September's Writer Support Thread

@rinzygreye It is currently in the WIP section. Titled The Realm of Steel

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I’ll be sure to check it out :grin:

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I’m not quite sure what this ā€œgood… personā€ is referring to if not referring to skill, my first impression is you mean being knowledgeable about the subject or being a decent human? Eiwynn’s advice is probably most appropriate.

I don’t have advice, because in my project I’m writing about many things I barely understand (doing on-the-fly research), so not being good enough to write the subject is a given in my case, in addition to poor writing skill. :joy: And some of the stuff can feel preachy and I don’t know if I have a right to talk about them (not lived experience). But I keep telling myself, I’m writing it for me. It’s for me. Other than that I of course still get stuck since I didn’t plan that far, or the plan no longer works. :sweat_smile: So gotta let the subconscious do its thing a bit more…

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So! I have reason to celebrate, for Chapter 4 is done! ;D It ended up being a thicc chapter…more than 25k words! The chapter alone makes up for 1/3 of the entire game. I’ve decided to hold out on uploading it to the demo until Friday, because I feel like I need to give myself time to sit with it and look over it a few more times.

Still, I’m pretty happy that I at least finished it before university starts tomorrow! I can’t wait and see what people’s feedback on my chapter is. That’s always my favorite part. :slight_smile:

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@bubblesodatea congratulations! That IS a huge accomplishment! Good luck with school!

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Both perhaps, but more the second one, I guess. It’s hard to explain.

Maybe the simplest way to explain it is that the story I’m writing is very much about how a person’s actions, even insignificant or well-intentioned ones, can bring joy or suffering to and shape the lives of other people. And I’m psyching myself out because this story could be exactly that for another person. I’ve been hurt by stories before, sometimes pretty deeply, and sometimes in ways I know the author never, ever intended. I guess I’m just terrified that I’ll accidentally hurt someone else with mine, no matter how careful and thoughtful and safe I try to make it.

…Maybe it is less about me and more about the story that I’m trying to tell? Is there a difference? Hmm.

I appreciate that. It’s a relief to know this pressure is common. I’ll look around a bit and see what’s out there as far as dealing with these worries.

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Ugh, your brain works kinda like my brain. It’s not fun in this instance.

I think in this kind of case, like… part of what you can do is, if not trust yourself, trust the process. There are going to be people out there reading your story in demo and beta form, and around here a lot of them are very good at pointing out exactly the kind of thing that worries you, I think. It can be tough to submit something to the terrifying ordeal that is impartial strangers on the internet, but this is exactly what doing so is for, really. Or at least part of what it’s for.

I think some of that confidence might come back as people continue to read. Because either they’ll tell you something feels wrong and you can fix it and know it won’t appear in the final version, or no one will say that and you can be pretty statistically confident that you’re not going to do what you fear doing.

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@Jayffel I’m not sure if this relates to what you’re feeling…but I think the feedback people will give you on your wip would partially help. And like you said, in the stories you’ve read before you knew the author never intended for you to feel hurt, and the case could be similar with your story. For readers affected by your work, it’s a consequence of the story, rather than your intention. As for how to prevent that in the first place…I’m not sure how to do that, especially if you’re dealing with sensitive topics, as everyone has different personal experiences…maybe someone else would have better advice.

As for my writing…it’s been going a lot slower (read: almost nonexistent) than I wanted…but I’m going to blame that on the start of school and having to juggle classes with my wip.

Have you ever started writing at Point A, and you know you’re going towards Point B, but then you get stuck along the way? That’s me. I’m stuck. Sometimes the vague spaces in between my plot points really get me; maybe I should try writing the skeleton code first? I’m just afraid leaving the option for later is subtle procrastination, and even when I get back to it I still won’t know what to write…

On a happier note, I got to reconnect with a creative writing club, and the group chat sends some good memes. If it pleases the thread,

here's a relevant meme


I spent my study break changing ā€œGoogle Docā€ to ā€œ.txt fileā€ā€¦ :crazy_face:

But memes aside, I hope everyone is taking care of themselves, and for those dealing with the fires and associated hazards, stay safe! Hopefully the situation improves soon…

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Excuse me while I steal that meme and proceed to start at that for 2 hours instead of writing.

Thanks for sharing that!

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So, I really don’t have much to say for this week, because after finishing chapter 2 I really needed a break. Today I sat down to brainstorm one of my character’s backstory (for like the fourth time), hopefully this will be the last one I have to come up with. She has such a wide range of possible backstories, I don’t know what I’ll do with her :sweat_smile:

@Jayffel I don’t know if it will be of use to you, but when I feel like an inadequate writer or like I’m not performing to my best, I tell myself that I will never know if I’m capable if I don’t actually sit down and write. It’s also important to be kind to yourself, take a nap, a break, read something else, remember how writing makes you feel.

And if nothing helps push through. Keep writing, if your brain says ā€œthat’s awfulā€ tell it ā€œit doesn’t matterā€, if it says ā€œyou can’t do thisā€ tell it ā€œI AM doing itā€. Once the book is finished, you can worry about mistakes and editing, for now, you just have to write, anything else is future you’s problem. Last year I found it difficult to find enjoyment in writing, so I started telling myself nice things. ā€œI’m doing greatā€, ā€œI can do this, I am doing itā€, ā€œIt’s not perfect, but it makes me happyā€, ā€œit’s okay to be nervous and afraid, but I’m not my insecuritiesā€ and it helped a lot, maybe it will work for you too?

@Aerin Well, I don’t know if this what you’re referring to, but I have left labels for later. I leave some space for it and weeks later I try to write it, however, I do not recommend it. I find it’s easier to just write anything. Anything that comes to your mind, even if you think it doesn’t make any sense.

When I leave scenes for later I either forget about it until it’s time to update the demo or still don’t know how to fix it when I finally go back to it. But when I write whatever comes to mind, even if I don’t like it, and move on, I find it easier to come to a solution, to come up with something better.

Still, every author is different and different situations may call for different approaches. Try both, see which one suits you best, however, don’t let your indecision stop you from writing. And good luck with your classes!

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Thank you, I really appreciate your well wishes, and same to you! :smiley:

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:broken_heart: I feel that way about social situations too. But if everything’s safe, the connection might not be established in the first place, or fade before one wants it to.

If the writing is very personal, then I think it is hard to separate them (unless using much recommended compartmentalizing technique for receiving criticism :joy: ). Many people do not even distinguish between actors from the characters they play. :tea: But… if they will do it anyway, might as well just make one’s case that one will stand by at the time. :pray:

Jokingly, we can minimize potential hurt by not becoming too well-known. :joy:

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So…I’m almost done with my Halloween project. Just need to code the endings in, put it through some editing and play-testing and then I’m done.

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Congrats! :smile:

Someone understand how to limit them self to manageable game size… :wink:

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Meanwhile, I am ending the prologue with more than 5k words lol. It will be dicey. As I want to do several stories in different formats to people trying new Interactive formats.

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I better get an entry in for September! :slight_smile:

It’s a super busy time for me. Work is up and running, kids are going to school, and summer is over.

But, I had a good weekend of writing. I wrote those awesome words ā€œThe End.ā€ But, I’m not near done. I’ll be saying The End many times in this game (20 endings!). Also, I have lots of extra details to add and a stat code.

Sept/Oct is going to be tough. I see more time coming for Nov/Dec/Jan. Oh well, it is what it is.

So, I’m happy to report that progress is still being made. :grin:

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That’s a lot for a chapter :astonished: more so is the fact that you can easily cross over the minimum requirement for number of words to publish a Hosted Games book which according to the wiki is 30k

Congrats :partying_face:

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Any chance I could join?

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It is official. I have done my daily writing for today and renamed my ā€˜fun’ .txt file as legos.

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So i kind of went crazy last night. It was like 4 AM, I had just finished updating my dashingdon link, I was going to bed. But then an idea for branch popped in my head. I pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down the current major choices, then kept going. And going. And going. When I finished at 7 AM, I had so many branches, and 23 different endings. Even if I only had 5,000 words per chapter, I’m looking at potentially 1.2 million words. The sheer scope of that hit me like a ton of bricks. I just had to pause for a second, and thought woah. I’m not sure whether to trim or not, I only added choices I would’ve wanted, I didn’t even include what others might want. I was a little bit daunted to tell the truth. I’m now more excited, but also a bit more realistic. This… is going to take awhile.

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