tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post4044188856141916355..comments2024-03-29T05:38:46.147-05:00Comments on Pretentious Title: Learning from GamingRachel Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917123007610750274noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-41556038140808208912012-07-26T20:13:30.243-05:002012-07-26T20:13:30.243-05:00Awesome post :) I'm a huge gamer nerd myself, ...Awesome post :) I'm a huge gamer nerd myself, so I get tons of inspiration by just playing different games. I used to do the table-top RP thing, and I loved GMing and coming up with challenges for the players. It does feel similar to coming up with challenges for my characters now, so I can use a lot of the same principals. Other than that, nothing gets me more fired up to write than smashing through a bunch of enemies or other players in a fantasy setting. XD<br /><br />Thanks for putting it into perspective - that chart you made is going to be pretty handy!<br /><br />~BekaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-86865404698799863192012-07-06T10:18:02.926-05:002012-07-06T10:18:02.926-05:00Thoroughly enjoyed the post. Lots of GREAT informa...Thoroughly enjoyed the post. Lots of GREAT information and a lot of really good advice for new writers about working at the craft. Thanks for some excellent ideas.Stevehttp://ericksonpress.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-66985588066350138582012-07-03T13:05:47.475-05:002012-07-03T13:05:47.475-05:00And now I realize I didn't even address the ga...And now I realize I didn't even address the gaming part of the post at all, but I think that metric is definitely a good guide. I've done a variety of gaming, from video games to text-based forum RPs to tabletop games, and I think they've all taught me a lot about characters, character interactions, and what makes stories interesting or have a better flow. <br /><br />The level of challenge is hugely important: I actually ended up giving up very early on a recent game because the difficulty of the very first boss was so high, and it just got harder from there. This was in a series of games I typically think of as being pretty casual games, so the difficulty spike was especially upsetting because I went in with no clue it would be so hard. I think you can sometimes throw characters into very challenging situations early on, but they should definitely face something easier afterwards, or it does get very wearying.bzyglowihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564099205654636171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-26997992141072956082012-07-03T13:00:39.171-05:002012-07-03T13:00:39.171-05:00I really love these podcasts! You have great advic...I really love these podcasts! You have great advice and I'm really impressed by how methodically and critically you examine the craft of writing and really get into the gears and workings of how writing works and how you can use that to continually improve. I think you're absolutely correct that creative types do themselves a disservice by talking about the work as if it's magic, that it only comes with inspiration, because so much of it really IS about sitting down and working at it. I know that I definitely get much more work done when I have a list of tasks that I can cross off-- that visual progress bar is so helpful both in keeping me on task and in making me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. <br /><br />I'm an illustrator, not a writer, although I'm keenly interested in storytelling and am working on developing some stories as comics. I really liked your point about figuring out the emotional tone of a book before starting, and how story is not the same as plot. It's definitely something I'll be keeping in mind for my future projects.bzyglowihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564099205654636171noreply@blogger.com