of the ROs, and a secondary character as well.

[poison_mara]

I am starting May really well for me. Really well, I am starting to be afraid about it. Like I am afraid of jinx it.

[Samuel_H_Young]

In May, I want to finish up writing The Mage’s Adventures, proofread it, test it, and submit it to HG. This update will have taken a year and a half and adds 55k words to the story and replaces the old “twist” ending.

After I finish TMA, I’ll be resuming work on Chapter Three of Meteoric. I’d like to write 15k words total this month

[Anna_B]

I have just a few more weeks left of the semester, then I can focus on writing a bit more.

[poison_mara]

Yeah, Take your time with classes and dont try to get more than you can for a while. You could use the time to planning or research stuff

[Samuel_H_Young]

Got a new job to pay for my cat’s surgery…the old security job I quit two years ago

[Dan_Rasmussen]

April was a complete disaster for me on all fronts. My writing was almost completely stopped by a couple major life events. I am hoping to have a successful May. I think if I can focus and work hard that I can complete writing First Bull Run this month and move toward publishing it. I am trying to write 10,000 words a week, at which rate I should complete it this month.

[expectedoperator]

Goal for May: Post a big update! Recently I’ve done small updates, so I’d like to aim higher this month.

Goal for this week: Write more of the next chapter! Also, fix a variable calculation error that unfortunately I know is my fault. I hate it when I can’t blame fairmath or modulo or whatever.

[levviathan]

I took… a significant break from this. But today I actually went back and read over what I wrote before that break and honestly… I find myself pretty happy with it. I wouldn’t say that’s progress, exactly, but it is encouraging to start getting back in the swing of things with the thought “well, that’s not bad at all, if I do say so myself.”

[Eiwynn]

@ChanceOfFire

Best of luck. I need to try to hit my goals too.

On another note, my game is getting released tomorrow. I am kinda scared.

Thank you.

Early congrats on the launch!

There is nothing to fear, although the fear of the unknown is legit!

Just remember that the launch events are not under your control, so it is better to save your energy reserves for the followthrough that happens after the launch.

[Jaybirdy]

This is it. This is the month I submit for publication, heck or high water.

So the to-do list to support that is:

• Finish these new chapter ten scenes
• Edits and rewrites on the epilogue
• Actually get around to doing the publication assets
• Swallow the fear
• Stop editing, even though there are a million things that could still be improved
• Send the email

And I guess like I should probably get working on the sequel and Diaspora’s pile of edits after that’s done, but I’m not expecting too much of myself in those regards this month. I just need to get Asphodel out of my hands and into HG’s.

[Hazel]

My main goal for May is still getting my hand and wrist problems treated. Luckily, I’ve located a pain clinic that might be able to help.

[Leinco]

April was a complete wash for me, due to a long exam which required my focus, and I honestly can’t say that May will be any better. However, on the bright side, Near the end of May, I finish up lectures for good, and then there is just 3 exams in June, meaning I will have finally finished University. Honestly can’t wait for it, and I hope to use the next year to fully complete my WiP. As for May, I don’t want to overambitionalise (is that a word?), but I will set myself a goal of writing at least 20,000 words, maybe 30,000 at a push.

Hope you all have a good month

[LiliArch]

I was sick for most of April, so it wasn’t that good for me either. Here’s hoping I’ll get everything I need to get done in May, I’m running super late with my deadlines already.

My fav random line from this morning

“Pardon me, I didn’t fall through a multiversal wormhole carrying my wardrobe. And I doubt my MasterCard works here.”

@Leinco

(is that a word?)

If it wasn’t before, it is now. What’s the point in being a writer if you can’t make up a new word when you need one, is what I always say.

[The_Lady_Luck]

I didn’t write anything in April, but I also hadn’t expected to, so it’s fine.
As for May, I don’t think I’m currently in a situation to make any goals.

I’m curious: As an author doing a beta test (imagined, if you haven’t actually done so), would you prefer your testers gave you all the notes from multiple playthroughs at once, even though it would take longer to get any feedback, or would you rather get the notes from each playthrough as it it finished?

[Eiwynn]

@The_Lady_Luck

would you prefer your testers gave you all the notes from multiple playthroughs at once, even though it would take longer to get any feedback, or would you rather get the notes from each playthrough as it it finished?

I try to give my readers as many options as I can. In this particular case, since I collate all the feedback into action lists (these rank the todo items and bug fixes) it will not make a difference to me if given everything at once or piecemeal.

[HarrisPS]

@The_Lady_Luck

I’m curious: As an author doing a beta test (imagined, if you haven’t actually done so), would you prefer your testers gave you all the notes from multiple playthroughs at once, even though it would take longer to get any feedback, or would you rather get the notes from each playthrough as it it finished?

I prefer getting the notes to each playthrough as they’re done, because I’m working on updates as the feedback continues to come in and the notes for earlier playthroughs may have become out of date by the time they come in if the player waits to send them in.