LH Babble

[laura]

I want to babble about my story! I don't really have much outlet for just talking about it, complaining about it, being wondered by it, without having to clog up the notes at the end of my updates. Maybe this can be a place for that? Especially since you all know the joys and frustrations of Sim-storytelling so well.

Like last night, I was having such trouble with this huge-ass multi-Sim update I'm working on, that should have been so simple! The problem always seems to stem from me having an image in my head for a scene that I can't quite get the game to do.

First, it was too dark for pictures in the early morning light, so I made it daylight (I'm suddenly envying Sims 3 players for their beautiful and intricate lighting!)

Then it started to rain! Dammit, I didn't want it to rain! I swear, I know it's spring in my hood and all, but there hasn't been a rainless day the entire season! And I'm talking about across several different lots! I'm usually okay with it, you know, just write it into the story, but for this particular scene, I want NO rain.

Anyway, so I grab a Sim and send her to the weather machine (this is after the lot debugger's "less rain" was a huge FAIL!).

And dammit Keri, could you just manage to clear the fracking sky without causing fireballs? Now, of all times? So instead of shooting my update, now fireballs are coming down from the sky, and I'm busy putting out fires (but hey, look, I discovered you can move-objects and delete fires - that's handy!)

But what sucks the most is my HUGE-ASS CAST OF SIMS all start running to see the fire! My HUGE-ASS CAST OF VISITORS all run off the lot and into oblivion. So now I have to teleport them all back in.

Dammit, Keri, you see what you did??? Was it asking too much? You weren't even that low in the green! Sheesh!

And that is the story of how a should-have-been simple one-scene update took me THREE freaking hours to shoot!

(I still love Keri, btw, I'm just a little angry with her right now.)

[thelunarfox]

LMAO! OMG I hate when that happens. Darn fireballs from the sky.

Did you know that there is a weather controller over at Paladin's place? Go to objects and then misc and it's called the Seasons and Weather controller. I sure didn't! Only found that out semi-recently from Mizzgin (with me that probably means I've known about this for a few months).

[laura]

OMG, thank you! I knew there must be something! This just made my life a thousand times easier!

[laura]

Just wanted to say I'm having SO much fun building my space station, lol! I'll share my progress in the gameplay notes to my next update.

Does anyone know of some good CC I might be able to use? I'm looking for communications and computer equipment especially... or whatever else might be needed inside a space station, lol! More research to do!

ETA: I'm going for realistic, by the way, rather than ultra-futuristic.

This guy's got a lot of stuff, all very Star Treky, obviously, but I might be able to use some of it: www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=756953

And after viewing this video tour of our current ISS, I think I might have my space station built on the moon rather than a free-floating station in orbit. What I'll need is more like a "home base" for all these people out there, and the free-floating station wouldn't be able to support much at all. Not even considering I'm writing about 70 years in the future.

But you know, good thing I am writing in the future, so I can say sure, why not, let's have a military base on the moon!

[heredoncove]

Are you building it in a separate sub hood Laura?

Now I can't wait for the next update but what else is new

[laura]

I've just put it in Abandia City, way off on the side of the map. And they'll have prisoner tokens so they're not caught wandering around anywhere.

I'm making you wait longer for the gameplay notes, lol! I didn't end up finishing the story part last night until 2:00 in the morning (OMG!), so the notes should follow some time today

[laura]

I'm in such a habit of writing ahead lately. I'm only in June of 2083 right now, and have the story pretty thoroughly drafted all the way through February of 2084! That's like 20-something updates, lol!

And last night, I wrote the end to my war (OMG!!!). That piece won't even come until well into the next round, but OMG I love it, and I can't wait to share it. (And I bawled writing it, lol!)

Does anybody else do this, sketching or drafting well ahead, and then you get so excited about a future story that you have to wait and wait and wait to share? That's what happened with the prom update I did last month - I had that clogging up my head for months before it was finally time to share it.

I guess the same goes for any traditional kind of writing. You have to wait until something is revised and polished, or published even, before you can really share it in any real capacity. I get all kinds of excited about my novel that nobody's seen yet - all excited on my own, lol!

(You know though, I just figured out that Wordpress has a password protected option for blog entries, so I might actually post an excerpt or two of this thing at some point - you know, so that it's not just wide open on the internet and everything. Anyway...)

So basically, my point being that I always have something cluttering up my head that I can't wait to get out. And then I'm laughing at some story in my head - or crying, depending on the story, which is much, much harder to explain, lol! There are always other things to come first: editing, revising, necessary story set up, and of course, in the case of Sim-stories, Simming it out

[girlyesterday]

I think you've done a marvellous job of LH. I mean that's dedication - you've had it gong for a while now and let's face it, it's one of those rare stories you can just fall into and get lost in.

That's a good way to post excerpts particularly from novels you want to publish (password lock it).

I do sometimes, draft well in advance and then have to sit and wait to share it. It's frustrating, especially if someone makes speculations that you really can't answer in case you give away spoilers. I don't always work like that though, sometimes I "wing it".

[thelunarfox]

I agree with Carnaxa. LH is like a story wiki. Too easy to get lost in.


I do the same thing. Getting excited about the things I want to share that I can't yet, and then having that stuff crowding around in my head while I'm trying to do other stuff. You should see my mind right now. Frustrating sometimes.

That last image reminds me of a quote Caranxa had on one of her blogs. Something about being a writer is like having an insane asylum in your head?

[laura]

Awww, thanks guys! I have a lot of fun with it, and I'm glad you all have fun reading it too

Yes, I always have a hard time knowing what to say when answering comments, lol! It's tricky business!

[laura]

Working on a Jodie story! Jodie is just an absolute joy to write! I love her!

That's all

[laura]

OMG, writing ahead again! This time a four-part story that's two "chapters" ahead of where I am right now, lol!

Don't you wish somebody would pay us to write our Sim-stories full time? lol! It's so much fun!

[raquelaroden]

I could definitely go for a deal like that...it really is too much fun.

[thelunarfox]

lol, I actually kinda do get paid to write. Here's what you do: Find a good job that pays and allows you to have a lot of free quiet time. Before I worked in a gift shop, but that didn't pay enough and there was a bit too much traffic. Now I'm a rental clerk for an apartment building, so I spend a good amount of hours a day daydreaming and writing.

[laura]

Oh sheesh! I just wrote one that made me cry! It's near the end of the round though, so you guys have some time to start collecting those tissues, lol!

[laura]

Working on a refreshing couple of updates after all the trauma I've been churning out lately, lol! Things should start looking up for little a while around LH-land. I think the next "chapter" should be mostly lighter than the last. Of course, I'm just giving you all a reprieve because the "chapter" after it is going to RIP YOUR SOUL OUT! lol! Or at least it's going to rip my soul out writing it.

Lunar, I forgot to reply, but that's an awesome idea, about the job! I did something like that in high school - I worked in a video store, and we never got any customers, so I was always writing, watching movies, flirting with boys That place eventually got shut down though because they weren't making any money. Oops, lol!

[thelunarfox]

So I've been meaning to ask you-- what do you do with the little bits of our soul you collect over time?

lol, don't feel bad. Video stores closing is just a sign of the times.

[laura]

I've been slacking on my novel this week to get excited about the next couple of chapters for LH, lol. The chapter coming up is about 85% written already, and the beginning of the next is written too. As long as these Sims don't decide to disagree with my plans, the next chapter should be a pretty easy one for me. Yay for that!

But even when I know where I'm headed, it still takes me forever to Sim-out my scenes. Probably about an hour per scene, on average, with about three or four scenes per update/story segment. Sometimes longer. How long are you all spending on your stories?... oooh, that makes for a good discussion topic! <-- reposting that as a thread

But anyway, I have some good stuff planned and I'm excited!

I have one more extra (a prequel) to post before I start the next chapter, but I wanted to share a peek of my new header. I'm itching to refresh the site, but I want to wait until the chapter starts

[laura]

(Writing well ahead... but no spoilers)

Do you ever feel bad for your characters? I do. Man, I put them through hell sometimes. This poor girl, everything is finally going fine, and she has no idea I'm about to shatter her world in about five directions. But sheesh, sometimes it just has to happen, you know? Not because she hasn't been shattered enough already, but because she needs to be stronger. I hope she comes out stronger, and not just broken

It's one of those situations though, where the driving force is the circumstances of everyone around her, all piled up, one on top of another, on top of another. And if she were a different person, it might not matter so much, but because she is who she is, it's going to matter.

Anyway... carrying on

[test baby]

This is a test, lol!