Drilling a Hole in Your Skull

Sorry guys. Day 2 of a set of cluster headaches. Yup, another thing that happens to you when you get old, especially if you're a woman of a certain age.

I am working today, but I'm not coherent enough to follow up on setting and scene yet.

So, nothing to see here. I hope you all have great days, and I'll try to be back tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's an instructional Wikipedia entry on trepanning that seems to some relevant somehow.

Toodles.

Catherine

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Writing from the Gamerverse: Setting

For me, setting may be the most difficult aspect of writing from the gamerverse.

Most role playing games come with their own broad strokes of genre. For example, we all know Dungeons and Dragons takes it cue from European high fantasy. Call of Cthullu is set in the world of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction (don't play games where you lose sanity points!). Champions: The Super Hero Role Playing Game is set in the bright 4-color comics universe, as opposed to Unknown Armies, which is more of a Vertigo kind of thing. There are role playing games out there emulating Hong Kong action cinema, film noir, horror, and well, loads of other things.

The problem with using the setting in these games comes from when some sort of mechanic from the game's atmospherics interferes with the story you want to tell. One of the biggest issues I have with White Wolf is that while their games give game masters a great deal of atmosphere and plot, those of us who don't need as much direction are hemmed in by their post-apocalyptic vibe. Or something rather like.

However, like any good robber baron writer, you can pick or choose what you want. With that in mind, as with characters and games, discard what you don't like. My Changeling game isn't as depressing as a White Wolf manual.

Games that paint genre in broader strokes can be excellent tests of your ability to create mood and setting. You'll need to do it for your players. They'll appreciate it.

Next up in the Gamerverse series: Plot. Yes, plot.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Live Journal and Its Fifty Percent Staff Reduction

Just fair warning. The fifty percent staff reduction at Live Journal I take as a bad sign. Of course, I write the majority of my work over here at Word Press, and it's mirrored at Live Journal, but that said, there was a time before the writing journal that Live Journal was my mainstay for talking to the world.

With that in mind, then, I am going to move some of my old Live Journal writing over here in a kind of reprint effort. I have toyed with the idea of putting together a small collection of my journal essays into a non-fiction book (mostly for me, although I could make it available to others that might want it), but I can't do that if I wake up one morning and all my essays are gone. So I'd best get rolling on that. I'll try to offer some contextualization for you, the reader.

That said, most of what I have in my old journals is crap, and you don't want to see it, and I don't want to share it with you. So, this should be a manageable effort.

It'll be too bad in the end. I have fond memories, but yup, the only permanent thing is change. And other cliches that I hope to get away with.

By the way, as you can tell, headache is biting the dust. I loves me some pain free evening!

Catherine

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.