rabbit

Drafting: Rabbits and Hats

Sometimes, I sit down to write, and I feel overwhelmed. How can I write anything? How can I create? How can I make words that make a story that will make sense to others? It seems impossible.

Sure, I’ve done it before. Sure, I’ve plotted it. Sure, I need to know what I have to write before the end of the day to meet the soft deadline to the editors by Thursday. Sure.

But a rescue cat, his leg amputated, is sitting downstairs, and he’s not eating. But my kid has been acting out because he feels like he needs more attention, because I’ve spent the weekend at the emergency center with the cat. But we need groceries, and right now I don’t have the car, and how will I ever make dinner? But I forgot I was supposed to go to the parent back-to-school night tonight, and I need to figure out how I will get there. But… bills… I have to fix… there is this appointment… I must remember… I don’t know why my father is… what is really going on here and… I should text her, I should text, I forgot–

Then I look at the scene I’ve planned. I review the variables I’ve set this season, last season, the season before that, last episode. I restructure the outline. And I… start to write.

This is what this character will say now. This is what happens when. This is the choice the player must make. This will be fun. This has to happen. There is too much narrative exposition. Go back. Try it again. It isn’t right. Redo it. Write it again. Move that section higher. Restructure the knots. Branch this. Timed choice, choice, add a choice, item. Move it. This is what that character says now. Change the transitional text. What is the time of day again? Will that match the art asset? Review the asset, review the asset plan, make a note, comment it out, and then, write the next scene, and write.

Receive a call. It’s about the–car–from your doctor–the kid–an overdue book–an appointment–the call, a lumber order, the repair–and then I look back at the document, the code, lost.

And then I write again.

I don’t know that I’ve ever had… writer’s block, precisely. Or maybe I always have it. I always sit down, and I’m completely certain I can’t do it, and I know that I can.

I’ve written the outline. I know the variables. I have a plan for the assets. It’s all in place. All that’s left is the trick. And, like a magician reaching into a hat, I can’t see my own hand. I’m looking at the audience. I can’t see your face, your faces, because of the lights. But it’s hot, it’s bright, and my shoes pinch. I’m reaching in, feeling, hoping, that all I’ve done already will be there, all that I’ve imagined, felt, schemed, planned for, that all that preparation meant something, and then deep in the darkness, my fingertips hit soft fur, and I know it’ll be all right. I write.

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Waiting on Edits

Last week I was camping (yay!) and then had to return to push hard to get my draft in to my editor. Now it’s with my editor. Today I took most of the day off for doctor’s appointments. My kids begin school on Thursday, which is a huge relief.

I need to dig into some asset descriptions tomorrow (I can’t believe it’s already 5pm!) and I’m planning on doing some research for the design doc tonight. I have most plot points worked out, but not the twist in the third season.

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New Chapter

I’m also probably going to work on a design doc for a little while. I have plenty of time to work as the kids are in camp until 1 and as I have a sitter in the afternoon.

Also, I get my car back today! Very exciting. We’ve been driving a rental. The car is in the shop, as I was rear-ended last May. I’m hoping that after my work day ends I’ll be able to run a few errands, build a rack for the garden tools, continue gluing together the desk organizer for the kids’ art supplies, etc. I didn’t lay out the tile the other day, but I’m also not entirely sure I have the right primer. So I need to check that.

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Final Pass

Today I’m going through, rereading each line, checking for small errors, continuity, seeing if I can tighten sentences, etc. Since the chapter is due tomorrow, end of day, I’m in good shape. As I check, I’m thinking ahead to the next chapter, which I’ll start soon, wondering if any modifications need to be made to my outline, and noting the smaller plot threads that I may want to pick up.

Since I’m not carting around kids today, I have plenty of time. After work, I might be able to get some gardening in and play with laying some tile. I can only do this work in the evening because it’s so hot. Maybe I’ll pickle the garlic from my garden, scrub paint (from the spill) off the walls and vacuum cleaner, and sort through which old clothing I’ll be making into a rag rug.

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Code Revisions

Friday ended up being a wash. I accidentally dropped an entire can of dark green paint down the stairs and it exploded. EXPLODED. I still have paint on me. And in my hair.

So while I got the majority of the content revisions done, I spent a good three hours cleaning that up so my friend, who’s doing a side job for us (helping us reno our stairs) could get started on Saturday. Still, I got my work in on time to my story manager (as I always do, without fail), who gave me my code revisions this morning, thanks to the time difference in our working day. The doc’s only about three pages long (mostly screen caps) so I’ll expect to be able to turn those around. The freeze is due the 16th, so I have plenty of time. When working on the content revisions from the editor, I realized I’d need to request more assets–environment variants–due to the time of day change that the edits resulted in for the scenes. And the trinkets weren’t finalized until I heard from the editors, either, so I need to document those tasks for the artists.

I’ve already responded to the artists, of course, and I also need to check in with the translators and the copy editor.

Today’s my son’s OT, so I need to get cracking!

This Sunday I went to an ecovillage with my boyfriend, mostly so I could look at the slipstraw houses (sometimes called light clay straw). So envious of their greenhouse situation! I would love to build my own slipstraw house and have enough land to have an orchard, chickens, goats.

I’m hoping to move through this quick enough to get working on the design doc again tomorrow. I think I want to plot before I move into the character cards. I’ve been thinking a lot about my hook and the retention requirements, as well as the episodic structure in terms of beats, so I’d love to get those thoughts down on paper.

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Edits + Summer

Today I received feedback from my editor and another RC friend. I’ve already responded to the artists, etc., so now I need to write the spoilers and get started on the edits. I mostly worked on catching up on some asset description yesterday so I still have the emotes, etc., to assign. I realized when I was working that I need to wait for some feedback regarding the assets before describing them, and that this may inform how I handle some choices. The editor let me know this is relatively clean, so hopefully the edits will go quickly enough for me to get a draft to the story manager for proofing code.

I did work on some asset description yesterday for my own private project, as well as some website tinkering, but man, summer kills me. The camps that run 9-12 are useless. Between drop off and pick up, I frequently have about an hour in the mornings, maybe an hour and a half, to focus. That means I end up working in the afternoons, when I’m less fresh, and my partner is with the kids (he is basically the best). I don’t really like it when work runs late into the evenings, like when I work after 6pm or have to pick up again after 9pm when kids are in bed. Next summer, we’re going to opt for some longer camps that run 9am-3pm. I have my eye on a LARP camp that looks spectacular…

I’m toying with the idea of writing another novel, just for fun. But I probably should finish up my StoryLoom work, and I’m Sorry, I Love You first. It’d be also super fun to write for Magic again…

I can’t wait for school to start! Only about 3 more weeks…

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Between Edits

Every morning I start my day by replying to the artists, providing feedback or acknowledgment so that they can continue to the next stage. I look through my messages so that I can work with my story manager and other people at RC, whether it’s translators, promo, etc. Today I need to respond to my translators and write spoilers.

Yesterday, I submitted a draft to my editor. While I wait on the edits today–not that they ever take long! my editor has a radically quick turnaround!–I’m going to work on assigning the emotions/expressions to characters, updating the text asset spreadsheets, adding asset IDs to the draft, etc., and finishing up some last minute art documentation, the types of mechanical tasks that can easily be done to some music.

Since it’s summer, and my children aren’t in school, I have to drop off my partners and kids in the morning, which happens after I walk my dog. This means I start working around 9am. Today I have a doctor’s appointment at 10:50, so that means I have approximately 40 minutes to work in the morning after breakfast, and I pick up my eldest from summer camp at 11:50. I have a sitter this afternoon, so that means the majority of my work will happen in afternoon and evening. Summer… is not my favorite time. But I’m certain that many other parents are in a similar position.

It’d be easier to focus over these next 40 minutes if my dog wasn’t a maniac. She’s chewed up a green pen and now looks like she murdered a leprechaun.

I’m hoping that if I make sufficient progress with RC I can write asset description for the programmer on a private project so that he can work on creating parameters for procedural generation of certain game objects. I also want to add more touches to my website, and review ISIL so that I can begin drawing for it again. I had dreams this summer of writing some prose, too, but this seems like an after-the-school-year begins deal now. I’m hoping that I can do some minor projects (repairing a desk organizer for the kids’ art desk, some clean up) before cooking dinner.