Writing Feedback Is Your Best Friend

So, the semester is almost over and I’m starting my capstone next semester. With all the games I’ve been making this semester (2 is a lot, ok), I’ve learned plenty that will come in handy for the big project. First, that free time is amazing (absence makes the heart grow fonder). Dedicating 90% of my waking time to making games is a stressful-yet-valuable experience.

Feedback has been the best part of this experience. For the first game I’m making (for Games & Narrative II), I get to hear from my classmates each week. It’s hard to produce sizable content while also revising from last week’s criticisms. Yet, as I keep progressing, the feedback gets smaller and smaller. Maybe I’m improving? Yay!

For my Storytelling for New Media class, I’ve been asking (forcing) friends and family members to give me feedback on my writing. Although they don’t always provide a lot of critique on the writing itself (I’m the only writer in the house), they’re still very helpful. In some cases, it seems nicer to have an outsider perspective on writing projects.

Overall, I feel that following feedback has helped improve my writing tremendously (except for my blog posts, which are pretty sloppy). I dare say it’s the most valuable lesson I’ve learned this year. 🙂

Creative Project Update: Demo? Or Complete Episode?

Thanks to the millions of projects I have due all at once, progress has been slower than anticipated. Which seems to have happened to every creative project I’ve worked on this year. ‘Always biting off more than I can chew. Sigh.

The original goal was to create a complete episode of Lucas Sharp – which also would’ve been a great addition to a portfolio. There’s a good chance I won’t be able to stick to this goal, mostly because I’ve spent too much time on the story details and mechanics.

It’s a bittersweet position to be in. On one hand, I could create a well-polished demo – on the other, I could risk rushing to complete an entire episode and risk making it sloppy.

If it comes down to it, I think I’ll go with a well-polished demo. I’m going to get as far as I can in the next week (the last week of class before exams), then spend the week after that making everything look nice. Maybe I’ll even add some images, to give the game a more engaging appearance. Quality over quantity, right?

Reading “Blogging and the Body”

I’d like to take a moment to discuss this reading, as I found it to be quite interesting. “Blogging and the Body” outlines some of the differences between the styles of male and female writers (specifically individuals dealing with cancer and their different approaches).

The author noticed a certain trend in the different ways that men and women tell their stories. She found that the male bloggers (and readers) tended to take a more detached approach, preferring facts and whatnot. The woman, on the other hand, got more personal with their writing – as did the readers that commented on their posts.

It’s a fair generalization about the differences of the sexes – though I hate to admit it. I’m a firm believer that personality plays a stronger role (than gender) in a writer’s storytelling. Even I have to admit that there are some distinct differences in the way men and women act – though I suspect these variances are based on public actions, rather than the individual’s true self.

I find that the gender lines blur as you get to personally know more members of the opposite sex. My closest male friends (including my boyfriend) can all be just as “emotional” as me. In public, they’re more on board with stoic, detached societal expectations.

I don’t mean to use this post to open a can of gender-discussion worms, so I’m going to conclude soon. The differences between the genders is a fascinating subject – especially as the gap continues to narrow.

Help! Characters are Creating Themselves!

(Yet another post dedicated to the creative project…)

It’s nearly midnight and I’m sluggishly typing away at my project. I get to a part of my not-so-perfectly planned story, where two “random” characters are supposed to talk. Before I know it, I’m giving them names, personalities, and conjuring future purposes for them. I don’t even know if I’ll have the time for these characters later, but…now they’re alive. Great.

Regardless of my crazy schedule, I always find a way to make my writing harder on myself. Perhaps this isn’t a bad thing – certainly beats the dreaded “writer’s block”! But, when my left brain is shouting about deadlines, it can be hard not to feel guilty spending extra time on potentially useless creations. Detail is always lovely, but too much can slow down the pacing of the game – and be boring as hell to read.

Between my Games & Narrative and Storytelling for New Media classes, it seems I’m learning something critical from my writing projects each week. I never realized how important the floodgates of creativity could be – specifically, knowing when to shut them off and when to let them flow.

Creative Project: Long Term Goals

Since I’m going to be graduating next semester, I’ve had to think really critically about my overall plan. It’s about time I’ve started building my writing portfolio, and this class will likely add to it.

If all goes well, Lucas Sharp may be a part of my portfolio – as well as Ambassador (another Twine project for another class). Both of these projects are a tremendous help in preparing me for my capstone project next semester.

They’ve helped in many ways: first, the writing and game design practice is always a boon. And second, more practice and experience with time management. Planning for games (and stories) is a big deal, and I’ve often underestimated the time it takes to create something.

In summary, this project will not only provide a showcase for my portfolio, but will also help me attain valuable experiences moving forward.

P.S.: My writing might be sloppy. I’m tired; election night kept me up late. 😦

Creative Project: Short Term Goals

Last week, I was able to meet my goals on this project and get a full sketch complete for Act I – including the point where the player gets his powers. Time to buckle up, because this week is going to be a little more demanding.

My first goal for this week is to finalize the first act and write all the text. This part tends to take forever for me, because I always go back to perfect my writing. I’m probably going to write the text in word (for spellcheck) and go back later to cut and edit things. Having other people test play the game will be very helpful, as well.

Afterwards, I get to create the first “main” mechanic: the hero’s empath powers. I’ll likely write CSS code to change the entire background to match the person’s emotion. This really does need to be a visual feature.

As for next week, I’ll be planning for the second act of the game. This act should be the longest (if I follow a traditional three-act structure), so it’s going to take a lot of time.

Overall, I’m feeling confident in the production of this game and story. Though one of my original goals is already out of the question: I was planning to make two episodes, but I may end up only making one (detailed) episode. For now, at least.

Creative Storytelling Project: Planning in Twine

I think it’ll help to update my creative storytelling project quite often, so here goes!

Right now, Lucas Sharp is really still in the planning phase, though I am using Twine to “rough sketch” the project. I’m creating passages for locations first: specifically, sub-locations in a park (the crime scene of this detective game). Then, I’m building a quick intro to lead into the park’s parking lot, which then leaves the player free to roam the park, investigate the scene, and talk to suspects.

For the narrative itself, I’m still kind of making things up as I go along… Yeah, I know. A big challenge is going to be coming up with a way to introduce the player’s psychic powers (the main fun mechanic of the game!). Ideally, I should introduce this mechanic fairly quickly, within the first act of the game (perhaps at the end of the first act).

I’d like for the first power something simple, not too overpowered, and still fun. My choice for this power is an “empathic psychic” – the ability to “see” a persons emotions through auras (colors). When the player is analyzing the emotions of another character, the background of the screen will change to match that color.

My goal this week is to get a basic outline of the first act – including the intro, crime scene (investigating the body), and a brief introduction of each suspect. I’d also like to include the part where the player gets his powers, so the fun stuff can begin!

Favorite Visual Storytelling Comics (so far)

We’re almost done with the Visual Storytelling book (whoa, really?), so I thought I’d use this entry to mention some of my favorites.

The Alcoholic
The first favorite story that comes to mind is the Alcoholic – a tale about an alcoholic’s experience on 9/11. Not only does the story hit me right in the feels (I shed a tear or two), but it’s incredibly well-written. The graphics are pleasing, the text is readable, and it uses just the right amount of words. There’s more going on to this man’s life than is directly told, leaving the reader intrigued.

Cecil & Jordan in New York
This quirky story takes an interesting turn when the main character turns into a chair. One can’t help but wonder “what the heck is going on?” at this point. And I loved it. The story seems to have a deeper meaning worth questioning as it explores the somewhat gloomy relationship between Cecil and Jordan.

My Friend Dahmer
It’s hard not to be curious about this one, since it depicts the young life of a serial killer. The author (Derf) tells a story of his own youth, growing up with Dahmer. In some ways, Derf seems to try to show Dahmer as a victim. Though for the most part, you can already see his insanity unfolding.

Concise writing is my friend… and foe.

I know I’m harping on the interactive fiction stuff more than usual, but this week has taught me a lot about hands-on writing creativity. After weeks of planning and reading, the experience is both fun and stressful.

In my last post, I ranted about wasting a ton of time tweaking text that I’ve already written. For the most part, I did so in the hopes of making my writing more concise – something that one of my professors is really adamant about. I couldn’t agree more with him: drawn-out writing drives me crazy!

Ideally, concise writing can make the process quicker and easier. This isn’t the case when you devote too much time and energy to trying to cut back on words. Before I know it, I’ve completely stagnated progress by stopping and going back too often.

Of course, I still think that simplifying text is crucial – but perhaps in waves of revisions, rather than constantly picking at it. Better to return to a passage later, with a clear mind.

This is an approach that I intend to take with my writing from now on. It’s going to take a lot of willpower to resist that urge to perfect everything, though.

(Since this blog post is a rant, I’m probably NOT going to revise it 1,000 times. Ha-ha!)

Working on my interactive fiction…

I started work on an interactive fiction (in Twine) assignment last week and learned a lot of valuable lessons in the process. Namely, that I need to manage my time better.

I spent far too much time going back and editing text, for one. Every time I made some major change, I would go back and check over what I had already written. Bad idea. Next time, I’ll try to get a brief outline of the content I want to complete for the week, then fill in the actual text. Maybe I can have someone playtest it afterwards and THEN go back over it.

The second hurdle I faced was the overcomplication of Twine’s webs. As I crammed tons of twine passages into my project, it continued to get more complicated. This week, I’ll try to write the passages while playtesting them. That way, I can direct my attention towards the most necessary passages and hopefully stay on track. Rather than looking at a huge web of messes, it forces me to focus on one at a time.

My last major problem is one that I’ve experienced several times when making games: keeping track of the player’s progress. For example, making sure the player doesn’t view a scene twice. This is accomplished by using variables that are triggered when the player reaches a certain point. That alone is fairly simple, but it can get complicated with an open-world-style game. As the author, I have to make sure every loophole is closed. There’s no easy way around this, especially with the confusing slop of code I’ve been adding to Twine’s passages.

This is my first week working on the game, so I’ll probably get the hang of things as progress continues. In the meantime, I can kiss a healthy sleep schedule goodbye.