The Clock is Ticking…
Saturday, March 29th, 2008Gen Con Indy, and the planned release of the Artesia: Adventures in the Known World scenario set in the University of Therapoli, is 4 months and 14 days away.
Archive for March, 2008
Building a Scenario: Part #1 Sewing the field, planting the seeds
Friday, March 28th, 2008*An important note: There is no “big reveal” coming. Ryan and I don’t know yet what will happen with our scenario proposal to ASP. We’re not experts in these ventures, and we’re not attempting to hold ourselves out as such. This series of posts is as much about helping ourselves discover the why and how of our collaborative efforts, as it is about helping other would-be submitters. Please keep in mind that we won’t be sharing any content in these posts, and the outcome of our proposal, while important personally, probably won’t ever be discussed within. Content and outcome are simply not the reasons for the posts; read on for process.*
How does one begin a beginning?
Where does the initial burst of inspiration come from to create a story? Perhaps this question/problem is what keeps more people from attempting to create their own content for pen & paper role-playing games like Artesia: Adventures in the Known World.
During our creative process, it was my impression that simply coming up with “Point A” was more difficult than connecting “Point A” to “Point B” to “Point C”, etc. What I took from that little lesson was that working with the first idea you dream up might not be the “best” idea you write, but it might “get the ball rolling” in the right direction, faster than you might otherwise come to that “right” idea. This process also has left Ryan and I with a lot of ideas (more about that below).
At this stage of development, Ryan and I were working more or less independently, with the intention of direct collaboration once we had a few ideas that we both thought were dynamite. I began my search for a scenario topic by re-reading the sourcebook’s text about the Middle Kingdoms (per the submission guidelines’ call for MK-related scenarios). I jotted down notes about different areas/topics that were relatively unexplored by the sourcebook, while crafting characters in my head that I thought would be fun to write about at some length.
“But Mooom, what if they don’t like me?”
I have no idea what ASP wants from writers, beyond what the submission guidelines suggest. Also, I’m a self-conscious writer. I’ve done my share of pen work, but never for public consumption. Therefore, the notion that I may get a rejection letter is scary. It’s probably scary for everyone, including seasoned writing professionals. I had, and have, to keep in my head that my reasons for writing and submitting a pitch were internal: I want to improve as a writer, I want to maintain a collaborative relationship with my long-time friend Ryan, I want to improve my abilities as an A:AKW Guide. As long as these are my goals, I don’t think I can fail, regardless of whether the proposal is successful or not.
What do we do with all this junk?
Eventually Ryan and I began comparing notes. Ideas that shared mutual elements were given special attention, those that were adverse, offensive, or unwieldy were discarded or put aside. We discovered that there is a happy unintended result to our process: Ryan and I have a small library of ideas for future scenario proposals.
What makes a complementary scenario element? We tried to pick smaller ideas that co-exist in a scenario setting that could create multiple facets of a story, but wouldn’t result in two separate storylines. This was harder than it sounds; If you, as a hard working writer think you’ve struck adventure gold, only to have your partner say it will overwhelm the other plot line(s), it can be a disappointment! I think the end result of this process is that all of our plot elements lead to and compliment each other, rather than splitting off into tangents.
Next: Part #2: Putting Pen to Paper, or How to Annoy One’s Self.
Building a Scenario: Part #0 Opening Thoughts, a Checklist
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008Many fans of the Artesia: Adventures in the Known World role-playing game are aware that ASP has reviewed its submission guidelines and hired a games editor (Thor Olavsrud) to work on developing ASP’s gaming brand. The company’s submission formula seems pretty simple: Read the instructions about what ASP wants to receive, write it out, submit your work, ca$h in. No sweat, right?
The reality of taking on this type of project or virtually any other polished writing is that it takes significant amounts of time, effort, and the ability to accept criticism.
These are some questions that I wish I had asked myself before Ryan and I began work on our scenario-for-submission, and that other people may benefit from asking themselves:
1) Do I have the time to write this scenario pitch?
It’s taken Ryan and I between two and three months to finish our pitch. The finished work obviously falls within the submission guidelines (i.e. 1500 words, or less), which means we produced roughly 500 words of polished material per month, and we spent at least a little time on the pitch five nights a week. Divide that production number by two, as there were two writers.
250 edited, polished words per person, per month of development. Is this crazy slow? I don’t know. The end may justify the means, it may not – at this point we don’t know. Regardless of outcome, we couldn’t have moved quicker and felt comfortable with the writing/editing cycle.
2) Who’s on my “team?”
Ryan and I worked together as creative equals, with neither party having a veto over the other in any aspect of the scenario’s development. I feel this created a significantly stronger end-product, but added to construction time. We’ll see how it fares, but that’s how we operated.
It could be argued that one author would be quicker, as one writer means one creative voice, with no discussions taking place over what elements should be included or disregarded. But, it could also mean a lot more time in the editing phase, or simply a lower-quality product due to “writer’s blinders,” where the sole writer cannot fathom that his/her ideas are anything but wonderful. Having more than two writers or editors? I don’t know what would happen, but at three or four people, you’re beginning to have “a lot of cooks in the kitchen.”
3) Do I/we have an editur editor to review my/our work?
No one writes perfectly on the first draft. Most people don’t produce pure gold on the second, third, or even fourth draft. If you are uncomfortable with others editing your work, recall that ultimately your piece will stand or fail based on how it reads thematically, grammatically, stylistically. (I’m going to have to look some of those words up.)
4) Do I know the story background?
This one seems like a no-brainer… most people who write scenarios for submission are going to be intimately versed in the world. I would consider myself to be very close to this description, yet I repeatedly had to refer to all of the source material that I had on hand. Ryan and I tried to verify every factual statement made in the scenario proposal, to make sure it complied with the “canon” of the A:AKW sourcebook. It cannot be stressed enough: no proposal that makes serious errors about fundamental principles behind the game’s background or mechanics are likely to succeed. Do I know this to be true? No, I am not privy to the inner workings of ASP’s gaming department. That being said, a failure to demonstrate “doing your homework” will probably result in FAIL.
5) Am I prepared to fail?
We are, but it will still sting. We’re human, and no human likes to strive for a goal and be denied accomplishing that goal. The ultimate desired outcome of crafting a scenario proposal shouldn’t be money or fame (as this project will not likely result in either, no matter what level of success you obtain), but about producing a piece of work that adds your voice to a wonderful game and story. If you think you’ll be turned off from Artesia, A:AKW, or ASP if you’re turned down… don’t do it! Why artificially separate yourself from such a bad-ass piece of work? It’s not worth it.
NEXT: Part #1: Sewing the field, planting the seeds.
One administrative note: If you wish to comment on this post, or any other entry on this site, please do so via this site! I won’t respond to comments about middlekingdoms.net, or any of its content, except here on the site itself, with exceptions made for e-mail under “unusual” circumstances. We have a forums section that we’d love to grow into a community, so don’t be a stranger.
Cosmic Therapy clarifies Known World Map Set availability
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
In an e-mail received today, Robb, sales director of Cosmic Therapy, let me know that:
Hi Brendan,
I discovered that our map sets are incomplete and am awaiting copies of the missing map before posting availability. Thanks for your patience!
I replied:
Dear Robb,
I understand the wait, but is there any chance of some sort of timeline? Not to be fussy, but its been month(s) technically.
Robb replied, earning a point or two of cool:
I promise you that nobody wants to buy this stuff as much as I would like to sell it ;)
The moment the other posters come in, I will send out an e-mail making the set available for purchase. We’re almost there!
What does this all mean? It means that someone needs to send someone something so that interested consumers can purchase these map sets.
Artesia Author to Sell Original Artwork
Monday, March 3rd, 2008From the front page of artesiaonline.com:
“…Mark is looking to clear some space in his flat files. So from now until the end of March, the remaining original art pages from the first three ARTESIA series are available for the low price of $50 a page.”
No list of remaining pieces is available, so interested parties will have to follow the announcement’s advice and contact Mr. Smylie directly by clicking here.
$50.00 dollars seems like a lot of money, but for the true Artesia fan, such an opportunity might be irresistible.
Entire ASP Catalogue Offered at Indie Press Revolution
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Posted on IPR’s front page on February 27th,
“…And now, as of this week, IPR is carrying Archaia’s wide catalog, including dozens of comics and graphic novels, continuing a mission of bringing the best in indie comics to IPR.”
This is great for Artesia fans who don’t have a local comic shop that stocks ASP offerings and/or is willing to order them a la carte.
Link:
State of the ASP Forums
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008Is anyone in the Artesia/A:AKW fan-base concerned about the A:AKW discourse on the ASP forums? Intermittent, illegible, and/or just plain rude, one can’t help but wonder why newcomers to that virtual space would want to bother establishing a presence in that community.
I (Brendan) have few comments, which may be taken as statements of opinion, and in no particular order:
1) There must be restraint when posting about comments you disagree with. If you think that someone doesn’t “get” your point after you have just explained it twice, that is moment when you must gracefully bow out. Why? Because the other poster understands what you are trying to communicate, they just don’t agree or don’t want to respond meaningfully.
2) Being rude, even especially in backhanded ways, is immature and makes people not want to participate. Worse, it often makes other people be rude in return. Considering that Artesia and A:AKW is more-or-less for Mature Readers (adults), shouldn’t we all be acting like them?
3) Delivering opinion statements as irrefutable fact is disruptive to discourse and, if done with sufficient repetition and vigor, will destroy conversation. Posturing as if you know everything about a subject of which you are neither the creator, caretaker, or even contributor, is an asinine way to lead one’s life.
I regularly read the newly posted thread on the ASP forums, with special interest in the Artesia-related threads. Why are the these threads the only places where I see behaviors 1, 2, 3? Its puzzling and disturbing as a fan who wants to see the Artesia/A:AKW community prosper.
GenCon is 5 months, 12 days away.