Look Ma! I'm Writing!

[seasong]

I kind of stumbled into writing a Story Hour, when mmadsen sort of dared me to. Or rather, dropped an off-hand comment in response to my off-hand comment, which I sort of took as a dare, and leapt.

Now, exactly one month and approximately 10,000 words of narrative later, it has sunk in that I'm actually writing something, and that people (a few people, anyway) are reading it. And while I still occasionally wake up in a cold sweat, thinking, "What the heck am I doing?", I think I've managed to find an acceptable rhythm for continuing to do so.

And then I go and read all of these other Story Hours, like PirateCat's, Wulf's, DrMidnight's... and they've been going for what seems like eternity.

A year from now, assuming a somewhat reduced writing rate for me (once I get past the campaign growing stage), I might manage to be at 50,000 words of narrative, close to a short novel in length. If my story is satisfying, I might have somewhere around 20,000 page views, and an audience of a hundred or so. I hope I make it!

Anyway, I wanted to share my feelings. I've always written strictly for myself (and sometimes my players), and it's frightening and thrilling to write for a potentially large audience.

 

[Sniktch]

Here, here!

I hope you make it, too, seasong. I identified a lot with your post while I was reading it and felt I had to chime in. Its amazing to me how crippling the fear of failure can be - it can sometimes paralyze you to the extent that you simply don't do anything at all! And to me, at least, the fear of sharing my work and the fear of failure go hand-in-hand; I'm afraid to share my work because it might not be well received and that will mean (on some level) that I've failed.

However, I'm thrilled at the reception I've received so far and have become completely addicted to writing my daily pages. I've started to wake up in a cold sweat at night when I realize I haven't updated in a day or two. See, now that I've started writing again, I don't ever want to stop!

So, keep it up, seasong! Here's to hoping that in a year we both have manuscripts written and we can look back fondly at the anxiety we felt while making our first post, while watching the page views slowly crawl towards one hundred, and all the other pangs and flashes that kept us awake at night, feverishly typing away while we waited for sleep to overtake us.

 

[Lazybones]

I completely understand.

As a writer, the blank page is a merciless, unfeeling adversary. All of the writer's guides I've read, from Anne Lamont to Steven King, all insist that the key is forcing oneself to confront that foe, to get at least a little bit on paper every day. It's sooooo easy to turn away, and remarkable how often you start thinking you have nothing to say this day, and then end up with 6-8 pages of stuff that you feel great about.

Enjoy writing your story hour. I'd suggest that you primarily do it for yourself; the down side of relying on accolades is that it is often sporadic; you feel disappointed when no one responds and doubt yourself when the praises aren't flowing in. Focus on your craft, tell the story that you want to (have to) tell. It's weird, given how your work is so much a part of you, but it's almost as if you have to divorce yourself from it, not care about what anything things, before you can send it out into the world and get the success that all writers want.

I just checked my latest compilation; I started my Travels story in January, and for Books I-VI, 320,000 words. Between my four threads, I think I've got maybe 12-13k views total, and it's in the top 20 of active stories in that regard.

Good luck, and good writing.

 

[seasong]

Thanks for the kind words!

Regarding feedback... yeah, that's kind of the standard writer's depression cycle, right there in a nutshell . Do they like me? Do they like me? Do they like me?

Fortunately, my players have been reading it fairly consistently, so it serves a purpose beyond the merely egoistic - I can use it to communicate.

Thanks again.

 

[el-remmen]

I use my story hour as a way to keep in the practice of writing.

I'm not much of a fantasy writer - but I have written a whole lot of other stuff when I had time (including two novels langusihing in my file cabinet) - since I don't really have the time to spend on another novel (though I have an idea and a chapter list for another) - but I don't want to fall completely out of practice of the craft, the story hour is a good outlet.

Of course, it also helps to have a completel narrative of your campaign and it can even affect your game - because it can help develop an NPC's voice - or allow you to see a plot point or character in a new way.

All around, great stuff - I wish I had the time to read more of them.

 

[jonrog1]

Congratulations, and welcome to the club. Remember Asimov's rule -- "We write 999 words, so the thousandth one doesn't suck." (I may be papraphrasing)

The only road in writing is the long one. Enjoy the trip.

 

[(contact)]

It's . . . remarkable how often you start thinking you have nothing to say this day, and then end up with 6-8 pages of stuff that you feel great about.

But story hours are so easy-- the game writes the story, you just have to transcribe it! I started writing up game logs for the fun of it, and also to preserve a record of these great campaigns we were running. After Piratecat's SH prompted the creation of a forum, I started posting them here, and it's been a wonderful experience.

It's funny, but I really felt like the ENWorld was a small audience, not a big one. It seemed like a safe place to share stories about our shared hobby, and the one forum where the audience would "get it". They laugh at the inside jokes, they understand that sometimes even the best villains roll 1s on their saves, and they know how the role-playing game structure works.

Of course, now I realize what a cesspool of backbiting, vindictiveness and unreasonably harsh judgements I've stumbled into, and if you weren't collectively holding my sordid past over my head, I'd stop posting here.

(p.s. Writing isn't near as romantic as you writers make it out to be. "I craved pathos, but all I got was peanut butter and jelly".)

 

[seasong]

(contact), you a funny guy .

 

[el-remmen]

But story hours are so easy-- the game writes the story, you just have to transcribe it

Not for me brother. . . Like I said before I use the story hour not only as a record of my game - but as a way to keep my writing chops up. . . I try hard to build dramatic tenstion, describe scenes, give emphasis to certain dialogue and bring the game world to life so that the events and people around the PCs do not seem "flat".

Sometimes some entries are closer to being merely transcibed, but other times I sit and make a real effort to make it leap off the page/screen (thus, my SH is a bit uneven at times - oh, well - not going for the Pulitzer here )

But just because I do it that way doesn't mean it is for everyone - and just because it is easy for you doesn;t mean it should be easy for everyone - at times I have taken nearly half an hour crafting one sentence or description.

 

[seasong]

I thought (contact) was joking, actually. For a mere transcription, one could read my brief record of what happened to Captain Agina... Craft, this is not:

Captain Agina calls for retreat. Line is routed, scattered. Three orcs close off escape for Agina's aides, banner drops and Agina draws sword, orcs die under spear (aides) and sword.

Agina (total attack +8) does a normal hit 67.5% of the time, does a crit 7.5% of the time, and does d8+5 damage. She does an average of 7.8 hp per round, against orc 24 hp. On a round that she kills an orc, she does an additional 7.8 hp average, due to cleave. She kills one orc every 3 1/2 rounds without help.

Agina's aides are about half as good as she is, and there are two of them. An orc will die almost every round against the three of them.

(some sketches of placement and no scanner, sorry)

Agina + aides kill the three orcs, continue calling people to her. More soldiers arrive, begin dedicated push up-mountain. Several shields join up, semi-circle is made.