Trying to Decide My Next Project

[pwizdelf]

I really enjoyed the character setup for The Quiet Ones so that story has my attention. (I cast a vote for Posley's story, but Fauzia is already really fun after a few chapters, especially the ghost peeking into the kitchen and where Fauzia got her name and how she and her constable partner ended up paired together).

Your post in the other thread about endings made me think of something interesting/paralyzing me with indecision (haha but also hnnn) relevant to this story particularly. I have chunks of narrative for the characters at different ages, with jumps of years in between. It occurred to me the other day that I didn't have it nailed down how exactly I wanted to structure things within the CHYOA framework as I understand it, to allow these time jumps where a new section of narrative picks up, but to be able to still go back and do more slice-of-life threads for prior ages for these characters, and have them funnel into the same timeline as "just more stuff that happened to them around that age." I admit I'm dragging my feet doing the next Fauzia chapter because it's the first small time jump for them and I don't want to get myself set up wrong structurally and then be hating life trying to make the shit coherent for the next two hundred thousand words.

I'm so green here probably everybody already knows the answer to this. Is it linking? I just do branches off the earlier node and when I get to the "continue" part I just link it to the end node?

OK. I think I just answered my own question. But I'll post this anyway just in case I didn't and this is some famous newbie pitfall or it's nothing and I'm overthinking it.

 

[pwizdelf]

Your RPG notes and thoughts about Posley's backstory put me in mind of my favorite player character setup phase.

The RPG is "Diaspora", a FATE-based hard-ish SF game modeled on the world feel of Traveller, which adapts its chargen from FATE: Spirit of the Century. (It might suggest that Posley's revival is part of the chargen theme scenes).

1. Growing Up -- character's origin, their birth planet or space station, family or community, people, early life, personality. Write a short paragraph or scene that introduces them.
2. Starting Out -- decisions that put the character into the world, define their skills, social role, job or career, what connected them to space travel. What sent them into a larger world?
3. Moment of Crisis -- a scene that changed the character's life, involving the player character sitting table-right as an observer or participant. (Everyone's read aloud their first two scenes).
4. Sidetracked -- write your character's perspective on the Moment of Crisis of the character to your left. How did you happen to get tangled up in their life-changing scene?
5. On Your Own -- how has your character established themselves before play begins? What are their needs, goals, and choices that put them in the path of adventure and intrigue?

Each scene can also suggest character mechanics, perhaps skills or special abilities, or FATE's "Aspects" - a brief phrase defining part of a character's personality or behavior or circumstances, which has an in-game mechanic where an Aspect can bring story complications (with a reward for accepting the complication), or be used to resolve a complication. So an aspect with a phrase like "My backups have backups" could complicate the story by making the character late for an important meeting, or could overcome a complication like having their personal data unit confiscated and their network access cut off.

So perhaps Posley's Moment of Crisis is being revived by someone unfamiliar, and then being present at some dramatic turn of events for someone else in the rescuing crew. Or maybe the Moment of Crisis is what puts her into stasis and then there's a hook back to someone else from that time.

But mostly my thought was about how to anchor Posley's story to what people are doing in the setting and what might bring them together or put them at odds.

Anyway I like all of your story options A B C D.

Your comment on my chapter earlier had me thinking, huh, what Banks book do I relate most strongly to and have the most interest in its characters and in emulating that vibe. Since they kinda run the gamut. I'm not sure Excession would work though for kindling the sexy times because I think I'd just want to write a whole book of nothing but ship minds hailing each other and talking shit. Assuming nobody's done that. I was trying to remember if I've read Inversions and that was a day ago and I still have no idea whether I actually did. Possibly I should reread the Culture books one of these days. I don't remember shit apart from names of GSVs and stuff. Zero Gravitas and the like.

I'll do some chewing on Posley since there's so much interest. It'll probably be a while before I get developed because I haven't spent a lot of like, head time? in space settings compared with fantasy or regular world.

Thanks for the stuff you've checked out btw! Feels awesome to hear the cool stuff people have said.

 

[Zingiber]

Your post in the other thread about endings made me think of something interesting/paralyzing me with indecision (haha but also hnnn) relevant to this story particularly. I have chunks of narrative for the characters at different ages, with jumps of years in between. It occurred to me the other day that I didn't have it nailed down how exactly I wanted to structure things within the CHYOA framework as I understand it, to allow these time jumps where a new section of narrative picks up, but to be able to still go back and do more slice-of-life threads for prior ages for these characters, and have them funnel into the same timeline as "just more stuff that happened to them around that age." I admit I'm dragging my feet doing the next Fauzia chapter because it's the first small time jump for them and I don't want to get myself set up wrong structurally and then be hating life trying to make the shit coherent for the next two hundred thousand words.

I'm so green here probably everybody already knows the answer to this. Is it linking? I just do branches off the earlier node and when I get to the "continue" part I just link it to the end node?

OK. I think I just answered my own question. But I'll post this anyway just in case I didn't and this is some famous newbie pitfall or it's nothing and I'm overthinking it.

I think you have it exactly.

If you are sole author you have a great deal of freedom for how to organize and link sections of your story.

I could imagine branches from the story intro page for "about", "characters", and then different stages/development periods of your characters' stories. From each stage you could have branches for different episodes within that stage/period, and then a sequence of chapters/pages for that episode.

Link an end of episode to the period branch and to the next episode, once that starts.

Or whatever makes sense to you.

It's exciting to hear that you have a lot to work with already.

Make choices that keep it fun for you!

 

[Zingiber]

Your comment on my chapter earlier had me thinking, huh, what Banks book do I relate most strongly to and have the most interest in its characters and in emulating that vibe. Since they kinda run the gamut. I'm not sure Excession would work though for kindling the sexy times because I think I'd just want to write a whole book of nothing but ship minds hailing each other and talking shit. Assuming nobody's done that. I was trying to remember if I've read Inversions and that was a day ago and I still have no idea whether I actually did. Possibly I should reread the Culture books one of these days. I don't remember shit apart from names of GSVs and stuff. Zero Gravitas and the like.

I'll do some chewing on Posley since there's so much interest. It'll probably be a while before I get developed because I haven't spent a lot of like, head time? in space settings compared with fantasy or regular world.

Thanks for the stuff you've checked out btw! Feels awesome to hear the cool stuff people have said.

Another commenter already called out the title of the book which I recalled as Banks doing a fanfic on himself: Inversions. The doctor and the general appear to be Culture members embedded in a medieval intrigue story.

 

[Zingiber]

Oh wow your convention stories and your previously published work. <3 </3

Conventions were mostly a life un-lived ("choose your own adventure") after I moved for college and fell in with the tree-hugging, maypole-dancing, candle-blessing pagan revivalists.

 

[pwizdelf]

and fell in with the tree-hugging, maypole-dancing, candle-blessing pagan revivalists.

Preston, is that you?

 

[Zingiber]

Preston, is that you?

haha, not me (not a name I have ever used, or else I haven't seen that movie / series / graphic novel where Preston would answer to my bit of reminiscence).

 

[Caravahfx]

Probably C if you can add a mom & another brother in to the mix too. Let's spice it up

 

[huginn]

Probably C if you can add a mom & another brother in to the mix too. Let's spice it up

Endless Impossibilities: Chrissy (https://chyoa.com/story/Endless-Impossibilities:-Chrissy.52184) is already in existence. Go check it out.