Ink Raindrops

Another long delay. Sorry, folks. I’m still here, and still working. In fact, I’m about to be working harder than I think I ever have in my life.

My outlook on life, as viewed through social media, has hit an epic low. This relates to the life changes I have been talking about for awhile now. Because of my current lack of faith in its ability to bring people closer together, I have sworn off Facebook and Twitter both (though I miss Twitter far more) until the end of Clarion. I do not have time to stalk Facebook in hopes of either finding something to whet my imagination and interest, or being able to offer a smile to someone who wants pity instead. I’m just so very tired of the obligations that I place on myself, and that others place on me, while I’m there. I think it would be fair to say that I’m tired of the obligations that it makes me place on others, too. I need to spend more time working than fussing over this stuff. Period.

On top of this, I have scheduled a last minute trip to Arizona to visit my mom for her birthday, starting August 1st and continuing until August 10th. It has been several months since I saw her, and because of the timing of the weddings in my husband’s family, and the fact that we’re having Christmas at my place this year, I won’t be seeing my hometown until sometime next year otherwise. It sounds as if my mom and I may be in the same boat when it comes to being disgusted with a lot of life, and that is the real reason I am going, not any of the other stuff. Being out on my own and responsible for myself will be good for me, and maybe I can do some good for her in the meantime.

Those of you that are observant will note that August 6th, the end date for Clarion, falls in the middle of that trip. I regret to admit that I am farther behind on my script than I wish I was, due to all the stress I’ve been dealing with in the last few weeks. It is not an insurmountable challenge, but it is significant. I think this is where most college students would resort to an all-nighter or two. Having avoided such behavior during my short time in college, and even during NaNoWriMo, I’m both embarrassed that I need to do this, and interested to see what it’s like. If I want to have any hope of succeeding at Clarion (and I do not, in any capacity, intend to fail) then this week needs to be, in a word, hardcore.

I am not quitting. I am not backing down. And I’m not going to change my goal so that all I need is a first draft. All those things would be cheating myself, as well as the wonderful people that have donated their support and money to me and to Clarion. I plan to take today and finish my Ink Raindrops chapter for August, because if I don’t do that now, it’s going to be late and that’s not acceptable either. Then, starting Monday, I’m going to be up early, working my rear off, and passing off all dinner recipes to my husband, who has graciously agreed to do whatever it takes to help me. I will stay up late if I need to. Leisure activities, stress and figuring out the world will all have to wait in line.

What I will do, however, is relinquish my promise to post updates every day. It was more interesting when I could commit to it, and now that I am facing this massive amount of work, I don’t want to be responsible for these as well as everything else I must do. If I do get time, I will try to post updates, but be warned that they may not happen. I have considered asking my husband to update for me as a guest feature, just for giggles, but we’ll see what happens – he has plenty on his plate as well. So instead of “I’ll post as much as I’m able,” consider it now “I’ll post if I’m able.” Sorry.

The goal is for me to be done with the basic draft, which is to say, the majority of my work, by the time I leave for Arizona next Monday. If I can do that, I have no fear that I can handle the edits that I need to while I am there and still succeed. I am not even considering what will happen if I can’t. I can’t afford not to. I don’t doubt I can do it, though I fear it because I know how hard I’m going to have to rally. When it rains, it pours, is the usual phrase, and it seems to apply to my life anytime anything gets stressful. There’s never just one problem. There’s always another surprise, to paraphrase Brandon Sanderson’s immortal quote.

So there you have it. I hope that I’m able to update again before I leave for Arizona, and definitely by the time Clarion ends, but aside from those two milestones, I make no promises. Just know that every minute I am not here means that I’m working overtime to make sure that all of this has been worth it. And when it’s over, I’ll be able to enjoy a nice little vacation in the blistering heat with my family. Well – one out of two ain’t bad.

Lots more work on the script today. It feels slower and longer than I expected, but I have to keep in mind that most of this will be going by at the speed of a mouse click or a key press, not the kind of time most people would spend reading it front to back. I’m also including facial expressions and tone of voice for artwork and possible voice acting purposes, which takes up more space. I’m also mentioning segments where the player is controlling the game instead of being moved along by the story, so that I know that portion of writing needs to be handled later, once the game itself is in progress.

Thinking on that made me realize that maybe I should consider having the script available in a nicer form when all this is over, just for those people who won’t be interested in playing the game itself. Not everyone in my life is comfortable with video games or RPGs, and I don’t want those that are not to feel left out of this project. That’s definitely something to consider at a much later date though, once the game is complete! I don’t want people to read the script and spoil the game.

Today’s teaser line from the script:

“Touch my tail and I’ll tweak you, buddy.”

If you imagine that line as being delivered by Grey DeLisle, the voice actress for Frankie from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (among other roles,) it’ll sound better. If I had my druthers, I’d hire her, but somehow I doubt she’s available and affordable. Pity.

Welcome to week three! It’s scripting time.

Not much to say today. I was supposed to look at Final Draft yesterday and determine if it was the best way to go about scriptwriting, but the persistent headache that I had all weekend had other ideas. I wish we could all be like Lewis Carroll and write better when we have headaches! (Mine wasn’t a migraine this time, but it might as well have been for the amount of my time it ate up.) I think… knock on wood… it’s over now. I woke up feeling well and am doing my best to make sure I don’t excite it again.

I did my looking at Final Draft today, instead. While it’s a very interesting program, and I’d love to play with it a little more on my own time, when it’s not quite so important that I figure out how to use it, I don’t think now is the right time to pursue it. It’s just too full-featured for this little project, I suspect. I’ve decided to just use basic word processing programs and text files (Springnote, WriteRoom, TextEdit) for now and try to emulate the style of a script, rather than making something that Spielberg could follow. Most people, I’m sure, would understand it well enough if they read it. And it does need to be clear enough so that my husband and I can eventually turn it into a game!

I also started out trying to write my introductory scene / opening. So far I think it’s a good one, but who knows what will change by the time I’m on draft three or four? I’m going to go ahead and stop early for today. I’ve gotten a fair bit of work done and I really do not want to test my head more than I have to. Assuming everything’s still OK tomorrow, I’ll start tackling some of the longer segments. Looking forward to it!