Newb here. I’m just starting my IF story about a superhero community college but for some reason I became discouraged when I compared the dozens and dozens of WIPs mentioned in the forums vs. the relatively small number of finished games. Do people just get writers block or move on to other projects? I just wanted to go into this process with eyes wide open as I get ready to devote 100s (and 100s) of hours to my project. Thanks!
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I think it’s approximately the same thing that happens to most traditional novel drafts.
You get excited by an idea at first, start working on it, lose some interest, then something else happens that seems really important, and the draft is shelved. Life intervenes.
I have to agree with dfabulich with this, also I think that most of the people making WIPs see writing as a hobby not really something they would focus on or in some cases they only share the updated WIPs to their friends only, so be glad some are technically sharing some WIPs. I think.
Yes that has happened to me
I started with a sci fi survival game
Then a agent game
Now a futuristic war game
-eyes the entirety of Blood For Poppies code copied out into Word Documents in a spare folder just in case Farside returns- It’s a sorrowful thin’, that. I wish they’d come back, I’d love ta help. Too many things just catch up to 'em, I guess.
I keep my files for Demon Manor safe but right now I have no ideas for where I can go with it.
For many it’s a matter of losing interest. Personally, progress on Beast Within is extremely slow for me, but i’m trying to find the time to work on it. For others, scrapping their WIP’s is the easier option.
Life can throw you curveballs sadly. Unnatural took me 2 years. Thats including periods of writers blocks. Losing a child having another child. Being busy at work having to look after a sick child/wife. These all can cause delays in writing.
@nocrurnal sorry to hear it buddy hope very thing is okay now
@Nocturnal_Stillness: I’m sorry about the curveballs, unfortunately I know those well. You get applause from me for continuing with Unnatural and finishing it. That moves it up to the top of my to-play list, too.
@HornHeadFan: My advice (for myself) is to keep striking while the iron is hot–focus on the project until I have at least an entire, complete draft written, even if it’s skeletal. I might drift away from it, true. But if it comes time to drift back, then it would be a matter of getting the draft fixed up and ready to go out on the town, rather than trying to get myself back into the mindset of the twists and turns and mood of the story and figure out how to finish it.
Thanks. Sam was stillborn February 6th 2011 (he is the reason the pen name I used was Sam) Dean was born 18th February 2012 so he will be two in 7 days and he is doing great.
@HornHeadFan don’t be discouraged. Work at a steady pace and enjoy the time in writing. What drove me forward was interacting with the community here and setting and adhering to deadlines.
Thanks for the encouraging words and explanations. I’ll definitely try to pop in the forums now and again. I’ll also try to create some deadlines to keep me moving. I guess I’d like to have a story ready for alpha testing in 60 days. That seems just intense enough!
@HornHeadFan
What I do is set unreasonable deadlines for myself. I never meet them, but I get a lot done because I’m pushing myself to meet those impossible quotas.
They go to a farm where they chase butterflies all day
The get to tend the rabbits, George
I’m reading that book @Doctor
Keep falling asleep [-(
That’s a good book! A classic! But mostly it has good quotes that can be used quite often. You just have to look at the practical side of things.
But it’s soooooooo boring since it’s a play back or whatever if I had that just before I slept my insomnia would be gone
What happens is that we get lazy c;