The Art Commune Reading Circle

"CathyTea;14894881" wrote:

"AdamsEve1231;14891972" wrote:
Does anyone else find the game helps with writer's block?

Yes! Totally!

A lot of this is the way I play and write. Most of my stories are game-play or Sim driven. So, often, I'll just get in there and play around and take a bunch of photos. Then, I'll see what story emerges either from the characters or from the events.

For the chapter I just posted, I was a little stumped initially, because (like a ton of my work) it's not really about anything... It introduces characters. It adds a few pennies into the political plot pot. It meanders about life and what makes a good life (which is my all-time favorite thing to write about). But I was very unsure how to write anything past the first paragraph and the last.

So I just gathered up the screenshots I had, but them in some sort of order, and then I was able to write around them. What I'm happy about is that one of the main perspective characters hardly even shows up in the screenshots--so a lot of the screenshots happen as if they're from her POV. If I'd written first, it wouldn't have come out this way, for I would have taken the shots that included her to illustrate the story. The way it turned out is that the screenshots are sort of complementary to the story, rather than particularly illustrating it, with the exception of the few that introduce actual plot elements. Nevertheless, in the writing of it, the screenshots were essential in getting me to find the ideas that I wanted to present.

Since I just published it, I have no idea if it works! I might be a complete flop! I'll read it sometime tomorrow or the next few days to see if I think it works or not (and I'd love to hear your evaluations!). What I love about a blog is that I leave all my experiments up there, whether they work or not, so I can learn.

***ramble, ramble... must be getting late...***

What makes a good life... I feel like I could ramble on and on and on about that topic and endlessly write about it in my stories. I have a tendency to lean toward writing about darker, more secretive, mysterious, and painful things, but I do like good-natured fun, joy, simple little things that make us happy, and beauty in the everyday and I search for moments like this in my game and story-writing in general. I like a balance.

One of the things I enjoyed about writing Ayesha's story recently (and I don't think you've gotten that far, @CathyTea, so I'll try not to add spoilers), while the chapter was particularly painful for the character, I managed moments of beauty - in a simple cup of tea, in the description of the wood walls, and the memories of her past intertwined with the beauty of a garden at night time.

Your screenshots in first person sound interesting. I might have to try that sometime in game/story writing. Screenshots can enhance the story, especially when done right.

I agree with you about leaving things up on the blog so you can learn. I definitely think I've improved from my beginning and I'm hoping to keep learning and honing my craft.