Writing Warm-Up: Sad Face, Lock & Bridge

Writing Session Warm-Up with Rory's Story Cubes

The time has come for me to do some more writing in my serialized fiction, and that means doing a warm-up to get the creative gears turning. I've decided to utilize my Rory's Story Cubes, recently purchased and yet to see official use, to create a basic outline for a story I may or may not write sometime in the future.

In this particular case, I've rolled three of the story cubes, and I will use those three cubes to come up with a simple outline for a potential piece of fiction.

Zimildran Excitement to the Extreme!

I mean, look at that! How can this image not excite you? I guess the dinosaur junkie in me just gets giddy when seeing this image. Ramon is such a talented individual, and seeing him bring a specific, full world of my own design to life through wonderful art is, to me, breathtaking.

Zimildran has been going well, with the writing and development staying just ahead of our weekly play-test sessions. It is the culmination of almost everything that is at the core of my interests; dinosaurs, mysticism, intercultural diplomacy and conflict, with a dash of steampunk, all spread thickly over a thick base of cosmic horror. It feels wholly original, yet also like I've known it my entire life. Its ancient ruins, spiritual essence, and primal wildlife have stalked my dreams and sneaked into my writing over the years, and it is finally coming to fruition later this year. I am literally beside myself with excitement for this project to be finished.

I can only hope that this excitement holds true throughout the production of this book. It is already much larger than I ever expected it to be (130 pages and counting), and only continues to grow with each passing week.

Soon enough, in the next few weeks hopefully, I will post an excerpt of the world of Zimildran on the Round 10 website, giving you a bit more of a taste of the nature of this world, giving substance to the image above and a window into my imagination.

To Kickstart or not to Kickstart

While my personal experience with Kickstarter hasn't been the greatest (two failed projects in less than 6 months), I would be lying if I said I haven't considered using it again. A man with as many ideas as me needs all the help he can get when trying to turn those ideas into reality, and between Round 10, Zimildran, Dreams of a Dying God, and a certain other, unnamed gaming project, I have a lot of opportunities for help. Namely in the illustration department.

Changing the Game

Things have been moving at a very definite pace for me these last couple of weeks. I made some big decisions, the nature of which I can't really get into yet, but that will be changing the course of my life for at least the next year or two. It's both exciting and frightening, but I know that these are decisions that had to be made, considering my future goals and my current direction.

On a smaller scale, I made a tough choice about my personal belongings today, selling a good number of old video games for past - and current - generation systems. They were simply sitting on the shelves or in drawers, collecting dust and not seeing any use, and since I had to spend extra money on phone repairs and dropped some more cash into Round 10 (necessary cash, that is), I've been a little tight on funds.

But creativity is one of my strengths, and being creative with how I spend my money is a skill I've been tempering since January, thanks in no small part to the guidance of my sister. And it's something I'm going to have to get better at, looking at the road ahead.

I am nothing if not a work in progress.

This Big Lake Has Got Me Feeling Anxious & Lazy

Decided my post today would be a poor attempt at poetry. Sorry about the scheduling delay!

Alright, it's time to clear away those temptations and dust off those notions, ignore your hesitations and challenge your devotions. Shake up those foundations you let settle, look back on your creations right down to the letter. You let your distractions get in the way of your plans, you've been looking at the downside so let's start again.

Lefts and rights, ups and downs, keeping your head through the smiles and frowns.
A walk under the sun isn't always so bright, but strolling under the moon doesn't always feel right.
A pocket full of plastic still comes up short but creative success is attained with support,
so tighten the belt and sharpen the number two, push uncertainty aside, you've got work to do.

The world's unlocked the door and cracked it open some more, but your shoe's all scuffed because you've been here before. Your art is a chore and your ego is sore, you're in the big leagues now but you're too chicken to score. And after all this, what's it really for? Pride? Honor? Principle, or something more? Would anyone notice if you closed the door? In a market full of Cores, who needs one more?

You have been here before. But this time is different.

You're lost, aren't you? There's no rhyme to your reason, you hang on too tightly and then change with the seasons.
You make up your mind with the certainty of weather and you tend to fall apart after every get-together.
But finding happiness in life begins with a thought, and if you refuse to smile then you've already lost.
You're not going to give up before you even started, afterall, you've seen worse, and even when you departed
from this path for which you packed you backtrack to the fact that this has always been your knack, no matter how abstract, exact, or sidetracked the fact of this track is that it's about your impact, not your plan of attack.

So the next time you're tempted to turn your back, or worse to simply let yourself drift off-track,
do us all a favor and snap yourself back. This far in the game you can't afford to slack.
I know it'd be easier with a little more change, and I know it'd be nicer if you could share the stage,
but choices and terms led you to this point, and whether alone or not you shouldn't disappoint.
You've made promises before, now it's time to see them through. Not to your family or friends, you only owe it to you.

Don't second guess me on this. You know I'm right. Forget the cold apartment and the flat sheets at night.
One fish at a time if you're going to fry 'em right. Even if there's bigger fish out there, this one's in sight. You've been going too long on catch and release, and now the sun is going down and you still need to eat.
So reel this in with patience, stay true, and you'll be fed for the night and tomorrow's brand new.
One fish at a time is my advice to you, and who knows? Maybe someday that fish will find you.

Late Post: Auditions

Hello again, readers! I missed the Wednesday post, so my apologies for that. My week has been quite busy, and so this and most other posts will be shorter in length for the next week or two.

The most noteworthy event during this week is the fact that I had another audition this last Wednesday evening, May 1st. The director is my Acting class instructor, so having that established familiarity with him as a person did wonders for my anxiety. I went in at 7:00pm, and I'm assuming that he really liked my performances since I was one of the last to leave, having been called back in for additional readings three times.

He said he should have the play fully cast by this weekend, so I should get an email Saturday or Sunday to let me know if I got the part or not. We shall see! I will say that I am very excited, and I'm trying to not expect a role, but rather just be happy with whatever feedback I get from him.

Round 10 Soft Release Info

The Round 10 Core Rulebook is growing a bit more each day. These last couple of days saw some additional work from my illustrator, Ramon Bunge, come in and continue to wow me. I took the opportunity to play around with the book's layout and toy with where various illustrations will go. It is my goal and my hope that the book will be ready for distribution by June 1st at the earliest!

With this in mind, I should also start focusing on the Round 10 Quick Start Guide, doing some final edits and getting that ready for digital distribution by May 20th. The Quick Start Guide will present the rules in a succinct and easy-to-learn, seven page format, along with a pretty cut-and-dry adventure and six premade characters. It will be the stepping stone into the greater Round 10 experience, and will be available for free download from the Round 10 website and RPGnow.com, so keep your eyes peeled!

I'm debating on the prices of the Core Rulebook. The physical copy's price is sort of out of my hand; it all falls on what Lulu.com or Createspace.com will charge for each printing (probably in the realm of $40, since it is almost 200 pages with full-color artwork), yet I'm still a bit up in the air on the digital book's price. I don't want to charge too much, since it was never my intention to make substantial money off of this game, but at the same time I don't want to undercut the work that's being put into it. I'm thinking a PDF of the book could go for around $15.00 at standard price. It seems a bit high for a digital download, but at the same time the Core Rulebook offers so much information that there is no need to purchase anything further.

Zimildran is even further from having a determined price, but I'd say in and around $15.00 for the digital book. I'm even entertaining the idea of running some sort of online deal when you purchase the Core Rules or Zimildran to get some sort of discount on the other product, encouraging the purchase of both items.

Of course, the marketing stage of multiple products is still up in the air, but it's exciting to think about, at the very least!

Round 10 Development Update

Most of my recent posts have been encompassing emotional reasonings, thoughts and ideas about the direction my life has been going, and the relationships I've been cultivating throughout the past few months. I understand that this blog was originally started with the intent to talk about the creative process around my writing, the journey I'm making in the self-publishing world, and the pursuit of a career in education. If you've been keeping up with my posts through all of this other, off-topic reflection, then I thank you. If you have found a level of annoyance in my posting inconsistencies, in my lack of discussion of the proposed, original topics, or in the general disorganized order of my posts, than I apologize, but know that every post in this blog is about things that are important in my life and that float in and around my mind on a daily basis.

That being said, I will spend this post talking about the state of the Round 10 RPG and my plans for the near future.

Round 10 RPG Core Rulebook - Overall Progress
Writing: 85% finished
Artwork: 76% finished

Ramon Ignacio Bunge, my wonderfully talented illustrator (who you can find on DeviantArt), is currently working on the last two black and white illustrations and then will jump into a final full-color image that I decided to add to the list last-minute. The pictures are turning out really well, and you can see all of the work he has done so far at the Round 10 RPG Facebook Page. Here is a taste of what he has done so far for the book:

As far as the writing goes, I've got to finish up the GM's section (genre-specirfic tips, running a scenario, running a campaign, and creating your own items, enemies, and settings), and fill out the remaining reference sheets (generic enemies, vehicles, ships), and then the writing will be 100% finished.

I'm debating if I should look into getting a professionally done layout for the character sheets and enemy sheets, but something tells me that a simple layout for those would work just fine. I'd rather spend time on the book's layout as a whole, ensuring that it reads well, has a proper and complete index and table of contents, and that it flows together well.

I'll likely be getting the Quick Start Guide up on the Facebook page and on RPGNow as a free download in the coming weeks, giving any interested parties the opportunity to get their feet wet with the rules system before the full game hits digital shelves.

I'm toying with the idea of posting weekly video notes on the Facebook page, an idea that has hit a wall simply because of my lack of adequate recording equipment. I'm also debating about posting some of our play-testing audio recordings for interested parties to hear, and get an idea for how the game plays. And finally, the Round 10 website is coming together, slowly but surely, and should be up and running for the public soon enough.

If you are one of the interested parties and you know of anything specific you'd like to see on the Facebook page, please let me know! I'm open to all suggestions.

The Life of an Otter

Today I found I was far more stressed than I originally wanted to admit to myself, something I realized as I let the hot water of the morning shower pour over me. And, I found, as my morning went on, my stress only increased.

I had a research paper due on Monday, and I came to realize that the shape of my schedule from Friday morning through Sunday evening wasn't one to allow for much room to research, organize, write and revise said paper. On top of that I needed to begin preparing for my final speech, I needed to read through the scene my acting partner and I had landed on, and I came to realize that I was falling behind in my RPG writing, my blogging, and that the end of the semester was right around the corner, having snuck up on me with incredible speed.

These thoughts and more crowded my mind, and put me in a sour mood to start the day off. I don't like to toot my own horn, but I like the entertain the notion that I am not one to get easily stressed. I tend to take things as they come, a skill I've been working for the past few years, and it takes a bit before I start to lose sleep.

Luckily, though, two of my friends came forward to help ease my stress, through consistent joking, light-hearted shenanigans, and offering scheduling advice. What looked like a catastrophic mess of a weekend soon became a manageable situation, and I was beginning to mitigate my stress, all thanks to two of the most wonderful people I've had the pleasure of getting to know these past few months.

During speech class today, one of the students spoke about personality profiles, and outlined three basic personalities as described by animals. The lion, the otter, the beaver and the golden retriever. I recognized the person I used to be (the beaver), the person I wanted to be (the golden retriever) and the person I currently was (the otter) in her descriptions. One quality about the otter that stood out to me was that, as she claimed, "an otter will call anyone that they interact with at least two times their 'close friend'."

I saw that in myself right away. It's true, if we hang out together only a couple of times, if I have two different conversations with you that both seem to go relatively well, I often consider you a close friend. That label in no way diminishes the quality of those friendships I've shared for many years, it only helps define the lengths I'm willing to go to in order to 1.) get to know you better, and 2.) maintain our friendship. While I can't be 100% certain in this self-assessment, I feel that I get along well with most people, and unless our personalities clash in a particularly blatant way, I can often see myself becoming good friends with just about anybody.

Whether I've been going to your house since my early years in elementary school, or we just met this semester in one of my classes, or you're the friend of a friend who has hung out with me once or twice, or we've merely shared a place of employment for about a month or so, it is very likely that I see you as a friend, and I see the potential of a greater friendship there. When it comes to relationships, I tend to jump in feet first, plunge myself in whole-heartedly, and then see where it goes from there. Unfortunately, this means that I cannot get to know everyone as well as I'd like to, much to my dismay. Yet I do what I can for my friends and family, whether it's offering counsel via a message or phone call, showing encouragement over their chosen form of artistic expression, or simply sharing a few amusing stories and listening to how they're doing.

However, no matter how far I'm pushing in a relationship, I always feel I can push a little further. Am I overextending myself? Am I wasting my energy on too many relationships, exhausting myself emotionally, and will I only be met with disappointment? I will admit that sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes I feel like I'm giving too much or coming across too strong, but then I have evenings like I did on Thursday, or mornings like today, and I realize that for me to do any less would be a dishonest, dissatisfying use of my energy. It is my ultimate wish to experience as many people's stories as I can, to interact with as many people as possible, and to create and share memories everywhere. And boy do I have a long way to go as I bring that wish into reality.

Three Little Monologues

For my Acting class on Monday, I have to have a monologue picked out and ready to perform a first draft on. I've narrowed it down from nine possible monologues to three, though I'm having trouble deciding on one, so I figured I'd post on here and get some feedback from you all.

This first monologue is from the play The House on Lake Desolation, and is probably my favorite of the three, although it runs a full three and a half minutes longer than what we were supposed to go with.

This second monologue is from the play Before it Hits Home, and is perfect on timing. It's tied for second in my personal preference.

This third and final monologue is from the play Slavs!, and is a lot of fun to perform. It's slightly longer than the time limit, and is tied for second in my personal preference.

So watch what you'd like, let me know if you have a preference! I'm reading the script for each of these during the recordings, so this isn't me at my best performance.

Fleshing out Zimildran

I've been toying around with a lot of creative ideas around the Zimildran Module for my roleplaying game (see my Current Creative Projects page for more information). Even though I should be devoting most of my time to the Round 10 Core Rulebook, I can't help but think about the excitement the world of Zimildran gives me, and I know I have big plans for that book, when I get around to actually finishing it.

One thing I know I want to do is to flesh out the world of Zimildran more than simply what is presented as the roleplaying game. My original plan was to release a series of short stories for digital download, all based around characters in the Zimildran universe. Follow the gunslinger and bounty hunter Erik as he hunts down dangerous carnivorous dinosaurs in the wilds of Ukinda. Learn about the backstory of the Snowmarcher Hrothgar, and how he became an exile of his people. Uncover the mysteries of the druid-like Wardens, and find out what part they play in keeping the Elder Gods at bay.

All of these ideas and more flood to me, yet at the same time I feel like piecemeal fiction, while great, isn't entirely scratching the itch I have for bringing this world to life, and so another idea came to mind.

Rather than releasing something alongside, or just prior to, the Zimildran Module, why not create something original and insert it into the Module itself? Suddenly, ideas for a short comic book, an illustrated story that would grace the first few pages of the Module, complete with beautiful art and a compelling, if short, story, sprang into my head. I love this, although this would mean delaying the Module even further while I save up the money to pay an artist for the additional pieces.

Decisions, decisions. I should really just focus on tightening up and finishing the Core Rulebook, since without that there is no Zimildran Module. But God knows I can't keep my inspirations quiet all the time.

Daily Habits

Whenever conversations have taken a turn towards one of my hobbies, such as writing, sketching, or even Game Mastering an RPG session, it isn't rare for people to say something along the lines of "I'm a terrible artist," or "I can't write at all," or even "I could never run an RPG." I can't help but chuckle at these statements because of how misinformed they are.

Writing, as with most hobbies, isn't something you're born with. Anybody can learn how to cook, how to sing, how to play the guitar, how to skateboard, and how to write. These are skills, and it's true, while some may be born with natural talents in these areas, anybody can learn how to do them, and to do them well.

The key, and this is where most people fail, myself included, is consistent practice.

We live in an age of instant gratification. When I was growing up, it was common to wait minutes for a webpage to load, even if it was all text. And it was what I did. I'd click the link, and sit and wait while the page slowly came into view, often reading the information as it showed up on screen. Now, if the page takes longer than ten to fifteen seconds, most people close out and try again, or look for a different page. We are accustomed to instant information, to finding what we need as fast as we can hit the 'Enter' button, yet it is my firm belief that this technology is being poorly misused. Yet that is a subject for a different blog post.

If you want to get better at something, anything, all you need to do is practice it. Work it into your routine, schedule your time around it, make time for it and hold yourself accountable to it. Whether its physical exercise, budgeting, academic preparation, or creative writing, all you need to do is be willing to devote the necessary time.

I have these skills in sketching and writing because I did them when I was young. I started as a child and kept the hobbies up throughout my prime development years, into high school, and after. Now, in my adult life, I find that I don't continue the hobbies as often as I'd like, and because of this my confidence in them has fallen. I can still sketch, but it takes me a while before I feel good about my artistic abilities to hammer out portraits and character concepts like I used to. I can write, but it takes a few days of straight fiction writing before I feel confident about my ability to tell a story.

Turn your desire into action and start writing daily. Keep a journal, and carry it with you at all times. I know how this sounds, and I know that a lot of us who aspire to be writers think "keeping a journal is amateur stuff, I'm ready for more than that." I know this because I thought this way just a mere year ago. However, I have since decided to take my own advice, and it has done wonders for my ability to get my thoughts out on paper. It has made me a better literary communicator and a better verbal communicator. There really is no downside to having a daily journal.

Writing also requires an acceleration period. This period varies in time from one person to the next, but generally you can expect it to be around thirty minutes. You can't sit down and expect to start writing your novel right away, and you can't expect every session to be equally effective, at least not at first. Having a daily journal, and writing in it for at least thirty minutes prior to working on your manuscript, is the perfect way to get your creative gears turning, to kick-start the part of your brain that works on literary communication, taking abstract thoughts and turning them into words on a page.

The same goes with any skill you put into practice. Instead of jumping right into your workout, stretch for a short while beforehand. Instead of starting your piece of artwork right after you get done with your work shift, instead sketch a few scrap drawings in a notebook. We want everything we do to be perfect the first time, yet that is not realistic. In fact, that frame of mind is a hindrance to achieving our true potential as artists. Recognize that consistent, scheduled practice is necessary to becoming better at something, and then go out and schedule that practice.