Around twenty hours and thirty fragments into Final Fantasy XIII-2, I realized how much I miss the Chrono franchise. Sure, the Final Fantasy series still holds my attention far more than most RPG's, but the magic isn't quite as strong. At least, not until XIII-2.
Everything about this game screams out for me to dump an inconceivable amount of time into the game. It's too bad that the story, protagonists, and framework of the game kind of hurt it. Serah is an idiot, with ridiculous dialogue. Noel has an interesting past, and is a character I like to follow, but his ramblings about time are repetitive and don't drive the narrative. With all of the melodrama spread like fine butter over this story, it's a surprise to see that there was real potential here.
The antagonist, Caius Ballad (whose name is just as ridiculous as his giant winged sword), actually walks around with the real tragedy of the game. I won't ruin anything, but the things that happen around him are actually compelling, and could have made for one of the best stories in the franchise. There just isn't enough drive to the plot. However, I also think that if they locked the focus on the plot, it would have detracted from the gameplay. There could be a balance to be struck, with a longer story arc than exists, but it's not here just yet. I'm looking forward to the next two chapters, and the finale, because the game is actually quite good. Sure, it's not FFVI or even IX, but it's a sight better than X-XII, and pushes beyond the weaknesses of its immediate predecessors.
But there are other things going on in the world beyond this game. By the way, the Collector's Edition version is spectacular. The packaging is lovely, the art book a nice little addition, and the four disc soundtrack stealing the show. While I wish they'd kept the artwork from the announcement photo, it's not a hideous design. The soundtrack itself is...well...schizophrenic. The orchestral bits are pretty good, and there are some other moments that are alright, but all of the battle music is awful. Death metal fused J-Rock doesn't fill with me excitement when I'm cutting down giant monsters.
I just jumped back on the game for a second there didn't I? Okay, let's just move on.
Instead of working on my short story, Dead City Center, or editing my novel, currently titled either Crusader, Weakness, or something else...I'm writing this blog and playing this game. The short story I'm working on right now is a great little oddity, and an absolute blast to think about, but a nightmare to structure and write. I will be finishing, and then editing it. I want publication. A portfolio. I want work.
And as for work, I'm still at CVS, I'm working very hard, yes, and it sucks away a lot of time. I do like being at home more though, and life has improved in that regard. Spending more time with Jo just sweetens everything about my existence. Getting off work means more than it ever has.
So, here's the coming soon.
--Finish Dead City Center
--Edit more of Weakness
--Create a cover and Ad Campaign for the novel.
--Begin the kickstarter program
--Find a publisher for Dead City Center
--Beg some media types to do a story on the novel and its kickstarter.
Now, I do fully realize that no one will care about this beast of a book just yet. This will take a lot of work, and I hope that my friends will spread the word. Just a little share on their facebook page will be all that it takes.
And I pray that it helps with the stuff that is tabbed on my browser right now.
Let's see what happens folks...
Recent Library Additions:
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Collector's Edition (XBOX 360)
Sonic and Knuckles (CIB, Genesis)
Mortal Kombat II (32X)
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
News
Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Believe it or not, I have been busy. Since my last post, I ran a pretty heavy run with PopArma.com, and after that, I wrote a book. Yes. A whole book. Not just started, but completed. Sure, it's somewhere between a novella and an actual novel, but it's done and awaits the editing stage. Some who read this blog (I hope there is someone anyway) are probably wondering where my other work is, what this book I finished is, and what is next.
The book I finished is tentatively called Weakness, and is a fantasy novel deconstructing the character archetypes found in Japanese RPG's. It's a dark little book, and was written in just over thirty days as part of NaNoWriMo. I succeeded in writing 50k words in a month, and finished things off in the days following.
I know that this wasn't one of my earlier works, but it was one sitting in my head. It's done now. Once I edit the ugly thing, I'll get to work on finding it a proper home. But until then, I'm going to get back to The Alternative, which I've been working on bringing to prose. I have comic scripts that I need to go around deleting so I can get it published properly once I get it ready as well. But the fact is, those are my giant outlines, and I'm building the book around those. I have about 17k words on it now, and I plan to have it written by the end of February.
The editing stage for Weakness will be completed by the end of March by my best figures, and I will begin shopping it around a bit once the first ten to twenty thousand words are edited. I will then plan the editing stage for Alternative vol. 1 and begin writing book two.
People who have discussed book two with me (entitled Road to the West) know how excited I am to get to that one. They are probably wondering why I'm not so excited about the first one, and its simple: I wrote it once, and I'm having to rewrite it now. Sure. it's completely different, but it's still a repeated story. That and Road to the West is a book I'm genuinely pleased with in terms of direction. It has legitimate drama, I feel, and will be a better book than either Weakness or Alt. Vol. 1.
In other news:
I now work from a new office. In the past month, I have moved to Louisiana, and am settling in to do new things from my new living space. Hopefully some of it will make some money and I'll be able to do this kind of thing full time. But that is all in due time. I will probably have to get a second job to pay off school loans I accrued earning my degree, and that will definitely put a hole in my plans until I adjust. We will just have to see how it works out.
However, there is something exciting I'd like to announce though--I will be doing something game related, and I will hopefully do something on video as well.
I'd like to get back to video game blogging, and I have a lot of stuff to comment on. But the most exciting thing I have in my mind is a video review series unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm definitely going to have to experiment with it, but my workspace is arranged in such a way that I have a good shot at pulling it off this time. I just need to pick a title to do the first trial with.
In addition to the game review series, I'm looking to move to vlogging instead of the written thing. If I pair the series and the vlogs, I will do well to gather views and possibly get representation on a site where such videos are collected. However, a good portion of my vlog stuff will be oriented around my novels, editing, and the processes of getting them published. This is going to be part of my marketing if I self publish though, so we'll see what happens. I just hope I don't scare my viewers off with my dull narration of my own activities.
Anyway, now that I'm done clearing my throat to head into 2012, I'm going to go sit down with Alt. Vol. 1 and see if I can crack that 18k mark before the day is out, and start the new year off right with a daily word count exceeding 1000 and beyond.
The book I finished is tentatively called Weakness, and is a fantasy novel deconstructing the character archetypes found in Japanese RPG's. It's a dark little book, and was written in just over thirty days as part of NaNoWriMo. I succeeded in writing 50k words in a month, and finished things off in the days following.
I know that this wasn't one of my earlier works, but it was one sitting in my head. It's done now. Once I edit the ugly thing, I'll get to work on finding it a proper home. But until then, I'm going to get back to The Alternative, which I've been working on bringing to prose. I have comic scripts that I need to go around deleting so I can get it published properly once I get it ready as well. But the fact is, those are my giant outlines, and I'm building the book around those. I have about 17k words on it now, and I plan to have it written by the end of February.
The editing stage for Weakness will be completed by the end of March by my best figures, and I will begin shopping it around a bit once the first ten to twenty thousand words are edited. I will then plan the editing stage for Alternative vol. 1 and begin writing book two.
People who have discussed book two with me (entitled Road to the West) know how excited I am to get to that one. They are probably wondering why I'm not so excited about the first one, and its simple: I wrote it once, and I'm having to rewrite it now. Sure. it's completely different, but it's still a repeated story. That and Road to the West is a book I'm genuinely pleased with in terms of direction. It has legitimate drama, I feel, and will be a better book than either Weakness or Alt. Vol. 1.
In other news:
I now work from a new office. In the past month, I have moved to Louisiana, and am settling in to do new things from my new living space. Hopefully some of it will make some money and I'll be able to do this kind of thing full time. But that is all in due time. I will probably have to get a second job to pay off school loans I accrued earning my degree, and that will definitely put a hole in my plans until I adjust. We will just have to see how it works out.
However, there is something exciting I'd like to announce though--I will be doing something game related, and I will hopefully do something on video as well.
I'd like to get back to video game blogging, and I have a lot of stuff to comment on. But the most exciting thing I have in my mind is a video review series unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm definitely going to have to experiment with it, but my workspace is arranged in such a way that I have a good shot at pulling it off this time. I just need to pick a title to do the first trial with.
In addition to the game review series, I'm looking to move to vlogging instead of the written thing. If I pair the series and the vlogs, I will do well to gather views and possibly get representation on a site where such videos are collected. However, a good portion of my vlog stuff will be oriented around my novels, editing, and the processes of getting them published. This is going to be part of my marketing if I self publish though, so we'll see what happens. I just hope I don't scare my viewers off with my dull narration of my own activities.
Anyway, now that I'm done clearing my throat to head into 2012, I'm going to go sit down with Alt. Vol. 1 and see if I can crack that 18k mark before the day is out, and start the new year off right with a daily word count exceeding 1000 and beyond.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
And now for some...
words...
Yes, it's time to sit down and make my little word count meters move. I decided I'd warm up with a little bit of conversation on how I've spent my morning. It was a little bit productive, you might even say.
I have just bugged a few more editors about getting paid work, including another shout into the ear of the kind editor of The Escapist. I'm hoping that this will garner some attention, and get me a shot, or at least the bloody bullet. The last pitch I sent to Escapist warranted another rejection, but I'm not disappointed. It's just a rejection letter, friends, and if you write, you will see many of them.
In other news--The podcast seems to be doing okay for a hardly advertised bit of rambling about the state of the video game industry. I'd like to see more listeners, but then again, I'd also like to see more readers for this blog, which has a feature that I have spoken of, but have yet to introduce, which leads me to...
PAST GENERATIONS! I have two articles in the can, awaiting editing. I'm just looking for the right time to post them, and this just isn't it. Besides, I've only got five 32X games so far, and that's not enough to really launch this thing off in style. Perhaps I will find a few more in good time, and not go broke in the process.
Alright, enough babbling. I think I need to blindfold myself now, and see which of the giant manuscripts I will stab with it's pointy business end. Wish me luck.
Yes, it's time to sit down and make my little word count meters move. I decided I'd warm up with a little bit of conversation on how I've spent my morning. It was a little bit productive, you might even say.
I have just bugged a few more editors about getting paid work, including another shout into the ear of the kind editor of The Escapist. I'm hoping that this will garner some attention, and get me a shot, or at least the bloody bullet. The last pitch I sent to Escapist warranted another rejection, but I'm not disappointed. It's just a rejection letter, friends, and if you write, you will see many of them.
In other news--The podcast seems to be doing okay for a hardly advertised bit of rambling about the state of the video game industry. I'd like to see more listeners, but then again, I'd also like to see more readers for this blog, which has a feature that I have spoken of, but have yet to introduce, which leads me to...
PAST GENERATIONS! I have two articles in the can, awaiting editing. I'm just looking for the right time to post them, and this just isn't it. Besides, I've only got five 32X games so far, and that's not enough to really launch this thing off in style. Perhaps I will find a few more in good time, and not go broke in the process.
Alright, enough babbling. I think I need to blindfold myself now, and see which of the giant manuscripts I will stab with it's pointy business end. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Writer's Blocks
Nope, this is not a post about difficulty with writing. This is my post to show how unproductive I have been, and how I plan to measure my productivity, and give myself a little tool by which to shove myself into writing more. You know, because I'm crazy.
Providence
Alchemyst (Musician story)
Untitled Collaborative Piece (which I should really return to, and wrap up my segment...)
Sure, 75000 is a bit low, but I'm just using those as ballpark estimates. I don't really know what the final total will be, but these are my goals for the three prose projects that I am working on. Anyway...I am writing! It's happening! Keep watching my ridiculous little meters, and see how I come to the final numbers. Anyway, I'm going to see what I can do to get to 20,000 by the end of the week on Alchemyst. Also, I need to find a new title for that story.
Providence
Alchemyst (Musician story)
Untitled Collaborative Piece (which I should really return to, and wrap up my segment...)
Sure, 75000 is a bit low, but I'm just using those as ballpark estimates. I don't really know what the final total will be, but these are my goals for the three prose projects that I am working on. Anyway...I am writing! It's happening! Keep watching my ridiculous little meters, and see how I come to the final numbers. Anyway, I'm going to see what I can do to get to 20,000 by the end of the week on Alchemyst. Also, I need to find a new title for that story.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Logistics
I keep reading about Kickstarter, and hearing how everyone seems to be putting projects through this page and installing an audience through this lovely internet grassroots bit that everyone seems to fall in love with. I can't say that I don't support it. As a matter a fact, had I the money to pour into some of these projects, I would do it in a heartbeat, such as Michael Zulli's graphic novel The Fracture of the Universal Boy ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1151517311/michael-zulli-the-fracture-of-the-universal-boy ) .
Obviously, I'm going somewhere with this.
My team of artists are hard at work on getting our webcomic off the ground as I type this, and we're preparing some stuff as a preview to what we hope to accomplish with The Alternative. Also, there is a little mini-series that is currently rushing it's way towards production called Unabducted, which plays with the alien abduction story a bit, and I have loads left to do on it, but it's taking shape. If we can get ahead on the webcomic, it's going to come out this year, all three issues, and possibly a collection if there is interest in such a silly thing.
What I am sitting around thinking about is the possibility of doing a kickstarter fund for Unabducted, obtaining our fanbase for Alt through it's production and sales. Mind you, the sales would be absolutely moot considering if people donate money, I'm going to give them the bloody comic. I mean, I'm not some prick who wants people to pay me five bucks to see something happen, and then another four for a copy of it.
That said, here's the math, and why I think it's actually possible.
500 copies of the book, full color, will cost about 1600 dollars. Of course, there are fees, shipping costs, and other things such as the fact that I'm sure the artists would love to see a few bucks poured into their pockets. If I can raise $2000 through this website over the course of several months, I can line the artists pockets a bit, make the books, and have a name amongst...well...five hundred or so people.
If it's not yet obvious, I'm more interested in building a following. I want people to read this book, The Alternative, and help me find publication for the aforementioned sci-fantasy epic that I'm scribbling away at in several notebooks and on my computer. I'm trying to get started in this tiny little field known as comics, and make a name for myself as a writer.
Of course, all of this would be more likely if I spent more time scripting and writing prose than blogging and other stupid things. I would also have more time for all of it if I wasn't in school. Then comes the other end of the vicious cycle, work. If I didn't spend forty hours of my week at CVS, I could spend that same forty hours working my way through scripts and prose, all powered by my delicious muse, espresso.
Well, the only way to know if this is a good idea is to try it. Of course, I want to have something concrete before I go off trying something crazy like this...alright everyone, stay tuned.
Obviously, I'm going somewhere with this.
My team of artists are hard at work on getting our webcomic off the ground as I type this, and we're preparing some stuff as a preview to what we hope to accomplish with The Alternative. Also, there is a little mini-series that is currently rushing it's way towards production called Unabducted, which plays with the alien abduction story a bit, and I have loads left to do on it, but it's taking shape. If we can get ahead on the webcomic, it's going to come out this year, all three issues, and possibly a collection if there is interest in such a silly thing.
What I am sitting around thinking about is the possibility of doing a kickstarter fund for Unabducted, obtaining our fanbase for Alt through it's production and sales. Mind you, the sales would be absolutely moot considering if people donate money, I'm going to give them the bloody comic. I mean, I'm not some prick who wants people to pay me five bucks to see something happen, and then another four for a copy of it.
That said, here's the math, and why I think it's actually possible.
500 copies of the book, full color, will cost about 1600 dollars. Of course, there are fees, shipping costs, and other things such as the fact that I'm sure the artists would love to see a few bucks poured into their pockets. If I can raise $2000 through this website over the course of several months, I can line the artists pockets a bit, make the books, and have a name amongst...well...five hundred or so people.
If it's not yet obvious, I'm more interested in building a following. I want people to read this book, The Alternative, and help me find publication for the aforementioned sci-fantasy epic that I'm scribbling away at in several notebooks and on my computer. I'm trying to get started in this tiny little field known as comics, and make a name for myself as a writer.
Of course, all of this would be more likely if I spent more time scripting and writing prose than blogging and other stupid things. I would also have more time for all of it if I wasn't in school. Then comes the other end of the vicious cycle, work. If I didn't spend forty hours of my week at CVS, I could spend that same forty hours working my way through scripts and prose, all powered by my delicious muse, espresso.
Well, the only way to know if this is a good idea is to try it. Of course, I want to have something concrete before I go off trying something crazy like this...alright everyone, stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)