The Art Commune Reading Circle
Hello nice friends! If any lurkers are not sure what a reading circle is, here is the original thread: Reading Circles This particular one is centered around stories that may not be easily able ...
Forum Discussion
Ok, I have a lot of replies to make.
To answer my own question, what made me decide to write or what inspired my story, honestly, there are a few answers. 1) I really enjoyed reading SimLit and decided to jump in on the bandwagon, 2) I really wanted to write a mystery series because I enjoy mystery/crime stories, shows, & movies, and 3) to stretch myself as a writer. I find the Sims is constantly keeping me on my toes in regards to my writing, helping me hone my craft and my skills, providing a platform to try new ideas and new writing styles, and helping me share my writing with the world to get feedback and constructive criticism.
What inspires Kass's story? I tend to go through the alphabet with chapter titles and that helps direct and inspire the story a bit. Occasionally a piece of music I'm listening to helps - a.k.a. So This is Love and Just the Way You Look Tonight.
Honestly, the game mostly inspires her story. I like to have an idea in mind when I go into the game but I let the game dictate a lot of the story flow and plot... which is why sometimes I get side tracked with other awesome game moments and veer away from the story.
Actually, feedback on this in particular would be great. From those of you who have read and/or are caught up with KCLKF and KFLL, do you think I'm taking too long to get to the "meat of the mystery?" I've enjoyed telling side tales and trying to develop my characters and really develop Kass, and I'm a stickler for tying up loose ends, but sometimes I feel like I'm taking too long. I get really caught up in telling one character's story and I feel like I need to invest in it and tell more. Perhaps this is the downside to game-driven stories because I feel the endless possibilities and I have a visual to remind me. Thoughts? Advice?
@RipuAncestor I love NanoWrimo. I wrote a text-based version of Kass's story last year with some major differences and managed to complete it in time. I tend to get stuck around the third week. I enjoy fantasy and sci-fi but I have yet to really complete a work in those genres (although my fantasy novel is actually 3/4's done and my sci-fi one is about 1/8th done). I really like your fantasy-whimsy writing style. I haven't attempted to yet in The Sims... well, I guess, that isn't a whole truth, since Kass encounters supernaturals and I have a whole thing planned for that in the future. The Book Thief is on my list of must-reads. :)
@rednenemon I think the prompts blog post idea is a neat way to get started with writing the Sims. I've typically avoided prompts because I feel too boxed in, but now having participated in the Short Story Challenge and other things, I'm finding that prompts challenge me and get me thinking outside the box, and they help greatly when I'm faced with writer's block. I've got a whole list of writing prompts over on Pinterest that I should probably use and/or try someday which brings me to @CathyTea's point about why she got started.
I'm thinking about using some of my Pinterest prompts to come up with my own 30 Days of Simming (though it probably won't be 30 days straight). Sometimes I pin pictures as writing prompts and other times I pin actual prompts and sometimes I just pin quotes or dialogue lines I think would be interesting to write about, and I really need to do something with them. The Sims would be the perfect way to start. Who knows? I might actually get some ideas for my other writing platforms.
*Edited to add the part about character investment*
To answer my own question, what made me decide to write or what inspired my story, honestly, there are a few answers. 1) I really enjoyed reading SimLit and decided to jump in on the bandwagon, 2) I really wanted to write a mystery series because I enjoy mystery/crime stories, shows, & movies, and 3) to stretch myself as a writer. I find the Sims is constantly keeping me on my toes in regards to my writing, helping me hone my craft and my skills, providing a platform to try new ideas and new writing styles, and helping me share my writing with the world to get feedback and constructive criticism.
What inspires Kass's story? I tend to go through the alphabet with chapter titles and that helps direct and inspire the story a bit. Occasionally a piece of music I'm listening to helps - a.k.a. So This is Love and Just the Way You Look Tonight.
Honestly, the game mostly inspires her story. I like to have an idea in mind when I go into the game but I let the game dictate a lot of the story flow and plot... which is why sometimes I get side tracked with other awesome game moments and veer away from the story.
Actually, feedback on this in particular would be great. From those of you who have read and/or are caught up with KCLKF and KFLL, do you think I'm taking too long to get to the "meat of the mystery?" I've enjoyed telling side tales and trying to develop my characters and really develop Kass, and I'm a stickler for tying up loose ends, but sometimes I feel like I'm taking too long. I get really caught up in telling one character's story and I feel like I need to invest in it and tell more. Perhaps this is the downside to game-driven stories because I feel the endless possibilities and I have a visual to remind me. Thoughts? Advice?
@RipuAncestor I love NanoWrimo. I wrote a text-based version of Kass's story last year with some major differences and managed to complete it in time. I tend to get stuck around the third week. I enjoy fantasy and sci-fi but I have yet to really complete a work in those genres (although my fantasy novel is actually 3/4's done and my sci-fi one is about 1/8th done). I really like your fantasy-whimsy writing style. I haven't attempted to yet in The Sims... well, I guess, that isn't a whole truth, since Kass encounters supernaturals and I have a whole thing planned for that in the future. The Book Thief is on my list of must-reads. :)
@rednenemon I think the prompts blog post idea is a neat way to get started with writing the Sims. I've typically avoided prompts because I feel too boxed in, but now having participated in the Short Story Challenge and other things, I'm finding that prompts challenge me and get me thinking outside the box, and they help greatly when I'm faced with writer's block. I've got a whole list of writing prompts over on Pinterest that I should probably use and/or try someday which brings me to @CathyTea's point about why she got started.
I'm thinking about using some of my Pinterest prompts to come up with my own 30 Days of Simming (though it probably won't be 30 days straight). Sometimes I pin pictures as writing prompts and other times I pin actual prompts and sometimes I just pin quotes or dialogue lines I think would be interesting to write about, and I really need to do something with them. The Sims would be the perfect way to start. Who knows? I might actually get some ideas for my other writing platforms.
*Edited to add the part about character investment*
