DexCon 2013 Schedule

So, it's convention season, which is AWESOME because it's a chance for me to travel and see my friends and spend dedicated time playing games, talking games and enjoying games.

Yes, you can make an argument that I do that all the time anyway, but at least I get to travel to new places to do it. That makes it pretty cool.

First on the circuit is DexCon, July 3 - 7 in Morristown. Yes, that's just down the road from me. Yes, I still count that as travel.

This year is my most ambitious DexCon to date. When I sketched this all out in February, I had no idea that July would arrive so quickly. Here now is what I'm doing and where I'll be hanging out.

WEDNESDAY 

LARP BAZAAR 10p - 2a

From what I gather, this is basically me and my friends hanging out around a table, and people come by and I get to talk to them about the systems I developed for the THREE (yes 3) LARPS I'm associated with. I have no idea what to expect, I don't know if it will actually go until 2am, but it starts late, so at least I can get some dinner.

THURSDAY

(There is a big opening on Thursday, so I'll likely use it to finalize, print out and prep things for the craziness of the coming days. Also, it's 4th of July, so you know, hang out time anyway)

FRIDAY aka DAY ONE OF INSANITY

State of Gaming 2p - 4p

When Ken Hite speaks, I listen. And not just because he's my friend or because we work together from time to time. I like Ken's panels. They're fun. Also, this doesn't start until the afternoon, so anything needing more than Thursday prep can get it in the morning. 

BSG LARP 6p- 12a

Okay, so this is the first "signature event" I'm associated with. I wrote the system for the Battlestar Galactica LARP, I cobbled together the character sheet and I'm really proud of both. Here's to hoping that the tale of ship looking to rejoin the fleet and avoid Cylon-ic death is an interesting one. Also, I get to watch my friends 

act like military commanders, so that's pretty awesome. 

SATURDAY aka DAY TWO OF INSANITY aka LARP DAY FOR JOHN 5000

Night's Black Agents Tournament  10a - 6p

Right, so here's my Saturday. It's the second "signature event" I'm associated with. The plus side is that I get to hang out with my friends and run one of my favorite games. Round 1 of the tournament is a LARP, while Round 2 is a more conventional Tabletop experience. I've written all new, never before seen (but yes, they've been tested), LARP rules to emulate GUMSHOE games, and I think I've really done well. Also the tabletop round has some great adventures. 

I mean, you get to be superspies and fight vampires. Who wouldn't want to spend a Saturday doing that?

Please also note the two hour break where I get to quickly eat something. Please note that this will likely be the second meal of my day, so if you see me Saturday PLEASE ask me if I've eaten, and if I'm doing okay. PLEASE. No, I'm not kidding, there's no sarcasm here. Because even at 6pm after 6 hours of high intensity walking, gaming, speaking and organizing, my day is half done. 

The Unofficial Dresden Files LARP: FINAL FROST 8p - 2a

Check this out. This is a Dresden Files LARP that owes its mechanics to Fate Core (and to a lesser extent Fate Accelerated). I am super ridiculously proud of the system and story I was a part of creating. This event in particular is a big deal, because it's the culmination of a few previous conventions' plot. Basically, this is where shit is going to hit many fans of many sizes. I cannot wait to see how the players react. 

SUNDAY

Writing Workshop 10a - 12p

As per usual, my Writing Workshop is on Sunday morning. Please note that it follows on the heels of what will be the longest work day I've had in MONTHS, and I will very likely be tired and hoarse, but dammit, I will talk about writing and editing and attendees will get their questions answered. 

I expect to sleep for the rest of Sunday and most of the Monday thereafter. 

So, are you coming to DexCon? Are you coming to any event I'm doing? You want to go get an empanada when I'm not running around like a maniac? Leave a comment or two and let's see if we can make some plans. 

See you then. 

Finding A Good Editor - What To Look For, What To Avoid

Today's pair of questions come from Josh Hoyt:

How can you tell if you get a good editor?

What are some things to look for when looking for an editor?

It's a good one.

To answer this, first we have to talk about the word "good", because we're going to use it in two different contexts here.

A "good" editor is a talented person with knowledge of mechanics, structure, story building and who is helpful to the author in applying and sharing that knowledge. It's also someone who doesn't make you feel stupid for not being "perfect" or making mistakes.

A "good" editor is also someone you get along with, can have multiple conversations with, and who ultimately brings the best work out of you. It's also someone available for communication in a timely fashion.

There are editors who are nice people, but who don't meet many of the conditions in the above two paragraphs. Some people are really good at their craft but move slower than tree sloths to get back to a writer, or who can comfortably explain what their notes mean about as easily as my dog can explain quantum physics to me.

There are editors who are awful at their craft, who are destructive in their criticism, who condescend and patronize, and because they subscribe to some idea of competition (in short, writing is supposed to be survival of the fittest, and it's up to them to figure out who's fit), they make writing either mysterious or harder than it should be.

There are other editors who are good at what they do, who answer emails promptly, who you can talk to easily and without discomfort, but you never find them because neither of you are looking for each other, or you just travel in different circles.

Not mentioned here is the expense of an editor, because editing is not an inexpensive thing. Yes, if you go traditional publishing, that cost is something you don't really see or experience, but if you're going self-publishing, plan accordingly. When you find an editor, ask their rates. Figuring out your budget in advance is a huge boon here. Let's put the numbers to one side though, because like so many other purchases, you should make them based on more than just cost.

So, a good editor has some combination or all of the following traits (note: I'm not prioritizing these, just listing them):

+ answers your questions, big and small, promptly and with a level of detail that doesn't leave you scratching your head
+ applies in-line edits and comments that actually improve the content on the page, rather than just tell you what they'd do if they were writing
+ is able to explain to you why a thing does or doesn't work and when things don't work, help you stop making the same mistake over and over again
+ knows the rules of grammar and structure and follows them, and when necessary, knows which ones to bend or break
+ makes use of fair contracts and rates without manipulating the client, especially careful not to take advantage of inexperience or nerves
+ is someone who challenges you to work harder and better, without bullying you
+ is someone who doesn't talk down you, as though you're an idiot, a child or completely terrible at writing
+ supports and promotes clients' efforts on social media
+ is someone who can occasionally cheerlead and encourage you, picking you up out of whatever self-doubt hole you've dropped into

So there's a list floating out on the internet of questions you should ask an editor, like if they know what different style terms are, or how they feel about the Oxford comma, or what style guide they use.

And that's great, but understand that if your first interaction with an editor is a blitz of a dozen technical questions, you're going to put people on the defensive, making them have to qualify themselves to be good enough to work with you - and no one likes jumping through hoops.

There's a practice of offering a page or two of sample work "to see if you like their style". This is an occasional trap. Sure, it lets you know whether or not you can work with a person, but sometimes writers use this as a way to score free editing - which is unfair. You can figure out if you want to work with the person through a few email exchanges or a phone call.

Editing is a two-way street. Yes, the writer employs the editor to some technical degree, and pays the editor according to whatever terms are in the contract, but if either party finds the relationship untenable, either party can fire the other, take a kill fee where appropriate and walk away. It's about equality: the editor and writer are partners with the goal of making the manuscript the best it can be. You're in this together, and as an author, I get it, you're risking an investment and trusting this person you just met with this project you've been working on for however long, but you do need to TRUST the editor and let them do their job.

Now let's talk about some red flags, again, not in priority, just a list.

An editor you don't want to deal with:
- bullies you, makes you feel worse about your writing than before you started
- discourages you from continuing
- changes the terms of a contract without notifying you, and offers no explanation why
- doesn't use a contract
- doesn't answer emails or phone calls in a prompt fashion
- makes unreasonable demands of your writing schedule and discipline, bending you to their schedule or expectations
- makes you feel like you don't matter to them, no matter whether you're their first or fiftieth client
- does not explain the root causes behind the mistakes and issues within the manuscript (this is called "8th grade English teacher syndrome")
- provokes, rather than allays, your fears
- doesn't deliver edits or notes according to the schedule within the contract
- trashes clients on social media

Absent here is mention of "catches every mistake the first time, every time" because that's why editors make multiple passes - which is negotiable within the contract - so just because a mistake in Chapter 3 gets through in the first pass, don't expect in that second pass it'll still be there. NOTE: This is not code for "intentionally make mistakes to see if the editor catches them, so if they don't, you can point a finger and complain about their quality"

So how do you find an editor? Look on social media. Google "list of freelance editors". Ask people on social media. Find an editor's blog (like where you're reading this!) and contact them. Expect to have a conversation with them before either of you commit to anything. Don't rush. However, don't dawdle, as an editor's schedule fills quickly, and if you want space on it, make sure you follow through on your emails and promises.

For me, I have a few hard and fast rules:

1. Be as honest as possible. Be transparent as possible as often as possible. - Sugar coating and obfuscation do no one any favors.
2. Support the writer, be encouraging, handle the fears and anxieties - I'm here to help you make the best thing you can. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to be new at this. Let's work together.
3. Answer emails promptly, and with detail - No one likes not-knowing.


Josh, I hope this answers your question. Enjoy writing.

If you have a question, feel free to email me, and I'll do my best to answer it.

86 Things I've Said on Twitter, Part 8

This is the eighth post in a series. You can read the entire series by going through the '86 Things' tag on the blog. For the curious, there's only one more part to go. I know, it's been a long read, but I appreciate you doing it.

Let's get right to it.

I swear on your choice of holy object, you really don't want to use the passive voice 8 times out of 10. (exceptions possible) 

The problem with the passive voice is that it makes the action unclear. "Had been cooking" dilutes the idea that someone was cooking, just as "was thinking" separates us from the notion that thought occurred.

Now yes, there are times when you need to frame a verb passively, because the sentence won't make sense without it:

"I was cleaning when the phone rang." 

But the focus of the sentence, the item we're looking for when we read is the action of the sentence -- what's going on in this string of words, and how can I mentally translate into images so that I may continue to enjoy this creation? So why then would you make the action unclear?

Conveying action effectively both helps paint the picture you're intending AND moves us further along the page and deeper into the story. Which is what you want. In case you weren't sure. The stronger verbs (not the word choice this time, but the conjugation of the verb) are clearer.

"I ran."
"We danced."
"They bowled."

All three are clear, strong and direct. They're feasible when you're trying to paint a declarative picture.

"My legs had carried me far when the dog stopped chasing me."
"We had danced before, but never like this."
"Bowling had been fun."

Yes, those three are accurate sentences. They're grammatically correct. Each has their place in writing. But their place is NOT THE SAME PLACE as the first three examples.

Knowing when to go passive and when to be active is critical for engaging the reader and keeping them hooked throughout all the twists, turns, ups and downs of you work. Building that push/pull relationship is part of what connects readers to a writer's style and helps generate a fan base that persists across multiple books, series or projects.

Let the story develop at the pace that works best for it. Micro-managing leads to disaster and stalled projects. Let it be. 

I worked on a disaster of a project once -- 15 writers (or was it 18), our budget was literally whatever we had in our wallets, and it was not a fun three-month process. And no, I'm not entirely proud of the work, because although it was a "learning experience" (I cannot make air-quotes big enough for that), it broke every rule I believe in: no contract, no pay, no contingency plans, shoddy equipment, no consistent schedule, etc).

It was also the first time I was ever truly micro-managed to the point of wanting to throw things. I am not a guy who deals well with that style of management: the constant hovering and checking-in, the lack of freedom to really be myself and feel like I'm a valued contributor, the lack of respect paid to who each of us are and what we bring to this project in terms of expertise and previous work. I swore off that sort of project when it was done, and I swore off ever working in that way ever again. Yeah, it was THAT bad (if you see me at a convention this summer, you'll have to ask me for details).

The problem was that managing the creation of the project so rigidly did not create the product it was supposed to. I can think of four occasions where people were told "Do it this way", even if their sensibility or their talent suggested another way worked better. This was usually said by people who had never managed something like that before, who had no real practical experience trusting themselves, or who were they themselves products of a rigid system.

Creative projects are at their heart, organic. They grow, in whatever direction you let them. This doesn't mean they should grow without boundaries or borders or limits or some sort of structure, but this does mean you shouldn't try to shoe-horn a story together when it clearly becomes something else as you create it.

Yeah, some parts of your story are going to come you more naturally or more excitedly than other parts. Some parts will be read faster than others. Placing a stranglehold on your own ideas and screaming "Work this way!" is a lot like yelling at your plant in the window for not growing like the picture on the packet of seeds (which is something I've seen happen).

Trust yourself to be able to let the story go in whatever direction it needs to go in order to be told. Don't force it down some path, don't break it in order to fit that vision you had way back on Day 1. Stories change and grow just as authors do. Let them.

Queries should get to the damned point. Breezy queries lead to thick slush. 

I am wordy. I am long-winded. This is both because I love the sound of my own voice (not even close to true) and because I love talking (totally true). And when I write, I tend to over-write, mixing a blend of casual we're-just-hanging-out with this-is-how-you-do-things. I mean, really, have you seen my blog posts? Some of them go on for days.

But that's all because I have the luxury of time and space. I can afford to say what I want for as long as I want, because I'm given wide open space here on the blog and because I run my own workshops.

Query letters though do not have such luxury. You get a page. ONE page. At absolute most 250 words, and every word counts. Each word works with the words to the left and right, above and below for the purpose of making the manuscript they're attached to appealing to the reader.

If your query doesn't entice the would-be reader to pick up the manuscript, then your path to publication (in one model of publishing) ends there. And even if you aren't pursuing that route to publication, the skill of writing a tight, seductive query letter is a good one, like for when you have to write business proposals or letters explaining why you can't attend boring family functions.

One page. Seriously. You can do it. It can be taught. You can learn how to do it. (Note: I also teach how to do it, you know, if you're interested.)

No, don't send them your first draft. Send them the best polished draft. Do it right if you're going to do it at all. 

If you want to get published, and you're taking a route that puts your work into the hands of an agent and a big publisher, the work you send them has to be in the best possible and most complete shape. That means the story has to be completely written, shouldn't have spelling and grammatical mistakes and should have all the parts in it that it needs to in order to make sense.

Just like you wouldn't play a full-contact sport against pros without training or preparation, so too can you ill-afford to just dive into publication by sending off incomplete, error-laden work.

How can you ensure that your best work goes out? GET AN EDITOR. Don't know any? Here's one. And another. And another. And another. And another.

It's our job to help you take your work and get it into the best shape possible so that you can do whatever you want with it and so that it may be enjoyed by readers.

Yeah, I know, you've been told that once you sign that contract, there will be an editor assigned to your work. Or that your agent is your editor. Or that editing is something that comes AFTER you say yes to the deal. And yeah, sometimes, that's all true.

But if the goal is to get your work published, and you want someone to say yes to your work, wouldn't you want it in the best shape possible, so that it's easier for them to say yes?

Make the job easier, not harder. Put your best foot/work forward. Ask an editor for help. (The ones I mentioned are the best I've ever worked with.)

When sending out queries, do your homework. Make sure the query receiver actually TAKES what you're submitting (check their site!) 

Okay, not every agent or publisher publishes everything. Just because they're called a "publisher" doesn't mean that anytime someone sends them a manuscript they run off to the press in their basement and churn out page upon page with gleams of satisfaction in their eyes.

Publishers are allowed to publish whatever they want, even if that means saying "No." to one type of manuscript. Just like authors, who may prefer to write in one style or genre over another. See how that works outs?

So when you've written a particular story, find a publisher who publishes that kind of story.

It's not hard. It does take some digging. Either in the Writer's Market, or more accurately, by doing some investigative Google searches for submission guidelines. Yes, you can find a publisher for nearly every genre and type of story, if you look hard enough. (And if you're going to email me and say you can't find a publisher, then either you need to broaden your search or improve your story so that it can be more easily classified).

Make the job of publication easier on everyone involved. It makes a huge difference.

Not all your ideas are unpolished gemstones. Sometimes they're just ideas that you can tweak/cut/hack to make other gems shinier.

I'm sitting in my office right now, and if you look to the left of the chair, on a small re-purposed nightstand, you'll see a whole stack of legal pads and steno pads. These are my idea books. You may also have seen me carry a smaller version in my back pocket when at conventions.

When some idea explodes in my brain, I write it down. Sometimes those ideas are really clear -- "a mechanical system that divides an eight-sided die into the 8 types of affirmative action" or they're vague -- "spy apparat". All the same, they get written down.

Most of those ideas won't go anywhere. But sometimes, when someone calls me or emails me and we start talking about doing a project together, I can say to them, "Oh yeah, I think I have a mechanic or a plot or an idea that can help us out here." It's an immense time saver, but also a huge boost to the future creativity because I already have a jumping-off point.

Because I keep a stack of ideas around, I'm able to draw on them when I need to. (I should point out that behind me I have a filing cabinet labeled "Things to do to characters" and another labeled "Feelings"). A lot of the folders in those cabinets have one or two articles in them, or a page or two of notes that I might never go through until I have to empty the cabinet out. But having that resource on hand helps me to feel more creative and feel more successful about being creative. (And yes, I do have giant binders labeled "Poison" "Gunshot" "Fire" "Stabbing", because information is a good thing to collect, right? Like Pokemon?)

Hey people who want "realistic" characters in your writing: Are they eating regularly? How about the last time they brushed their teeth?

I love realism in my films, where the world the characters inhabit, and what happens to them feels like my world, so that I can leave the theater or walk out my door and maybe have the possibility of running into them on the street. Or something. You know, like if the Doctor showed up for lunch, I'd totally be down for that.

There's a downside to realism though, at least when it's misinterpreted. Don't confuse realism (obeying practical constraints and limitations, physics, science, technology and social climate) for over-saturation of facts.

An action thriller about people unraveling a conspiracy in the post office is going to be slightly marred and slowed down by the half-page you wrote telling the audience about how someone flosses. The love story that takes place only during summers over the course of ten years can get bogged down when you detail the tuna salad someone eats on page eight.

Details do not make realism. Realism comes from the context and application of those details -- what you do about the details makes things real or not.

The blending of details (small or large) with their application is what makes the scene feel more lived in, and the world more natural.

Building your own world is great. Want to make that world feel real? Give the sandbox some borders. What can't it do?

On the flip side of the realism coin, there's nothing wrong with making your own world. The downside here is in the freedom. You can make anything from a city in the clouds, to an ice planet with caves, to I don't know, a planet made entirely of string cheese and crackers.

But while you're showing the reader all about what the world can do, to give some context and make the reader (and presumably the main character, who may be a fish out of water) feel like they can handle the scope of the creation, show the limitations of the world. Yeah your created world might be a technocracy or an oligarchy of fish people, but how does it fit into the greater picture? Is it one fiefdom in a country, one state in a union, one continent on a planet, one planet in a solar system, one galaxy in all of existence?

Showing the borders is not showing weakness, it's showing strength. By defining how big the sandbox is, we can instead focus on all the detail within the borders. It draws our attention back to what's important and lets the real work shine.

Thriller writers - Tweaking word choice + sentence length will do wonders for your pacing.

Here's how you build tension: you vary your sentence length. Pick strong words. Fragment. Hype. Explore the power of words. Push the scene with longer sentences. Speed up with shorter ones. Push. Pull.

(see what I did there?)

Romance writers - No, there really aren't that many world-weary young women. For serious.

I don't normally dive into romance novels. They're not aimed at me, I don't normally encounter them in the development process, and in general, I don't walk past those aisles at the bookstore. But I am aware of the tropes, in particular the one about your female protagonist who's young but somehow already weary and an old soul.

I get it, writers, that's you. You're that character, only transplanted into a younger body, but still possessing your mature mind. This gives you a chance to escape a little, indulge some fantasy and play "what-if", which is central to the genre.

But how many times are we going to tread this ground?

There's nothing wrong with writing a not-world-weary character. It might be a little more work, it might be hard to resist the temptation to make her snark and spurn the advances and situations she find herself in, but it is possible - and you do have the talent to pull it off.

Tell your best story, and no you don't have to cover the same ground as everyone else. Honest.

The final part of this series will go up Monday. Happy writing. Enjoy your weekend. 

Things I Am Doing At GenCon, UPDATED

So GenCon is August 15-18th. It's a big deal in the gaming community, a chance for relatively disparate elements and people to convene for a week in the middle of the US and hang out, reconnect, connect for the first time and play great games together.

My first GenCon was last year. And OH WOW was it amazing. All my friends were there, I got to see my friends' successes, I got to share some of my own successes with others.

Of interest to me were the panels, where loads of people would come hang out and talk about whatever the topic was for an hour or two. I went to some great ones (Phil Menard's panel on depression was intense, but wonderful), I went to some not-great ones (there was a panel that was so disorganized I can't even recall what it was about for the whole hour I sat in the room), and I thought to myself "I'm going to run a panel at GenCon some year."

"Some year" is THIS year.

UPDATE!! All the panels I submitted have been approved.  Here are all the details.

UPDATE AGAIN!! You can help make these great panels even better by supporting my GoFundMe campaign.

SEM1345150 Depression, Anxiety, Treatment and the Gamer
Thursday  4pm - 6pm
Crowne Plaza : Victoria Stn C/D

This seminar is more a conversation between people who are struggling with mental illness (and are now in various stages of treatment), yet don't let their illness(es) define them or stop them from producing the material they love. Come hang out with us and let's talk openly about how not to let the monsters win while we make awesome games.


SEM1341483 Writing Effective Scenarios & Settings 
Friday 11am - 1pm
Crowne Plaza Grand Ballroom D

Learn what it takes to write the best scenarios and settings you can, regardless of the system used or your experience level.
This seminar will be universal in scope - not focusing on solely one system over others, but looking rather at successful components found in MANY systems that you can take advantage of when writing your own.

SEM1345042 The Writer/Editor Relationship **
Friday 2pm - 4pm
Embassy Suites : Coronation 1

Learn from Brian Engard (writer, Bulldogs! Fate Core) and John Adamus, (editor Evil Hat Productions, Margaret Weis Productions) about the relationship between writer and editor.

** aka John and Brian Talk About Shit 

SEM1341489 Writing Q&A

Saturday 11am - 1pm

UPDATE! Crowne Plaza : Hay Market B

No matter what you're writing (a game, a novel, a movie, etc) you've no doubt got questions. This seminar is the place to get answers to whatever writing-related quandaries you have.
This seminar is driven by your questions, whether they're questions about writing a good sentence, a good story, getting an agent, getting published, editing your RPG, tweaking your LARP or whatever -- if you have questions about something you're writing, this is the place to get answers and help. If you're familiar with Dreamation, Metatopia and DexCon, this is a Gen Con-sized version of the Writing Workshop held there.

Wow. Just, wow, this is amazing, and I want to just encourage everyone to drop in, say hi, hang out and have some great discussions.

I am incredibly grateful, humbled and excited to have the chance to present not only a new workshop on scenarios and settings, but also do my more traditional Q&A on a much bigger scale.

See you in Indianapolis. 

86 Things I've Said on Twitter, Part 4

After a pause last week (lots of things going on, blogging got pushed so far down the schedule), we resume the series of 86 Things I've Said on Twitter. Part 3 is here.

Guess what? You can talk to an editor ANY time during your creative process to help steer you through tricky sections and past blocks.

There's this thought travelling around that editors are who you talk to AFTER you write, as if we're summoned from the ether when all the words are still cooling on the page. And as we've talked about elsewhere, that's still where an editor gets used. But, there's ZERO reason to think that you can't talk to editor WHILE you're writing. We can steer the writing past the problems, we can help you learn new strategies to overcome bad habits, we can help make the writing better *as* it happens. That is, if you let us. 

Get a healthy supportive network of people around you and creating what you love never feels like a JOB.

I love what I do. There's a reason why I so frequently use the #livingthedream hashtag on social media (and this blog). It never feels like a job. Sure, I make a living doing all the editing, developing, creating and consulting, but it's not a go-to-a-cubicle-farm-and-file-TPS-reports-and-listen-to-my-soul-die job. It's my lifestyle, expressed through actions. It's just what I do, and the reason I can enjoy so much of it is because I have around me the most amazing support system of friends and family (and friends as family) who support me and who care about what I'm doing and who want to hear about it. 

Disclosure: A lot of my support system does the same sort of work, so we can often and easily talk about the work and how best to accomplish it, but the point stands - we're all in this creative endeavor together. 

Now if you're thinking to yourself, "How do I build this? How do I get a support structure?", start by being honest with yourself. You have to be your biggest fan. (And I can say this because it's something I'm still working on) From there, you have to engage other people, telling them that your writing is important to you (no, it doesn't have to be a career, unless you want it to be) and getting them excited too. You'll be able to weed out the people who will support you from those who scoff based on whether or not they get excited and encouraging. Take the good ones, don't sweat the bad ones, whoever they might be. 

Hey, how long were you planning on only just talking about making your thing? Do you think it's going to create itself?

There two Johns: The John who talks a lot of about doing things, and the John who does them. Talking-John has a lot of big ideas and big hopes and dreams but never gets around to making them happen, because doing things is scary and because (he thinks) that talking about them is far more fun than doing them. Talking-John is a shitty coward. He doesn't take any risks, he doesn't expose himself as vulnerable or human, he doesn't try. 

Action-John (now with kung-fu grip) is newer to the scene, for a while he was just the shunted-off, pushed-into-the-corner voice that started sentences with "I hope..." He wanted to take action, but was too scared. Too scared to fail. Too scared to get a negative response, thinking that it was a reflection on who he was, and that if he failed, everyone would hate him. But then the fear became smaller, or maybe the drive to do things became bigger, and he started doing things. Big things, the things Talking-John always said would happen. Sure some things stumbled out of the gate (see: TWO people at the first Pay What You Want Seminar), but then there's a whole stack of things that took off like a shot right out of the gate. (So many games!)

Talking is good, but Action, though scary or hard or uncertain is better. The things you want to do won't do themselves, you need to be creating them. They're *your* things, so get out there and make them happen.

Rejection sucks. But it only stops you if you let it. Also, the rejecter is just ONE person - plenty of ways to accomplish your goals.

Ahh rejection letters. The kryptonite of writers. The scourge of creatives. 

Hey. It's a piece of paper. Or an email. Or one person's words to you. ONE person. And they might not even know you. 

Not everyone is going to reject your work. And that's what you should remember - they're rejecting your work, not you as a person, a parent, a spouse, a partner, a friend, a whatever-else-you-might-be. And if you want to split hairs, they might not even be rejecting the work itself, they're just rejecting how you introduced the work (your query).

It's not about what number rejection you're on - a lot of talk is about how many times a particular book was rejected - it matters what you do AFTER you get rejected. I'm not saying you can't be upset. I'm not saying you can't eat ice cream out of the carton and sit on the couch in your bathrobe and watch episodes of old TV on Netflix. (by the way, Coldstone Creamery totally knows how to ease rejection...so I've heard)

If you get rejected by one agent or publisher, there are others. Loads of others. Or you can go a different route. It's up to you. You're in charge. 

Not everyone is going to love what you create. Do you love it? That's the starting point. If you don't, who will?

I'll keep this one short -- You have to love what you do. Otherwise, why are you doing it? If you're not happy making the thing(s) you're making, what can you do to make yourself happy, and how can you change  your situation around?

Other people aren't going to like it. That's okay. Your job is not to please everyone. Your job is to please yourself and make awesome things. 

Do not ever, ever, ever let anyone at conference/convention/whatever-event make you feel guilty for loving what you do.

One of my good and dear friends speaks quite well (and extensively) about women in gaming. Recently, she was at PAX (a big video game/gaming convention) and the panel she was on took a LOT of flak for her being "big" or for the panelists being lesbians or for them being "feminazis" - basically a huge swarm of adolescents got together and got quite aggressive with these women (emailing them rapey death threats, being otherwise angry and mean to them).

That's upsetting. There's plenty of room for everyone at the creative table, no matter who they are, what they are, what they believe in or what they make. Just because *you* disagree (however intensely) with what people make or who they are doesn't make the other person "wrong". 

I have been on panels, attended conferences and conventions where the speaker addressing the audience just shot down people. Giving malicious advice. Throwing around a lot of shame. Throwing around tons of guilt. 

Yes, there are going to be people, even people who are supposed to know better, who are going to make you feel guilty for who you are, what you love and doing whatever you do. I'm not telling you this because I want you to rage against them, or to set you on the defensive, I'm telling you because you don't have to be guilty. You don't have to be afraid of being a whatever/whoever-you-are and doing/making whatever you make. 

Sure, some people are going to rail against you because they're idiots. Or bigots. Or sexists. Or other '-ist's. 

Other people are going to shout you down because if you're not in the picture, you're not competing with them for what they perceive to be finite resources. (Newsflash - there's never going to be a shortage of awesome)

Do not give these voices any mental real estate. They're not accurate, and not an accurate representation of anything other than hate-speech and close-mindedness. 

If there's a #1 tool in your toolbox as a writer, let it be discipline. To do the work, to endure rejection, to keep believing.

Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. And it's not like you're forever at mile 1. It takes time to make things, to do the best job you can, and there are a lot of distractions out there. And those distractions can really pull you away from getting things done. (Hey look, an Xbox! Hey look, a relationship! Hey look, nachos!)

Discipline is what makes things go. The ability to park my butt in this comfy office chair and do the writing and thinking allows me to go out with that relationship, allows me to buy new Xbox games and afford nacho supplies. 

Discipline also weathers me against rejection. Keep running the marathon. Keep believing down to a sub-atomic level that I'm on the right path for me. That I can do this, that I'm good enough. 

Writers, if things aren't working out, you can totally fire the people you've hired. If you've been hired, you can totally fire clients.

There's a great George Carlin bit about getting pulled over and telling the cop that they're a public servant, so as a taxpayer, you pay their salary. And while that's comedy and exaggerated, there's a truth in there - you can fire the people you retain if they're not working out. 

Have a bad experience with an agent or editor? You don't need to keep that relationship. Yes, you can get a new one. It may be embarrassing or awkward or a tough thing to do, but it may also be the right thing to do, if the dynamic isn't what you hoped for and despite your best efforts it's not getting you what you want. 

Likewise, if you've been hired by someone and it's just not going well (you're butting heads, arguing, they're not listening to the advice they came to you for, etc), you can fire them. Yes, a client can be fired. Ending that relationship works both ways. 

It's not fun (I've only done it twice in the past few years), but in order to preserve your sanity, salvage your work or get through the day without huge anxiety and stress, it might be just the thing that needs to happen. 

Just do it fairly, honestly and openly. Don't beat around the bush and don't be a jerk. 

Sure there's an element of "luck" in success, but there's far more hard work, perseverance and discipline involved.

How did Author X (insert "named" author here) get to the place they're at? How did this book or that one sell tens of bajillions of copies? 

Luck played a part in it, that the right person came along at the right moment and took a chance on making the book happen. But it wasn't all luck. The manuscript had to be in some semblance of good order or interesting for someone to say "Let's make this a thing". (Granted, this does sometimes mean that you may be sending your work to be looked at by idiots and not-the-best people, but that's for another post) 

What you're not seeing in this process, what we don't know firsthand and can only assume is how hard the author worked to get the manuscript to the point where someone could come along and help make it a reality. We're not seeing the number of hours spent writing, the late nights, the arguments with people about how the book should go or when it'll be done. We're not seeing the person writing during their lunch breaks and after the kids are in bed. We don't get to see the construction process, we only see it once it's built. 

Work hard, be passionate, be disciplined, and you'll find that luck is on your side. 

Or you can make your own luck. Remember, you're in charge.

If someone is helping you with your project (and their help is actually good) THANK THEM. Recognize their good work.

A book is likely not a solo effort. Lots of other people helped you get this book into shape and out the door. Your agent got you the deal. Your editor helped work out the story's problems. Your friends read the drafts. Your writing group gave you ideas. Your parents conceived you, so that you could write this book. 

Sure, as an author you get the spotlight more than the others. Which is great, your hard work should be recognized. But not at the expense or ignorance of the other people who helped. Share the spotlight. Let other people feel as good as you do. Maybe other people who want to be in the position your in can benefit from your example (and by extension benefit from the same help you got), so by calling out who helped you, everyone wins. 

This also includes paying them fairly and on time.

Last bit of the day. If you hired someone to help you, pay them. Pay them what you owe them. Pay them when you say you're going to. Yeah, I know, money's tight and it's a rough economy, but honor your arrangements. Yes, we love to help you make the things you want to make, but this is still our livelihood. It's not too much to ask that someone owed money receives that money. 

Don't be the person who doesn't pay. Word will spread, and not necessarily good word. If paying people is tough, then at least do them the courtesy of being up front about it. Let them know what to expect. That way everyone knows where everyone else stands. 

More to come later in the week.

How You Can Use Fate Core to Write/Design A Game

Yesterday I wrote about how you can use Fate Core to write a novel. Today, I'm going to tell you how you can use Fate Core to write a game, or a setting, or a scenario, or a campaign...even if that game doesn't use Fate.

Now, I know what you're thinking - that sounds crazy. But really it's not. We're just going to look at the applications of what we talked about yesterday, and leave the mechanical constructs (fate point economy, dice rolling, etc) to the side for now, else we'll muddy waters and confuse people (including myself).

Note though, this is how I design things, and my design style may be an entirely different approach than what you do, what you like or how you go about even starting it. I say this not to ward you off, but rather tell you to make this method your own, and that you're free to change elements to suit your tastes, rather than clone me.

A brief overview is in order:

1. Characters and scenes have aspects.
2. There are four actions - overcome, create an advantage, attack, defend

(see, wasn't kidding when I said that was brief)

To start this discussion, we have to pick a thing we're making. Let's say you're making something that you can run with your weekly group, but something that if you polished it up enough, you may consider releasing for profit if all goes well. This way, we'll keep the conversation "local" and free from business-y distractions.

Now we take our first steps and decide what sort of genre this game is going to be in. Will it be steampunk? Will it be swords and sorcery? Will it feature struggles against zombies?

Step 1:: If you haven't already, write down 1 sentence or phrase (try and center it on the topmost line of the legal pad, if you're like me) that summarizes the experience of this yet-untitled-game.

Here's one straight from my little blue notebook of designs --

Prison escape, investigation and catching of real culprits 

Already from this one sentence expression we can pull out concrete requirements for the game. Mine will need a prison to escape from, some badguys to catch, and good guys (the players) who will try to clear their names (suggestive of drama, tension and investigation).

Yours may have aliens, trolls, clowns, goat-bartering or vampires. Whatever you've got on your paper, look for the concrete elements. If your sentence doesn't have any, give it more thought, and write a different sentence.

When you've gotten that down on paper, we go forward.

Step 2:: For each concrete thing you can pull out of that sentence, create three to five aspects for each element.

For mine, I divide the legal pad into 3 columns: Prison, Badguys, PCs

Note: I don't want to dictate what aspects the PCs have - because I want my players to have some creative ability and input in my game. But I can create a loose framework for what sort of aspects work best...essentially crafting boundaries for the field the players operate on, and later (as we'll see) giving me sentences that I can use to describe the game to others.

Prison
Formidable
Thought to be inescapable 
Made of the best materials available
Heavily guarded
Wretched hive of scum and villainy

Badguys
Veterans of crime
Scarred and broken people
Rough and tumble
Thick
Hungry

Players
Innocents among the guilty
Never going back
Always on the run
Schemers, Fighters and Planners
Adjusting to life on the outside

Step 3:: Using the Aspects as a reference, apply your mechanical base to your elements In my case, that's NPC(s) and location(s).

Here is a point where we may go down radically different paths. Depending on what mechanical engine you're using, this step might take some time. That's okay, this process isn't quick. Think about how you've described the elements of your game, and using your best judgment, convert the words into numbers.

If the Prison is formidable, how many feet thick are the walls? Does your game have an armor rating? Maybe the walls rate a large number. If the badguys are veterans of crime, just how good are they at the criminal skillset your game may have?

When this step is done, you should have stats for some of the components of the thing you're creating. Over time, as you give this more thought and as we get to applying the four actions, you can flesh out the rest of the stats.

Step 4:: Find the adventure's best starting point. 

Whether you've got adventurers meeting in a tavern, intrepid reporters responding to a Craigslist ad, or a bunch of mercenaries gathered on Gamma Beta Seven, every adventure has a starting point. Now if this adventure is a campaign, then we're looking for this "episode's" best starting point.

Starting points are most often exposition dumps, where everyone goes around the table and says who and what their character is, and it can be WAY boring. There are ways around it, by intermingling the backstories of characters (as in Fate games) or by withholding backstories and focusing on the task at hand (as is done in Call of Cthulhu). Keep an eye out for boredom generators (far too much talking, not enough doing, the players don't engage the mechanics right away), and the adventure can start before you know it.

Step 5:: Map out the adventure, using the four actions of Fate.

Every type of scene the players get into can be expressed as one of the four actions.

Overcome Scenes are those scenes where there are skill-based challenges or puzzles that require the players make use of the mechanics of the game. This could be a sphinx's riddle, orchestrating a jailbreak, sweet-talking guards instead of fighting them, or anything where a player uses skills or abilities against opposition but doesn't get into combat.

Advantage Scenes (scenes where the players create an advantage) are those scenes where players use the environment or story detail to improve their situation(s). A super scientist spending time in the lab to create power armor, a thief spending time with the local guild, a cop shaking down informants -- all are situations created because the world/environment of the game has made them possible. Yes, the line may blur a little between overcome and advantage scenes, but to distinguish between the two, look at your focus -- is the focus on the skill-check? Then it's an overcome scene. If the focus is on the end result, or you're likely to handwave the roll, then it's an advantage scene.

Attack Scenes are combat, most often initiated by the players, where they brandish sword, fists or guns and take on enemy forces. Most often the climax of an adventure is an attack scene or "boss fight". It doesn't have to be that way, if your game centers more on investigation (as in Gumshoe) or in self-discovery ("I learned something new about myself!"), then your climaxes aren't going to be fight-y. Attack scenes are also opportunities for the mechanics of your system to be tested, so if you're home-brewing, make sure your combative ducks are in a row.

Defense Scenes (scenes where players Defend) are NOT just part of combat. Yes, defense is inherent in combat, as a reaction to a fighting action, but Defense scenes can also lay the groundwork and advantages for future scenes. In an investigative game, these scenes pit clues against reality - as players work to rectify what they know already with new information just acquired (it was old man Jenkins who killed Robbie!) Defense outside of a combat scene is most often a narrative experience, giving characters a chance to explore feelings, situations and experiences to find their place in-game.

There is no standard formula for how many of each scene you have to have, or that every sixth scene must be a combat. But there is a progression within a story of scenes, as tensions rise and build to climax.

Often, Attack scenes sit atop the pyramid, having been set up by Overcome Scenes and Defense Scenes, all predicated on the work established in Advantage Scenes, and lesser Overcome Scenes.

Let's come back to the earlier prison game example...

I want my players to start by escaping from prison (Overcome scene), possibly fighting their way out as needed (Attack scene), and making their way to an established safehouse (Advantage scene). From there they'll investigate the crime that sent them to prison (Overcome scenes, Advantage scenes, Defense scenes), ultimately confronting the real villains (Attack scene) and getting them to confess before escaping the pursuing prison forces (Defense scene, Advantage scene).

That's episode one of my campaign, or if this is a one-shot deal, that's the adventure as a whole.

Step 6:: Prepare anything you may have missed, now that you have an outline.

Going now scene by scene, give each scene the needed details. Write in those clues for the investigators to find. Fluff up that flavor text that you can read to players so they'll know what to expect. Make sure any opposition the PCs will face has proper stats and equipment and make sure any treasure available is appropriately balanced (or wildly off-balance, if that's your preference). This is also a chance to read over the work as a whole and make sure that scenes connect to each other, either for narrative reasons (one scene comes as a result of the previous) or mechanical reasons (you need a hospital after getting beaten near to death).

Step 7:: Go play your game.

Enjoy yourself. Change whatever you need to, on the fly, to make sure you have the best time possible. It doesn't matter that the players totally skipped the sweet action you had planned on page 4, the bottom line is always this -- have the best time possible with your friends. Rules and games change accordingly.

See you next time, happy writing and gaming.

Using Fate Core To Write Your Novel

Good morning, strap in and let's get to work. We start today with a story.

I was having lunch with someone yesterday and over the course of our discussion (which naturally covered what he could do to bolster his newly rejected novel), I began describing how he could flesh out characters to make them less static and make them multi-dimensional.

As I was talking and gesturing, I used the word 'aspect' a few times, and realized that there's a way to meld my two great passions, gaming and editing/helping people write better, and that aspects are the key.

Everyone go look at your most recent copy of your favorite Fate product. (There's still a week on Kickstarter! Get to it!) Now, go get a legal pad. And a pen.

For today we use Fate Core to write your novel.

We'll start by identifying what "aspects" are. For the purposes of our discussion, let's use this definition --

Aspects are phrases or sentences that express some element of the character, either physically, mentally or emotionally.

For example, that tall nervous blonde you work with has the aspects "Tall" "Blonde" and "Nervous Wreck".

So, how does this help you? Let's look at step 1.

Step 1:: Identify (and write down) 5 Aspects your primary character(s) has/have. (A primary character is your protagonist, your antagonist and anyone you spend more than 45% of the book describing)

Yes, five. I like to do them in some combination of physical and emotional/psychological descriptors, usually three and two. I'd stay away from a 4-to-1 ratio (particularly 4 physical and 1 emotional/psychological), because that may lead to your character looking pretty, but being sort of hollow inside. (This may or may not be called 'Kristen Stewart Syndrome')

What does this look like on paper? Here, let's talk about Batman.

Batman
- Forever avenging the death of his parents
- Rich & handsome playboy
- The greatest detective in the DC Universe
- Master martial artist
- Has a Rogues' Gallery (translation: lots of enemies)

Here I mention who he is - a rich & handsome playboy, master martial artist, and the greatest detective in the DC Universe - but also what he does - forever avenging the death of his parents - and what that brings him in return - lots of enemies.

What we've got is a snapshot of the character, and ideally something that isn't *only* a physical run-down of traits. This isn't a dating profile, we don't need to go on and on about someone's appearance in a superficial or sexist way - this is a chance to distill character down to key emotional hooks and connect the character to both other characters AND their world.

Just as character have aspects, so too do scenes. Most of time, scene aspects in novels are expressed as tension-beats, creating dangerous complications like a building burning down or a badguy about to shoot or a bomb about to explode. (They don't always have to be melodramatic like that, it can also be an uncomfortable conversation between two characters or something.)


Example: Barry is trapped in a burning office building. He can hear the sirens, so he knows that at some point, he'll get rescued. But until then, he's stuck in a smoky room that's growing progressively hotter and hotter. It's getting hard to breathe. He's not a strong man, but he's got to at least to try and make a break for it - maybe out the window before it's too late? 

In this example, the building has the aspects "burning down", "getting hotter and hotter" and "slowly suffocating in a growing furnace". Barry has the aspects "not the strongest" and "not quite Hero material".


Step 2:: Identify (and write down) how the character(s) make use of the 4 Actions. 

Fate Core has four key actions available to players. They cover a multitude of possibilities. Admittedly, I'm tweaking them here for our purposes.

a) Create an Advantage -- This is the ability of a character to use their skills and talents to take advantage/make use of the environment or situation they're in.

The ability of an author/creator to conceive of a scene's aspects (the elements that describe it physically, emotionally or psychologically) and parse them into phrases or short sentences is an invaluable tool for world-building, tension-crafting, or general descriptive capacity. Thinking about what goes down on paper and being able to think about it in an observational way, allows you to control and shape the scene more to your liking in a more intimate way.

So, look at your characters and look to their aspects and skills. Now look at your scene and its aspects. How can the character, in this one particular situation, use their aspects and skills to partner with a scene's aspects to reach the desirable outcome? Note: The desirable outcome is not always the same as the perfect outcome - the character's best option may not be coming out of a scene unscathed.

Now, you may be tempted to change aspects to suit the scene. Take caution - you're doing yourself a disservice (and creating a crappy character) if the character's aspects change at the start of every scene, just so that they come out smelling like roses and being perfect. Here's the rule - if you've got to change aspects, change it AFTER AND BECAUSE OF the scene that just happened, and remember, keep it to five.

To continue our previous example....

Barry has to smash a window to escape the fire. He realizes that he doesn't have the brute strength to smash the glass by hand, but if he can pick up one of the chairs, he can hurl it through the window. Summoning courage and strength, Barry wades through the smoke, grabs the sturdiest looking chair he can find and in a run, sends it hurtling through the window, raining glass down onto the street!

Here, the scene aspect "full of chairs and desks" is created so as to provide Barry the tools he needs to make good his survival. This is justified because the building is an office building, so it's reasonable to assume it has office equipment in it. So while Barry isn't Hero material, in a survival situation, he takes the initiative and creates an advantage for himself - allowing him to make it to the next scene.

b) Overcome an Obstacle -- This is where the character(s) face down a challenge that requires them to use their skills. This is a test of the character's ability. And with that test comes risk - often injury of a physical, mental, emotional or social nature - but again, it's what makes the scene compelling to both read and write.

We keep with our example...

Barry finds himself looking out the hole the chair created. Yes, he thinks, this is where he gets out of here, but look down, it's higher up than he thought. And he's no athlete, but the fire's getting worse and if he doesn't jump now, he might not last long enough for the firefighters to rescue him.  So, he backs up as far as he can into the room and makes a run for it, jumping out the hole and into the alley.

Barry's obstacle is both internal (his fear) and external (he's got to try and run, then jump out of a burning building).  It's through these overcome scenes that we learn what sort of characters we have. Are they brave? Will they do the right thing? Are they capable? Are they cowards? Overcoming obstacles should be a challenge, not in some great Herculean way, but some element of who they are or what they can do should be tested.

Success brings the reward of character growth. Failure can also trigger growth, but carries with it consequences - the character ends up hurt in one way or another.

c) Attack -- Note: Because we're writing a story and not rolling dice, I'm changing the nature of Attack. My apologies to my Fate Core friends. An attack action is anything the character(s) do(es) to change the status quo or current situation. (Also, this can cover fights) This definition may seem a little broad, but coming off the heels of overcoming an obstacle, an attack action may partner up nicely here.

Whatever occurs in the scene, characters are going to react to it, because of it and through it. They are going to attempt to alter it, changing the circumstances and possible outcomes so that they're more favorable...and so that they can then go ahead and create more advantages. (See how this is starting to come together?).

This is NOT a call to make your characters more selfish, this is a raising of awareness that characters are a part of the scene, not always at the scene's mercy. Flat, one-dimensional characters can get tossed around the scene like red-shirted crewmen on Star Trek. Characters with some heft to them can weather the scenes, and push back.

Our example marches on...

Barry has jumped out the window and luckily avoids breaking both his legs when he lands. He separates his shoulder, probably fractures some bones in his foot, but for the most part, he's going to make it out of here alive. Thankfully, the firefighters arrive and the blaze is contained. We then join Barry getting interviewed by a cop, who believes Barry started the fire and got trapped inside. Barry has to change this situation, so Barry stands up for himself, saying that he knows who started the fire because he heard Larry talking about it the day before. 

Barry attacks the situation by challenging the cop's assumption that Barry is the culprit. (For the game mechanically minded, this is Rapport). The revelation that Larry is a suspect both moves the story forward by introducing new character Larry, but also introduces Larry's plot...setting up Larry as the likely antagonist if we haven't done so already.

d) Defend -- Again, I'm really sorry, Fate Core friends, I'm changing this. A defense action is when the character must preserve themselves from harm or preserve the status quo for the continuation of the story.

Our example...

Barry confronts Larry, just as he's about to set another fire. They tussle, but not before Larry reveals every detail of his master plan. Barry manages to get the upper hand for a moment, long enough to press Larry's hand into some freshly spilled paint, leaving palm prints all over the room. The police arrive just before the fire is set, and combined with the palm prints, Larry's going to jail. 

Here Barry has to use a combination of attack and defend actions, both during the altercation (obviously) but   also in a test of wills to coerce Larry's villain monologue out of him, which Larry was happy to do, because Larry was a jerk.

It's the synthesis of these four actions that tells the compelling saga of Barry and Larry. Story is about expression of aspects through challenges, created advantages and the attack and defense of the characters along the way.

It's my hope that this quick-and-dirty toolkit is helpful when you're writing. If you have any questions, please let me know. (Twitter, G+, email)

Happy writing.

Post #121 - How You The Writer Can Help The Process of Editing

I talk a lot about how editing is a conversation between writer and editor designed to make the product (be it a book, a game, a script, a whatever) the best it can be. What that conversation looks like is this:

1. You send me the document (aka the manuscript, the MS, the thing, your draft)
2. I open it in Word and via applications of comments and Track Changes, begin to mine the good content from the bad.
2b. This includes deleting extraneous elements
2c. This includes adding, changing or reconfiguring existing material into a new position.
2d. This also includes leaving questions in comments that need to be addressed.

Here for example are two such questions: (the first from one edit, the second from a novel edit)

a) "Are you saying that you have three events occurring simultaneously, an X, a Y and a Z? Which one does the mechanic apply to?"
b) This sentence is unclear. Either chop off the beginning or make the ending refer back to the person in question. 

Throughout the revision/editorial process there's a back-and-forth established. I say something, you respond; you say something I respond. Ideally this back-and-forth treats us both like adults and colleagues working together, and it should never devolve into name calling, passive aggressive pissing contests or outright arguments.

Why? Because edits are suggestions. Yes, they're suggestions with good intentions, experience, and expertise behind them, but they're still suggestions. And we (editors) know that. We hope you take them seriously, since we're giving them for the benefit of your project, but there are going to be times when we disagree.

So what can you do to make the process of editing less about our disagreements and more about getting things done and accomplished? Here are a few tips:

i. It's not about you! When I edit something, even something one of my friends wrote, if I edit it, nothing in their personal life comes into play. Not who they're married to, what they're doing Tuesday for dinner, not what they said to me on Twitter this morning...it's all about the work. And if I call them out for making an error (or making the same error repeatedly) I trust them to see and realize that it's not a condemnation of who and what they are, just a bad writing habit I'm trying to excise. An edit in your manuscript is not somehow a mark or slight against you, it's an edit...in your manuscript.

ii. Be ready to listen to a new point of view. When you hand over your MS for editing, be prepared for me to come at it with new eyes. I wasn't in the room when you wrote it, I likely didn't have any input on its genesis or growth. It's also possible that outside of this particular project, you and I have never spoken, so I may not fully grasp the nuances of your humor or dig your taste in metaphors. I'm going to go through your work as a totally new reader and editor, so that may mean I don't get your joke, or understand your explanation the first, second or fifth times. If you're not ready to have someone potentially mark up, flag and question your work, understand that you may need to talk to the editor before you submit to the process.

iii. Editing is NOT reading!The editing process is so much more than spellcheck-ing a document, reading it, and pronouncing it "nice" or "good". It's also not pleasure reading. In fact, I'm not really "reading" your work at it. The process is finer than that. I'm looking for errors, I'm searching for clarity in concept and execution, I'm often looking at the relationship from word to word -- that's of a higher scope and detail than just reading the MS to see if I like it.

iv. Don't lose your temper! Sometimes, it can feel like you're under siege while getting edited. Your hard work, your words, your creation is under a sharp knife wielded by someone who "doesn't get it". It can be frustrating to get back ten, twenty or thirty pages of marked up draft and feel overwhelmed and indignant that someone found so much fault with what you've done. Remember though, it's not personal (i) and what we're having is a conversation, not a lecture. If you're able to rein in your frustrations and express your side of the discussion civilly then the writer-editor relationship will prosper. If you're frustrated, confused, annoyed, bothered....speak up. It might be momentarily uncomfortable, but in the end it will be worth it. Just do so civilly.

I think four items is a good start. If any of my editor friends want to jump in: What can writers do to make the process easier? Leave a comment or two.

Happy writing. We'll talk soon.

The Writer & Movements

Over the last few days, perhaps you've seen it, there has been a great and tremendous groundswell effort on Twitter called #1reasonwhy, followed by #1reasonmentors and #1reasontobe. For those not familiar this effort was started by a question -- "Why aren't there more female game designers?" which is a wonderful question.

And then this whole idea sort of ballooned up and became a movement. It even had some rather idiotic trolls involved, which is always nice to see (not really).

I threw my hat into the ring to be a mentor, pretty much without any prodding - it just seemed to be the thing to do. And then I thought about it, still didn't question it, and hold out hope that someone out there in the big world can be helped by some of the things I do.

Yes, yes, you can argue that loads of people already have been helped by what I do and who I am, and while I have some great evidence of that, I still...don't always see it. To me, it's one thing to give advice about sentence construction or idea generation, it's another thing to be a mentor. That word...means things to me, it has weight and a responsibility behind it.

So let's speak a moment about some relevant things. I'm a white male, well-educated, who grew up in an affluent town and because my family had a good income I was afforded many things that others would call luxuries. But not once have I ever been told to "check my privilege" or "back off white guy" (okay, I made that second one up) because how I was raised or how I live my life does not interfere with some very fundamental ideas I have. I outline them here:

1. Every person, regardless of gender, age, orientation, race or whatever other characteristic should be able to express themselves however they want -- if that means they want to make games, write novels, paint pictures, be a florist, whatever...they should be free and able to do so without harassment.

2. Every person no matter what or who they are should be able to live comfortably, without the fear being belittled, minimized, marginalized or written off. Again "just" because you're a....whoever you are does not mean that you're in anyway inferior or second-rate.

What matters to me is the work produced. Is the book any good? Is the art captivating? Does the food taste good? Perhaps I'm a hedonist, but to me it doesn't matter who or what someone is - if they want to do something and it's within my power to help them (and they ask for my help) I'll help, to the best of my ability.

With all the labels that get either put on people, or all the labels that get self-imposed (either out of pride or guilt or whatever), it's not my place to cement them. It's not my place to even deal with them, unless they come up in the course of working together. (And you'd be surprised how rarely that happens). I'm not one to debate how important the label is, because to me, I don't see a lot of these labels. I'm sure some of them have a story behind them, I'm sure some of them get propped up as shields just as others are erroneous, but I don't really see them, and not because I'm oblivious -- when I work with someone, it's not about their gender, their race, their whatever, it's just about the work we do together. That's pretty merit-based. And to my mind, pretty equal.

I'm proud of myself for saying I would mentor people wanting to get started in the "industry". I don't know if this post aided or ruined that effort, but above all else, I wrote the truth here, and that made me happy.

I'm proud of everyone who spoke up, especially so if they don't normally.

We'll talk soon.

PS You're awesome.

How To Tell You're Working With A Good Editor

Good afternoon everyone,

Today's blogpost is a result of my reading Amanda's excellent explanation of how a bad editor can be a huge hindrance for your work and your craft. This prompted me to think about how you can tell good editors from bad editors. I thought of four main distinguishing characteristics.

Now if you're working with an editor already, and these things aren't happening, I'm not saying you should kick the editor to the curb, but definitely have a talk about the relationship you have, how it's working and where you want it to go. Your work ultimately should be the best it can be, and the people you bring on board should help, not hinder this process.


I. They're willing to explain not only WHAT'S wrong, but WHY it's wrong - I'm probably going to draw flak for this, since a lot of editors decry "I'm so busy!" or "I shouldn't have to hold hands!" but I'm not talking about this in terms of walking a writer through every tense shift and incorrect verb. I'm talking about the bigger picture issues of plot structure, word choice and paragraph construction. That's not hand-holding, that's doing the job you're paid to do. If you explain why it's wrong, then the writer can learn to not make the mistake in the future, and everyone wins.

II. They do more than proofread - Editing is more than pressing F7 or skimming something and looking for obvious typos and errors. Proofreading is ONE part of the editorial toolbox (as is wonderfully explained by this handy infographic), and sadly a lot of "editors" (note the quotes) are glorified proofreaders. You have to go past just the correctness of the words and get into the context and subtext of what's written, looking to see if what's meant is being said (and vice versa). Editing is as much an art as writing, albeit with different brush and color palette.

III. They can distinguish between different types of editing and can tell you what sort of edit best benefits the manuscript in question - As that infographic points out there are different types of editing (I would go one further and distinguish line editing from copy and substantive, but that's just me, and I'm old school), and knowing which to apply to a manuscript is as much experiential as intuitive -- yes for big, bloated, error-filled manuscripts you want to dive in substantively and rebuild it from the foundation, but when a manuscript isn't so error-plagued, an editor shouldn't suggest a purgative and reconstructive effort when all that's off is a few words every now and then and maybe a strange flashback that needs massaging.  An editor too eager to rebuild what isn't broken shows inexperience and a lack of respect for a project.

IV. They make the manuscript sound the way the manuscript is meant to, NOT make it sound the way THEY want - Rewriting (gasp!) is something that happens in editing. Words get put in, chopped out and shuffled around. Yes, there are suggestions for changes in tone or tenor, but there's also going to be an editor's changes in-text. It's a dangerous power for sure, as someone can blot out a whole page and rewrite it in an entirely new way...but before panic takes you, remember these are just suggestions (and they should come with a reason, see above) and if they're trying to rewrite it the way they think -- then they're not doing their job. Editing isn't writing. Editing is making existing writing better. I don't mean that there should be zero rewrites within a manuscript (that's just not possible, especially in early drafts), I mean that the tone of the rewrite should reflect the original text, not take it on a Mr Toad's Wild Ride to some new arena that isn't the manuscript's intention.

Authors, I hope this demystifies a little what an editor should do, can do and is capable of doing. Editors, I hope this educates a little and reins in what I've seen to be as overstepping boundaries and doing harm to author-editor relations.

Happy writing.

Building a better NaNoWriMo

Good morning everyone. It's October, which means it's practically November, and you know what happens in November -- I spend thirty days decrying the alleged goodness of NaNoWriMo, the month long event that turns people into writers and screeds into manuscripts.

But what if the event was different? What if I were in charge of it, how would it operate? Well, I mean, honestly, I'd do away with it at the first available second, but if I just had to have it, how would it be changed? Let's look at a few changes:

1. I'd remove the false hope that all you need is time, not talent. For too many people, NaNoWriMo is a hopeful time, where they race to smash words next to each other everyday for a month and in the end have a finished product. Not a good product. Not a demonstration of their talent. Not a showing of skill. Just words next to each other, hammered out day after day without too much thought because didn't you know novel-writing is basically a 5k race and it's enough just to finish? The false hope here is deadly, as people start thinking that all you need to write a "perfect" story is thirty days and a box to vomit words into. So the first thing I'd remove is that hope, and point out that writing is a skill and a process, and that writing a draft is PART of the longer series of events.

2. I'd elevate the status of the other parts of the process. Absent in NaNoWriMo are steps like editing and revision and getting unbiased eyes to look critically at your work. Gone are the steps that turn a stack of written pages into a cohesive manuscript, as if they're unimportant. Being that my livelihood is made in those steps, I'd say they're quite important. And they're not easy, but they will make you a better writer (ask anyone who has received editorial feedback).

3. I'd thin the herd. The FAQ for the site even goes so far to say this: "Aiming low is the best way to succeed" Pause here a moment, because that sentence infuriates me more than it should. The problem isn't that people should aim low, that's not the point in pursuing your dreams. You should aim high, but if/when you fall short, it should do two things: a) challenge you to work harder and smarter b) possibly make you readjust your goal. Everyone could use more (a), and in the NaNo case, a lot more people should make use of (b). Not everyone is cut out to be a writer. Not everyone is cut out to be a novelist. It takes talent, skill, time, and discipline (more discipline than 30 days of writing once a year), and the bar is set high so that people who do cross it have really accomplished something, not just churned out 50 shades of fluff and called themselves an accomplished novelist any more than if launching a bottle rocket on the fourth of July makes them a rocket scientist.

Is there anything wrong with spending November writing? No, but why aren't these people doing it during the other eleven months out of the year? If they really want to be writers, why is the rest of the year off-limits for their efforts?

And if you counter all this with "NaNoWriMo is for new writers, not really experienced writers" why teach new writers to aim low, churn out word vomit and not educate them on craft or the other steps in the writing process?

To me NaNoWriMo is not the best route to produce your best work. It won't train you to be better. It won't teach you about rejection or discipline or editing. It is a poor man's accelerated lesson in bad writing habits, and it needs to be changed from the ground up.

Happy writing.

Some Kickstarters You Should Support

For those that don't know, Kickstarter is a crowd-funding website that allows people to make financial contributions to projects they want to see become real. And that could be inventions, television shows, books, games, movies, fashion....pretty much anything.

I list today a few Kickstarters I think you should take a look at, and support. Now, I know the tiers say specific value amounts, but once you click to donate, YOU CAN NAME YOUR OWN AMOUNT. So yes, even $1 helps.

Disclosure - I helped with these Kickstarters.

Guide To Village By The Sea by Lillian Cohen-Moore (@lilyorit on Twitter) For those that don't know her, you should. She's a wonderfully talented editor, a marvelous person and very nice. She even interviewed me once.

Her project is a sourcebook (an informational resource) that you can use in your gaming, your fiction and your daily life, and you can find content in that will make an impression, because the Village By The Sea is an evil and scary place. So if you like horror, you like being unsettled and you want to make this project into something tangible, donate!

Project Ninja Panda Taco by Jenn of The Jennisodes (@jennisodes on Twitter). If you've ever wanted to take over the world, this is the game for you. Be a nefarious Mastermind. Be a helpful Minion. Conquer Earth. Have fun doing it.

Jenn and I know each other. We game together. We're friends. She's interviewed me. I've played this game, and it is better than a lot of the games I have on my shelf (I'm looking at you defunct publishers who don't support their back catalog). I edited this game, and can tell you that it really is a lot of fun both to just read through and play. (It's one of a handful of games: Ticket to Ride, Gloom, Forbidden Island come to mind) where I learned the whole game's mechanics in about 3 minutes (however long it takes to re-heat food) and have not tired of the nuance or play.

BONUS Kickstarter! Race to Adventure by Evil Hat Productions(@evilhatofficial on Twitter) If you love pulp then this board game is for you. Based on the Spirit of the Century game (a game very near and dear to me), this board game allows you to be pulp-hero and travel the world in search of treasure. Also, it's way more fun than a board game should be. I'm serious, it's obnoxious fun.

I mention this because one of the Unlockables (I love the way Evil Hat runs Kickstarters) is a Dinocalypse Expansion Pack....based on Dinocalypse Now, which you may remember is the book (the first of a series) that I edited. I really want to see this expansion happen.

DexCon happens later this week, and I've got two events on the docket:

1. The $1,000 Nights Black Agents Tournament -- Saturday afternoon, Ken Hite (he wrote the game Nights Black Agents) and I will put 30 superspies (including Sydney Bristow, Jack Bauer, Sean Connery, Ethan Hunt and someone named 'Codename Mario') through a gauntlet of challenges and scenarios as they attempt to confront a Conspiracy of supernatural horror and world-in-danger-ness.

2. The Writing Workshop At DexCon -- This panel is Sunday morning at 10am (NOT AT MIDNIGHT!! YAY!!) and I'll be speaking for about 2 hours on: "The -ations: Getting Your Project Off The Ground" as well as answering your questions about writing, editing and developing novels, games, and anything with words.

Aside from that, I'll be around all Convention (at Ken's panel Friday Morning, all over the Con all weekend, holding a discussion-breakfast Sunday morning pre-writing workshop (details will be on Twitter), so if you're in the area, come say hello!

Kicking Fear In The Teeth

Note - Yes I know it's Thursday, but I'm in Washington DC until early Monday, so I'm putting this up for the weekend. 

Before we start today's post, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to right now, wherever you are, to do something that puts a smile on your face. Look out the window, think about smacking your officemate with a stapler, have a glass of water....just do something to make yourself smile. Then come back.

Ready? I asked you to do that because I wanted to start this message on an "up" note - since today we're going to wade into the morass of our work and talk about what scares us. Then I'm going to show you how you can beat back that fear in three steps. I can't promise fear's permanent defeat, since that's on you and your vigilance, but I can promise to arm you better against it.

I know my fears. I talk about them. I have spotted them coming at me in the distance and have let them run me down as I stay paralyzed by them. I have also fought back against them, and at times make great strides forward and other times fall back....and I can't always tell the difference.

But I'm getting better.

I used to think that the whole "trick" to this was just in spotting the fear and calling it out - saying that "hey there's a bear coming to eat my innards" would somehow dissuade the bear from snacking on my inside parts. It didn't, but I took false confidence from my ability to tell you that I was afraid. I wasn't really making a lot of headway against the fear, I just sort of put my fear on display and let it keep me from the success that everyone thought I should have had.

Nope. That's not the point. You don't "win" just by pointing out the fear, you still have to do the things that scare you, still have to make it through those moments where fear puts cold sweat on you and your stomach somersaults. And you don't get to hide from it. I mean, you can hide from it, but you then get the additional pang of guilt or shame or frustration that you chickened out and didn't do what you set out to do.

My fears are all about completing things. I draw such a rush from new things, from that excitement and adrenalin of new tasks that I burn myself out on projects when we reach the middle stages. Forget end stages, you sometimes have to drag me kicking and screaming to the finish line. It got so bad for me that at one point I organized my life so that I would be forced, often catastrophically to finish things. Totally stupid. Totally my own doing. All because I was afraid.

What does that translate into for writing? Well, it turns into not-writing. It generates a lot of thinking, but not a lot of fingers-tapping-keys. Thinking, you say? Yes, thinking about writing, which turns into analyzing the pros-and-cons of that writing, which turns into choosing not to write because the ideas were more con than pro. So....to sum up, I talked myself out of writing because I was afraid of finishing and/or that what I was writing wasn't going to be "good" (that is, enjoyed by others)

Does that happen every day? Thankfully no. Has it happened lately? No, not really. I've hit a good stride (it comes from doing things I love and pacing myself) and am made happy every day by having good people around me and by looking forward to good things ahead (like my summer workshops and my fall classes).

So what tools can I offer you to kick your own fear and stop the scary bear from eating your guts? Here are three, although admittedly, I stole the first one.

i. "Say to yourself: These are just thoughts, they aren't truth." (credit to Brian Engard, a writer who really should be writing more things). This recently came up in his Jennisodes interview, and he's said it me at least four dozen times since I've known him. It's good advice. Just because you think it doesn't make it so. You can prove this by thinking yourself the owner of the world's largest chocolate bar or the person who in about to walk out of their room and onto the surface of Jupiter....thoughts aren't truth, they're just ideas that some part of us wants/hopes/dreads/desires/fears turning into truth. They're not the boss of you.

ii. The task itself is probably not that difficult. Let's look at what writing is. You sit in a chair, you press your fingertips against a keyboard in specific repeated patterns as to convey a story. There's no mention of marketing or queries or agents or returns on investments because that's not what writing is...that's what writing has included with it when you zoom out to the larger picture. But writing is just the act of story expression. And that's not difficult, because you sit and do that often. When you strip away the layers and look at just the barest essentials of the activity, you're also stripping away the fear-empowering expectations and the stress. (It gets very Zen, but don't be a dick about that, just know that you can focus on the act and enjoy it.)

iii. Do it for one minute. Then another. Then two minutes. Then for two more. As I've talked about before, the people who trained me to write and edit were old perverts. They were brilliant, but they were well aware that lifetimes of smoking and drinking were catching up to them and the fastest way to reach a young man's mind is through sexual metaphor. So when I was feeling disputatious and angsty one day, I got told "Just do it for a minute" and those sixty seconds flew by. In very small increments, you can accomplish a lot. Forget about, just dismiss the idea that "if you go at this pace you'll be doing it forever" because nobody's asking you to go at this speed forever, just for right now. Do you have sixty seconds to spare?

Practice these. Familiarize yourself with their wonderment.

Now go kick more ass.

Happy writing.