Tag: writing

[Keyboard Kommander] Story Mode Plan

Hello from the Seattle Indies Expo 2018! If you weren’t there, we showcased Keyboard Kommander, “a fast-paced action-packed typing game in which the player must fight off a horde of post-apocalyptic Zombies and Mutants in order to defend his or her fort.[1]” There’s a visceral physicality that I enjoy, and props to game creator and lead programmer William for constantly implementing improvements, including plans for a Story Mode. Here’s my strategy for making that plan possible.

WANNA CONSIDER HOW I’LL BE STRUCTURING A LONG-FORM STORY? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[The Story] Context and Nuance

“It’s like going into a landscaping project best suited for a rake with a shovel.[1]” “I’d get in there with a backhoe![2]” I prep my writing like landscapers prep the land with a backhoe before using a rake. Some projects just require a light raking or editing. I’m teaching myself how to use the writer’s equivalent of a backhoe because writing John [left] and Trishna’s [right] stories – “The Story” – is like landscaping for someone important.

Spoilers?: Minor (worldbuilding brainstorming exercise)
WANNA CONSIDER, MAYBE, THE PROS AND CONS OF BUILDING FAST VERSUS SLOW AND HOW YOU CAN DO BOTH WHILE STILL WORKING TOWARD YOUR GOALS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Applied Self-Confidence] Executing Narratives Successfully

Nothing is more frustrating creatively than being unable to execute upon your imagination. You might perfectly envision something while laying half-asleep in bed, yet when you ready your tools, something doesn’t translate! The writing’s flat, drawing’s weird, or project’s just not progressing. How do you fix that? For my development of “The Story,” it’s simple: don’t give up! Keep writing/working, worldbuilding/developing, and planning on what’s easy, constantly working on harder material, until it’s all natural!

Spoiler Warning Scale: None (brainstorming tactics) WANNA CONSIDER WHY YOU SHOULD BALANCE SMALLER AND LARGER PROJECTS? AND WHY YOU SHOULD GO THE DISTANCE WITH YOUR PROJECT? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[The Story] Different Than Me

Can we truly write any character without referring, even tangentially, to personal or professional experience? No matter how fantastic, bizarre, or false a character’s actions may seem to us, they are still rooted in some level of perception of our reality. Even filtered post-collaboration, most characters still represent certain unshakeable authorial archetypes of personality. Let’s explore how similar John [center] and Trishna [right] might be to me as their character arcs develop in “The Story.”

Spoilers?: Minor (character development/exploration)
WANNA CONSIDER HOW ORIGINAL CHARACTERS ARE LIKE MOONS ORBITING THE GRAVITY FIELDS OF EXISTING CHARACTER PLANETS…? OR WAS THAT TOO ABSTRACT? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[The Story] Shave and Bathe

Now that I’m writing bi-weekly updates to “The Story,” I dredged up an interesting realization: why not write about some of the scenes that float through my imagination? It’ll be good practice for the real thing! Throwing characters into hypothetical situations can help build context for how they’ll act in other scenes. Like a movie playing on repeat, what if these scenes are already swimming around in your imagination? Let’s start with an innocent one:

Spoilers?: Minor (rough scene walkthrough)
WANNA CONSIDER HOW THE MORE YOU WORK ON A PROJECT, THE MORE THE PROJECT GROWS SEEMINGLY BY ITSELF? THEN ISN’T IT A MATTER OF SHAVING THE EXCESS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[The Story] Loving “The Scene”

I’ve been procrastinating on writing “The Story” because I can’t write concisely nuanced enough yet to do it all justice. There’s an early scene codenamed “The Scene” that drives Trishna (right) and family three hours away to collect John (left). “The Scene,” and therefore “The Story,” would fall flat if I wrote it today. I don’t know when, or if, I’ll develop that skill. Loving the time until then is the only way to succeed.

Spoiler Warning Scale: Major (plot exploration) WANNA READ ABOUT HOW WE MUST LOVE WHAT WE NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO DO IT WELL? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[The Story] My Oldest References

In my last summer without obligations, between high school and college, I spent most of that innocent time writing a foundational element to “The Story” References stars John (left) as “everSOL the Valiant,” crash-lander on a strange planet that is driven to find his dearest friend “Trisha” (right). I forgot about References to become a salaryman. After rescuing it from this almost-lost disk, what’s available is online, unmodified. Let’s talk about my successful failure: References.

Spoiler Warning Scale: Minor (just recollections, regrets, reinforcements…) WANNA LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES TO BETTER IMPLEMENT YOUR BIGGEST IDEAS AND DREAMS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Literature Builds] Words Mean Nothing VI

Words mean nothing if you can’t tell a story. Stories should have a purpose, whether it’s suggesting new ideas or encapsulating authentic emotions, otherwise what’s the point? My writing system helps me write efficiently because everything here ties together, even loosely. I have big ambitions for this recent untitled set of short stories starring Sammohini, a side character in “The Story,” so let’s explore the behind-the-scenes moments I captured while writing “Words Mean Nothing V.”

WANNA READ ABOUT WRITING AND SEE HOW I WROTE A SHORT STORY? MAYBE IN A FEW YEARS, I CAN JUST RECORD VIDEO AND DO A COMMENTARY TRACK LATER ON? UNTIL THEN, CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[The Story] Ten Years Ago IV

Ten years ago, “The Story” was a nebulous creature, floating through the ether of my inner imagination. John “everSOL the Valiant” Ebersole and Trishna, then minus the N, had some representation, both in References and casually. These characters and their world were otherwise firmly in the back-burner on the edge of nowhere, waiting for their time to float to the surface, cooked, and ready to serve. We’re getting there, dear readers, “The Story” is cooking…

Spoiler Warning Scale: None (writing context) WANNA READ MY THOUGHTS ON WHY PEOPLE, INCLUDING MYSELF, GIVE UP ON LARGER PROJECTS? AND HOW WE CAN AVOID THAT? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!