Writing Progress

[Black Jack Rackham]

Ayup. I'd guess, just off the top of my head 90% of what I write gets cut or thrown out. I either don't like it, it doesn't fit, it's cool just not for this adventure, or it went WAY off topic. I have to just keep re-writing until I've worked it out in my head. (though I gotta say, some of my best adventures were a sentence or maybe two to give a start point, and then the heroes went hog-wild, I just don't want to do that at a con game).

Mark

[Klcp]

Whatever you say, Inigo.

[CaitlinCallahan]

It's not about volume. It's about content and creative process. A two page adventure can be great and a 19 page one can rot if the creator does nothing but fill pages with backstory. Mark needs to process in drafts on the page. I build them and edit in my head and work from an outline unless I need more detail for other gms. patrick's best events were on a bar napkin scrawled during a break 5 minutes into play after the plot was blown up (literally). Dana outlines, drafts, redrafts, edits, drafts, edits and finalizes things we all do it different but none of us write too much. In most cases we don't write enough.

Absolutely. Everyone has a different process for getting to the end result. (And if more writing results in more games, I'm all for it!)

Though I'm a little disappointed that you didn't mention inspiration coming from being thrown in jail 15 minutes before the game starts.

[Klcp]

Okay, what now?

[CaitlinCallahan]

Perhaps I should clarify - it was Klingon jail at the con (so he was only imprisoned for about 5 minutes), but it led to a very fun jailbreak adventure.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Whatever you say, Inigo.

Hmmm..."You playtesters killed my adventure, prepare to die!"
Yup, I like the sound of that.

[salamanca]

Just to clarify, I do a much better Inigo accent and I have the hair. As for the jail issue... The evil GMs wives club opted to have me run a pick up game one year. I'm sitting at the table, trying to come up with a plot and the ladies had me arrested. That's right, they arrested the GM. Then they came down and taunted me. But all my best adventures run off the cuff. When you give me time to plot, you get byzantine adventures full of obscure real world information and treasure maps coded in fibonacci progressions, ussuran stacking dolls and seven pointed stars. (yes, I actually did that to some poor players once)

[Klcp]

Not gonna lie: I was hoping for a better story than that...but it's still interesting.

[salamanca]

It tells better when I am not typing with my thumbs.

[CaitlinCallahan]

He left out the fact that, in addition to being taunted by the three of us that had him incarcerated, he was also taunted by a 5 year old (who did a happy dance while chanting "I'm in jail and you're not, nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah"). Then there was his cellmate, who's plushie Cthullu did a rendition of "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen" that was rather entertaining.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Why does that make me want to hear the plushy sing
"Cthulhu will wake up TOMORROW, bet your bottom dollar that TOMORROW, he will rise..."
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll go mad, tomorrow, it's only a day away!!!"

[salamanca]

I believe you are actually hearing that "classic" song by Wham, "Wake me up before you Mi-Go"

[Black Jack Rackham]

I'm really thankful you put quotes around classic...

[salamanca]

Well, by age it now falls into that category or "rock".

[Black Jack Rackham]

No I meant because its Wham, and they stink. Its a classic because of age not because it's a legendary song. After all its a truly horrible song.

[Klcp]

So...what's the age that defines a song as a classic?

[Black Jack Rackham]

So...what's the age that defines a song as a classic?

Lemme just put it this way. You're a classic now...

[CaitlinCallahan]

No I meant because its Wham, and they stink. Its a classic because of age not because it's a legendary song. After all its a truly horrible song.

No argument on that, though I'm a bit ashamed to admit I remember dancing to it at cast parties. (hangs head in shame and finds a dark corner to hide in...)

[Rebecca Iavelli]

Hey Deb, don't dispare. That is nothing to be ashamed of. I personally liked Wham in my youth/young adult age. I actually own their first Video, and at lest 3 albums by them, and still have them. They are definately something I have outgrown. Heck, someday they may actually be worth money. One of the record albums actually has their picture imbedded into it, so I figure that's got to be worth something to someone, lol You don't often find records that have that.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Hey Deb, don't dispare. That is nothing to be ashamed of. I personally liked Wham in my youth/young adult age. I actually own their first Video, and at lest 3 albums by them, and still have them. They are definately something I have outgrown. Heck, someday they may actually be worth money. One of the record albums actually has their picture imbedded into it, so I figure that's got to be worth something to someone, lol You don't often find records that have that.

You kept them?!?! You're dead to me

[Black Jack Rackham]

So back on topic, made some minor edits for Episode 3 (been noticing a disturbing trend of spelling errors sneaking into my HoA writing) so it is pretty much ready to be unveiled next February. Stunningly, TotalConfusion is only 6 months away. So the TC folks should be just about ready to open event registration (usually in September).

Before then I need to do the heavy editing on Episode 4 and come up with a suitable Personal Agenda's adventure. I'm pretty sure that's do-able.

Markalicious

[Sister Sonya]

So, if a player signs up for a Personal Agenda at Con #1, then signs up for a Personal Agenda at Con #2 later on in the year, is it the same one or another/the next one?

[Black Jack Rackham]

Either is possible. I haven't really decided yet. With the big two (Origins and GenCon) they'll be different (because, I'm guessing, I have a high liklihood of player overlap) at the littler cons, not so much.

Mark

[salamanca]

How about I go public and offer to write the Origins PA?. That is one less for you to worry about. And it lets me do that thing where I grab stray threads from the other adventures and knit them together to the point the players are convinced we actually have a hired group of people living in an artificial Altamira in my back yard.

[Klcp]

the old guy

...lol

OR! 541, you could just come to GenCon and help mark run games at both cons!! (You don't need to be making a fool out of yourself the ENTIRE summer at Ren Fair)