• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge #184 - "The Beat"

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Red

Member
Depends on what plan you get. The pricey one offers 3 credits a month. I have the cheapo plan.

You can also suspend your payments up to three months, which leaves you full membership benefits but without the monthly credit.

Sorry, it's 2 credits a month for $23, not 3.

You could do the annual sub and spend as low as $10/credit, but that's pricier up front. Nice savings in the long run.

Until a year or so ago some books cost multiple credits depending on their base price, but I don't think that is the case any longer. So like Team of Rivals unabridged was around $50 and required two subscription credits when I bought it, which would have saved me $20, but now it requires only one credit for a savings of $35.

Nezumi, you think the Voyage is worth the high price compared to the Paperwhite? I have been totally satisfied so far. The main benefits of the Voyage seem to be higher screen res and better build materials, neither of which alters the core experience.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Nezumi said:
Yes, one credit a month and when you don't use it they just add up.
Click to expand...

Yes, but note that there's a cap. If you hit six credits they stop accumulating. That's happened to me once or twice when I wasn't paying attention.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Cyan said:
Yes, but note that there's a cap. If you hit six credits they stop accumulating. That's happened to me once or twice when I wasn't paying attention.
Click to expand...

Oh, I didn't know that, but then again I think I never managed to accumulate more than two or three at a time.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Crunched said:
Nezumi, you think the Voyage is worth the high price compared to the Paperwhite? I have been totally satisfied so far. The main benefits of the Voyage seem to be higher screen res and better build materials, neither of which alters the core experience.
Click to expand...

For me the major selling point and the main reason I never considered getting the Paperwhite was that the Voyage has "buttons" for turning pages. I don't like using the touchscreen for that since it is really bothersome when I'm holding the Kindle in my left hand. If that doesn't bother you I guess the higher resolution alone might not justify the price. The automatic backlight is a nice gimmick but I normally adjust it manually anyway.
 
R

Red

Member
Afaik all you have to do is make a swipe gesture to turn pages, it shouldn't be any different which hand you're using. But that's not something I really think about. Maybe the buttons provide a better experience.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Oh, you are right O_O I totally didn't know that. I thought that it depended solely on which side you touch the page. I still love the buttons though just feels better in my opinion. Less additional movement required.
 
R

Red

Member
You can just tap. The page back function only activates in the leftmost 0.5" of the screen. It's not difficult to use left handed.

I understand about the buttons. Some people are passionate about buttons on their ereaders.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
My friend had one of the early kindles that had buttons and a keyboard. I didn't know they went entirely touch screen models until just now.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
They did until the Voyage which has pressure sensitive sensors on each side. So technically not buttons but the next best thing. In the end it is just a matter of personal preference and what you are used to, I guess.

The thing is that I wouldn't even have upgraded if I hadn't accidently destroyed my old one. It was perfectly fine already. But since I needed to get a new one anyway I figured I might as well upgrade right. But I don't think there is a need to do that when one has a functioning Kindle. They are all pretty awesome.
 
R

Red

Member
I got my Paperwhite for free due to a price error. Replaced a kindle keyboard with a gimped battery, that thing only lasted half a week. I do miss the headphone jack and built in speakers.

I like the Paperwhite much more than the original Kindle, due to the speed of page turning, the front light, and the higher res screen. The Voyage improves on those things but the second gen Paperwhite was the first Kindle model that hit my ideal stats all around.

Having a little trouble with the secondary this time. Songs with distinct narratives seem too easy. Doesn't feel right using someone else's story. Narrative songs are their own beast. Probably their strength comes from brevity. Many other songs feel too indistinct, at least their messages. I have an idea that I hope does justice to a song, maybe set of songs, but it might not work in the context of these challenges. We'll see.

Meanwhile "The Beat" feels like a free pass. "Beat" alone has like sixty definitions, it's a word that means everything.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
Finally came up with a good idea. I did some brainstorming about experiences I've had in the past. Should be interesting writing this.
 
R

Red

Member
I got nothing. I was at about 1000 words, but they were terrible. It's going to be tough getting something done this round. I think I'll spend the evening reading, maybe something will come to me.
 
I

Izuna

Banned
I tear up redrafting this...

Like the story is "there" but... there are some minor decisions I'm internally debating.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Statistically speaking, I feel like I should have had more difficulties coming up with stories over the years. I can only think of three or four that stumped me hard enough to produce something I felt completely shit about.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
I've kind of been lolling about this round. I have an idea kicking around, but I haven't put it down yet. I've been reading some stories and getting ideas for flow, though.

Starting this weekend I'm going to hammer it out.
 
M

mu cephei

Member
Thinking up ideas is the fun and easy part (so far). Writing it down, on the other hand, well. I went back and read the feedback for all the entries I've submitted to these challenges, and almost all of them said: 1. You cram too much stuff in; 2. You didn't explain stuff. I *know* these are issues I have, but I do it over and over. I will learn eventually. I hope. But my summary alone for this round is over 600 words so :(
 
R

Red

Member
Just try to stick to what's most important. The most essential parts of the story. Don't write only for us, anyway. Write what makes you happy and most satisfies the story you want to tell.
Mike M said:
Statistically speaking, I feel like I should have had more difficulties coming up with stories over the years. I can only think of three or four that stumped me hard enough to produce something I felt completely shit about.
Click to expand...
I usually power through when I get stumped and find something okay in whatever murk I'm wading through. But the past couple days have been a blur. I'm stuck at home watching the baby, I've had very little sleep. All day I've been listening to this:
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s278...f082b5c9e8ac/91b2efdf0bf3ab511958f97f3eb46ea7

Nonstop.

I used to listen to music and feel entire stories birthed spontaneously in my mind, from the seed of a line or instrumental break. I realize now, after the trouble I'm having, I haven't had the time to slow down and listen to music like that in a while, in a way that really communicates something to me. The last song that got to me was 12/17/12, back in January '15. So if one good thing comes from my struggle with this challenge it's the motivation to sit back and listen to music again.

I know the secondary objective is optional, but it's been such a block I feel like I have to do it.
 
N

NipplesAndToes23

Member
I haven't written anything either. When I first saw the thread I felt in a better mood to write and probably could have put something down then, but I had to take care of other stuff and forgot about it.

Now I still want to participate, but can't think of anything to write. Short stories for me are hard to really even get started compared to my novels, since short stories for me feel like homework. I write them to enter a contest vs my novels which had direct inspirations and the ideas been in my head for years.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
I haven't really written anything yet, other than a brainstorm of ideas. Working on that now though.

Speaking of listening to music, this made me realize I haven't sat down and listened to an album from beginning to end in a long time. I used to do that all the time. Not doing anything at all, just listening.
I feel like I haven't really found many albums that are worth listening to straight through, and also, I always have to be doing something. And there was a whole process to buying an album of a band I liked. I'd listen through it, each song, and pick my favorites. Eventually, after many listens, the hidden gems would appear and I would listen to the album with renewed perspective.

Now I just listen to mixes on spotify. I pick the songs I like and hit shuffle, or skip through until I find something that fits the mood. Things surely have changed (for me, anyway).
 
R

Red

Member
I had a story with spaceships, but it wasn't working. I don't have the skill to pull that off.
 
S

Sober

Member
izunadono, I was kinda like you, and even at an older age, I feel. Or around the same age when I started doing these challenges back in the 80s or something? That feels like a long time ago.

I was the guy who didn't really pay attention in english class or care about why were were reading Steinbeck, Shakespere, Lee Harper, etc. Like my younger self would laugh if you asked me about themes in fiction, it was like a waste of time to me.

Now my dream career is becoming a writer and wanting to write thematically deep, nuanced and rich fiction. Not books, but television. I mean yeah, it's commercial art, but there's still quite a bit of wiggle room in there even if it's not the most obtuse novel about a dying Swedish octogenarian who moved out into the woods and talks to his dead spouse in their head as they do chores and wonder if their life had any meaning.

And I still haven't read that many books, especially for enjoyment. Like I would say maybe a dozen or so through my lifetime, and I'm not 28. I think I've read more screenplays and teleplays than I have books at this point. Actually, I'm almost certain. That might also explain why my more recent writing challenge submissions have been in screenplay format rather than traditional prose. Because I want to practice that craft more.

I'm trying to rectify my thin book collection and I have some on the way. But it's like hilariously cliche what I ordered but I really should get around to it: 1984, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 911, Lolita, Lord of the Flies, and a few more obvious examples plus a few more.

So it's never too late to start. Take that from me.
 
M

MilkBeard

Member
Sober said:
izunadono, I was kinda like you, and even at an older age, I feel. Or around the same age when I started doing these challenges back in the 80s or something? That feels like a long time ago.

I was the guy who didn't really pay attention in english class or care about why were were reading Steinbeck, Shakespere, Lee Harper, etc. Like my younger self would laugh if you asked me about themes in fiction, it was like a waste of time to me.

Now my dream career is becoming a writer and wanting to write thematically deep, nuanced and rich fiction. Not books, but television. I mean yeah, it's commercial art, but there's still quite a bit of wiggle room in there even if it's not the most obtuse novel about a dying Swedish octogenarian who moved out into the woods and talks to his dead spouse in their head as they do chores and wonder if their life had any meaning.

And I still haven't read that many books, especially for enjoyment. Like I would say maybe a dozen or so through my lifetime, and I'm not 28. I think I've read more screenplays and teleplays than I have books at this point. Actually, I'm almost certain. That might also explain why my more recent writing challenge submissions have been in screenplay format rather than traditional prose. Because I want to practice that craft more.

I'm trying to rectify my thin book collection and I have some on the way. But it's like hilariously cliche what I ordered but I really should get around to it: 1984, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 911, Lolita, Lord of the Flies, and a few more obvious examples plus a few more.

So it's never too late to start. Take that from me.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm kind of in a similar place. I haven't read as many books as I should. There are some classics I definitely need to hit. When I was younger, it wasn't that I didn't care, it's that my attention was so bad I couldn't motivate myself to keep at anything of substance.
I agree about it never being too late to start. There was this older guy in my short story classes. He was probably in his 60's. One of my teachers joked about him being an alcoholic. That didn't seem to bother him, at least, he didn't quite get it. He just decided, he wanted to read and write stories. He was the oldest in the room by far.

I'm in the process of moving, and so I'm selling a lot of video games. I used to play them a lot for enjoyment, escapism, etc. but now I'm going to replace that time for reading books. I'm at least going to always be reading something lightly.
 
R

Red

Member
Sober, don't think of those titles as cliche. Those are some damn fine books. And don't undersell yourself by saying you stick to screenplays because you want to hone that skill. Screenplays are seriously tough to write.
 
S

Sober

Member
Whoops.

Crunched said:
Sober, don't think of those titles as cliche. Those are some damn fine books. And don't undersell yourself by saying you stick to screenplays because you want to hone that skill. Screenplays are seriously tough to write.
Click to expand...
Oh I don't mean anything by it, just that you know fiction takes many forms and novels aren't the end-all-be-all. Although to be fair with the level of ease that's possible to publish a novel I'd be remiss not to if I can find the time for it. But a screenplay is like another level of difficult, as your intention is to have it made.

I also did not go to film school nor am I really entertaining the idea. Good on those who have but I don't really know if there's much I can learn from doing a program on it, although I would like to be proven wrong (if only to terrify my poor life choices some more).
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Not gonna make it to the hangout today. I'm already tried as it is and don't want to drink any coffee this late just to stay awake.
 
I

Izuna

Banned
I wouldn't really be typing considering I've finished the draft(s), and any discussion on which one I choose gives away what I'm trying to do. I'll sit this one out. =P
 
R

Red

Member
I'm pretty much done but I want to get a second story written in the mean time. I'll join for however long I can.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Hangout starts in half an hour. Standard quick recap: it's on Google Hangouts, and the format is ten minutes of chat, then thirty minutes of writing with mics muted, repeated until we've gone for two hours. Webcams aren't required, though several of us will have them. Mics are recommended but also not required, as you can use the text chat.

The hangout link is (quote to see):

Note that Google Hangouts recently moved to a new format, which doesn't include the text chat. If you want to switch back, hit the three dots in the upper right corner and choose the option to switch to the old version.

Sounds like everyone's already finished so maybe it'll be empty. :p
 
JaseMath

JaseMath

Member
Kind of OT, but what application do you all use for writing? Is there an "industry standard" as far as app is concerned?
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
Hmm, I got some extra spare time this week. Perhaps this can be something, though my writing is quite esoteric and obscure.
 
R

Red

Member
I was going to try something different this round but it didn't pan out. 98% of the time I'm in google docs.

GDocs is nice because it syncs easily and allows editing on like, every platform.
 
C

Cyan

Banned
JasonMCG said:
Kind of OT, but what application do you all use for writing? Is there an "industry standard" as far as app is concerned?
Click to expand...

Notepad. Not even joking.

I use Word to publish to PDF for these challenges, and Scrivener to collate my Notepad writings for longer works like novels.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Starfield Devs Q&A Session
37
3K
Hendrick's replied
PS.Blog Game of the Year 2023: The Winners
2
81
5K
geary replied
Alone in the Dark | Review Thread
Analysis Review 2 3
136
9K
Alan Wake replied
The Invincible | Review Thread
Analysis Review
12
2K
wipeout364 replied
PlayStation VR2: 13 new titles and launch lineup revealed
News 2 3 4 5 6
282
17K
Lucifers Beard replied
Top Bottom