History Matters

Consider the history of the people you are writing about in your fiction. You can borrow from modern day events. However you should be subtle. Your prose should not sound like an essay. For science fiction, pay attention to the elements. What does the material do? Consider them from a scientific viewpoint.

Politics are a big deal. Some people wants to be more important than others. Who is in charge? How do people make decisions? The politics of the region are going to lead to conflict. This conflict is what will give birth to your story. If you don't have conflict, you won't have a story. Or you will not have a story that anyone wants to read.

Finally pay attention to the religion of your characters. What is the place of each character in their universe? Do the religions conflict with each other? How does science affect the religion? These questions can drive your plot in an interesting way.

Start with the Topography

I attended a talk on create the universe in which your work of fiction resides. This was supposed to be a presentation. However the guys opened the floor up for questions from the audience almost immediately. Nobody likes listening to an hour long PowerPoint presentation without time for questions.

In general you should remain driven and focused on your outline. That does not mean that your characters cannot have a small side quest now and then. Limit these to a chapter or two. One of the first jobs of an author is to acquaint the reader to the characters. You want the reader to be on the side of your characters, especially the good guys.

Give a little attention to the scenery of the place. What resources are available? You don't have to literally draw a map. But you should tell the reader the general size of the area.

Writing Mechanics

You should try out Google docs if your are collaborating with someone else while writing. Both of you can edit the same document at the same time. Now let's talk writing basics. It is best to take a top down approach. Produce an outline of your plot from start to finish.

Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Figure out what your story is about. Know your ending before you start. This allows you to add subtle foreshadowing right from the start. Make sure you actually do end your story srong.

It is good to also start out with some notes on what each chapter is about. Your notes don't need any sort of formal formatting. The start is most important. This is where you make your "elevator pitch". Get your reader hooked in the first 25 words or less.

World Building

Today I attended a talk on world building. This is the work you do before you write that novel. You don't need to finish this ground work before you start writing your text. But you should make an effort to understand it all.

Create a well defined set of rules for your universe. You don't need to explain all these rules to your audience. But the characters should be bound by the rules. There are exceptions. The bad guys can be breaking these rules. They are bad after all.

Plot is a tricky subject. You don't want to jump the shark. That is, you can't immediately come out with something big in your prose. Otherwise you will have to keep trying to raise the stakes. That just does not work.

Breaking into the Gaming Industry

On day 1 of Katsucon, I headed over to a talk on breaking into the gaming industry. The blurb on this session encouraged people to come with questions for the Q&A session. Well I showed up on time. There was some technical difficulties with the on screen projection at first. Then the presenter went into a massive Powerpoint presentation. This lasted until we got kicked out of the room. WTF?

I was really looking forward to a question and answer session. You know. I like to hear from the insiders at game shops. No such opportunity here. Big let down. I stay to the end of sessions I attend. This one was no different. I wish I knew this was just a PowerPoint review. I would have bolted really early. I could have read all this info online.

Katsucon 18

Today we checked into Katsucon 18. We are going all out this year. Reserved a hotel room for two nights. This helps us rest up a bit between hectic events. Also helps save on food costs. Last year we waited for hours to register. This year we planned ahead and preregistered.

Imagine our surprise when we found the preregistration line very long this year. If we waited to register at the event, there was no line at all. Go figure. You just can't win. The hotel is big. We spent a lot of time walking around even after we arrived on our floor.

As usual, there were a number of scantily clad ladies attending the conference. I liked the outfits where you could not guess whether someone was wearing a wig, or dyed their own hair. I was surprised to be informed that Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle was staning in the registration line just in front of me.