The "I'm writing a book" thread

Talk about things that are not making games here. But you should also make games!

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Pepsi Ranger
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Sometimes I wish that I didn't have video games or Internet so I could actually focus on writing my book. I keep getting distracted. I try to find time at night to work on my book, but I feel like that's not enough.
I found this free writing tool via the Reedsy Blog a couple of weeks ago and did a video on it. Alternatively, there's a free app on Steam that has some of the same functionalities, also referenced in the video.

FrostWriter allows you to type on a mostly featureless canvas while listening to theme music (whichever theme you're writing in). You'd have to copy/paste your work to another app when your writing session is over since there are no formatting tools in the program, but that's also by design since it limits your ability to go back and "fix things." Essentially its job is to make sure you write something, which is probably useful for a lot of us.

Alternatively, Virtual Cottage is a study tool that helps you focus while you do other things.

Maybe one or both of them will help.

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P.S. The FrostWriter app's creator recently quoted a snippet of my companion article on his site. It's in the "Stories" category if you all visit the site. All the relevant links are in the YouTube description.
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BennyJackdaw
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Post by BennyJackdaw »

If anything, I do notice that I tend to write more when I get to a part I'm looking forward to, but the difficult part is slogging through the rest of the dialogue. I might give some of those a look.
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Post by kylekrack »

I got my dad (he's a librarian/reporter) to read the hard copy of Thief Acolyte Consort I got. It sounds like he liked it. He remarked that the ending went in a completely different direction than he expected and enjoyed the intrigue of that. He said he burned through the last 60 pages or so, not expecting to finish in that sitting but getting caught up in the momentum. I think I had the same experience.
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Bob the Hamster
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Yay! I am delighted that he seems to have enjoyed it!

And thank you for sharing it with him. Marketing books is hard, and I think word of mouth helps a lot.

EDIT: I saw his review on goodreads! Yay! :D
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by kylekrack »

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rtd ... sp=sharing

Not a book, but something I wrote for my D&D campaign. It's the backstory for a legendary magic item called the Mournblade that my players will find locked away in a dungeon. I meant for it to just be a brief description of how it ended up in this dungeon, but got a little carried away. Although this event happened 1000 years before the campaign started, I'm still wanting to find a way to tie Nuora into the story somehow. She wasn't meant to be an important character, but I'm finding myself unexpectedly attached to her. Maybe I'll write a whole story featuring Nuora someday :D
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Bob the Hamster
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

That was fun to read! I like the idea of how only the person holding the sword keeps their soul, but that most of them know it won't work anyway.

I hope you do write more with Nuora
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Post by kylekrack »

I'm glad you liked it! D&D is a great way to do world-building for other stories, it seems...

I also can't wait for my players to get ahold of this sword and decide whether the +3 to attack and damage rolls is worth the baggage of necromancy.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

kylekrack wrote:I also can't wait for my players to get ahold of this sword and decide whether the +3 to attack and damage rolls is worth the baggage of necromancy.
On critical failure, wielder loses consciousness for 1 turn as one of the souls in the sword attempts to fulfill a desire that it failed to accomplish in life
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Pepsi Ranger
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Just a quick information drop for those who live in the States. Amazon is releasing a new storytelling app later this year (maybe summer?) called Kindle Vella that combines the flexibility of Wattpad with the monetization of Medium. The idea is to publish "episodes" of a story, which readers can access from a pool of credits they pre-buy. Writers get 50% of the royalties for each episode the reader accesses, depending on the credit bundle the reader buys from. There are also social media style bells and rewards and stuff for anyone who cares about that kind of thing.

Amazon is taking uploads now in anticipation of the launch, so for anyone who wants to get in on the ground floor, now's the best time. Here's all the relevant information if you're interested.
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Sazae
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Post by Sazae »

So, after listening to Taylor Swift's folklore on repeat and needing something to distract myself from *gestures wildly*, I wrote a 100k story based on her album, lol. I have a few beta readers but would appreciate some more insight, so if you may be interested in exchanging or reading, I think that would be really neat. Let me know if you are interested or want some more information! I'm looking for overall thoughts on the story, information on if parts don't make sense and stuff like that. Nothing too crazy. Let me know!

Edit: This will be done through Google docs, so no worries about downloading suspicious things haha.
Last edited by Sazae on Wed May 19, 2021 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bob the Hamster
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Cool! I have not listen to that album, so I have no idea what to expect.

I can't commit to being a reader right now, as my schedule is super busy for the next couple months, but maybe later

Is there any more you can tell us about it without spoilers?
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Sazae
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Post by Sazae »

No worries, beta reading is a lot of work. Here's the query:

Mallory was once a child who clung to any kind of magic she could find in the quaint town of Ridgeview, Rhode Island where she would visit her aunt Honey every summer. Whispers of witchery always pointed squarely at Honeysuckle House, with its musty hallways, endless parties, and crowds of people. Now older, but not necessarily wiser, Mallory finds herself reminiscing about days past and the mistakes she made. The memories of the mysteries that built up inside of her aunt's estate draw her back to Honeysuckle House, as if it is calling for her return. While in the middle of a drought, something unexpected happens: the first rainfall in months, heavy and hoping, brings her back to a part of her story that has haunted Mallory for years.

Mallory finds herself drawn back to the small coastal town for her aunt's funeral, set on a mission to unravel the mysteries that are not to be spoken about. With death looming over her, the homeowner's society of Ridgeview is none too thrilled to learn that she has inherited the biggest house in town. One glance at the breathtaking Honeysuckle House and Mallory understands why the mansion is highly sought after. As Mallory begins digging into her aunt's past through diaries and a particular newspaper article that seemed obsessed with her, she discovers that the peeling wallpaper hides unimaginable secrets.

Upon discovery of her old diary that she has long forgotten about, Mallory's own past begins to unravel right before her, forcing her to relive the past. She soon finds an old foe hiding in the shadows of Honeysuckle House, daring to reopen old wounds. And she discovers that a curse has befallen the family since the start of it all, daring to tear everything she thinks she knows to shreds.
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Pepsi Ranger
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Interesting synopsis and well-crafted. And I dig the name "Honeysuckle House." I'm not really into "witch" stories, but I do like a good mystery or thriller, and this synopsis certainly piques my interest (specifically the small coastal town and the trouble the house plays on it is interesting, as well as the idea that the "walls contain secrets"). I'm terribly busy at the moment, but if you wanted to PM me the first chapter, I could tell you whether it does a good job hooking me in (and why).
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Bob the Hamster
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Yeah, that's a great synopsis, and it sounds fun.

I'm still too short on free time to commit to reading just now, but you do have my interest!
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Pepsi Ranger
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

I created a book trailer for my novel The Computer Nerd this week. Thought I'd see if it generates more interest in the book across a more general audience. As usual, the biggest challenge is getting people to see the video first. From there, the returns diminish even further. Nevertheless, it's an experiment worth checking out. I'm curious to see if it creates any new interest in the book, even though it's almost six years old now (again, in general terms, not necessarily here).

[yt]rRLgFOWg8Mg[/yt]

The YouTube video notes mention which tools I used to make it, if any of you wanted to try something similar.

Also note that the music comes from Filmstro, which is an app that uses sliders to control the momentum, depth, and power of a selected track. It's what I've used to create the soundtracks for all three Heart of the OHR trailers. Appsumo is currently running a lifetime deal on it if any of you are looking for a great (if not somewhat limited) royalty-free music generator that both gives you flexibility in how it sounds and doesn't make YouTube's copyright sensors angry.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the trailer.

P.S. James helped me with the programming knowledge necessary to make parts of this book believable, so he's in the acknowledgments, if anyone is interested in that piece of information. I still need to send him a copy of the paperback for his contribution, hopefully this summer.
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