October Q&A (Answers) (Patreon)

And here are the questions and answers for this month's Q&A! Thanks to all the askers!

Are there going to be spicy CGs in When Stars Collide? 👀

I think I've been asked this before and every time I say...

I still don't know how spicy they are going to be. LoL! 🤣

I've done a few test sketches and still haven't made my mind up. They won't be explicit, I know that much. It will all come down to how much they're implying.

Are Daaz's sparkles static or do they flicker and pulse?

It's supposed to be like a bit of a shimmer that can dim a little or grow a bit brighter depending on his mood and if he's feeling well, etc.

Obviously that's difficult to portray in static art, but yeah, they are supposed to flicker a little.

How tightly do you outline your stories in advance? Is it just a list of major plot beats, detailed sequences, some combination of the two?

These days I outline more than I used to. I'm a "pantser" in my heart but I have forced myself to be a little more organised because it really helps keep me on track and avoid writer's block. Generally I start with a broad summary of the route, then gradually make it more detailed. I break my broad summary into acts, then flesh those out a bit. Then I decide where the chapter divisions would be and flesh that out. Then I break each chapter into where I think the scene divisions are and slightly flesh those out.

I ultimately end up with a lengthy summary of events with some specific dialogue and things like that.

What do you do if you're writing and realize the story you're telling is diverging from the outline you wrote?

It depends a lot on the significance of the divergence. Minor changes are fine. I can keep going with my current outline if I've only diverged slightly because my outlines are designed to have that level of flexibility in them.

But if I start diverging significantly, I will pause and rework my plot summary/outline to reflect the major changes.

I've always been fond of your pacing and the way you manage small scenes and transitions between major events. How do handle those to make sure everything stays fluid?

Some of this is planned out during the outline stage. By starting broad and making the outline more and more granular, it's easy to see where some of those small scenes and transitions need to be.

When I have my very broad summary and decide where the chapter breaks are, this nearly always highlights where certain chapters might very very thin in terms of content. So when I flesh out that chapter summary, I can fill in the gaps. And the same thing when I look at each chapter individually and break it into scenes. It's much easier to see, at that point where I need some sort of transition scene or character interaction.

But, of course, sometimes those small scenes are written spontaneously when drafting and others are added during edit if I realise something feels too fast or a scene change feels too abrupt.

And then, this last one is a little less on topic, but it struck me after a conversation with a friend about your games, when the friend mentioned that they don't understand how anyone can be brave enough to actually try making something on the scale of a full-length game. I think we've all been there, but some get past the hurdle and some get stuck on it, and you clearly got past it, so: do you have any words of wisdom for anyone who may be staring down a big project they're afraid to try? Or, how do you contend with the fear of failure?

I don't know how much advice I have but I do have some observations.

Failure is a bit of a boogeyman that haunts creatives. But failure, in and of itself isn't a problem. It's a result.

And usually it's the result of an inability to overcome some kind of challenge. Some challenges truly are insurmountable. If a dragon eats your laptop and takes your draft with it, you know, there's not much you can do to overcome that.

(Or more realistically if you are dealing with illness or other real life circumstances - those are a very real roadblock you can't always just problem solve away).

But you can overcome some challenges. So rather than being afraid of failure you should try to understand the real challenges you'll encounter so you're prepared for them. The more prepared you are, the more you're going to be able to problem solve and not be knocked down by challenges.

Failure in the sense of "I completed the project but everyone hates it" is a little trickier. Because that isn't necessarily something you can fully predict (I say 'fully' because if you pay attention to other games and your audience, you can get a feel for what people generally like).

Even so, this aspect of it is really about risk taking.

To some degree the reception of a game isn't in my control. There are plenty of things that sound good 'on paper' but, in execution, don't work. And lots of talented people work on things that flop. That is the nature of the beast.

The only thing in my control, really, is if I'm creating to the best of my ability. Whether something created to the best of my ability resonates with people is not necessarily something I have direct control of.

So it's a risk.

I can risk putting something out there and people not liking it. Or I can choose to not take that risk.

My drive to create and connect with people through my creations just outweighs the fear inherent with taking a risk. It's not that I'm not afraid of people hating my work or a project flopping. It's just that my need to write and draw and create and learn about myself or connect with people through that process outweighs the fear and makes the risk worthwhile.

I don't know how to teach people how to have more determination than fear.

I will say that completing things is really powerful.

You ever stop being afraid of failure or afraid that people will hate your work. Ultimately, no matter how confident you are, there's always someone out there who is going to 1 star you with "This is the worst thing I've ever read" or "The MC is really dumb" or whatever - just to remind you that you're still a mere mortal.

BUT.

There is still a big difference between knowing you can do something and being unsure if you can. And that's the power of finishing something.

Once you know you can, it's easier to try to do it again. And that fear of failure doesn't go away. It just gets a little quieter.

And if you are very fortunate, like I am, it gets somewhat drowned out by the people cheering you on.