October 2021's Writer Support Thread

Last month I spent a lot of time writeing chapter 5. This month I have realised that chapter 5 is almost 5000 words long. It’s snowballed, none of my other chapters in my story are near that long (I think). I feel like I need to make the other chapters bigger, or move the start of chapter 6 a up by a bunch of words. But doing that disrupts my plains with chapter 6 being a villain’s episode, that is showing things from the Decepticon’s perspective, and Extinction makeing a deal with them (then sending the assassin to watch the con’s and make sure they don’t do anything “FOOLISH”, to quote Extinction himself).

I guess it just bothers me that the secondary antagonist has a longer, better introductory chapter then the main antagonist.

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Think of it this way; Vaas from Far Cry 3 was technically the secondary villain of that game, with Hoyt being the main villain, but Vaas had much more screen time and was the face of the game. Think of every involved character as their own beast, each one just as important as the other, and something wonderful might come out of it! After all, Vaas wasn’t even originally supposed to be in the game. They just wrote the character in after seeing the actor’s audition.

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I love that you linked Abbie Emmons - I was actually listening to a couple of her videos on writing romance last month, and they definitely helped me with a few things! This is a good reminder for me to check out more of her content.

Anyway, happy October everyone!

I didn’t write as many words as I wanted last month, due to a combination of work projects (good!) and a number of weird/stressful IRL things that happened all at once (less good!). It’s also weird that I feel guilty, because my project is still in the early stages and it’s not as if I’m accountable to anyone but myself right now. But I guess it’s a good sign that I miss dedicating practically all my free time to writing, and I really want to get back to doing that soon.

I am excited because I’ll be moving soon, and hope to settle back into a regular routine once that’s all dealt with.

The goal for the end of October is to have finished the first chapter of my project and made some edits to what I already have, in addition to the research/notes for future content I’ve been making. I want to be ready when November rolls around, to start writing :sparkles: The Fun Part :sparkles: that I’m especially excited about. It will be nice to hide indoors all fall/winter and write, with tea.

Good luck to everyone with your writing goals!

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I decided to check out Abbie Emmons’ channel and watched a few of her videos and I absolutely love her energy and her approach at helping others learn to write more compelling stories. Essay-style videos are my favorite kind when it comes to learning about writing since there’s a strong example (or exampleS) and it feels a bit more fun to me than a lecture-style video. So, thank you for the recommendation!.. now I know what I’ll be doing for the rest of my night. :crazy_face:

It’s been a few months since I posted on here because I decided I needed to clear my head and get some mental and social space. It feels good to be back now, though! I haven’t been setting goals the past few months and I’ve instead just been working on writing when the mood hits me (which is frequent, luckily). I’m still not feeling particularly fond of the idea of goals right now, so I’m instead going to be setting some intentions!

My intentions for October are:

  1. To take a mental break from my writing projects and focus on figuring out what triggers me to “freeze up” while in the middle of working on a project.

I’ve come a long way since I started writing… shit, like 10 years ago. I didn’t come here to have a crisis about how old I am. Anyways, I used to go through projects about every month and now I actually have long-standing projects that I don’t plan on letting go of any time soon. However, I still encounter the issue of feeling stuck and also frequently losing all interest in what I’m working on for multiple weeks. Which… might be largely an ADHD issue, but I’ve also noticed a lot of anxiety-based thoughts, so I want to actually understand what’s going on in my head first and foremost.

  1. Find a Roleplaying partner that matches my writing style and preferences.

I greatly miss writing just for the sake of writing, so I want to get back into RPing. This doesn’t have anything to do COG, but it’s a personal writing intention!

I hope everyone has a great October, both in terms of writing and just life in general! :sparkling_heart:

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I discovered writing prompt tumblrs two days ago. This far three of those prompts turned into mini fics, and I can’t seem to stop.

Still undecided if this is a good thing or not.

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Well, I started my first chapter last spring/early summer, but then my summer semester got super busy. I’m also drowning with work this semester, but I want to at least make a dent in finishing chapter 1, so I can finally start a dedicated thread for my story!

Thankfully I made good progress before I had to stop, so I really only have some fleshing out to do.

Good luck, everyone!

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So, about that…

I have discovered a game-breaking bug in chapter 2. This validates the thoroughness of my testing procedure, yes, but it’s also a delay in the promised update. The full story is here.

And let me ask the same question, but from the writer’s POV: how do you feel about RO-MC-RO love triangles? Too much of a mess to code, or difficult but rewarding?

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Afternoon, Everyone.

Haven’t done a Support Thread Post in a while, now. Things have been a bit chaotic.

I moved into my own apartment, inherited a 13yr old cat that likes to sit on my keyboard when I’m trying to work, adopted a stray Pitbull that’s having to take quite a few meds at the moment, and my business is up and running (somewhat). I also realized the documents I had written months back did not survive when I moved, as I had handwrote quite a bit of it.

As for now? I’ve decided to step back and look into actual outlining for an IF story. Chapters, scenes within the chapters and how they can change from prior choices, general worldbuilding, character motivations, possible idea for romance options.

Honestly, I’m more use to a traditional writing process where everything is linear save a few jumps into the past that sometimes happens. Makes writing a story where the story can veer into a new direction from a few select choices a new breed of Critical, Creative Thinking.

So, for this month:

  • Write up a general idea what each chapter is about and the story structure
  • Character Names & Descriptions (and variations, for possible romance)
  • First Chapter Done & Uploaded On Dashingdon

Things Already Accomplished:

  • Story Concept and Premise
  • The Goal of the Player Character
  • Stakes the Player Character Faces
  • A Number of Themes the Story Addresses
  • The Antagonists and Their Part of the Overall Story

I’ve been busy, I’ll grant you that. Between moving, my business, and writing – I seldom have any down time outside of caring for my furry children. I’m hopeful that, with a clear picture of how the story will be, I’ll have a better time writing than I did previously. That I won’t be so utterly clueless on how to push forward and how to better plan the upcoming parts.

Overall – I’m hopeful, stressed out, and eager to get started on things I love.

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Thanks alot! i’ve actually been practicing choice script this past week and i must honestly say it’s quite the adventure.

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I haven’t tried it yet, but I’d be curious to give it a go sometime! The main thing I’d want to do is keep a close eye on scope, so would probably only do it if there was a relatively small number of love interests in total. Otherwise it would be a bit too much work. I’d also want to define the point where it cuts off carefully - ie when the MC is no longer able to alter the love triangle’s trajectory.

In other news I finished my Chapter 2 new-project draft, and I’m trudging a bit on Royal Affairs Chapter 6 but it’s getting there!

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Hi there,
Seems I’m like 13 days late to join but here I am :wave:t4: First of all let me tell you I am a cosplayer so I feel excited that it’s Halloween season, we don’t really celebrate that in our area code but it doesn’t stop me and some of my creative friends.
This Month I have decided to go slow with my writing, this is what I will be doing instead:

  • Last month’s goal was to post a demo of my WIP just go and check it out here and tell me what you think.

  • Since l have completed my plot synopsis I shall begin working on my second chapter bit by bit till I’m done with the whole thing

  • I want to be more involved with beta testing so that I can get good exposure when it comes to writing.

  • Keep practicing with choice script so I can better my coding skills
    That’s it for me this month even if I wont finish the second chapter this month I’m looking forward to learning a lot.

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my game finally came out last thursday and is well on its way to being the worst-rated HG on Google Play

i know a little of this is because of the malware bug but it seems like people legitimately hate it

maybe i’ll go live in the woods

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Respectfully, and as someone who knows next to nothing about profit margins and ratings and all the other uber-important parts about selling media, I can tell you your game has one important purpose, at minimum - sci-fi is hard and you are inspiring those who, like me, aspire to write it and want to see more.

It has been such a short time since the release of Interstellar Airgap! Don’t lose hope.

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Sending you hugs. :two_hearts:

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While the reception has not been great, yours isn’t even the worst-rated one to come out in the last 30 days. Plus, even though IA won’t be an all-time hit, I can assure you it will outperform The Horrors Behind the Walls. Sci-fi is a hard row to hoe at Hosted Games, but horror (that doesn’t involve the popular kind of supernatural characters like zombies, werewolves or vampires) is a harder one still. That and puzzle are the genres that make even sci-fi look popular by comparison.

All that being said, yeah, it still stings when this happens. I still get a little down seeing NPT on my royalty statement every month and how pitiful its earnings are, literally 1/20th of The Parenting Simulator overall despite an 11 month head start. But it’s out there, and some people will love it. And maybe this was the down beat you needed that taught you what to change so you can create something even better.

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At least you were able to finish and publish something. That’s more than most people can say, myself included. Not everything is going to be widely popular. The important thing is that you’re proud of what you put out, and that you keep at it.

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I don’t know a lot about how the google play reviews usually shake out, or how long it usually takes for them to ‘even out’ after a new game is released, but it looks like there are people who loved your game, too. That’s definitely no small accomplishment.

Worst case scenario it’s a learning experience, and hopefully you can get something helpful/constructive out of it, but fwiw I think you created something cool, and the world can always use more sci-fi IF, even if it’s a challenging genre. I hope you keep making things!

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@SpokesWriter

FWIIW … I have had a few long time gamers and/or developers I talk with actually mention your game to me. I know that many in this community really focus on app-store reviews, but please do not think they are the end-all, be-all measure of success.

I have not yet played the released version of the game (been concentrating on giving a few people deep feedback in addition to working on my own projects), but I am positive it is better than several Steam releases I had seen this month so far, just based on what I read in your WiP.

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Thanks for the kind words, everybody–As @hustlertwo wrote here (and in that very good new topic), it’s not really realistic for me to expect incredible success writing in a genre I know is unpopular on my second HG (after my first one at 43k words or whatever was very much not destined for success either). The ratings will likely rebound somewhat after the first week but i’m unlikely to build a mansion with the revenue and that’s kind of a tough realization for something i poured most of my free time over eight months into. But I could have avoided this from the first time i put pen to paper and chose a genre, so i’ll be thankful for whatever success Interstellar Airgap does enjoy and maybe I’ll “write to market” a little more with my next piece.

It doesn’t really make sense for me to whine about the slings and arrows of app store reviews or low sales or whatever when I could have simply not written in an unpopular genre. My writing still has plenty of room for improvement. Airgap was a story I really wanted to write and I’m really proud of it, but I know that doesn’t always translate to commercial success. I’ll take the lessons and figure out my strategy for the next project–there’s nothing wrong with being honest about wanting to sell a lot of copies (which is not something I realized I wanted to measure myself by when I started writing, but for my next project I very much do lol).

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  • Project One goal: Still in progress, no eta

  • Project Two goal: Complete.

I also made it my goal to help several writers with in-depth feedback (if they accepted) and I am most happy I was able to achieve this. I always try to “pay forward” to others by giving feedback, because it is one of the things many here need.

So:

  • provide in-depth feedback: complete

I am acknowledging this for myself, because providing feedback is an important goal I should strive for each month, and I need to remind myself to do this going forward.

@hustlertwo – Thank you for writing that thread about how to better define success rather than use a subjective metric like “popularity”. I want to write a post there, but I am still thinking over what I’d write in it.

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