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fallen-hero · 4 years

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The Drag

Since I am currently home sick and procrastinating, let's talk about one of the hardest things in writing any lengthy project, and one which tends to take people by surprise.

Actually finishing it.

You see, it's not like a book or a game is done once you write that last chapter, and tack on the final epilogue. Oh no, now you have to edit and polish the beast. All those times you sat around thinking 'oh I'll fix this later', or 'this is needs a rewrite later' now has to be dealt with. Past you is always an asshole.

Don't get me wrong, those decisions are still vitally important to get the project done at all. You cannot edit as you go, because you don't know exactly where you are going. You might have a plan, even a detailed one, but until the ending is written you can't be sure what's needed to get there.

That is when the drag begins.

At first it is easy, even fun. You get to switch sections around, maybe cut some, rewrite the start, add some subplots you didn't see coming until the second half of the book. It's cool, creative and new, but then it starts to slow down. Every change needed cascades through the story and needs to be hunted down and changed. Some sections you added that really do make the story better, need more changes and additions later. It grows and grows and grows...

And then it hits you. That quick editing job won't be quick after all. Just because your book/game is finished doesn't mean it's done. it will still take time to fix and polish, and it will be harder. Need more thought. And, at the back of your head there's a voice that screams "fuck this, I was done!" and just wants to get it over with fast...

I think we have all read those stories. Played those games. Where the first 80% was cool, and then everything just finishes too fast and the ending feels rushed. I was guilty of it as well, in Fallen Hero: Rebirth. There were more things I should have done in retrospect, but at the time I just wanted to be done, I didn't even know if people would like it, it wouldn't matter and all those other things I kept telling myself.

Maybe that's why I am writing this. Because I am sitting in that spot with Fallen Hero: Retribution, where things start to drag and I just want to be finished, but more tangents and issues pops up. And every time I go... "maybe I should just ignore this, and..." but I try not to. Because this game is already a bloated beast made for my own pride's sake, and to ruin all that extra effort just to get it done a month or two sooner would be like shooting myself in the foot near the finishing line.

2020 already messed up my personal deadlines. No, let's be fair here. My own ambitions messed them up long before that.

I am so bloody grateful that I have editors that won't let me get away with skimping on the quality.

I guess what I am trying to say here, is that finishing a book is only the first step in order to make it good. Don't make the mistake of thinking it is as good as it can get. Be prepared to be brutal. Be prepared for it to take time.

It will be worth it in the end.

#process #writing advice

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fallen-hero · 4 years

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You've probably answered this in the past but I'm relatively new here. How does having multiple ending states effect your writing process for a sequel, and has the experience writing a sequel effected your plans for Retribution's endings? Interactive fiction has always fascinated me, especially making player choices feel meaningful while maintaining a manageable number of story threads going forward. I'd love to hear the perspective of someone in the field.

I was very wary about multiple ending states when I finished Rebirth. In essence, it’s just one ending with variations depending on what you had done to give you clues that something was up behind the scenes.

In Retribution.... I am going a little bit off the rails. There will be quite separate ending states, four major paths, with additional variations within those. It is going to make writing Revelations interesting, but I think I can pull it off.

The reason for the difference is that I was still new when writing Rebirth. I wasn’t sure what people would like, and even less sure what I could pull off. Thus I skinned the story down as much as I could in order to make a finished product.

With Retribution, I started adding things back in. Some were a lot more work than I had anticipated (villain paths), some made the story better and deeper (more RO’s), and then there was the twist.

In the original book, I had a thing happening at midpoint which shook things up and upped the stakes. I had decided not to incorporate a variety on that in the interactive fiction, because while I loved it, and it would work EVEN better with player choices accounted for, it would lead to major branching.Too much. Not a chance I could pull that off.

And then the reviews and sales numbers for Rebirth started rolling in, and the reactions to the demo once I got the first chapters up.

I decided to go for it.

So in essence I am treating the end states as an extended branch and rejoin choice. The branching starts right after the open alpha ends (there’s a reason why I broke off there), and continues right into the many end states in Retribution.

Each of these end states will have a separate start in Revelations, some will rejoin the main path quicker than others, eventually fusing into two major paths that will fuse back into one around the middle of Revelations or so.

Yes, this means a lot of parallel writing, there’s a reason why book two is three times the length of book one. But it also makes replaying fun, and in some ways, the only way to get the clues for the full story.

#process

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fallen-hero · 4 years

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As a curious author (who has looked up to you a lot during the writing process) would it be possible for you to ballpark how many ideas you had before you came up with fh? And do you remember when it first came to your mind that you would write about a villian instead of a hero? Like was it a random shower thought? Did it spark from another source of inspiration? Thank you!

The original inspiration actually came from my partner’s unpublished comic script. There’s a world-changing event in there which for some reason triggered my imagination and made me wonder how that would feel from a telepathic point of view. The thought wouldn’t leave my head, and at the time I was working on writing in English so I made a series of short snippets on my Livejournal (yes, that old) called “A supervillain writing experiment”.

As I wrote, it became more and more about how to deal with trauma in a not exactly healthy way, and the more I wrote, the more it started sliding into body dysmorphia and gender thoughts. That was around the time I stopped writing it, since it connected too much to things I didn’t want to think about at the time.

More than a decade later, that idea was one of a handful or so that I had to choose between to try to make my first choicescript game. At this point I had come to terms with my genderqueerness, and felt I could dig into it.

I had (and still do, no time limits on ideas) a lot of other stories I would love telling. There’s a whole folder just filled with half written things, or concepts I would love to explore. Ideas is NOT a problem for me, the time and skill to develop them is.

#process

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fallen-hero · 4 years

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hi malin! been meaning to ask for a while, and my question got mostly answered from that previous ask but i was just wondering about how much you make from sales of fh:r- like on a sliding scale from "pocket change" to "side job". and of course it changes depending on the popularity of the game i just have no idea what the ballpark amount is

It depends a lot. Apparently I have sold well for a first game (got no idea how things compare to others, there’s some talk about that in the links of the last money posts I reblogged).

Last year (not the release year, so no spike) I averaged around $500 per month before taxes (which is around 30% for me)..

I have no idea what anybody else makes, money is a touchy subject for a lot of people.

#business

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fallen-hero · 4 years

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Also, remembered this thread on the CoG forum.

And another.

And a third.

This may not be comfortable to answer for you, but, does being a Choicescript writer pay well? I'm a teenager who is currently working on making a Choicescript game, and I was wondering if being a writer for CoG would help with that. I mean, is the pay good enough that you don't need to worryabout getting a second job? Follow up question, would you recommend me to go with CoG or Hosted games?

Okay, real talk here.

Being a writer very, very, very rarely pays well. Except in the rarest of circumstances, you need a dayjob, an understanding spouse, or a rich background. There is a reason why so many writers are from the middle class and up. I’m from what would be considered upper working class background (nice unionized jobs), but being a writer was never even on my horizon growing up for that exact reason (also no contacts or role models).

With the advent of the internet it has become a lot easier to get published, but alas, the making enough money for car, mortage and a comfortable life hasn’t really become any easier.

That being said, writing can be a pretty lucrative side job, and of the things I’ve tried (books, comics, interactive fiction) the latter actually pays.

So the first thing one should do if you want to make a career of writing is trying to get a day job that gives you time to think and doesn’t destroy your creativity. For me that was going into machining, nicely paid, unionized, not much interaction and no way to bring the job home with me. But that’s me. It’s different for everyone. Some people can handle the freelancer lifestyle, I need the stability.

Writing interactive fiction (CoG, Hosted Games) has the advantage of having a built in customer base. Getting readers willing to pay for your work is always the hardest part, and no matter what you go with you will have access to the forums to build a buzz around your WIP and learn the ropes, and competent people to handle the infrastructure of actually selling things. For a first timer, the choice will often be to go with Hosted Games, and my experience is excellent. If you are a good seller, you will earn as much writing for Hosted Games as for CoG, but the pay will all be in the backend. No advances.

CoG wants people that are proven authors, and unless you have published things elsewhere (for example published a Hosted game), they are unlikely to be interested. For me, I love the freedom of Hosted Games, because I tend to take direction and oversight very badly.

As for how much it will pay, that is impossible to know. Some people sell a little, most people sell okay, some people sell a lot. The pay is all in american dollars, so right now I get paid a lot more than I would have five years ago for the same sales numbers since the swedish crown is weak. So if you live in a country where one american dollar goes a long way you will automatically be better paid.

The most important thing to remember as a writer is that you are building up towards a goal. I published Fallen Hero 2 years ago, and it still ticks in a steady monthly check for me, some months more, some months less. When I put out Retribution, I will have two games ticking money. When I publish the third, I will have 3. That’s the trick. Patience and hard work. Every little thing adds up.

So my advice to you is this:

Don’t expect to live on your writing any time soon, but if you don’t start, you’ll never get to that point.

Write for Hosted Games.

Focus on getting a WIP demo up, and be really careful about reading people’s reactions. It wan be the most valuable learning experience, but you need to be aware that it can also be frustrating, disheartening and kill your enthusiasm if you’re not ready. Having people dig into your work always hurts, and having people wish for more/different content can easily lead to overreach and the story ballooning. Most WIPs never leaves that stage,

I hope yours will!

#reblogging with more info

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