Tag: Pokémon

[Novel 02] Cool Cats Chat

In this 20th recording of building set-pieces for “The Story,” I had a healthy audience in my livestreamed session. It was fun taking a variety of questions from people in the chat – I save the logs, and have debated how I want to publish them, because posting them along with the video might make sense, but I’m not sure. I referenced my writing “Novel 01” and explained how these set-pieces would help when I write “Novel 02.”

Spoilers?: Minor [finding my audience]
WANNA CONSIDER HOW PRACTICING WITH SOMETHING YOU LIKE CAN HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Novel 02] 2020 In Review

At the beginning of the year, I had what I considered a realistic goal for getting my life in order to where I could start dipping my toes into the waters of “The Story,” like I had with Novel 01, for Novel 02. My health went to shit, the world went to shit, but hey, if we can look at the bright side of these terrible times, I have made some progress toward writing “Novel 02,” I guess…

Spoilers?: None [considering efforts in 2020]
WANNA CONSIDER HOW EVEN IF YOU ROLL A ONE ON A TWENTY-SIDED DICE, AT LEAST THERE ARE SOME POSITIVES? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Novel 02] Formally Announcing Plans

I’ve been awake for nearly 24 hours now. What better time to formally announce a project that I’ve hinted at, directly referenced, and otherwise have been working on in the background? It’s colloquially called “Novel 02,” formally, “A Story About Self-Confidence: Something About Anxiety.” It will be the sequel to “Novel 01 / A Story About Self-Confidence: What’s In A Name?,” which was the 60,000-word novel I wrote in the Sammohini Arc of “The Story.” I’ll start writing… someday.

Spoilers?: Minor [current status report]
WANNA EXPLORE MY PLANS FOR MY SECOND NOVEL? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Made Life Easier?

Although I wrote about my thoughts on whether playing Pokémon LeafGreen made my life easier in my penultimate essay on this series, that essay was also concerned about the question of whether playing with a strategy guide would ruin surprises for me. No, since I appreciate narrative surprises more than gameplay surprises. Did playing this game make my life easier? Similarly, this question has perspective-dependent answers. I can answer no, and without narrative irony, yes.

WANNA DECIDE WHAT WORD CAN HELP YOU MAKE LIFE EASIER? [HINT: IT’S ASSESSING YOUR VALUE OF NONSENSE.] CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Mechanical, Narrative Surprises

As we approach the end of my playthrough of Pokémon LeafGreen, let’s consider that we begin with an innocent search for easier living. What we can objectively see is that these essays evolved into something I didn’t predict, as evidenced by their non-serial labeling. They went from searches for easier living into minor reclamations of what makes this hard life we live easier for me: writing fiction. So I did find that easier life… right?

WANNA CONSIDER HOW YOUR PRIORITY IN WHAT YOU VALUE FOR SURPRISES CAN LEAD YOU INTO THE MEDIA YOU WANT MEANDRIES THROUGH? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Plan Or Overplan?

I nearly went up against the Elite Four in Pokémon LeafGreen tonight. Sometimes, in life, this is a good thing, going into battle when you’re first viable enough to not be defeated outright. It’s how I wrote Novel 01. Inspired by NaNoWriMo, I could have said no if, after my two-week gestation period, I didn’t think I could viably write a 60,000-word novel somewhere in the Sammohini Arc of “The Story.” Other times, patience can help.

WANNA SEE HOW TOO MUCH PLANNING CAN PREVENT YOU FROM PLAYING A GAME? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Main And Sides

There comes a time when you must be decisive. Whether in life, Pokémon LeafGreen, or writing novels, decisiveness comes from trimming the fat that stands between you and your priorities. In this session, I trimmed my team down, benching as many as I could, and I’m down to 13 viable candidates to battle the Elite Four. In life, similarly, you should focus your energy on your main objectives. What about building side characters in your fiction?

WANNA READ THE JUICY FAT ON CHARACTER BUILDING INDIRECTLY OR DIRECTLY? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Testing Out Characters

I enjoy games like Pokémon LeafGreen and I enjoy some writing process spontaneity for some of the same reasons, including, when a new character appears that needs to steal the show. It’s fun learning how they’ll steal it. In this LeafGreen playthrough, I defeated Blaine and have caught a half-dozen new Pokémon. I’m been naming them based on characters from Novel 01 to help me brainstorm Novel 02 to help test out what characters I might need.

WANNA CONSIDER HOW MUCH TESTING YOU SHOULD DO FOR CHARACTERS OR THINGS IN LIFE? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Preparation Versus Scenarios

When it comes to storytelling, how much of a character should be prepared/meditated on versus learned about through seeing how they react to scenarios? Through my recent sessions in Pokémon LeafGreen, I’ve focused on progressing through the game, rather than assessing the movesets of each Pokémon to see what would work best for them or which I want to use against the Elite 4. Similarly, when I wrote Novel 01, I could have assessed and prepared more…

WANNA CONSIDER WHICH CAME FIRST? THE CHICKEN/PREPARATION OR THE EGG/SCENARIO? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Media Meandry] Meditative, Competitive, Narrative

This entry in my playthrough of Pokémon LeafGreen will be less directly related to character building/discovery and more metaphorical, exploring what interests me about Pokémon and other media along with their relation to what I want to create. The way I see it, all media are tools to teach or entertain, but it’s a matter of finding that which teaches or entertains what is relevant to you. You can do that with defining and refining.

Novel Spoilers?: Minor [Interests directing novel’s path]
Game Spoilers? None

WANNA CONSIDER THAT ONCE YOU DEFINE AND REFINE THE ELEMENTS OF MEDIA YOU LIKE, YOU CAN THEN EITHER FIND OR BUILD YOUR OWN MEDIA THAT SPEAKS TO THOSE ELEMENTS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!