Showing posts with label pitfalls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pitfalls. Show all posts
8.13.2011
How To
as a sort of summary to several ideas I explored here, I wrote an article at Author Rescue that reviews my experiences and offers some suggestions. If you are interested in trying interactive fiction, check it out!
4.28.2011
Do They Really Not Understand Life's Fake-Out Choices?
In my research, I found this article. I wondered if my love of CYOA prepared me to be a better friend. Meh. I think I had that in me. Reading comprehension probably helped, as did my scientific ability to understand cause/effect. I've worked with kids who can't "read" an angry face and deduce their behavior has made a friend mad. I've worked with kids who need "social stories" to comprehend classroom behavior. I've even had friends who are addicted to Drama. So I guess I shouldn't feel patronizing toward the poor slobs in this psych trial... but I do! If you cut down your fellow students, you're probably heading for the dark side, and if you scream at your sweetie, he won't want to be your sweetie.
4.14.2011
Happily Ever After
I shared in an earlier post about the rejections I've had on Becca and Lauren. One of the reasons was the unhappy endings. I have skewed all my books to be just slightly-more-than-half happy. One beta reader told me that reading too many unhappy endings in a row makes the book feel like a Perils of Pauline, which if you're not familiar with that term, refers to a damsel continuously in distress. So I also make sure that most of the story stems lead to a mix.
But in my books, there is only ONE (1) Fairy Tale Happy Ending. That's it. My books have 16, 12, and 11 endings respectively. I'm not egotistic enough to think that every reader is going to have a spiral bound notebook and track their choices to be a Completist. I'm toying with putting the existence of a single Fairy Tale Ending into my Author's Intro at the start of each book, because I want readers to know, after they've tried 3-4 endings, that it's out there. I'm not sure. Do you think romance-people need the promise? Or should I just let it be a pleasant surprise for those who stumble upon it?
Another issue is that some of my beta readers who scored the fairy tale early in their reading felt dissatisfaction with reading the other stories, because they'd already "won." Me? I'd keep reading to discover all the endings, which while they might not be as happy should at least be entertaining. Would you read on after finding a happy ending early?
But in my books, there is only ONE (1) Fairy Tale Happy Ending. That's it. My books have 16, 12, and 11 endings respectively. I'm not egotistic enough to think that every reader is going to have a spiral bound notebook and track their choices to be a Completist. I'm toying with putting the existence of a single Fairy Tale Ending into my Author's Intro at the start of each book, because I want readers to know, after they've tried 3-4 endings, that it's out there. I'm not sure. Do you think romance-people need the promise? Or should I just let it be a pleasant surprise for those who stumble upon it?
Another issue is that some of my beta readers who scored the fairy tale early in their reading felt dissatisfaction with reading the other stories, because they'd already "won." Me? I'd keep reading to discover all the endings, which while they might not be as happy should at least be entertaining. Would you read on after finding a happy ending early?
4.07.2011
Gamebook
How about... yes.
This is the current disclaimer I've crafted:
Warning: You are NOT buying a traditional erotic romance. This book features eleven adventures, ranging from romantic to sexy to deadly. The fun of this book is in changing your mind.
Suggestions?
1.16.2011
The Choice Mistress
When I was halfway through my first interactive romance, Becca, I realized I was having wayyyy too much fun. First of all, I ended up PLOTTING (this deserves capital letters in my mind). What this sea change meant is that I entered a far different journey than the organic technique I use to write my novels. This wasn't really about discovering a hero/ine's happy ending. This was about creating a character and watching how the universe toyed with them through their slightest decisions. This was about the adventure of life.
If anyone has ever been involved in Dungeons and Dragons (another choice-happy past time) you know the term "DM" short for "Dungeon Master" which is synonymous in the geek world with "Boss." As a plotter, I found writing became effortless and I became much more analytical. I was a DM!
I began to analyze the types of choices I wanted to offer. I have categories:
*The minor choice: Turn left or turn right? I call this the butterfly effect. You might think it's an incidental action, but it will have Consequences.
*The major choice: duh. Out the airlock or into the escape pod? It's gonna be important.
*The horrible choice: The sword or the poison?
*The fake fake-out: This was one of my pet peeves of the CYOAs. When the author sets up a "you better not do that" choice and then punishes you for it, it became a fake choice. Stepping on the alligator led to being eaten. DUH. No fake choices is my mantra. There are some choices that are dicey that punish my heroine, but there are some that reward her. Thus, some readers might be taken aback by a seemingly naughty choice that turns out nice. I don't consider this bait-and-switch. I consider it realistic!
*The dead end: Once I got my first two branching stories under my belt, I left behind the need to create a symmetrical story. Some choices in Charlotte's book lead to an end where other choices lead to more choices.
*The sex choice: Initial inquiries to readers resulted in them saying they'd be weirded out at directing sex. But I just had to go there. I'm an erotic author! It was fun making neck or tummy? lead to something meaningful, so this was a subset of The Minor Choice.
*The triple threat: Eventually I'll get to a quad choice. It's just a matter of time. By designing an initial choice as a triple threat, I really opened the story up.
*The cheaterpants loop: If you really believe in Fate, I guess this type of path could have merit. As in, several choices in several story stems all lead you to point A. But I call it the "lazy author" setup. I have not used it and do not intend to.
The choices also had a role in story length. For all my books, I added up each chapter for every ending and compared the lengths. Even in the symmetrical stories, there were some that ended up 5k shorter than others. If I got emo with some storylines, they went longer. Some endings I let go abruptly, some I wrote more of a coda. In a book of about 50k, my goal was to have no single path be too short because if that ended up as someone's Pure Read, I wanted them to feel satisfied.
I began to analyze the types of choices I wanted to offer. I have categories:
*The minor choice: Turn left or turn right? I call this the butterfly effect. You might think it's an incidental action, but it will have Consequences.
*The major choice: duh. Out the airlock or into the escape pod? It's gonna be important.
*The horrible choice: The sword or the poison?
*The fake fake-out: This was one of my pet peeves of the CYOAs. When the author sets up a "you better not do that" choice and then punishes you for it, it became a fake choice. Stepping on the alligator led to being eaten. DUH. No fake choices is my mantra. There are some choices that are dicey that punish my heroine, but there are some that reward her. Thus, some readers might be taken aback by a seemingly naughty choice that turns out nice. I don't consider this bait-and-switch. I consider it realistic!
*The dead end: Once I got my first two branching stories under my belt, I left behind the need to create a symmetrical story. Some choices in Charlotte's book lead to an end where other choices lead to more choices.
*The sex choice: Initial inquiries to readers resulted in them saying they'd be weirded out at directing sex. But I just had to go there. I'm an erotic author! It was fun making neck or tummy? lead to something meaningful, so this was a subset of The Minor Choice.
*The triple threat: Eventually I'll get to a quad choice. It's just a matter of time. By designing an initial choice as a triple threat, I really opened the story up.
*The cheaterpants loop: If you really believe in Fate, I guess this type of path could have merit. As in, several choices in several story stems all lead you to point A. But I call it the "lazy author" setup. I have not used it and do not intend to.
The choices also had a role in story length. For all my books, I added up each chapter for every ending and compared the lengths. Even in the symmetrical stories, there were some that ended up 5k shorter than others. If I got emo with some storylines, they went longer. Some endings I let go abruptly, some I wrote more of a coda. In a book of about 50k, my goal was to have no single path be too short because if that ended up as someone's Pure Read, I wanted them to feel satisfied.
1.15.2011
Rejection
Here I am writing. I've always been writing. I have my first travel book (Age 5, bound with yarn), my first diary (Age 7), my first play (Age 8, a scifi and yes my friends performed it), my first romance (age 10, a castle-hopping paranormal), and my first poem (Age 12, about a unicorn. It's horrible). Eventually I got around to submitting an erotic romance (Age 37, a fantasy), and I think yes, this writing thing is here to stay. I am so into this!
So there's this new romance epublisher on the market, and lo, on their list of genres they have listed interactive fiction. I have already learned romance writer's lesson #22: Do Not Write For Submission Calls Because It Leaves You With Weird Homeless Books When They Are Rejected While Delaying Books You Should Be Writing. I knew this lesson, but lo, I flailed into the write-on-demand waters anyway, and last year I wrote my first interactive romance.
It was rejected. Twice. So I wrote another one. It was rejected, too. So I'm writing a third. Am I insane? No. I'm just a romance writer, an unsquashable romantic to my bones. The reasons it was rejected were interesting to me. And, self-servingly, I reject the reasons my books were rejected!
1. Unhappy endings. Yes, the world of romance typically follows the Happy Ending rule. But this is a CYOA! How can you have an all-happy interactive story? It's, like, lame. Where's the risk in it? My compromise is I will put a warning on my blurbs that readers are in for possible death-of-a-main-character. But it will be their fault, not mine. (evil laugh!)
2. The storyline deviated from the first chapter. The editor who generously wrote me a fairly long response wanted the first premise I introduced to be present in all endings. I'll ask responders: do you want to read the same relationship being hashed out 12 times?
3. The main character wasn't consistent. THIS is something I'm struggling with. Of course I want my heroine to be motivated, with a clear personality that generates believable reactions. I feel that when I offer branching choices, I do motivate each one of them. The heroine MUST have a plausible reason for considering each option. But if my choices are all sweetness and light, the adventure is less robust. And who hasn't been tempted by the dark side in our life? It's fun to play the evil character in video games.
What this leads to in a potential romance, however, is a bad girl who sometimes acts unheroically while at other times is quite noble. I'd never have one of my fantasy novel heroines be both a smuggler and an idealistic academic. I'd never have her both instigate a food fight and run for help. But if I limit the choices to run left for help and run right for help, I don't get to play with as many possibilities. This is something I'm concerned about, that I'm sacrificing the character for the adventure. Three books in, I'm sticking with my guns. As long as I motivate each of the choices, I'm letting the reader decide whether to be bad or good.
So there's this new romance epublisher on the market, and lo, on their list of genres they have listed interactive fiction. I have already learned romance writer's lesson #22: Do Not Write For Submission Calls Because It Leaves You With Weird Homeless Books When They Are Rejected While Delaying Books You Should Be Writing. I knew this lesson, but lo, I flailed into the write-on-demand waters anyway, and last year I wrote my first interactive romance.
1. Unhappy endings. Yes, the world of romance typically follows the Happy Ending rule. But this is a CYOA! How can you have an all-happy interactive story? It's, like, lame. Where's the risk in it? My compromise is I will put a warning on my blurbs that readers are in for possible death-of-a-main-character. But it will be their fault, not mine. (evil laugh!)
2. The storyline deviated from the first chapter. The editor who generously wrote me a fairly long response wanted the first premise I introduced to be present in all endings. I'll ask responders: do you want to read the same relationship being hashed out 12 times?
3. The main character wasn't consistent. THIS is something I'm struggling with. Of course I want my heroine to be motivated, with a clear personality that generates believable reactions. I feel that when I offer branching choices, I do motivate each one of them. The heroine MUST have a plausible reason for considering each option. But if my choices are all sweetness and light, the adventure is less robust. And who hasn't been tempted by the dark side in our life? It's fun to play the evil character in video games.
What this leads to in a potential romance, however, is a bad girl who sometimes acts unheroically while at other times is quite noble. I'd never have one of my fantasy novel heroines be both a smuggler and an idealistic academic. I'd never have her both instigate a food fight and run for help. But if I limit the choices to run left for help and run right for help, I don't get to play with as many possibilities. This is something I'm concerned about, that I'm sacrificing the character for the adventure. Three books in, I'm sticking with my guns. As long as I motivate each of the choices, I'm letting the reader decide whether to be bad or good.
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