Studio Topia

New Projects

2010-06-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

Going back to grad school and taking a battery of friend-taught writing classes has left me with a whole mess of projects, all of which are vying for a piece of my brain, as well as a bunch of projects still in the "To Write" file.

I am currently working on a screenplay, a short story and a novel. Starting small and working my way up. The script and the novel are both part of my creative thesis; the culmination of my work in grad school, and the final work to be done in my MFA in Creative Writing.

A lot of work, to be sure. But a labor of love. And hate. But isn't that the way it always goes?

I'm Back

2010-06-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

So I got a bit wrapped up with another blog, then moving from Sacramento to Portland, then going to grad school...in short, a long series of events has conspired to leave this little slice of electric eccentrica unattended for the better part of a year. Well, here's an end to the hiatus.

Too Many Projects

2009-07-08T00:44:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, it gets a little hard trying to sort it all out when you suddenly get a HUGE flood of ideas. Here are my main projects right now.

Screenplays
1) Muse: A Japanese rock star travels to Seattle in a desperate bid to find her lost inspiration and save her band.
2) For the Love of Death: A teenage love story of life, high school, love...and death.
3) The Grey Butterfly: A cyborg assassin finds love and betrayal in the cold city streets of a colony world in the far future.
4) Dark Tamsyn: A sociopathic detective battles mobsters and crooked cops in the dark streets of Moonlight City.

Short Stories
1) The Only Book You'll Ever Read: A scientist creates the perfect book; a smart book that can read your mind and alter its pages to show you the perfect book. It seems ideal...except the book itself is smart, and has plans. For you.
2) Don't Call Me Basketcase: A young boy meets a schizophrenic girl and attempts to solve her mystery while dealing with his mother in the asylum.
3) Cold Fusion Graveyard: Two treasure hunters attempt to eke out ancient knowledge from the wreckage of a world that was destroyed by cold fusion technology.
4) Universal Asset Management Disaster Report 402A: A celestial accountant is assigned to tabulate the exploits of the galaxy's most disaster-prone man.

Must...concentrate...on....one...or two...projects...

Diversify Yourself

2009-05-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

You never know when something will come in handy. When I first graduated from college, I didn't expect my degree in Game Design to get me anywhere; I was just expecting it to give me what I needed to publish my own games. But lo and behold, it got me my first freelance job writing game guides. Come to think of it, my degree probably had a strong hand in acquiring all my other freelance jobs related to games.

As if that weren't enough, some of my recreational interests have also started to turn an unexpected profit recently. I am a long-standing sketch artist with an extremely bipolar relationship to the subject (love-hate, you know how that goes.) This affinity for analog art has landed me not one but two gigs, designing both a movie poster and doing storyboards for another friend's film.

I also have a long-standing interest in wargaming. I've painted and collected several different armies over the last twelve years, including:
-Dark Angels (my first)
-Imperial Guard (I had a tank division with more tanks than infantry)
-Grey Knights (one of my favorites, especially with the new models)
-Sisters of Battle
I've also painted orks, elder and chaos models when my brother was unwilling or unable to paint his own models. This interest in Warhammer 40k has attracted the notice of one of my customers at my p/t job, who recently contracted me to paint his models.

While all of these don't really add up to a full-time job, let this be a lesson to you: if you're good at something, there's always a way to turn a profit with it. It may just take you a long time to find it.

Getting Back on Track

2009-04-13T02:30:00.000-07:00

It's funny how things turn out. I know I say that a lot, but as time goes on, the more and more I think about just how strange it all is. Just as I was ready to shelve my script, I hear a little voice in my head that says "well you spent the time and money to print the damn thing, you may as well read it."

So I do. I sit down, I put on My Bloody Valentine (the band, not the 3D horror film) and I start reading. And it all comes back. I relive the drama, the burgeoning love, the heartache...and in a heartbeat, it hits me like a breaking wave. I remember why I wrote the script, why I created these characters. I wanted to feel life through their eyes, to see things as they saw. I lost that for a while, and I felt the loss as surely as if I had lost my own sight. But things change, and I found my muse.

Go out and find yours.

Shelf It

2009-04-10T10:07:00.001-07:00

Part of being a competent writer is knowing when something isn't working. While Writer's Block can play a part in things, there may come a time when a particular project hits a brick wall and you, in turn, need to take a break from it. It's not easy, and may be one of the most painful experiences of your life. But if nothing is happening and not because of Writer's Block, it may be time to put the project on the shelf for a little while. And I'm not talking "20 years" kind of "a little while."

Three to six months on the shelf can help you gather perspective on a project. You needn't ponder it every waking moment, or even think about it on a daily basis. Just keep it on the back burner, give it the occasional thought and come back to it when you feel ready to work on it (or when six months has passed, whichever comes first.) Putting something away for a little bit can give you a much-needed rest and prevent you from getting burnt out on something that has promise.

Let me reiterate: this process can and probably will be quite painful for projects you really care about. But as with so many things, you can prove your love for it by letting it go for a little while.

Keeping Sane

2009-04-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

As with so many things, my fiance pointed out to me yesterday that there may be something of a flaw in my logic. Normally, I pride myself on writing every day and doing things I find inspirational in order to fuel my work. My recent/ongoing bout with Writer's Block has forced me to reconsider this perspective and consider the possibility that by doing so, I may have inadvertantly burned myself out.

I'm sure some people can write every single day and not burn themselves out, but it seems that I'm not one of them. It took quite a while for me to figure this out, but I suppose it's better than I learn the lesson now and not when I'm in the midst of a mid-life crisis.

That being said, consider some new words of wisdom. If you find writing every day to be tiresome, don't. Write three times a week, every other day, every second day; whatever you find works for you. Try to find a balance of maintaining your creative steam and keeping your sanity intact.

My fiance was also kind enough to point out that perhaps I should enjoy the things I find inspiring simply for the sake of enjoyment. I had completely lost sight of the fact that I was using things I loved (not people, mind you) for inspiration, but wasn't actually stopping to enjoy them for what they were. Not everything needs to be a font of inspiration; it really is ok to just sit back and enjoy some things.

Death

2009-03-30T16:42:00.001-07:00

I recently read Neil Gaiman's "Absolute Sandman, Volume 2", which I procured from the local library. While the Sandman himself (the Lord of Dreams) is the focus of the story, I found myself rather more interested in his sister, Death (call me crazy, but I thought Sandman came off as a bit of a prick here and there.) Death is a rather interesting character. We all know what Death does, but Sandman put a different spin on Death that was radically different from the traditional skeleton in a black robe with a scythe.

I began to toy around with the idea of Death personified, and came up with some interesting results. Incidentally, shortly after reading Sandman, my fiance and I started watching a show called "Dead Like Me" on Netflix, in which the main character George dies and is brought back as a Grim Reaper. It's a really great show and is worth a rental if you like a good story with some comedy and drama mixed in.

I took a film course in college, the theme of which was Death and Dying in Film (I don't recall the exact title of the class.) We saw lots of movies which are now endeared to me. Harold and Maude, Death in Venice, and a few others. I seem to have developed something of a fascination with Death recently. Not in a morbid way, just a curiosity of sorts. It's funny what we find inspiring sometimes.

The Worst Thing

2009-03-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

There's nothing worse than feeling like you're in a rut. The thing you've done for years that feels as natural as breathing, now takes a monumental effort. You do what you normally do to get your creative juices flowing. You watch your favorite movie (Lost in Translation) and you barely make it through half. You put on your favorite album (The Jesus & Mary Chain: Psychocandy, in 12'' Vinyl) and listen to one of your favorite songs: "Just Like Honey." It should move you. You should feel like everything will be all right, like you can get through anything, like every other time you've listened to the song. But you don't feel all right. All you feel is numb.

It's like grieving. Part of you is dead (at least temporarily,) and like death and grief, you go through distinct phases.

Phase 1: Denial. No, it can't be. It just can't. It came so easily before, it's just a little...hiccup.
Phase 2: Anger. Dammit all! Of all the fucking bad luck, why me? It's not fucking fair! You're right. It's not. Some people go their whole lives without facing what you're dealing with, and they will sell more books than you ever will. It's just not fair.
Phase 3: Bargaining. Well what if I allot myself a little time? Call in sick to work for a couple days, get things going again? That's what I need; time. If only I had more time, I could get things back on track.
Phase 4: Acceptance. When you've gone through all the shit and you come to the cold, hard truth of the matter. It hurts, more than almost anything else in your life. You've heard enough about it, heard lots of writers speak of it, but you've never experienced it before. Now you're in it, and it burns like hellfire.

Think of it this way: a star quarterback breaks their leg the night before a big game; a painter gets their hand crushed. It is the most awful feeling in the world, to know that it will take all you've got to now do what used to be the easiest thing in the world. You've got to soldier forth, rally all you've got and get back in the game (metaphorically speaking; playing football with a broken leg is just stupid.)

It'll take a mighty hard kick in the ass to get yourself going again, but it has to be done. And chances are. nobody can do it but you. You want to cry, and maybe you do. Maybe it'll help, maybe it won't. In the end, it won't change the truth at the heart of the matter: you have writer's block.

Another Piece of Good Advice

2009-03-05T00:11:00.000-08:00

I read this many years ago, in a book on screenwriting. It's great advice though, and can apply to any piece of writing you wish to invest yourself in. The advice is this: treat your script (manuscript or whatever) as if it were your significant other. Now this doesn't mean literally; you needn't sleep with your script in your bed. What this means is that in order to condition yourself to make time for your script and to treat it like the fantastic work of literary greatness that it is, you need to personify it a bit.

Think of it this way: if you run out on a date, your date gets pissed and will treat you like crap for treating them like crap. The same will be true of your script. If you neglect it, you will find it very hard to come back to after a long hiatus. If you care for it, tend to it's needs (and believe me, they have needs) and work on it when you're supposed to, it will treat you much better.

I know this may sound a bit strange, but think of it this way: our writing is the embodiment of ourselves, of our wishes, hopes and dreams. If we don't care about them, why should anyone else? If we work hard to make them a reality, our efforts will be repaid many times over.

Think about that the next time you decide to blow off working on your project in favor of something else. While you needn't spend every waking moment with your project, it deserves some attention.

Why We Write

2009-03-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

It can't have escaped any chronic writer that their motivation for writing is rather unique. There are a million different reasons people write. To make money, to persuade, to inform, to entertain, to terrorize, to enthrall, to tell the story that hasn't been written (and I don't believe for a second that every story has been told already.) One of the more interesting reasons I heard a friend and fellow writer give for his motivation for writing was this: "my head will explode if I don't." My sentiments were similar. I too have felt a strange compulsion to write and a curious sense of disappointment with myself when I don't.

My own motivation for writing is a bit metaphysical, but is one I'm sure many writers can relate to. As I continued to write more and more, I found that my head was becoming cluttered with hundreds of people: the characters I had been creating. Each one was, at least in some small way, a reflection of myself. Some looked like me, some acted like me, many of them talked like me (which, for those of you who know me, makes for a unique and..."colorful" character) but all of them had at least some small part of me in them.

On the days when I don't write, I can almost hear them talking to me, asking, begging, pleading to be let out. I don't do this by dressing up in a costume or pretending I'm somebody I'm not; I do this through my writing. When a character speaks on the page, that dialog is a reflection of what the character is saying in my head. Crazy no?

I believe that finding the motivation behind your drive to write is important. It's not of paramount importance, but knowing why you do something is almost as important as doing it. We all know that we'll go crazy or die if we don't eat or sleep. Me? I'll go crazy if I don't write. There are a myriad of people who make up the person I am. They are the mental manifestations of my hopes, wishes, dreams and nightmares, and they help make up the person I am as a whole. I can't ignore them, for to ignore them is to ignore myself.

This is why I write: to give voice to the parts of me that are not normally seen. Why do you write?

Some Good Advice

2009-03-04T23:58:00.000-08:00

I've read a lot of writing books, some with advice more valuable than others. I have yet to read a book that I felt was a waste of my time. Some have simply been more valuable than others. Incidentally, one of the most valuable pieces of advice I ever gleaned from a book, I can't remember where I read it. Go figure.

The advice was simple: write every day. Even if you just sit in front of MS Word and type "I can't think of anything" a few hundred times, at least you're in the mindset to get things going. That's really important for all creative people, but especially important for professional writers. I've had more than a few days when I woke up and the last thing I felt like doing was writing. It takes a monumental effort on some days just to get your ass in gear and turn the computer (or typewriter) on and do anything even remotely productive with it.

It's equally difficult to find the time to write when you're writing both for business and pleasure. When you've spent a whole day working on a freelance project, one of the last things you'll feel like doing is writing some more, even if it is for yourself. But you've got to.

This is the best advice I can give to any aspiring writer: write ever single day. It doesn't matter what you write, so long as you sit down for at least an hour or two and write.

Pick your first job carefully...

2009-02-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

It has not escaped my attention that finding a job these days is tough for just about everyone save those who don't really need jobs except to make payments on their third house (and if you're saying to yourself "Ha! That's me!", then send me a grant. I take cash, check, money orders and Paypal.) For the rest of us, we'll take work where we can get it. I would advise caution to the young people (read: high schoolers.) Be careful where you get your first job.

I'm not that old; I'll be 26 this year. I'm old enough to know how the job market works and young enough to remember my first job quite vividly. I worked at a local drug store in Sammamish, WA. It was a pretty good job, as far as first jobs go. I wouldn't want to do it forever, but I don't regret the time I spent there. HOWEVER...having a first job in retail has had repercussions for me.

The economy was in the shitter as I was exiting college (even before people were throwing the word "recession" around, we had a feeling of what was on the horizon,) and I found myself unable to get a decent job. I went to the career center at the university and asked for help. I met with a recruiter for a job who's description was horribly convoluted, then the career counselor happened upon my retail experience. This led to a phone call, an interview, and my first stint at a prominent office supply store, which lasted 14 months, until I moved down to California.

Two and a half years later, I have been compelled to return to the same office supply chain (albeit a different store) for financial reasons. I still maintain my status as a freelance writer, but I'll be honest and say I'd rather be doing something else. And it wasn't for lack of trying. I had applied for hundreds, perhaps even thousands (I shit you not) of jobs before I put my application back into the retail market. I got next to no callbacks in hundreds of applications and eight months of job hunting. Not a week after I put my app in at the store, I get a call. I go in for an interview and a fortnight later, I have a job.

Now don't get me wrong; I do not begrudge my job, and I fully intend to keep doing it until something better comes along. I do not resent my return to retail: I do what I must to feed my family. What I am pointing out here is that I have observed a strong correlation between the first job you get and a lot of future jobs you will have. I know most young people don't have a clear idea of what they want to do after high school (I know I sure didn't) but I strongly urge you to at least consider a job that you would find enjoyable BEFORE you leave high school. Even if you don't start down that career path, at least shadow someone in your industry of interest or take part in an internship.

This phenomenon has also made it's way into my freelancing life. My first gig was writing game guides. I still do this today and the majority of my writing work (read: all of it) has been of a very similar nature to the guides I began writing. I pride myself on being able to write anything, given a style guide and a deadline. I needn't limit myself to writing about video games and as a matter of fact, at this point, I'd prefer not to. But that's all the work I can seem to get. Why? Because that's where my experience lies. It doesn't seem to matter that I have a BA with an emphasis in other fields and that I can provide samples that prove my ability to write something other than a video game strategy guide. All that seems to matter is experience.

That's why, young people, you should think long and hard about your first job before you automatically start working. Sure, it'll pay for your car insurance, your new iPhone or whatever it is you're after. But believe me when I say that your first job may well stay with you a lot longer than you intend it to.

Take it with a Grain of Salt

2009-02-06T02:19:00.000-08:00

When you tell someone you're a writer, a screenwriter or nearly any other profession that involves creating something, almost invariably, you will hear the phrase "Have you seen/read/heard (insert media here.)" In order to maintain your sanity in the face of this constant bombardment, it is imperative that you learn to take these comments with a grain of salt.

I initially went to college thinking I was going to study film and become a professional screenwriter. While that goal hasn't changed, it did take a significant sidetrack (long story.) Whenever I told someone I was a film student, I almost always heard the dreaded "Have you seen (movie that speaker believes to be the best movie ever)?" At first I let it go, but it started to grate on me after a while. Something akin to "who the f*beep* do you think you are, telling me what movies to see? Like you know everything there is to know about film criticism!" It drove me nuts.

But as with most things, you do wise up as you get older. The questions stopped coming when I got defensive, but after a while, I came to realize that when people ask you something like that, they're usually not trying to tell you your business. Rather, they're simply trying to connect with you in some kind of meaningful way, as is human nature to do. Let's face it, not everyone is content with small talk ALL of the time. It gets us by, but eventually we want to get to know someone better, and I like to think I'm the kind of person who merits more than a few words with.

That being the case, just try and remember that people who ask you if you've encountered something are not trying to be mean; they're simply trying to learn more about you and your experiences. And while you will probably be bombarded with these questions at family reunions and other gatherings which involve more than three people, just remember to take them all with a grain of salt.

Of course, if someone comes up to you and proceeds to rant and rave that "you've just got to see In the Army Now, it's the best movie EVAR," you can tell them what they can do with that.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #13: Music

2009-02-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

Many artists have commented that music is a huge part of their lives. I recently flipped through a collection of artwork by Keith Parkinson called Knightsbridge (an excellent book, full of really cool art and amusing commentary by a commercial artist.) At the end, he has a Q&A in which he is asked if he listens to music while he works; he does, and his taste is quite varied. It runs from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Metallica, to classic and books on tape. Quite a variety.

Several people have asked me what I listen to while I work. It's hard to say; I tailor my playlist to the task at hand. When I'm doing "work work", I generally prefer something upbeat to keep me going. Dance and 80's work well for this. When I'm working on a script or a story, one of the first things I do is sit down and decide on a playlist. Music has a tremendous effect on me and holds a lot of power to make me feel one way or the other.

For example: if I listen to Orbital - Halcyon+on+on, I'll feel like everything is right with the world. If I put on The Boomtang Boys - Pictures, I'll feel like I'm in high school again. If I put on Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers, I'll feel like it's time to go to work (thank you Kevin Smith.)

With that in mind, my taste in music is extremely varied. I could say "I like everything but rap and country," but that's the half-assed generic way of saying "I am agreeable to most any musical selection that does not originate in the American southwest or the contemporary American urban landscape." But again, my musical selection varies depending on what I'm going to do.

When I'm working on a noir story, I listen to predominantly Jazz. I like anything that has a sax and a piano, I don't care who plays it. Yoko Kanno did some great jazz for the animes "Macross Plus" and "Cowboy Bebop."
When I'm working on an action story, I like to have battle music from video games; the Final Fantasy series works well (specifically, FFVII: Advent Children.) Paul Oakenfold and the animes "Fullmetal Alchemist," "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and "Otogizoushi" all have excellent battle music.
For my current project, Muse, I have quite an interesting selection. Because the story has an undercurrent of "East meets west" and "Japanese punk rock meets Seattle Grunge", I have both grunge and J-punk. Malfunkshun, Pearl Jam, 7 Year Bitch, Hi-Standard, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, The SS, The Stalin and Soundgarden. For variety, I like to throw a little Shoegazer in too, mostly The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine (funny, I seem to have a thing for picking up trends about 20 years too late...oh well.) Yeah, I did my homework.

Bottom line: don't take what I listen to as "inspirational music" to be the definitive soundtrack of inspiration. While I may find A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Story to be inspirational, you may not. You may think "shit dude, what's with the 80's kick? Didn't Mike Score's hair go out of style like 20 years ago?" While I could counter with "at least A Flock of Seagulls has garnered critical acclaim in the last twenty years. How many of your teeny-bopper-wanna-be-rock-star bands will still be talked about twenty years from now?" that would be missing the point entirely.

The point is this: find the music that inspires you and play it as often as you need to. If Gwar gets your creative juices going, then go find some Gwar albums (just remember that you have neighbors when you play it and they probably know the landlord's phone number.) Don't let anyone tell you that something is the best music out there for inspiration. As much as I'm going to get blasted for this, not all of us find The Beatles to be inspiring. And on that note, bring on the flames.

The Right Film at the Right Time

2009-02-06T01:37:00.000-08:00

For better or worse, the movies I watch irrevocably shape who I am. Ever since E.T. scared the crap out of me as a kid, I've had a phobia of aliens (with no small irony that the Aliens series is one of my favorites.) Ever since I first saw The X-Files, I've been paranoid about being along in a house at night. When I first laid eyes on Macross for the first time, I fell in love with giant robots. Now one might make the argument that not all the things I just mentioned were feature films, but that's beside the point. The point is that the right film at the right time can change your life and who we are is indellibly altered by the most meaningful films we see.

For example: I recently saw Almost Famous again, and was utterly delighted. I love it for it's story, it's humor, it's drama and the music. But more than anything else, I love it because it defies boundaries. It does not follow the typical "boy meets girl..." formula. At first, this was a big turn-off for me. I remember seeing the film a long time ago (presumably around the time of it's release) and being really pissed off that William didn't wind up with Penny. But when I watched it recently, I realized that he didn't have to; that's not the kind of story it was. And that was ok. Not every story needs to end with the hero and the love interest walking off into the sunset together.

One of the most influential films I have ever seen only walked into my life in the last year: Lost in Translation. I had meant to see it when it first came out, since I've always been a fan of Bill Murray films, but for whatever reason, I didn't get round to it. In hindsight, if ever there was an event that proved the existence of God for me, this was it. Me not seeing this movie when I intended to turned out to be one of the greatest events of my life.

Fast forward to mid 2008. I've got a full Netflix queue and somehow, Lost in Translation slips in under the guise of "movies I meant to see but didn't." It arrives, I watch it, and to quote another one of my favorites, "the cosmic tumblers click into place and the universe opens for just a minute to show you what's possible" (five points if you can tell me what that's from. Hint: it has something to do with a corn field and a major American sport.) I was inspired, more so than I have ever been, and I've had some pretty inspirational moments. I decide in a heartbeat that I want to get back into screenwriting, after a four year hiatus. I sit down and eleven days later, I have a complete draft of a 117-page screenplay in front of me.

For me, Lost in Translation was, in every way, the right film at the right time. It has taken it's place beside Blade Runner as my favorite movie of all-time (and those of you who know me know I'm a HARDCORE Blade Runner fan.) If I had seen it earlier in my life, I honestly don't think I would've "gotten it." It isn't a film that appeals to all, and it takes a certain kind of person to enjoy it. While the hooker falling over Bob is raucously funny ("Please! Don't lip my stockings, Mr. Bob Harris!") it gives way to a much more serious story about two people who are utterly alienated by their home situations and have been throw together in very strange circumstances, but somehow find that they are the missing piece in each other's lives. The best part is that their relationship isn't wholly romantic. If I'd have seen that earlier in my life, I wouldn't have understood.

Bottom line: keep an open mind. You never know when something is going to click into place for you.

Business Cards

2009-01-14T20:23:00.001-08:00

I decided to make some new business cards. They're handy to have, and the old ones needed some updates.

Here's the front.

And the back.

Let me know what you think! I'm thinking of offering some small-scale desktop publishing services. If this is something you're interested in, drop me a line. You've got my card!

Tips for Successful Freelancing #12: Tax Season

2009-01-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Many people will tell you to wait until the last possible moment to file your taxes so that you can hold onto your money as long as possible. Me? I like to get them done and out of the way as soon as possible so I don't have to worry about them and I don't have to shit bricks come April.

I have received requests for tax software recommendations. I personally use H&R Block: TaxCut, on recommendation from a friend. I have used it for two years without incident, and find it to be relatively painless to use. The version I use, Basic+State (I need the State because I live in California,) costs me around $37, but considering I only need it once a year, this suits me just fine. It is user-friendly, can be used from year to year (provided you remember your password or have the foresight to write it down) and makes e-filing a snap.

Remember that as a freelancer, you are considered self-employed. As such, you can write off a bunch more on your taxes in the form of business expenses. Take a look here for a good list of Deductions and Credits you may be able to claim this year. The TaxCut software I use is also able to determine the appropriate deductions and credits; doesn't get much easier.

http://taxes.about.com/od/deductionscredits/Deductions_Credits.htm

CACPs and You

2009-01-12T19:26:00.001-08:00

While I was on my way to work today, I hit a little traffic and had a Douglas Adams moment. Allow me to explain.

There are times when, in moderate to heavy traffic, the jam will, for no discernable explanation, clear as suddenly as it started. I have dubbed these points where traffic seems to return to normal, "CACPs" or "Completely Arbitrary Choke Points." They are points where, for no visible reason at all, traffic goes from very slow to normal. They only occur in random places, and never near on-ramps, off-ramps, landmarks, accidents or indeed anything notable at all. The reason for their existence is unknown, but is possibly linked to a prominent SEP (Somebody Else's Problem) source in the local area.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #11: Picking and Choosing

2009-01-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

Depending on where you work, there may come a time when you find the need to seek some different clients. A lot of new media (most notably websites) offer a good work package for part-timers and people who are just looking for supplemental income. They offer flexibility in assignments (most let you choose your own topics), quick turnaround time and a monthly paycheck. The downside is that their rate per word is, in a word, terrible. While you might consider the work decent for the time involved and the other benefits (the aforementioned flexibility in assignments, quick turnaround time and the guaranteed monthly paycheck), these types of clients are usually unviable as a source of primary income.

Consider this: you write 500-word articles for a website. Your payment is $10 each (fairly standard), you can write about 50 of them in a month (some people can write more, but this is a good ballpark) and it takes you a grand total of around 60 hours/month. Per hour, that's around $8.33; a pretty bad wage. Considering the low rate per article and the number of articles you can crank out in a month (and many of these clients will either have a limited number of articles you can write or dole out topics based on a calendar system, which does not guarantee you any articles in a given month), you're pretty much better off with your day job, even if you work retail (minimum wage in California is $8/hour. Less per hour, but consider that even if you work part-time, you will still make more money per month.) Consider that $10 for a 500-word article equals 2 cents/word. That SUCKS unless you're getting paid by the word an are writing a document longer than 200,000 words. And if you write >500 words/article, the rate gets even worse!

Should you find yourself relying on quick-content clients for a primary source of income, it's time to seek other employment. Now, I'm not telling you to avoid these clients; far from it. They are an excellent source of quick income and in the world of freelance writing, a monthly paycheck is a wonderful thing indeed. I'm just saying that they are not the best source of income for the full-time freelancer. If you can afford to freelance full-time, you can afford to find a better gig that pays a lot more per word.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #10: Balance

2009-01-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

Working as a freelance writer does not mean that you must be pounding a keyboard all day. There are other essential tasks which being a freelancer necessitates, not all of which require a keyboard. Of particular import to writing, is editing. Many writers believe that their status as writer absolves them of the responsibility of editing their material. They are sorely mistaken.

For starters, not all freelancing gigs come with an editor. If you've got one, count yourself lucky. Editors perform the vital service of informing you that your writing is not perfect and how you can go about improving it. Without an editor, you'd better get damn good at editing your own work. Handing in an unedited work brands you as unreliable, and can adversly affect your reputation as a freelancer.

You needn't go all out and rewrite a document 12 times before handing it in. Just give it a good once-over with spell-check and your own eyes. I say "and your own eyes" because if you don't already know, spell-check is not infallible. Print the document out if you need to. I strongly recommend doing this, particularly if it is a long document and you have no editor. Reading something on paper is very different from reading something on a screen. Most of us will catch things on the hard copy that will be missed on the screen copy. I know I always catch more when I'm reading a hard copy.

Think of writing and editing as Yin and Yang. One is light, the other dark; you cannot have one without the other; both are necessary to maintain harmony and balance. Even if you have an editor, you should still give your work a good look-over before handing it in. Make their life easier. If you find that yourself consistently handing work in unedited because of time constraints, either take a time management class, cut down on your workload, or both.

Lastly, remember that there are other things besides writing you must do to remain a successful freelancer. Doing your taxes, keeping your area clean and looking for new clients are all jobs that can be counted as "work" but do not require writing. Being a writer requires you to be more than just a writer.

Look Before you Leap

2009-01-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

Despite the glib and hopeful tone of the last post, the jubiltion inherent in finding new work has been marred by recent events. I'm glad I thought twice about my day job, as it turns out that the new contracts I picked up have proven to be less than I hoped for. Don't get me wrong; they're still useful for some supplemental income, and I intend to do my work there to my fullest. It's just not all the pay I had hoped for.

It's not the client's fault: the pay is as-indicated in the postings to which i responded. It's just that one of the gigs pays over time and is a great long-term investment, and the other is currently unable to provide me with enough articles to make any decent money. So, what has become a previously hopeful outlook has faded to "ok honey, how quickly can we scramble out of this hole we've just fallen into?"

I'm trying not to assign blame, but it's hard. There are a lot of people who are indirectly responsible not only for our plight but for millions of people in California and the rest of the nation who are suffering similar budget woes. I won't name names, but those responsible: I hope you got coal in your stockings. No wait, strike that: coal is useful for generating power and making steel. I hope you got a bunch of past-due bills and bogus credit card offers in your stockings. HA!

Bottom line: Give it a little time before you take the plunge and ditch your day job. In today's next-worse-thing-to-the Great Depression economy, you can never be too sure of your financial fotting unless you're rich. And if you're rich, give me a grant.

Letting Go

2008-12-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it becomes necessary for a freelancer to let go of their day job. While I normally tout the usefulness of day jobs, there can come a point when you have enough work to make a day job superfluous. If you have reached such a point, congratulations! You have done what it takes to make yourself a full-time freelance writer! With this newfound independence comes great responsibility (meeting lots of deadlines can and probably will be tough, even for the best of us.)

Also remember that it is important not to rest on your laurels. Keep seeking additional freelance work until you absolutely cannot take anymore without missing deadlines. This ensures that you not only have the financial buffer to make up for/exceed the income your day job provided, but that you have a cushion against unforseen circumstances.

There are two critical things to consider before you leave your day job. The first is the most important: can I afford to leave the day job? You may encounter a strange situation that leaves you in the position of having lots of work, few hours to do it in and not enough money coming in. If this is the case, seek higher-paying gigs. The bottom line to consider is if leaving your day job will leave you in a financial void. If leaving your day job gives you more time but strains your budget, consider asking a fellow writer (spouses/significant others work great) for help. Most good friends or spouses, should they be of the writing inclination and have some spare time, will be more than happy to help you meet a few deadlines until such time as you can either get better work or cut down your day job's hours.

The second thing to consider is that you may have to go back to your day job. I know, that's the last thing you want to hear as you leave the office/store (or wherever) for what seems to be the last time and enter the world of full-time freelancing. But don't let it fool you; with the economy the way it is and with unemployment at an all-time high, that seemingly rock-solid gig can turn sour and leave you in need of the day job again. Mind you, there are alternatives to giving your boss the finger and never coming back.

Alternative 1: Ask for a reduction in hours. Most non-salaried positions will allow you to cut your hours a little. If you find this works with your freelancing schedule, do it. It lets you meet your deadlines while maintaining the benefits of the day job.

Alternative 2: Ask for a leave of absence. Again, most non-salaried positions allow you to take between one week and a month of two off without pay, and without losing your job. Doing so can be a little strange (and you may have to "develop" a sick relative) but it can buy you some time to get your freelancing life organized.

Alternative 3: Leave gracefully. If you absolutely MUST leave your day job, leave politely and be honest. Tell your boss that you are a freelance writer and have deadlines that must be met. Say you've enjoyed working for them (even if you haven't) and that you were grateful for the opportunity (again, even if you weren't) but that you must take your leave to pursue your freelance projects. Wish them well and give your two week's notice. Most bosses in the world will respond well to this sort of talk. They may not like it, since it means they have to hire someone else, but it's better than "kiss my ass you sonuvabitch, I quit!"

Once last word. Please, for your sanity's sake and to save on future headaches: really consider whether or not it is a good idea to leave your day job. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but sit on it for a while and sleep on it for a few nights. You may wake up one day and think "what the hell was I thinking, I can't quit my day job!" Just make sure you think this through before you do anything you'll regret.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #9: Cracking the SEO Code

2008-12-22T23:38:00.000-08:00

If you've never heard of SEO, google it. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is the writing term of the decade. Those who know SEO are making money hand over fist above the people who don't. I am one of those who is still learning about it and it's potential. It takes a little while to get used to, but learning how to effectively write SEO content puts you miles ahead of the competition in the freelance world. Here's why.

Search Engine Optimization is the art of keyword placement, keyword usage and careful crafting that gets your content listed higher on search engine results. Consequently, the higher the search engine result, the more traffic your content will receive and the more money you will make off of it. Most sites offer adrevs these days (adrev= advertising revenue; you get a cut of whatever advertising dollars your content makes.) The more people read your content, the more people will statistically click on the ads. The more people that click on the ads, the more sales the sponsors get. The more sales they make, the more of a kickback the website host gets and in turn, the more money you get. Mastering SEO writing is not just good for you; it's a chain that is mutually beneficial for all parties involve.

There are several things you can do to improve your SEO skills, the first of which is simply reading up on it. There are a ton of SEO articles on the net, simply googling "SEO" will get a nice big list of them. Once you've gotten familiar with SEO terminology, find a good keyword generator and start inserting some keywords into your content. No need to go nuts, just add a few here and there.

Good idea for an SEO-friendly article title: "Fallout 3: Walkthrough and Review"
Bad idea for an SEO-friendly article title: "Fallout 3 Walkthrough Review Release Date Official Site"

There is such a thing as "keyword spamming", whereby some fool attempts to publish "content" that is in fact just a jumble of keywords. Search engines are programmed to generally ignore this kind of tripe. However, a few tactfully-placed keywords can greatly increase your traffic and revenue.

Look at all the elements. There is more to SEO than just keyword-friendly titles. Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions of your content are also critically important to driving traffic to you. The Meta Tag is what a user sees when your content is displayed in a search engine and the Meta Description is the text the user sees beneath your entry in the results page. If this content catches the eyes, it will draw people in. If it is boring, stock dialog, it will either bring in few people or flat-out drive people away. Make the description and title interesting, stimulating; invite the reader to come in and take a look.

Marketing is not just a game for people in suits with offices anymore. Your average freelancer, armed with a little knowledge and a list of relevant keywords, can do some heavy-hitting marketing with relatively little investment. All it takes is some time to learn how to write SEO content and some practice doing it. Most sites you freelance for (if you post content online) have some sort of system for SEO, along with tutorials written by in-house experts. Read these, bone up on SEO. It's important.

The First Few Pages

2008-12-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

My first forays into writing began with screenwriting. Back in the summer of 1999, I was down on the Oregon Coast for the yearly family reunion. During this time, we stopped by the outlet mall, as we always do, to pick up a few odds and ends. I stopped into the bookstore and happened to find a copy of the Alien: Resurrection screenplay in the bargain bin. I bought it and read it, then thought to myself "this isn't so bad. I bet I could do this." Thus began my first screenplay work.

I wrote several full-length screenplays of varying quality during high school and college, then stopped in my Senior year of college after a disastrous incident in a Film Production class (our sound man attempted to rewrite my script.) I stopped for a little while, then began writing again. What follows here are the first five pages of my latest script, "Muse", in which a Japanese rock star goes on a soul-searching trip to Seattle in a desperate attempt to save her band.

Please enjoy and feel free to hit me with constructive criticism. Yes I know the format is goofy; the text editor here doesn't seem to be able to reproduce Final Draft formatting.

Muse

FADE IN:

INT. AYA’S BEDROOM - DAY
AYA SAKAKI (mid twenties) sits alone on her bed, staring at a wall covered with photos she has taken of exotic destinations throughout Asia. She is dressed in a grey-striped pant suit that exudes both punk and business in the same glance. She has blue highlights, Costello glasses, a skinny black necktie and a green messenger bag that never leaves her side.

TITLE CARDS OVER IMAGE.
MUSE

She is strumming on a well-loved black Fender Stratocaster and scribbling notes in a songsheet notebook. The floor is coated with other guitars and crumpled songsheets.
Aya tears off another page of songsheet, crumples it and throws it over her shoulder. She rests her chin on her hands as she continues to strum her guitar and stare at the pictures, attempting to gain some glimmer of meaning from it all. She fails; She has lost her muse.
There is a KNOCK from the door behind her. NOTE: Aya, Yuki, Ishiko, Hiro and Toyo will always speak to each other in JAPANESE, subtitled.

AYA
This better be good!

The door opens. YUKI HAYASHI, ISHIKO ASANASHI, HIRO SUZUKI and TOYO SAITO walk through. Yuki, Hiro and Ishiko are the members of Aya’s band, “Aki Phoenix.” They are all dressed in a style similar to Aya’s save Toyo, the manager, who is dressed in an ill-fitting business suit that is completely sans punk.

TOYO
Why didn’t you show up at the cafe? We waited for you.

AYA
I was busy.

TOYO
Well are you ready to go now? We have to get to the EMP interview, then we have a meeting with Nakamura, from the record label. We’re running late as it is.

AYA
All right.

Aya pries herself away from her exercise in futility and follows everyone else outside. She takes one last look at the wall before she walks through the door, hoping for that last-minute flash of inspiration. It doesn’t come.

INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT
GAVIN HAYLEY (mid twenties) sits on a stool painting a scene taken from a picture of Pioneer Square in Seattle. He wears a brown t-shirt covered in paint stains, ripped carpenter’s jeans, has hair just past his eyes and is scruffily handsome. He is surrounded by paint bottles, brushes, canvasses and is shadowed by a small Juniper Bonsai sitting by the window.
CAMERON BERNARD (early twenties) sits at the other end of the apartment. She is wearing the basics of a sharp business suit and is busy typing a memo for work. She stops to rest her eyes and looks over at Gavin’s painting.

CAMERON
That’s one of the best scenes you’ve done.

GAVIN
(doesn’t look up)

Thanks. I snapped the picture when I came out of Bakeman’s yesterday.
Gavin looks over and sees Cameron writing the memo.

GAVIN (CONT'D)
More homework?

CAMERON
If only it were that simple. Damn office politics, someone’s always pissed off about something.

GAVIN
Who is it this time? Tiberious Tim? Naughty Ned? Or was it Raging Ronnie?

CAMERON
None of the usual suspects. It was the new guy, from logistics. Thinks he’s better than everyone, that he doesn’t need to conform to company policy.

GAVIN
And they haven’t canned him...why?

CAMERON
Because he’s the division VP’s nephew.

GAVIN
I guess it really is all about who you know.

CAMERON
If I’d have had a relative to give me handouts, who the hell knows where I’d be now. Definitely not at Dynatech.

GAVIN
What would you be doing if you weren’t in asset management?

CAMERON
I’d draw.

GAVIN
(chuckles)
What? Since when have you had the slightest inkling in art?

CAMERON
I took classes and worked on comics with friends all through high school.

GAVIN
Then why the hell did you major in business?

CAMERON
Because there’s not a lot of money in comics. Asset management: whole different story.

GAVIN
So you’re a gold digger.

CAMERON
You know what Gavin, you’re right. I’m a gold digger. Shit, what am I doing here, I should be living in Vegas! Thanks to you Mr. Hayley, you’ve figured me out!

GAVIN
Why Cameron Bernard, if I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were being sarcastic.

CAMERON
Pain in the ass.

GAVIN
You know you’re crazy about me.

CAMERON
(semi-sarcastically)
No doubt.

Gavin smiles for a moment, then goes back to his painting. Cameron smiles at him a little longer, then goes back to her memo.

INT. CAR - DAY
Toyo and the band discuss their future while Aya looks out the window, distracted. The band is agitated, with rumors of their breakup flying around and some angry words being exchanged. It all floats right past Aya.

INT. EXPENSIVE SUKIYAKI-YA - DAY
The band enters a very expensive sukiyaki restaurant and stands in the entrance for a moment, expecting to be greeted by at least a few fans or at least a paparazzi. Nobody comes except the HOSTESS. Toyo speaks to her for a moment, then she leads the group to a quiet tatami room in the back of the restaurant. ISAO NAKAMURA (fifties) is waiting for them. He is a well-groomed man and wears a dark grey business suit that costs more than the average salaryman makes in a year. (Everyone speaks JAPANESE, subtitled.)

TOYO
(polite but nervous)
Mr. Nakamura.

NAKAMURA
Thank you for coming. Please sit down.
Everyone sits around the table. The air is tense until Aya breaks the ice by pouring tea for everyone. Nakamura looks relieved that someone else took the initiative.

NAKAMURA (CONT'D)
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because the numbers are slipping. Record sales are down, concert ticket sales are slow and the new album has gotten lousy reviews from every venue we sent it to. It’s starting to look like Aki Phoenix is yesterday’s news. I don’t want that. I’ve invested too much in you kids to throw it all away, but if the numbers don’t add up to the people at the top, they’re going to make some cuts.

TOYO
(apprehensive)
What kind of cuts?

NAKAMURA
They’re going to cancel your contract. You’ve got a concert at Budokan in two weeks, the last one on the album tour. This is your chance to show that you’re not yesterday’s news. If you can do well at Budokan, it will show the label that you’re worth keeping. If the show doesn’t bring down the house, that’s it.

Plates of food start arriving, but the mood is too sour for anyone but Nakamura to eat.

NAKAMURA (CONT'D)
I want to see something new. A new song, a new set, I don’t care. I just need to have something to show the rest of the executives that you’re worth keeping. Can I count on this getting done?

AYA
(suddenly empowered)
Absolutely.

All eyes turn to Aya.

AYA (CONT'D)
We can do this!

NAKAMURA
I’m glad to hear it.
The band slowly starts to pick at the food, though no one feels like eating. Aya comes off her momentary high and is visibly questioning the wisdom of her proclamation.

INT. CAR - DAY
The band is sullen as the car takes them back to Saito’s apartment. Yuki, Ishiko, Hiro and Toyo are all exchanging despondent looks and avoiding the inevitable discussion of dinner. Aya occupies herself by watching Tokyo pass by outside. She looks as though twenty years have just been added to her life.

The car passes by a large ad for the JAPAN TRAVEL BUREAU. The ad runs a banner reading VISIT AMERICA! LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, SEATTLE! in huge letters. Aya notices the sign and her eyes light up. She knows what she has to do. She turns to everyone else with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

AYA
(excited)
I’ve got it.

Review: Call of Duty: World at War

2008-11-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

I've been a long-time fan of the Call of Duty series, though I was a little hesitant to try World at War. The developer, Treyarch, is generally considered to have produced the weaker titles in the Call of Duty series, though I played Call of Duty 3 and found it enjoyable enough to buy it. First thing's first: I enjoyed Call of Duty: World at War, and I think Treyarch did a pretty decent job with it. If this offends you, you may want to go back the way you came. Also, a stern word of warning for any parents: this game is NOT suitable for children. It contains very graphic violence and harsh language. Now I'm no censor, but I believe there are some things kids just don't need to see. This game is one of them.

I'll start with the good. World at War is built on the same technology as the critically-acclaimed Call of Duty 4. As a result, the graphics, gameplay and even the menus have the same shine that CoD4 has. The sets are beautiful and I actually found myself wishing I could visit the castle near the end of the American campaign, were it not being blown to pieces.

The action is, in a word, intense. I have played every other Call of Duty game and I have yet to see a scene (in the WW2 games anyway) as intense as the one I experienced while storming the Reichstadt. I stormed it back in the original CoD, but it sure didn't look anything like it did in WaW; there were enemies swarming out the doors, artillery to blow up, a maze of barricades to work through...it was something else. Speaking of intensity, I've got to say one of my favorite levels was the Black Cats mission. You take the role of Locke: a gunner on a PBY Catalina on duty in the Pacific. You come across a merchant fleet en route to Okinawa and decide to attack. The Catalina has four gun turrets and only two gunners. Not only do you have to shoot down enemy planes, PT boats and fill the cargo ships full of holes, you have to do it while running between four different turrets. The game handles this for you (you press X to change at appointed times. If you don't press it, the games moves you automatically) and this level was just FUN.

While WaW may have returned to the well-tread scenario of World War 2, I did appreciate that they took it to the Pacific. Most WW2 games deal solely with the war in Europe. There is a flipside to this coin though (more on that in a minute.)

Being a weapons man, I enjoyed World at War for two reasons: the M-2 flame thrower and deployable machine guns. CoD3 and CoD4 had these, but in different ways. CoD3 had a portable MG-34 that was horribly inaccurate and only found once or twice. CoD4 has modern machine guns like the Russian PKM and the American M-249. Both act as big assault rifles. WaW gives us a whole new category of weapon. You can get a U.S. Browning .30 cal, an MG-42 and a couple others. They can either be set up as you'd normally see them, or used at the hip to great effect. I doubt I experienced much that was more satisfying than playing the final American mission with a machine gun in my hands.

Some have said that the flamethrower is overpowered. I won't argue, as I agree. It kills instantly and never runs out of ammo. The only limiting factor is that sustained usage will cause it to overheat, initiating a few seconds of cooldown that is easily negated by switching weapons. But really, how long have we been waiting to douse a bunker with purging flame in a Call of Duty game? While I'd say the flamethrower mechanics still need some tweeking, it's still nice to see a new weapon on the block.

The enemies have learned a few tricks too. I can't tell you how many times I got skewerd by banzai bayonet charges or got surprised by enemies coming out of spider holes. Making the enemy more dangerous, even on lower levels, goes a long way toward making a more enjoyable game. While the flamethrower usually takes care of them, it can work against you as well. Almost as numerous as the times I got skewerd by a banzai charge were the times I lit myself on fire by attempting to torch charging enemies. Using flamethrower at point blank range = dead grunt.

The last thing I would like to applaud Treyarch for is their transitions between levels. While they did include graphic images of atrocities and things people generally do not like to see (more on this later) the layout of the cutscenes and the graphics in general look like a jazzed-up version of a history channel special. Nicely done!

The good news is that I believe this was a fun game, a worthy entry to the Call of Duty series and a good blast in the multiplayer/co-op department. Is it worth buying? Maybe, if you like shooters, the Call of Duty series or the history channe and are not easily offended. Now for the bad.

Anyone who thinks the Call of Duty series has grown stale with World War 2 would do well to steer clear of World at War. Many of the scenes visited, particularly in the Russian campaign, are nothing new. Though they may look different, we've stormed the Reichstadt before. Also, fans of the movie "Enemy at the Gates" will either love or hate the intro to the Russian campaign. It's almost an exact recreation of when Vasilli Zaitsev meets Danilov. Not that it isn't fun or that we haven't seen Enemy at the Gates in a CoD game before (let's not forget your crossing the Volga in the original CoD; right out of Enemy at the Gates, even down to where you get handed the bullets instead of the rifle. I know, I know: that actually happened, wheras the scene in the fountain...I know. But it was still laid out almost exactly like the movie.) The good news for this scene is that immediately after it, you and your new friend go on a cool chase through a burning building. Nothing like a little fire to liven up a cold winter.

While the trip to the Pacific in WaW has done something for spicing things up, there is still more to be had. Let's not forget that World War 2 was fought in quite a few places besides the Pacific, France, Germany, North Africa and Stalingrad. What about China, Italy, Sicily, Czechoslovakia? Plenty of other nations have WW2 stories to tell. While you could make the argument that such places and stories are not well-known enough to make a game about, I would suggest that this implies something more about the ignorance of the American public (and if I may be so bold, speaks a little to the American educational system. Yes, that's right. I went there.)

Take CoD3. You spend most of the British campaign working with the French resistance. Why not do something along those lines again? You can keep it as the American or British campaign, just give us a taste of another country's struggle that we might not know so much about. Heaven forbid a mainstream video game should be educational in any way.

Finally, I would like to speak a little about the graphic nature of the game. Very few would dispute that World at War brings to light a bit more violence and graphic imagery than previous games. Shooting someone produces a lot more blood (and possibly a missing limb) than it ever has. While it may be more true-to-life than one would expect, it's not the kind of thing we're used to seeing in a Call of Duty game. World at War also contains graphic/offensive images of actual footage from WW2 of piles of bodies, hangings and other unpleasantness. There is also the distinct presence of, shall we say "coarse language." Now don't get me wrong: I am not squeemish, I don't mind swearing and I personally am not offended by war footage. I am of the opinion that war is a dirty business. World at War, in my opinion, brings the user closer to actual war than any other game in the series. Some argue that the manner in which it is done is inappropriate; that the game does not handle graphic imagery with a sense of reverence and is using said images purely for shock value.

While I would agree that the imagery was not handled in the most appropriate manner possible, I don't think it was placed there purely for grotesque shock value. I believe that the designers wanted to impart a greater sense of what it was like to participate in the events portrayed in the game. Exposing the player to the graphic images one would've witnessed in real life had they been there to see the event is part of the experience.

I am of the opinion that nobody is trying to shove games down your throat. If a game offends you, don't play it. If a tv show offends you, don't watch it. World at War shows you what it was like to be in World War 2, in all the gory details. If you don't want that, don't play the game. It's that simple. If you can get past the mess that is war, you will find an enjoyable (if short) companion to the WW2 entries in the Call of Duty series.

New Header

2008-11-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

As you might have noticed, things look a little different. The photo is my workspace, in the spare room of my apartment. Should you have any questions about the esoterica surrounding my workspace, their significance, their purpose or even just what the hell it all is, feel free to ask.

As for the heading "everyone needs a muse", that is the tagline of my screenplay "Muse" (formerly known as "Beautiful Mediocrity" for anyone who happened to read it.)

As for the rest of the formatting change, it was mainly due to making the new header work. I like the new header, but it looked terrible with the old layout and I don't know enough html to make it look right, so there it is.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #8: Time Invested

2008-11-09T19:48:00.001-08:00

There is a quick and easy way to tell whether a gig is worth it or not. Keep a record of how much time you spend at the gig in a given week (let's call this H for Hours.) Divide your monthly paycheck by 4 to find out how much you make in a week (let's say W for Weekly Salary.) Now do the same for your day job (if you're on salary. If you're not, just use your hourly wage. We will call this D for Day Job Wage)

If W/H is ≥ D, then your gig is worth the effort. If W/H <>

Concerning Internet Startups

2008-11-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

A lot of the gigs you are likely to come across while freelancing involve internet startups. These are businesses (typically websites) that people create and happen to have a need for a writer that they cannot fill. While I have nothing against internet startups (indeed, I had a lot of fun working for one), there are risks involved in working for a startup that you should know before you sign on.

Keep your backups handy. Like all startup businesses, internet startups are subject to unforseen/unplanned for difficulties. A large percentage of businesses (around 80%, give or take) fail within their first year. Why? Most simply don't plan for every contingency or don't think far enough ahead. They don't sell well enough or they don't produce enough, their loans get called in and they're out of the game.

When you sign on to work for a startup, you are essentially becoming part of that business. If it fails, so do you. This happened to me about a year and a half ago. I signed on to write World of Warcraft news articles for the now-defunct Azeroth World News (azerothwn.com). It seemed to be going well for a couple months, but then my editor mentioned budget problems. My workload would need to be reduced, but I could still get paid for a couple articles a month. The next month, they were gone. Funding for the project dried up, and that was that.

The lesson here is that if you sign on to work with a startup (and most will say they are startups; if they don't mention it, ask whoever you're working for how long they've been around. Think of it as a job interview question) you run the risk of them closing down. That is why, once again, I heartily encourage you to keep your day job. Even if it runs you a little ragged, give it some time. If six months go by and your startup gig sees improvement, then maybe you can think about ditching your day job. Don't rest on your laurels just because you got a new gig; it may not last.

The other warning I give concerning startups is with payment. Many of the people running the business have never run one before and are unfamiliar with payroll procedures. Don't expect your paycheck to arrive at the same time each month. As with businesses with their heads up their asses, startups also have a bit of trouble with how much to pay freelancers. Many of them are poorly-funded (or not funded at all) and as such, cannot afford to pay you a lot. Unless you REALLY need the work at the rate they're offering, you have a friend at the company or you need a resume builder, you may want to pass on a low-paying startup job. While it may be mutually beneficial and it *could* turn into something better down the line (that's a favorite of startups. beware anyone who says this), it doesn't mean it will.

Don't get me wrong: startups need employees, they need writers. Just be careful is all. Make sure the startup can afford to pay a decent wage and that they've got a sound idea. A lot of startups fail because they are simply bad ideas. That's the hard and honest truth. You shouldn't have to suffer because of someone else's lack of planning or foresight.

Weathering the Storm

2008-11-09T19:29:00.001-08:00

Now is not the greatest time to be a job seeker. With the economy in the shitter, companies are slashing budgets, laying people off and making life generally all-round miserable for the people who still have jobs. For those of us who are short on work, this is an especially hard time. Employers have the luxury of asking the world of perspective employees, while offering little in return. And if you don't want that shit job that's way beneath you and your abilities, the person in line behind you does.

In these times, it is important to remember that, as a freelance writer, you can't rely on what you have. There are a few freelancers out there who, I'm sure, are swooping in and grabbing clients left and right. I'm also willing to bet that the people doing this are going to be run ragged by overwork and will still find themselves struggling to pay the bills.

Remember how I said a while back that you shouldn't quit your day job? That is especially true when the economy is in the dumps. Having something to fall back on in case your clients bail on you is absolutely essential. Let me put it this way: it's much better to fall and have a parachute than to fall and need to find one before you hit the ground. Remember, being a part-time freelancer does not make you any less of a writer. Most of us need to have something else in the "regular" world in order to keep things steady or in times like these, to keep us afloat.

Again, when times get desperate, you will be tempted to work for that .75 cents a word. I say again (and please listen if you didn't before) DO NOT TAKE THESE JOBS! The people offering them do not know what to pay a writer and are just looking for cheap content! You will do more work for less pay and will wind up wishing you'd spent your time either at a halfway decent day job or looking for a better job. Don't give in!

It's a hard time right now. Everyone except the rich is struggling (but honestly, when do the rich ever suffer?) and decent gigs are hard to come by. All I can say is: keep your head above water. Sooner or later, the flood will recede.

Review: Fable 2

2008-11-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

Like so many games to come out in recent months, Fable 2 has been a very highly anticipated title for me. I played the first Fable repeatedly. I know where all the Silver Keys are, how to get all of the Legendary Weapons, and how to open every demon door. When Jack of Blades turned into a dragon, I schooled him something fierce. I bought an original Xbox expressly for the purpose of playing Fable.

Now it's successor has come along. Honestly: I love it. Despite widespread complaints of bugs, I have encountered very few so far, and none of which have crashed my game or forced me to start again (thankfully.) There's not much about Fable 2 that I don't like. It is an improvement on the original in nearly every way. The only things that annoy me are:
-You can't lose weight by running around; you can only lose weight by eating celery.
-You can't bind equipment or oft-used expressions to the D-pad anymore.
-Merchants usually only have one or two of something in stock. Previously, you could find dozens of potions or food items at the same vendor.

What's improved about Fable 2? The interface (you get a dog instead of a minimap. How fun! Also, for those of you who don't like the dog, you can chose to get rid of it at the end) the graphics are amazing, as was expected, the story was epic, though not quite as epic as the first, and the new hero goodies really make things shine. You can play female characters, own castles and you dye your clothing to change colors! Thankfully, villagers don't freak out if you walk around in black clothing (bonus to the goths out there, plus you get an achievement for wearing all black.)

Like the first Fable, the main storyline is quite short; if you play through nothing but that, you can probably finish in under 10 hours. The good news is that the stuff in between the story (owning property, sidequests, jobs and the like) is much better and is almost as fun as the main story. You can take gigs as a blacksmith, a bartender, a kidnapper ('Citizen Displacement' they call it) or a woodcutter to earn extra cash. You can own just about everything in the game (though you can't buy dungeons) including the castle the big bad guy lives in.

Bottom line: if you like a good RPG and/or you liked the original Fable, check this out! If you didn't like Fable or don't care for RPGs, get something else.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #7: Charging for Your Work

2008-10-17T19:38:00.001-07:00

Lots of clients you will come across as a freelance writer offer little to no monetary payment. Instead, they usually offer 'exposure.' There are only two instances where I would recommend doing this.

1) If you're just starting out and are desperate to find a client. This can help you find clients who are willing to pay. Fair warning: it probably won't.
2) If you're just starting out and need a portfolio builder. I have only ever worked for one client who paid below my minimums, and that's because I wanted the experience the job offered (and because it was a fun project.) Portfolio builders are good if you're looking to specialize in a different type of writing. If you're just looking to have something to show a prospective client, write for yourself and show them that.

So why not write for exposure, you ask? If it can help, why aren't I doing it? Here's why.
1) Most clients who offer exposure over money don't know what they're doing. Anyone who asks for professional work for exposure either has next to no budget or no clue. Either case, it's not the sort of client you want to work for.
2) You don't ask a plumber or a roofer to do half a job for free to see if they're any good do you? The same is true of freelance writers. You can't expect a writer to do a lot of work for free to see if they're good. That's what resumes and samples are for.
3) The people who pay the least typically demand the most because they don't know what the hell they're doing.
4) You can spend the time you use writing for free looking for a paying gig.
5) Think of writing for free as an unpaid internship. Can you afford to take it without compromising your financial situation? If the answer is no, don't do it! If the answer is yes, you need a time management class. I have yet to meet a working full-time freelance writer who claims to have enough free time (or motivation) to write for exposure.
6) Be honest: wouldn't you rather get paid? So would I.

Along with offering exposure instead of payment, many prospective clients will ask for an inordinately large number of samples and/or a trial period, during which you do not receive payment. Again, I highly recommend passing on jobs that require unpaid trial periods and boatloads of samples. You needn't write a new sample for each gig you apply for. If you find yourself doing this, STOP! The only circumstance under which you should be writing a boatload of samples for clients is if you have none to offer. If that's the case, go back to your day job and write more BEFORE you try to be a freelancer. Getting off on the right foot as a freelancer requires that you already have a portfolio of material to offer clients as samples. Think of it this way: would you show up for a 'regular' job interview without your credentials? Same thing.

NEVER write on a trial period. People who ask for unpaid trial periods are just looking for free content. Good luck getting picked up after the trial period. Be prepared to hear something like "The position has been adjusted" or "We don't think you're a right fit for the job." The jist of it will be: thanks for the free work sucker, now hit the bricks.

Let's recap, shall we?
1) Do not write for exposure unless you are new/desperate or you really like the material and want a new resume builder.
2) Have your samples ready before you try to start freelancing. Think of it as your interview credentials; the stuff you wouldn't walk into an interview without.
3) Do not write new samples for clients unless a) you think you will need the sample later on or b) it's your dream gig.
4) NEVER write for a trial period. Chances are very high you will get stiffed and waste your time.
5) Find yourself another job if you think you have enough free time to write for free. If you have the time to write for free, you have the time to find a paying gig.

A Cure for WoW

2008-10-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

My fiance and I were discussing our possible re-entry into the World of Warcraft a few nights ago when we came to a conclusion: WoW is a second job. Not that it's a chore to play (though it can be, particularly if you're honor-grinding) it just eats up so much time that it is, quite literally, a second job. Observe.

My friends and I played WoW every day (no joke, not a day went by when we didn't log on) for an AVERAGE of six hours a day (note: average. Some days were a lot more, some a lot less.)

If you figure that the average American works 40 hours a week for 50/52 weeks a year (2 weeks vacation is probably a little generous, but just for the sake of argument), that translates to roughly 2,000 working hours per year.

6 hours a day, times 365 days comes out to 2,190 hours of game time. I've got to hand it to Blizzard: no other game I've played has ever been a full-time job.

Having considered that I could have gotten a second full-time job in the time I spent playing WoW, I quickly dispelled the notion of returning to the game. It's fun and I met some great people playing it, but it is simply too large an investment of time. And it is an investment that I am no longer willing to make.

A Second Look at Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

2008-10-09T21:45:00.001-07:00

I think I might've been a bit too hard on this game. A week has passed since I traded it in and I have a strong urge to play it again. Thank goodness for Gamefly. I also noticed that the second time through the game (I played it twice before trading it in) was much more enjoyable than the first. Once you know the trick to bringing down the Star Destroyer and where to find Jedi Holocrons, the game gets much more enjoyable. That and setting the difficulty down a notch helps too. I'm no newmeat to games like The Force Unleashed, but they're not my usual fare.

In it's defense, the graphics are in a word, amazing. I hadn't given it much thought the first time (mainly because I was gritting my teeth over getting trashed by Purge Troopers) but The Force Unleashed really does have amazing scenery. If you stop and take a look around (there are no respawning enemies; every area has a fixed number of opponents. Once they're dead, feel free to have a look round) the settings really are quite amazing, even if a few of them are recycled. And while the planets may be recycled, the levels themselves are not. Very little is the same between the repeats in levels besides the textures. If you need to recycle levels, this is the best way to do it.

I'll be honest and say I like earning Achievements. I've no delusions about that. It's not because I wish to appear more macho to fellow gamers; far from it. I like the sense of accomplishment you get by earning an Achievement. And The Force Unleashed has some pretty good Achievements. My hands-down favorite is available in the prologue, during which you play Darth Vader. To earn this Achievement, you need to kill at least 12 of your own Stormtroopers. The Achievement is called "Worst Day Shift Manager Ever". I read that and couldn't stop laughing!

In a revised review, I would still only recommend The Force Unleashed to fans of the Star Wars universe and people who like ninja action games. Hardcore gamers and KotOR fans will be disappointed by the unpolished gameplay and the rigid nature of the game (let's be honest; the only choice you have between good and evil is at the very end.) For all it's faults though, I find myself being drawn back to The Force Unleashed. Though I get no say in who he is, I do like being Starkiller. Had he lived, I think he could've made a very powerful Jedi.

Bottom line: rent it first. If you play it more than twice through, it's worth buying for you. If you play it through one time or less, it's not for you.

To WoW or Not to WoW

2008-09-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has maintained even remote ties to the online gaming world in the last three years has heard of the phenomenon that is World of Warcraft. This game is one of the best-selling games of all-time and currently has a community in excess of 9 million people. That's the entire population of a major city (we're talking on the order of Los Angeles here...) just think if EVERYONE in L.A. played WoW...you've got a really big game.

WoW and I have something of a love-hate relationship. I played the game nearly non-stop for a year and a half, to the exclusion of quite a bit else in my life (though thankfully I didn't lose any friends or a job because of it.) I'm off it now, but as I look at the other games in my library, they all seem to pale in comparison. No other game in my life (and my gaming life extends quite a ways. 21 years if memory serves me correctly) has kept me so enthralled so completely for so long. While I may have really enjoyed them and played them a lot, Quest for Glory IV, Starcraft and Final Fantasy IV didn't keep me playing them every day for a year and a half.

As you can see, I love WoW. I love the world, I love the lore, I love the gameplay (for the most part.) I love creating a unique character, going anywhere, doing anything...I love surprising hapless Hordies in the battlegrounds who think I'm a ret paladin when I'm really a prot paladin in disguise. Oh, did that string of Reckoning crits hurt? Here, have another. Nah, keep hitting me, my shield likes you. That sting a little Rogue? Keep it up, it'll all be over soon.

Classic.

But I also hate WoW. I hate it because it offers gratification too easily. As the new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King draws ever closer, it is becoming easier and easier to get at the high-level content in the game. Why? Because Blizz wants you to experience as much high-level content as you can before it all becomes obsolete. And it will, practically overnight. Just watch.

When Burning Crusade, the first expansion was released, many people found their gear being replaced within 2 levels of hitting Outland. I know I did. Many people grumbled at the ease with which their hard-earned gear was turned into crap by the first green drop in Outland. Those same people are going to grumble again when their Tier 4 is instantly rendered obsolete an hour after they hit Northrend. But I digress.

WoW offers such an easy method of gratification. Instancing, completing quests, arena fighting and battlegrounding are all designed to provide rewards that ultimately can be exchanged for even greater ones. You need but spend a few hours in a battleground or an instance and you can walk away with several new pieces of armor or a new set of weapons. World of Warcraft is great at holding the proverbial 'carrot' in front of you, then continually moving it away. And you want it. DAMN how you want it.

I have realized recently that I hate WoW for an entirely different (and seemingly paradoxical) reason: it's good. Again, I realize that's strange. A game is good, so you hate it. Here's why. It demands to be played. Once you've tasted WoW and found it to your liking, the taste of any other game is bittersweet. Other games I enjoyed playing (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic mostly) jumped in to fill the gap when I stopped playing WoW, but were quickly beaten and forgotten.

I even tried other MMOs. Dungeons and Dragons online is horrendously bad on healers and is practically impossible to play solo (I spent a whole gorram week solo-grinding one effing instance to get to level 2...WoW has you at level six inside of half an hour.) Age of Conan has potential, but is largely PvP focused. I'm not a huge fan of PvP, despite my prediliction for doing it (hey, it's quicker to pvp for gear when you're not in a raiding guild...) That, and Age of Conan has some serious graphical and gameplay issues to sort out before it gets really good. And finally, my computer is, shall we say...'dated.' I lack the funds/motivation to buy another computer, particularly a gaming computer, so Age of Conan is pretty much out. WoW, on the other hand, was designed to work for older machines. I have to sacrifice some graphical features (guessing where your Consecration is is fun, but you get used to it...) but it works well enough.

Bottom line: no other RPG out there is as good as WoW. None of them have the staying power (constant content updates, gameplay updates, tweeks, etc.), the depth or the entertainment value that WoW has. I love it, and I hate it. I love it because it is quite possibly the best game I have ever played. I hate it because it burns up so much of my time.

Anyone who has ever gone to a raid in WoW has gone to both good ones and bad ones. I was never part of a raiding guild and never wanted to be. Not my cup of tea. I do however, like some light raiding. I know how to main and off-tank every fight in Karazhan. I've finished the whole thing in two hours. I've also spent seven or eight hours just trying to get to and kill Maiden (and ultimately went home with her still standing.) It is so ridiculously easy to blow your entire day doing nothing but WoW. And that worries me. I don't want to look back on my twenties and see nothing but WoW memories.

Another thing that bothers me is how much I want to return to it. I left it for a variety of reasons. I had reached the point where I was basically killing time before the next expansion. I didn't raid or do any heavy pvp; I had my Nether Drake, I could make a thousand gold in a couple days or less, I have my Shattered Sun title...not much else to do but raid and I wasn't in for that (beyond Karazhan.) I figured I should find something else to do with my time besides get killed in the arena and pissing & moaning about the Alliance getting crushed in the battlegrounds. So I left. But now, about four months later, I find myself thinking that I'd really like to go back. There are things I miss. I miss the friends I met through WoW. I miss the community, I miss stepping out of myself for a while (I found WoW lets me do this better than pretty much anything else.) It's left a void in my life, and in me. And I fear the only thing that can fill it now is more WoW.

Review: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

2008-09-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how most of my work these days involves video games, I thought I'd post a little something on my latest acquisition. Ok, who am I kidding, video game work is all I do.

**SPOILER WARNING**

So yesterday, I picked up Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, with great anticipation. I'd been following this for a while now, I'd seen the trailer where the guy pulls the Star Destroyer out of the sky and I thought "that's just strong!" I buy the game, I get home, I play it...and I'm having mixed thoughts.

On the one hand, it is a fantastic addition to the Star Wars universe. The story is interesting and compelling (thought much much shorter than I was hoping for) and opens up a world of possibilities while at the same time not interfering with the canon. The action is cool and throwing Stormtroopers several hundred meters just never gets old.

On the other hand, it has some parts that annoyed the crap out of me. The gameplay mechanics need a little tune up, particularly the part where you pull the Star Destroyer down. The damn thing has to be just so, or you can't pull it! I've also read that many people have encountered a bug here that prohibits you from pulling it down at all.

I'm not really a fan of jumping games and I hate to say it, but this is definitely one. If you ever want to upgrade your Lightsaber with crystals that do more than change the color, you NEED to be good at jumping. I also hate games that are filled with mooks who have IWIN buttons. You know, the mooks that knock you down, kick the crap out of you then knock you down again the second you get up? It's boring for a player to have that ability and it really bites the big one when it gets used on you. Getting trashed by cheap moves is no fun at all and there are plenty of mobs in TFO that have chump moves.

Call me crazy if you will, but I like character customization. I think games with fixed main characters are becoming a minority, and this is no bad thing in my mind. I like being able to own my character, I like the feeling that it is *my* character I am playing, as opposed to living out someone else's adventure. With that in mind, I was disappointed to see that you don't even get a choice of premade characters; you get Starkiller, Vader's Secret Apprentice. That's it. You don't even get to choose gender. Again, call me crazy if you like, but I enjoy playing female characters. I know what I guy's body looks like and frankly, I'd rather not look at a male ass waggling at me for hours on end (as much as I love it, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic did a great job of showing off the male ass...) In it's defense, TFO does a good job of covering that up, but still. I would have preferred at least a little choice in character options.

All things considered, I wish I had rented this instead of buying it. It's a good game and is worth money, but for the length of time I spent playing it (<10 hours) I would've liked to have seen a smaller price tag on it. Bottom line: if you like Star Wars and action/ninja-style games, you'll love The Force Unleashed. If you like RPGs, play Knights of the Old Republic; you'll be happier.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #6: Knowing what you're Worth

2008-09-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

There's a definite line between a good freelance gig and a crappy one, and that line isn't always drawn with fringe benefits. Quite often, the difference between a gig that's worth your time and one that's designed to give desperate college students a little extra pocket money is quite simply, money. Many writers feel that in order to remain a successful freelancer, they may only take freelance gigs. They obviously didn't read our post on keeping your day job. Taking (or keeping) a day job does not make you any less of a freelancer. Need we remind you? Being able to remain a full-time freelance writer is nothing short of miraculous. There is absolutely no shame in being a part-time freelancer.

With that in mind, hopefully you kept your day job. If you didn't, go get one unless you're making a lot of money as a writer (and by "a lot" I mean "more than 60k/year.") Part of being a good freelancer is knowing what you're worth. Despite what some people will tell you, there are a lot of gigs out there that don't pay jack or shit. Even if you're just starting out as a freelancer, there are some gigs you should steer clear from. I know that the urge to work is powerful and the urge to take any payment, no matter how minuscule, is equally powerful. Believe me when I say that you need to resist this urge. Here's why you should NEVER take a gig that pays an less than 8 cents a word (and even that is pushing it.)

1) You won't get paid jack. Let's take a look at a fairly common example, say, 5 cents a word. You are contracted to write a 350-word article. 350x.05= $17.50, $14 after tax. Not terrible, but you can certainly be doing better. Get the current copy of Writer's Market (or check it out at your local library!) and you'll see that most reputable publications pay at least 10 cents a word. Some large publications like Popular Mechanics pay up to ONE DOLLAR per word! Granted, getting your work into Popmech is like pulling hen's teeth but hey, it could happen.

2) Companies that don't pay well won't treat you well. If you sign on for a gig that pays a penny a word (or worse, even less...) you can expect to give your blood, sweat and tears along with those words you just shelled out. Companies that don't pay their writers well are just looking for a source of cheap content and honestly couldn't give a shit about where it comes from. They probably have some hack in-house who is getting paid a hell of a lot more than you are to do a quick rewrite. And I'll bet you every cent I've got that the hack hates their job. Good deal? Hardly.

3) You can do better. Again, even if you're just starting out, the modern world will ALWAYS have a place in it for freelance writers. The hard part is finding the place in the world that works for you. That's why there are resources like the Writer's Market (plug plug.) Nobody should have to settle for .5 cents a word!

4) Acceptance. In almost every gig you'll get, your articles need to go through a process of revision before they can be accepted. Depending on the company, the revision process may or may not involve you. More often than not, it does. If the company likes your work enough to ask for a rewrite, you may find yourself doing more work than you bargained for. Is a day's worth of work worth it for three cents a word? Not unless your day is twenty minutes long.

5) Don't believe the hype. A lot of writers will tell you to take whatever you can get. That a shitty, low-paying gig is better than no gig at all. This is simply not true. Talk to the same writer in a year or two and ask them how their freelance life is going. You'll hear them say either "it's over" or "lousy." Why? Because if you settle for less than you're worth, you're going to get frustrated at doing good work for jack shit. You're going to burn out and you're going to can a potentially successful writing career.

There are a few minor exceptions to the rule, the most notable being stories. Most of us can't pull this off (yours truly included) but if you can manage to make a living selling stories, you can settle for less than 8 cents a word. Most publications, even reputable ones, don't pay more than seven cents a word for fiction. But that's ok! Your average short story runs around 5-6,000 words, possibly up to about 10,000. Let's take a mean, say 7,000 words. At 5 cents a word, that's $350, $280 after taxes. Not too shabby. That's a whole week's worth of working retail.

Think of it this way: you always have a choice in jobs, just like in the real world. You can either endure some rough times and wait for a job that pays what you're worth, or you can be miserable flipping burgers and scraping by. Resist the urge to take crappy jobs! Nobody should have to work for a penny a word unless they're getting paid to transcribe the Library of Congress!

DeFlocked

2008-08-27T02:53:00.001-07:00

I've always been a fan of comics, ever since I was a kid. I can't remember what my first comic was, but it was probably either:
-the classic Marvel set my dad gave me to read which included Fantastic Four, Spider Man and a couple others
-some Far Side comics my older brother kept around
-a G.I. Joe comic I found in a local bookstore

However it happened, my life has been marked with several distinct eras of comic fandom, ranging from Garfield and Far Side collections to manga libraries (Kishiro Yukito's 'Gunnm' is my all-time fav) and most recently, to American comics like Megatokyo (I know it's in a manga style, but it's by an American. Ha!), Strangers in Paradise, Watchmen and Dead Days.

Throughout my life and through my various phases of comic obsessions, I have always had a deep love and appreciation for the sunday funnies. These slices of Americana teach us life lessons, poke fun at current politics and give folks of all ages a good laugh on a relaxing day.

I was recently approached by comic artist Jeff Corriveau regarding his strip, DeFlocked. His strip is nationally syndicated, and is currently on it's trial run in several local newspapers. I have to say, I love his work. His artistic style is unique and inspired, his characters dialog is witty and sharp and is always good for a nice, hearty laugh. His characters, particularly Mamet and Cobb, personify the highest and the lowest points in all of us. Mamet represents the voice in our heads that thinks things we know we shouldn't say while Cobb represents the things we should be saying.

Add to that a lovably innocent brother and a young boy who has trouble fitting in and you've got a recipe for a surprisingly well-developed cast who has more to say than one-line jokes. Stop on by and give the editors a shout if you like his work! Think you know someone who might like DeFlocked? Send them the link!

Best of luck Jeff! You keep making it, we'll keep reading it!

Tips for Successful Freelancing #5: Keeping Busy

2008-08-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

Unlike regular careers, freelance writers cannot afford to work for merely one client/company. What if your company goes under? What if your project's funding dries up? What if there is a reorganization and you get downsized? While 'regular' jobs offer a modicum of safety, freelance writing is very fluid. You never know when a gig will get pulled out from under you. Keeping more than one client is absolutely essential.

When I started freelancing, it was for a single client. I was doing lots of work and making great money. Everything was kosher. I didn't know to look for another client even though business was good, so I just let it go. Big mistake. About six months after I started working, the company introduced a new deal. It seemed ok at the time, but it quickly became apparent that this new deal reflected changes in the company's leadership, changes in funding and most importantly, meant a lot less money for me. I tried in vain to hold onto my previous wage, but it just didn't happen.

I was faced with the harsh reality that sticking with only one client is a very bad idea. I struggled to find other gigs and got pretty desperate. I found another gig a couple months later but, much to my chagrin, funding for the project dried up and I was out another client. Finding new clients since then has proven to be more of the same: difficult. I've picked up a few new clients but I have yet to recover my previous salary, even with three regular clients.

While it may not always be true, I have certainly found that the only circumstance under which you can have too many clients is if you can't keep up with the workload. Until you reach that point, you can never have too many clients.

I know it's easy to rest on your laurels, especially if it's your first gig as a freelancer. But don't do it. It's a trap that is all too easy to fall into and very difficult to pull out of.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #4: Taxes

2008-08-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

One of the hard facts of freelance life is that next to none of your clients will do your tax withholdings for you like a "regular" employer. This means you will need to take a certain amount out of your paycheck each month for income taxes, state taxes (if applicable), Social Security and Medicare. A good ballpark figure for this is around 25%. This is probably more than you'll need, but it's much better to err on the side of caution. This accounts for what they call the "Self-Employment Tax", which is essentially a replacement for what would be withheld anyway.

If you make more than a certain amount of money in a given quarter, you will also need to file quarterly income tax returns. This is actually a good thing. Quarterly income filings serve two purposes that are beneficial to you, the freelancer. 1) They allow you to pay your taxes incrementally so you aren't lumbered with a $4,000 tax bill come April 15 and 2) they indicate that you are making enough money for the IRS to want a piece. Believe me when I say that if you don't make enough money to necessitate filing quarterly returns, you are in, to use a technical term "deep shit."

The cutoff for quarterly returns comes when you owe at least $1,000 in taxes that quarter. Generally, if you make about $8,000 in a quarter, you will need to file a quarterly return. $6,000> and you will probably not have to file quarterly.

Despite the dread associated with them, the IRS maintains a surprisingly helpful website, complete with all the forms you will need to fill out. If you're having trouble ascertaining whether or not you need to file quarterly returns, here is a link to the IRS Telephone Assistance directory.

http://www.irs.gov/help/article/0,,id=96730,00.html

Above all, remember to take the 25% for taxes out of your paycheck IMMEDIATELY. Either put it into a separate account or cash it and stick it in a jar and hide it. Do whatever you need to do to keep your hands off it! The last thing you want is to face April 15 without having saved for your taxes.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #3: Time Management

2008-08-02T00:41:00.001-07:00

If you're like most of us, you're probably pretty enamored with the idea of setting your own hours. Not being a slave to the nine to five or even worse, that ever-changing piece of paper with your name and different days every week? While it is true that setting your own hours *appears* to offer a certain flexibility in work schedules, the truth is a bit more clouded.

As a freelance writer, you are not bound by regular work schedules. Instead, you are bound by ever-changing deadlines. If you're lucky, you'll land some regular clients that expect a set amount of work at set intervals. I have one such client who requires three articles by the 15th of each month, then another four by the end of the month. It's a sweet gig. But not all gigs are so sweet.

Constantly-changing schedules and continually updated deadlines means that you HAVE to stay on top of scheduling. While you may superficially think you can set your own hours, really all that means is that you set the hours you work. In order to make a living wage, believe me, you will work just as much (probably more) than the average cubicle jockey. You may not work set hours, but you will definitely put in the hours to meet your deadlines.

Staying on top of deadlines is one of the most important things that you as a freelancer must do. If you miss a deadline, you may be forgiven. You make a habit of missing deadlines and your reputation will start to suffer. If your reputation suffers, you will find it increasingly difficult to attract reputable clients. Reputable clients = good work. Without a good reputation to back yourself up, you've got very little to stand on. Now, all of us started with little to nothing. Most clients realize that. Not all of them are willing to take a chance on an unknown. If you lead with your best foot forward and ace deadlines, you'll be in great shape.

If, however, you have trouble managing your time pre-freelancing, you may want to consider taking a time management class. It is all too easy to get distracted by things at home. TV, video games, books; they are all potential distractions that MUST be put aside if you ever wish to get work done on time.

I find it helpful to make a dedicated work area. I have a desk and a computer solely dedicated to work. It is well away from the living room (and the tv, the Xbox, etc.) and away from most distractions. I keep a poster of my favorite movie (which I find inspiring) and a calendar close by. My desk is clean, efficient and organized. Nothing that is not work-related touches this desk. This is what I need to do to keep myself on track. Mind you, this is not absolutely necessary to maintain organization, it's just what I find helpful.

I highly recommend setting aside an area strictly for work. If you find yourself getting distracted by things on your computer, get rid of them. It may take some shuffling to find the right area for you. Keep trying until you get it.

Bottom line: freelancing is a gigantic juggling act with time management being one of the things you must balance. If you can't learn to budget your time and allocate enough time to get things done and get them done well, you probably won't last long. If you can get yourself in order and make a nice little niche for yourself in your place of residence, chances are better that you will be able to work successfully.

Film Review: X-Files: I Want to Believe

2008-07-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

I went into this movie with perhaps foolishly high hopes. I am a long-time fan of the series, ever since I was a kid. I saw Fight the Future and walked away entertained. While I did walk away from I Want to Believe having been entertained and not feeling like I wasted my $7.50, I did feel a little let down.

Don't get me wrong: I Want to Believe is indeed a stand-alone story in the X-Files universe. While you can't enjoy it fully if you've never seen any X-Files shows or Fight the Future, it can be enjoyed if you know the story of how the tv series ended (hence the reason why Mulder and Scully aren't together, etc.) The story is good, the acting is excellent and the story is everything you'd expect from the X-Files. My only gripe is that this feels more like a 2-hour special episode of the series rather than a feature film.

Fight the Future was big. It was up to Mulder and Scully to stop an alien conspiracy to colonize the earth through hostile means. There were aliens, government conspiracies; it was big time. The stakes were about as high as they can get. I Want to Believe seemed much smaller in scale. The story this time round involves a pedophile psychic priest, a missing FBI agent and a Russian doctor playing Dr.Frankenstein. Again, it makes for a great story and a creepy concept, but I was expecting something grander in scale.

All things considered though, I Want to Believe was two hours and $7.50 well-spent for an old fan. We get to see Mulder and Scully get back together and tackle some old issues, Skinner gets a cameo at the end and the story has a decently happy ending. A couple plot holes remain unfilled (what happened to the FBI agent? The experiment subject? Scully's patient?) but that aside, I'd recommend seeing this if you were/are a fan of the series and saw Fight the Future. If you're not an X-Files fan, skip it unless you have a taste for the macabre.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #2: Style Guides

2008-07-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

As I have found recently, Style Guides are much more than a standard set of rules to direct the uniformity of documents used by a company. They can also be vindictive pieces of literature that seem to want nothing more than to make your life a living hell.

To save yourself eternal damnation at the hands of an editor with a copy of the latest Style Guide in their hands, make sure that you always, without fail, read the damn thing BEFORE you sign a contract to start work for somebody. Most companies use established styles like Chicago, MLS, MLA or AP. But not everyone. If a company has it's own style guide, it is imperative that you read it and read it well BEFORE you sign a contract or start working. Is it short? Is it cursory? Does it have gaps? If the answer to any of those three questions is "yes", ask the company why.

If the style guide is short, it probably means the company is new and wants to do things their own way. Beware of companies that do this. Short style guides are bound to get longer and if you don't keep up with the changes, it can cost you a lot of time, effort and gnashing of teeth.

If the style guide is very simplistic, it is open to interpretation. If your interpretation of the guide is different from the editor's, guess what: you've got more work ahead of you that you probably aren't going to get paid for.

If the guide has gaps in it, it probably means the company doesn't really know what it wants, but rather has a general idea of what it doesn't want. If this is the case, you are essentially left fumbling in the dark until you either do something they don't want or happen to get lucky and do something they find they do want. Either way, it means more work for no pay.

Bottom line: If the company you are thinking of working for has a sub-par style guide (or none at all) consider one of the following: 1) Find employment elsewhere. I know we all get desperate and we could all use the extra income but believe me when I say it may not be worth the effort. 2) Request an addendum to the contract limiting your liability for edits and rewrites. The Writer's Guild stipulates that if a screenwriter under contract is asked to rewrite or edit their script, they must be paid for doing so. There's no reason you shouldn't. You are putting in billable hours, just like any other employee when you edit or rewrite a document. If the company you are considering working for is not willing to accommodate extra pay after a fair number of edits or rewrites, go somewhere else.

Example: I recently did some work for a burgeoning website which had (when I started) a very brief style guide. My first piece for them went fine, but then they started updating the guide on a near-weekly basis. My second and third pieces went through no less than five edits each. Each time I sent it back, the editor thought of something else they wanted or had some new style guide that needed to be met. I wound up spending more time on the edits than I did in writing the pieces to begin with. Because the contract has already been signed, I can no longer get paid anything more for writing the pieces, even though I spent nearly double the allotted time on each of them due to constant demands for edits and additions.

Admittedly, some of those rewrites/edits were due to errors on my part. I admit that and I think it's fair that a writer should have to fix their mistakes. However, I do not believe that writers should have to cater to the whim of their employer at every turn without suitable compensation. If I'm going to spend 40 hours working on a 20 hour piece for 20 hours worth of pay, the situation must be rectified.

Freelance writers have it rough, and never let anyone tell you otherwise. We have to constantly look for work, constantly interview for new jobs, beg to get paid, fight to get our work read and deal with often harsh criticism of some of our most cherished work on a near-constant basis. We shouldn't have to do twice the work for half the pay. If your employer is not willing to offer additional payment for more than two or three rewrites/edits that are not due to writer error, find work elsewhere.

Tips for Successful Freelancing #1: Don't Quit your Day Job

2008-07-06T02:01:00.000-07:00

You hear this all the time, and believe me, it's the last thing you want to hear. Most people don't think working and living as a full-time freelance writer is possible. For most of us, it isn't. For those of us who can make it as a full-time freelancer, it's far from easy. Ok, the dress code is "Perma-casual" and the hours are up to you, but in order to maintain your status as full-time freelancer, make no mistake: you WILL work your ass off.

There is something to be said for a guaranteed paycheck every two or even every four weeks. As a full-time freelancer, you can forget about that. You'll be lucky to get paid once a month. Damn lucky. If you're like most of the freelancers, you'll spend a good deal of time sending invoices, doing your taxes (that's right, remember how nice and easy taxes were when you went in to work? Well guess what: next to nobody withholds for you in the freelancing world. You need to budget for taxes yourself,) and trying to get paid for services rendered.

Having a regular day job, even a part-time one ensures that A) you'll get a paycheck every 2-4 weeks, B) you won't starve, C) you might get health benefits if you work for a good company (freelancers typically do not receive benefits of any kind), and D) if freelancing work slows down (and it's bound to sooner or later) you have something else to fall back on.

True Story: About seven months after I started working my first freelance gig, there was a restructuring. Previous to the reorg, I was writing about 60 articles/month at $50/article. That works out to around 2,250/month after taxes. Not bad, beats the hell out of retail. I was working hard, but I was having fun, building my portfolio. But then the reorg comes. My editor leaves and a new company comes in. They offer us a monthly stipend and some ad revenues that amount to a fraction of what I was earning. They expected less of me (12 articles instead of 60) but it paid a hell of a lot less. Because I was doing so well for so long, I ditched my day job and did this full-time. Didn't even bother to look for another client. Big mistake.

By the time it was all over, I was making around $750 a month. Not hardly enough to get by on. I looked around for other freelancing gigs, but if you work in a specialized field, finding a new gig can be tough if not nigh impossible. I was eventually forced to go back to retail for a while until things picked up. It was a rough few months, shoot, it still is rough. But I learned my lesson. I now write for no less than three clients, and am still looking for more.

Bottom line: you never know when your "sweet gig" will go sour, and a shitty day job is better than no day job. Despite what you may be thinking, you CAN work a "regular" job and freelance at the same time. It will be a challenge at first, but you'll get used to it. Besides, co-workers in the humdrum "regular" world love to hear about other people's lives.

Rejections

2008-06-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

I wrote a short story a few months ago and was utterly convinced it was the best thing I'd written in quite some time. It went through several drafts and various incarnations before I decided I was done with it (and by "done" I mean "if I screw with it any more it'll be a total write-off) and sent it off. Thus far, it has gotten rejection letters from Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine and Analog magazine.

Then I sat on it for a few months until last night when I decided that dammit, it was valid and I just need to find the right publisher. So, tomorrow, off it goes to someone else.

The trick, aspiring short story writers, is to take all your rejection letters and put them in a file. If they give you a reason WHY they rejected your manuscript (don't count on it, but some do) take it to heart and maybe think about revising your piece a little. If they don't, go back to the drawing board and find someone else to submit it to. Above all, PERSEVERE! If you let yourself get bogged down by a couple rejection letters (or even a hundred rejection letters) you'll never know if that next publisher would've taken it. Don't make the same mistake I did and wait five months in between submissions. The day it comes back to you, send it back out to the next publisher on your list.

I know it's hard, but guess what: everyone else works for a living. As a writer, SO DO YOU. You just face different challenges and enjoy a few luxuries and annoyances that others don't.

Editors make you want to something something

2008-06-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

No TV and no beer make Homer something something. Editors constantly wanting you to change things make me something something. Go crazy? DON'T MIND IF I DO! I realize they're only human, but really, is it so hard to tell me everything you want me to fix the first or even second time around? Why is it that every time I hand in a draft of a piece, they find something else wrong with the damn thing?

There are some days when it seems like the world is never quite enough to some people. And yet, with some pieces, they will take it right off the bat, for whatever reason, even if you KNOW it could have been better.

What a strange business.

New Retro

2008-06-18T21:22:00.001-07:00

This has nothing to do with freelancing, but I thought I'd mention it anyways: records are awesome. I bought a turntable recently, along with a few vinyl albums (My Bloody Valentine, Watergate, The Police, Blue Oyster Cult, The Who, Madness, etc.) and I've been having a blast with it. In the age of iPods and music on the go, hardly anyone takes the time to just sit and listen to music anymore. It's like music has become background noise for us, and it's kind of sad.

Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of it too. As I sit here typing this, I'm listening to the "Lost in Translation" soundtrack on Winamp. I think the world would be a calmer place if people actually sat down and made listening to music an activity in and of itself.

As for the turntable, I was inspired by my cousin and the game Rock Band to buy one and do a bit of vinyl revival. I'm glad I did. You should too. Do your part to stimulate the economy and buy a turntable and some vinyl! Or if you did thirty years ago, dust it off and listen to it! You might be surprised at what you hear.

Oh, the things you'll do

2008-06-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's funny where you find yourself. I never thought I'd work my way into my ehow job (writing how-to's for video games, and I never thought I'd find myself reviewing porn either. That's right, I got a side gig reviewing porn. The way it works is this site fixes you up with a few free minutes of View on Demand (VoD). You go to the affiliate site with the pron, you watch whatever you can with 20 minutes, then you write a review of what you saw. If they like your review, they fix you up with more free minutes.

You write enough reviews, they get popular enough, and you earn some ad revenue and some kickbacks if anyone buys something after reading your review. I didn't earn anything from it, but I got some free pron and some very amusing stories from it! That alone was worth it.

I also find myself driving up to Martinez (about 1/2 hour northwest of here) every Wednesday morning at 10:15 so I can participate in a study on hearing for $12/hour. It's interesting enough and it beats the hell out of retail. I'd do it more, but I only have one free day a week. Believe it or not, it pays more per hour than my job at Best Buy did (I worked there this last holiday season, selling computers), the only hitch being I can't do it 40 hours/week.

I've been looking to get into technical writing. It pays better than most writing out there and doesn't look to be impossibly hard. I found a book at the used book store up the street (http://www.baybooks.us/ if you're ever in the San Ramon area. They're nice!) that is teaching me the craft, though it's a little dated. The latest copyright on it says 1991. It's funny how it talks about microcomputers being the wave of the future and how microcomputer proficiency will be a requirement for the educated in the near future. Funny, I seem to have this crazy notion that microcomputer proficiency is a requirement for EVERYONE these days, but hey, who am I to judge.

Point being, you never know what you'll wind up doing. I would never have thought I'd be trying to make money reviewing porn. I thought I'd stick to video games, but hey, it's a recession and you get work where you can. Even if it doesn't pay monetarily, it may pay off in other ways.

New Look

2008-06-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed this little slice of electronica has gone silent in recent months. No need to go into details, but let's just say "I've been busy." Henceforth, this space is dedicated to the trials and tribulations of a practicing, full-time freelance writer.

Crisis

2007-10-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Several fundamental problems have arisen with my system with regard to skills and statistics. It has come to my attention that some skills are, as we say in gamer terms "broken", meaning they do not function as they should. In this particular case, the broken skills are my martial art skills. They allow players the opportunity to start their characters at much higher levels of physical power and adroitness than would otherwise be recommended (it is generally ill-advised to allow players to start the game overly with overly powerful characters.)

The problem here lies in whether or not to a) make martial art skills less effective, or b) simply make a generic "martial arts" skill that gives flat bonuses instead of a multitude of different martial arts that can provide a wide range of benefits. Considering that these different skills are part of what separates my game from others, I think I will simply reduce the stat bonuses. That will also make less work.

Another problem has arisen in the combat system. As it stands, players receive a certain number of actions based on their physical dexterity. The faster you are, the more you can do in a tight spot. The problem is that many players stack dexterity to such a high degree that fights end in mere seconds simply because the uber player that stacks dexterity can kill all the opposition before the end of a single combat round. Most other games either allow a single "action" to be performed during a combat round, or allow for 1-3 actions, depending on their complexity.
Given the trouble I've had in making enemies that are actually a challenge for the players without making them ridiculously overpowered...I think I'm going to opt for the single-action option.

The final problem is again with skills. Most systems link skills to a particular statistic and allowing players to receive a bonus both from a high level of skill and a natural aptitude for certain tasks. At present, there are 2 problems with my system. The first is that my stats and skills are not linked, and the second is that if they were, there is almost no way a player can fail a skill check. The simplest solution seems to be to re categorize skills along stat lines, but increase the base target number necessary to pass a skill check. The thought occurs that this presents something of a problem for players with very low statistics. It would mean that not only would they constantly be failing stat checks, they would also receive a hit to skill checks.
What about a set bonus or penalty? Say, a maximum penalty of -5 and a maximum bonus of +5? That would keep players with low stats from failing all the time, and it would also prevent players with high stats from gaining massive bonuses to low-level skills.

I think I'll do that.

Decisions, Decisions

2007-09-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have recently been confronted with some tough choices regarding publishing options for my first game. The first one is where to publish. In order to circumvent the traditional tabletop RPG publishing route and go the modern way of Print on Demand, I have scouted two sites that do PoD. One does it for free, but lacks a high-traffic advertising venue. The other charges a fee (a rather large fee when you live paycheck to paycheck) but advertises your book on Amazon.com.
The question here becomes this: is it worth it to advertise an unknown book on Amazon.com, or should I just drum up word of mouth support and direct people to the other site? I'm going to be doing some of my own promoting anyway (a story for another time) but is it worth it for a book people have no exposure to?

The second problem is in which edition to publish. Many indy games make a little extra scratch and cater to gamers with less cash by offering text-only versions of their games. Case in point, I have a text-only version of Cold City sitting on my desk (an EXCELLENT game by the way.) Text-only versions offer cheap games at the cost of illustrations, layout and finesse. But, for some gamers, that stuff isn't as nearly important as the content of the game itself.
Seeing as how I am fairly confident in the content of Neurojack, I have been considering releasing a text-only version, either as a downloadable .pdf, as a cheaply bound book or both. The question I have is this: should I release the Text-only version before or after the regular print version with all the bells and whistles?
Part of me says the cheaper version would help drum up support for and knowledge of my game. The other half of me says that I should put my best foot forward and release Neurojack in all it's glory first, then offer the cheaper alternative later. Hm...maybe I should go back to school and take some marketing courses.

Voice-Only

2007-09-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

Though it does help facilitate gaming with old friends across long distances, I'm not sure if I'm totally sold on the idea of gaming through voice chats such as Ventrillo or Skype. I've only tried it once and although the results were more or less acceptable so long as everyone makes a conscious effort not to talk over each other (which people tend to do during voice chats anyway.) But still, it seemed like a certain "personal" element was missing. Probably something to do with face-to-face contact inherent tabletop gaming.

It has become a question of preference. Voice-only games, while impersonal, do allow the "gaming connection" to be reestablished with people who have long been absent from our gaming community, particularly recently, when a very good friend of mine was able to reconnect via Voice Chat. Is it worth the impersonal medium to game with old friends again?

As long as the game is kept to a manageable size...I think so.

Endings and Beginnings

2007-08-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

I recently finished the final (hopefully) draft of the core rulebook for The Neurojack Chronicles. Barring any gaping flaws, I'm done with rewrites, and have already sent the text off to my layout man back in Washington.

Having completed the first book in the series, I am faced with the question of what to write next. I know I want to do 3 sourcebooks on the major countries occupying my world (Northern continent, Southern continent and equatorial regions) but the question is which one do I write about first.

I already have a head start on the Northern sourcebook, since I actually wrote it a couple years ago for an independent study project in my final year of college. Though there is an abundance of material there, the world of Neurojack has changed radically since then, and I good portion of the book needs rewriting. That being said, should I finish the Northern sourcebook, or should I venture into more uncharted waters?

I've always had the best idea of the North in my head. If there was a single country I'd play in, it would be the north. I know it's kinda bad to have a distinct preference for one place over another, but the lines that divide the north from its neighbors have been blurred considerably more than they were and the war between the nations has been eliminated altogether, meaning that the north is now not so different from the south or the equatorial regions. There are still differences, enough so that writing about the south or the equatorial regions is a very different endeavor than writing about the north.

Should I leave the mostly-completed northern sourcebook for later and write about another country that I haven't fleshed out as well, or should I finish (or update, rather) what I started before I move on?

I know some of you are thinking "see your first book through to completion before you start on the next", and I'm still doing that. I just need to find something else to start writing while I'm doing that, since the rest of the core rulebook is largely in the hands of my artist and layout people.

Striking a Balance

2007-07-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's constantly a struggle to find equilibrium when I'm running an RPG story. If I script the whole thing, my players invariably want to do things that the storyline doesn't/can't accommodate, meaning I went to all the trouble for nothing. If I don't script anything and just throw random encounters at the players, the game becomes just that: random. It lacks form and substance and winds up just being a mishmash of events that rarely comes together into something coherent. I say "rarely" because occasionally it does, but the odds against it happening are tremendous.

I've entered into a new experimental style recently. Once everyone in the party has created their character, I take them aside and ask them a few questions.
-What is your character's innermost desire?
-What is their biggest rational fear? (fear of death, snakes, loosing money, etc.)
-What is their lifetime goal? (accumulate 1,000,000 dollars, steal a new cyborg body)
-What is their worst nightmare? (not necessarily rational)

From the answers to these questions, I create a list of events that would be meaningful to the character. For example:

Character "V"
-is a sentient humanoid-type machine called a Gen-Drone. He has been infused with human-class intelligence through artificial means and is as 'human' as the next person, except that he's made of a metal skeleton covered with nanomachines for skin.
-His innermost desire is to fall in love.
-His worst fear is failing in his duties or letting down a friend.
-His lifetime goal is to be rich (to accumulate at least a million CiMarks)
-His worst nightmare is to have his mind infiltrated or to loose control of his body through external interference.

Without giving away plot points to the player of this character, I can say that from what he told me of V, I would present him with game encounters that would give him the chance to form meaningful relationships with people, encounters that would test his loyalty and/or his ability to be there for a friend when he was needed, the chance to either gain or loose large sums of money, and finally, put him in a position where his neural integrity could be compromised.
Testing his limits and giving him events that are meaningful to his character allows three things.
1) It makes him feel as though V is playing a significant part in the events
2) It allows all the rest of the party to participate in V's world in a very personal way
3) It makes it easier on me; I don't even have the need to script everything, but rather, just give him the events pertinent to his character in a (more or less) logical order. Or in a totally random order if I feel like screwing with him.

So we take it in turns; I run an event for one character, then either shortly after or mid-event, bring in an event pertinent to another character. The hard part here is again, finding the balance. The characters will invariably want some downtime between events to reload and repair their armor (I like to throw well-armed opponents at my players...they never leave home in regular clothing anymore, they just wear their body armor everywhere) so I have to give them a little time. The good news though is that they no longer have the need for additional downtime to pursue their own agendas because the main storylines have been tailored to them!

Of course, this is all "best case scenario." It is still not unheard of for my players to ignore my plot points and do their own thing, no matter how important I think it may be to their character.

Or maybe I just have an excessively random group.

Predicting the Course of Fashion

2007-07-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

One thing I always struggle with when I run a game of Neurojack is picturing the people in my head. While it's easy to think of the world itself and the machines in it, I have an inordinately difficult time envisioning just what the people look like. Sure, it's easy to say "They look like mobsters" or "they look like farmers/the descendants of Japanese/Chinese/Russian people", but what does that actually look like? And more to the point, what kind of clothes will people wear 900 years from today? Unfortunately, trying to picture a slightly updated version of clothes worn 900 years ago isn't very helpful. While people may have been well-dressed in some parts of the world, I have to confess that the image of a grime-smeared European with a linen outfit and a pitchfork is the first thing that springs to mind.

I thought initially that the fashions of Neurojack would be an extension of contemporary fashions. "Blade Runner", for instance, drew quite heavily on fashion as it was in the 1930's and 40's. I liked to think that the 50's and 60's would be out, since we consider that "camp" even now. 70's? Hardly. 80's? Sorry, I just can't see the mullet coming back into style. 90's? I doubt anyone will think to reinvent slap bracelets in the coming centuries. I suppose then that unless I wanted Neurojack to have a Victorian feel (which I dont) that the people will probably be wearing much the same stuff the characters in Blade Runner wore. Of course, everyone who knows me and is reading this is laughing at this point, since they all known Blade Runner is my favorite movie and they're thinking "Duh, what else would your people look like?" but the point remains valid: lots of fashion from the 30s and 40s has remained relatively unchanged since, and some things from then have never gone out of style.

Granted, mine is a somewhat uninformed opinion, seeing as how my fashion knowledge extends as far as "This looks good" and "Santino deserved to win Project Runway"...yes, I know some (or most) of Santino's work during the series was crap, but most of you have to admit, he really pulled it together for Fashion Week. At least I thought he did.

But now that I've got a basic model for the fashion of Neurojack, I'm presented with another problem: what will their clothing be made out of? Will they still use wool and cotton, or will that be replaced by some type of polymer? Since I'm not big into S&M, I can tell you right now that the predominant materials for everyday clothing WILL NOT be vinyl or leather. I like The Matrix and Aeon Flux, but I dont like them THAT much...ok, I do, but the clothing is not what I'd consider practical. Aeon Flux would freeze her ass off in the northern continent of Asperian.

I can't help but wonder if this is somehow extraneous; do my players really need to know what kind of clothes people in the world of Neurojack wear? Do they really need to know what they consider "fashionable" in the 30th century? I suppose I kind of send mixed messages...on the one hand, I have a list of clothing items available for purchase in-game, then I throw lots of enemies armed with firearms at them. While the clothing looks nice, heavy armor lets their characters live a lot longer with the way I run things...

I think I need to sleep on this.

How big is "Big Enough"?

2007-07-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this with a short introduction for those not familiar with the concept of giant robots. These machines are common both in Japanese media (anime, games, manga) and American media, and are generally referred to as "Mecha" or "mechs". These machines vary greatly in height, armament and abilities, but there is no doubt that many believe the future of warfare to be held in the hands of mecha.
I have always had a soft spot for mecha, beginning with my older brother's Battletech hobby, continuing on to a fandom with the Robotech series and many, many other outlets to get my mecha fix. Bearing this in mind, I wanted mecha to figure prominently into Neurojack since they were (and still are) such a large part of what I consider to be a quintessential future world.
If I had to choose, I would say that there were 3 primary influences on the mecha in the world of Neurojack: Dream Pod 9's "Heavy Gear" rpg, Masami Yuki's "Patlabor" anime/manga and Shirow Masamune's "Landmate" mecha from "Appleseed" and a few other of his works.
The mecha in the world of Patlabor are very utilitarian; they are primarily built for construction and police work, with a few military models thrown in here and there. They are small (around 16 meters in height if I remember correctly) and not anywhere near as fast or as well-armed as say, some "Superhero" mecha in titles like "Giant Robo" or "Macross". This made me think of a future where mecha had an array of practical and (compared to most mecha fiction) realistic applications.
Similarly, the mecha in the Heavy Gear world are quite small (the largest top out at around 8-10 meters in height) and are very maneuverable. They serve military, commercial and police purposes (though the story focuses on the military applications of the Heavy Gear) and run off of Internal Combustion Engines. Some of the elements of Heavy Gear mecha design (Crash bars, sloped or angular armor, camera eyes set into the head that revolve on a track, pilot situated in a small cavity in the chest and a few other things) bear a stark resemblance to the Japanese series "Armored Trooper Votoms" which aired in the early 80s, but still enjoys a following. Heavy Gears, unlike many other mecha types, were relatively lightly armored. They carried a rifle in their hands, usually a rocket pack or two on their backs, a knife and grenades. Some heavier models toted mortars or cannons, but nothing the scope of which you'd see on the average Battlemech (from the Mechwarrior or Battletech series which, by the way, ripped off some mecha designs from another Japanese anime series called "Fang of the Sun Dougram".)
One of the latest and most influential inspirations for the mecha in Neurojack, Shirow Masamune's "Landmates" opened the door for a whole new class of mecha. His Landmates were small, fast, lightly armed and armored, but fulfilled a variety of roles, just as the mecha in Patlabor and to a lesser extent, Heavy Gear, did. I particularly liked his designs, which featured very rounded bodies and stylish armor. One unique aspect of his Landmates (which I did not translate to Neurojack) was the concept of "Master Arms"; smaller armored gauntlets that the pilot would stick her/his arms into and use them as they would normally. These arms would in turn dictate the movements of the larger "Slave Arms" that were attached to the shoulder.

Bearing all of this in mind, I set out to build the mecha for my world. Initially, I took a more "traditional" approach and introduced 3 classes of mecha: Ramparts, Artillery and Palisades. Palisades are exclusively construction-class mecha. They are smaller than Ramparts and Artillery, are not usually armed and mount only rudimentary armor. Ramparts were (I say "were" because they are no longer part of the Neurojack world) the cream of the crop: they were quite large (between 20-50 meters in height,) mounted enough weapons to level a city and enough armor to stand up to anything save another Rampart. The only hitch was that they were ridiculously expensive to produce, meaning that there were less than 200 of them on the entire planet. I pictured them looking almost like something out of Makoto Kobayashi's "Dragon's Heaven", but with a slightly more coherent look (not that I dont like the look of Kobayashi's mecha, I just think they look a little disjointed.) Artillery, in the same vein, were meant to be quad, hexa or octo-legged mecha that were larger and slower than Ramparts, but carried much larger weapons.
As time went on, I began to realize that I had made Ramparts out of Illuminus and the people on Asperian were fighting for what little remained of the Illuminus deposits. The question occured: "Would the people spend massive quantities of an already limited resource just to kill each other? Isn't there a more economical way to do that?" So Ramparts got the axe, but I didn't shut one door without opening another.
While reading Shirow Masamune's "Dominion", I began to see the logic in a small and maneuverable mecha package, particularly in an urban combat environment. Thus, I devised the smaller, faster "Drudge Exoskeleton System" or DES. The Drudge is a suit of combat armor powered by a battery and large enough to allow a single soldier to carry large-caliber weapons and enough protection to soak hits from anti-tank weapons. Most Drudges top out at around 5 meters in height and are designed with more fluid combat in mind, rather than epic battles between single machines. Drudges are primarily used by the military who use them as front-line combat units and by police forces who use them as armored units in the modern equivalent of SWAT teams; ARMAS units (Assault/Rescue Mecha Armor Squad.)
I eventually gave Artillery the axe as well, since the focus of the world began to shift away from all-out warfare and towards smaller-scale conflicts that centered mainly around small land disputed in the equatorial region. And so the titans were left behind.
Palisades remained untouched and continued their role as construction mecha, the way I had always intended. More small mecha joined the world as time and revisions went by: Rapid Interdiction Units or RIUs (Drudges with Helicopter rotors on the backs) and Multiped Tanks (inspired by the Fuchikomas, Tachikomas and other minitanks from Shirow Masamune's "Ghost in the Shell" series) joined the scene, each with their own particular role. RIUs fill a need in urban areas for a quick-response unit while Multiped Tanks are used for espionage, urban warfare and some front-line duties.

With all the different mecha that have come and gone from Neuroack through the course of it's evolution, I can't help but wonder: do the giant mecha have a place in Neurojack? I suppose there could come a time when the great titans walk the planet again, but what would spur their production? Something very large and very menacing would have to threaten the people of Asperian to spur the development of such a machine and even then, they would appear in such limited numbers that the loss of a single machine would be a detrimental blow to whatever nation created it.
There is of course, also the gaming aspect to consider: who would want to pilot a scrawny little Drudge when you could pilot the mammoth Rampart? Does the world of Neurojack even need something as big and destructive as the Rampart? Considering the current trend in modern military combat vehicles, the motto certainly seems to be "Smaller and faster is better than bigger and tougher"...would that still hold true several hundred years in the future?

One could also make the argument that this whole thing is somewhat academic, seeing as how I've already written Ramparts out of the Neurojack world and writing them back in would mean another complete rewrite and another change to the Vehicle Construction rules...

Oh yes, I almost forgot. There was one more type of mecha that I originally wrote into Neurojack that has since gone the way of the Dinosaur: the Aegis. Designed to be the absolute last word in mecha technology, Aegis were my attempt to strike a balance between the sleek and very humanoid mecha designs in "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and the weapon-packed mecha of the Battletech universe. The Aegis were very human-looking, but carried enough firepower to wipe an entire nation off the planet, and towered above the battlefield at between 70 and 90 meters in height. It occured to me, as my friends and I were driving through Richmond a few days ago and happened to pass by a 30-story building, that one of my Aegis was as tall as the building. I couldn't help but think "damn, that's tall."

I put it to you: how big is "big enough"? Are Drudges, RIUs and Mini Tanks enough to satisfy your appetite for armored robot-clad mayhem, or would you prefer something that could bring a city to it's knees?

Branching Out

2007-06-19T01:52:00.000-07:00

The thought had occurred to me a while back that it might be possible to make at least something of a living writing short stories for submission to magazines. With the impending termination of my current job being a viable source of primary income, the idea of writing stories has suddenly sprung back to life!

I am currently at work on 3 stories of differing subject matter. The bad news is that there will be a delay between when I send these out and when the income will potentially come in. The good news is that any one of them, if published, will pay my expenses for a month.

Here are some small snippets from 2 of the stories I am writing: "ARMAS Assault" and "Spokesman". Enjoy!

ARMAS Assault

**Attention: Senior Director Daita

**Origin: Shimazu Isao, Director of Special Projects, LiChing Division

**Date: 23.7.754 AP.

**Subject: Test Subject # 312-G

Good afternoon Senior Director,

It has come to my attention that “Project R” is in need of new test subjects. While the relative scarcity of candidates has hindered our progress so far, we have located what I believe to be the ideal subject.

She is currently a Sergeant, assigned to an assault/rescue mecha armor squad (ARMAS, I believe it is called) in the Central Shizuhama Police Department, Izanami. Her record is outstanding and her fitness reports highly encouraging, but what I find most intriguing is that all of her superior officers indicate that she possesses exceptional mecha synergy. Their team reports all speak very highly of her mecha control abilities, and it is for this reason that I wish to contact her regarding a place in Project R.

Her file is attached. Should she meet your approval, I will set out for Izanami and contact her immediately. The Shin-Vector corporation has already set about preparing the simulator for her use.

Your time is always appreciated, Senior Director.

Respectfully,

Shimazu

It was cold in the hangar. It was always cold in the hangar. Being a kilometer off the ground could do that to a building, even with the most efficient heating systems. Nami Takahashi zipped the front of her combat suit all the way up to keep out the chill. Despite all the synthetic polymers designed to absorb shock and adverse temperatures, there always seemed to be a leak somewhere.

She checked over her suit one more time, making sure all the connections were clear, then looked up at her machine. The Shin-Vector “Spartan 4” was a sight to behold. Just over 4 meters tall and 2.5 meters wide, the metallic humanoid was a marvel of modern engineering. Coated with thirty two millimeters of thalium armor and armed with the latest in assault-class firepower, the Spartan was the pride of the ARMAS. The latest in Shin-Vector’s line of Drudge Exoskeleton Systems, the Spartan 4 had gained admiration from those it worked for and a sensible dread from those it worked against. Large shoulder plates carried the heavy artillery: a Yokozuka M-42 26mm Machinegun and a Montaver MBR-3 140mm Missile Launcher. In its right hand, the Drudge held a Type 2 Tactical Assault Weapon; a Montaver M-1D 32mm assault rifle and an ASR-56 45mm shotgun underneath it.

Obeying orders from the central command office located at the rear of the hangar, the front of the Drudge opened at the chest, lower abdomen and legs, allowing Nami entrance to the metal behemoth. A small whirring noise issued from behind Nami’s head as the Drudge extended its Neurojack connectors. A small metal jack slowly crawled towards the plug at the base of Nami’s skull. With a slight jerk of fiber muscles, the cord sprung the jack into place, connecting Nami to the machine.

She blinked, then felt the sickening lurch as her vision was yanked from her eyes and thrown up into the cranial sensors of the Drudge. Her field of vision now covered a much wider area, considerably higher off the ground, and was augmented with a tactical display containing weapon data, engine output and targeting vector. Her mind gave the command for her body to raise her left hand, but instead of seeing a hand and arm made of flesh, the bulky armored gauntlet of the Drudge lifted itself into her field of vision. She opened and closed the fingers, tightening and loosening the fist to make sure the synth muscles worked properly.

Spokesman

As so many things do, the movement known as “Malcolmism” started small and snowballed into a global phenomenon. It all began with advertising. Young male centerfolds in clothing catalogues circulated in the spring with a new model among the pages: a bright-looking, European-built patrician named Malcolm Tessaria.

His popularity was small at first. Jeans modeling to start with, then shirts, formal wear and on to underwear. Then markets other than the fashion industry began to take notice of him. It was something more than a fantastic body and a pretty face. Something intangible in his eyes that would rivet you and command your attention whether or not he was selling a new tuxedo, a flannel shirt, coffee or underpants. The image of Malcolm Tessaria was like nothing the advertising agencies had ever seen before. Any product that bore his likeness was bound for great things. Before long, nearly every product bore a Malcolm likeness or endorsement. Malcolm jeans, Malcolm Breakfast Cereals, Malcolm Hair Care. More endorsements followed. Restaurants, theme parks and even a city, just outside New York.

Three years after his introduction to the world of media, the name “Malcolm” had become synonymous with anything hip, sheek or cool. “That’s so Malcolm!” the kids would say. And then, Malcolm did the last thing people expected. He endorsed a presidential candidate. The media fury was nothing short of a hurricane. A famous spokesman endorsing a political candidate? Why not. Malcolm’s candidate won by a landslide and even though his name wound up as little more than another contemporary president, the name of Malcolm Tessaria lived on.

The years went by, yet the image of Malcolm never seemed to age or fade. People began to wonder if Malcolm was in fact a real person. When asked about Malcolm, the advertising agencies would simply shrug and say “I’ve never met the man, but I respect his privacy.” The exact nature of Malcolm was never made public, yet his endorsements persisted. Everyone wanted everything they owned to be a Malcolm-approved brand. And before anyone realized it, they had what they wanted. A decade came and went before people stopped thinking about Malcolm. Every single product that came into or went out of the country had Malcolm’s approval on it. He had become more than a household name. He was the household. Just when it seemed as if people were about to let Malcolm Tessaria slip into the realm of the unconscious, Malcolm burst back on the scene with a new product to sell: religion.

What does it look like to you?

2007-06-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

I asked my testers this, and they were split down the middle. Here's the question. In the picture, does it look like the electrical stuff is on the inside or outside of the person's head?

This, by the way, is a Gen-Drone. It is a type of humanoid machine designed to work in environments that are hazardous or undesirable to humans. This particular Gen-Drone is a Class B: one that is composed of mechanical components, somewhat reminiscent of the original Terminator. The electronic stuff in the picture is *supposed* to be part of its brain and external connection hardware (Neurojack), though as I said, half my testers thought it looked like that was on the outside of the head.

Thoughts?

PS - Gen-Drones are largely manufactured my Japanese-descended corporations in the world of Neurojack, hence the kanji indicating that this is a "Human Machine Type 3". Those kanji are, to the best of my knowledge, the right ones. Feel free to correct me if I am in error.

Will Martial Artists who read Neurojack come and kick my arse?

2007-06-13T03:04:00.001-07:00

Probably. Here's why.

((Quick note: my Prototype system ranks skills as Simple, Complex and Very Complex in order to facilitate dice rolled, number of points needed to gain a skill level and how often bonuses are awarded. Simple skills roll a d8 (with a target number of 5), gain a level ever 4 points, but can only have a maximum bonus of +4. Complex skills roll a d10 (target 6), gain a level every 6 points and get a max bonus of +5. Very Complex skills roll a d12 (target 7), gain a level every 8 points and get a max bonus of +7.
Why rank complexity? Because performing brain surgery is a hell of a lot more difficult than riding a bike. Why the gain in points required to level? Again, because learning to ride a bike is a lot easier than learning to putter around someone's brain without killing them. Why a bigger bonus for VC skills? Because there is a larger knowledge base necessary for performing those skills. You need to have a lot more knowledge under your belt to even attempt brain surgery than you need to attempt to ride a bike. Obviously, these analogies are simplistic, but the principle remains valid.))

Initially, I had one of the combat skills as "Martial Arts". It was generic and covered everything, giving some hefty bonuses to physical stats. I grew tired of this when I realized that all my playtesters invariably ignored the other combat skills in favor of Martial Arts. I had created a group of amateur ninjas. This could not stand.

So I set about redoing the "Martial Art" skill, breaking it up into many skills in several different categories, complexities and areas of focus. All in all, I came up with around 30 different martial arts skills, divided up mainly into area of origin: styles from China, Japan, the western world (namely Spain and Germany) and "Gunkata" which drew mainly on the American frontier gunman. Each area of focus had several martial art styles of differing complexity that would offer certain battlefield benefits.

For instance, the Chinese martial art "Kongminmai" (named after Zhuge Liang's surname "Kongming". Ref: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms") allows a player to "predict the outcome of a battle days in advance." In game terms, this translated to a massive reaction time in the form of a +3 dexterity bonus.

Ex 2: The Western martial art "St. Mark's Defender" gives a 10% armor bonus at certain levels that, when at the maximum Skill Level of 12, gives a total of 70% more armor.

I was more or less content with this style of martial art, but I felt that things had become a bit too specialized. In aiming for something a bit more complex than "generic", I shot too high and hit "overly complicated." I cooked up a middle ground that runs along the lines of "Martial Art: Upper Body Focus" and "Martial Art: Pistol Gunslinger" in which most Martial Art skills gave bonuses to strength, dexterity and a to-hit bonus at certain skill levels. I'm not sure if I like this yet. It's a step up from a single Martial Art skill, but I wonder if its still a bit too generic. "Small Melee Weapon" can cover a lot of ground that isnt necessarily similar. Fighting with a small mace is a lot different than fighting with a short sword.

Mind you, I wasn't trying to elevate one Martial Art above the other, though it came out that way. I suppose I could've just labeled all Martial Art skills as "Very Complex" instead of ranking some of them as Simple and Complex, like other skills, but (and I'm no expert on the subject) are all martial art styles really created equal? I didn't think so.

The jury's still out on this one.

2007-06-10T02:17:00.000-07:00

This is a sketch I did a while ago. Not sure where it will fit into the text, but I'm sure I'll find a place for it somewhere.

My Japanese could be considered elementary at best, and I have no experience with Russian or Chinese, so if you can read those languages and find my text horrible, forgive me, I did the best I could with dictionaries.

The sketch I was going for was originally supposed to be a visual representation of a caption on a chapter heading. The chapter was on the introduction of the Neurojack itself while the caption was an advertisement for Neurojack implantation surgery. I thought I'd do something with someone looking like a 50's detergent commercial, but somehow this came out instead.

I think its for the best.

Simple or Complex, Part 2

2007-06-10T02:14:00.000-07:00

After talking it over with my testers, I think I'm going to leave it as it is. I thought it might come down to this, and our conversation proved my instincts correct: most gamers would rather have a larger score because it sounds better. Consider it this way: a Stat rating of 40 confers a +8 bonus. Unanimously, my testers thought that a rating of 40 sounded better than a rating of 8, even though they are functionally identical.

I guess (in this case at least) bigger is better.

Simple or Complex?

2007-06-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

I am currently experiencing a conundrum with regard to Statistics representation. For the uninitiated, "Statistics" refers to the traits that make up one's character in an RPG. Things like physical strength, manual dexterity, street smarts, knowledge and perception are the usual fare when it comes to character composition. For Prototype, I have the following stats.

Strength: raw physical power.
Nastics: physical dexterity; how quickly and gracefully one moves.
Perception: powers of observation, hand-eye coordination.
Intelligence: book smarts.
Smarts: street smarts, charisma.
Looks: physical attractiveness.
Guts: physical endurance, how many punches you can take before you buckle.
Minerals: mental endurance.
Luck: how much the forces of the cosmos favor you.

These Statistics are rated from 1 to around 40 (can be higher depending on race, but that's not an issue at present). In order to reflect one's superior Statistics, high stats get a bonus to die rolls while low stats get a negative roll. Ratings of 10 and 11 are considered average and confer no bonus. Penalties start at 9, with a -1, and go down 1 point per rating. So, 8=-2, 7=-3 and so on. The catch is that low Stats will go up quickly, since it's easier to get from "Lousy" to "Average" than is to get from "Average" to "Superhuman". Ratings of 12 and up confer a +1 bonus every 4 levels, so Stats of 12 confer a +1, 16 gives a +2, 20 a +3, etc.

The only exception is Luck. Luck begins at 1, which =+1 for Luck and only Luck. Each rating of Luck confers that bonus. 2=+2, 3=+3, -5=-5. The question which is running through my mind at the moment is whether or not all Stats should act as Luck does, for the sake of simplicity, or whether I should leave it as is.

On the one hand, I like the idea of having a more expanded rating system, as it allows for more of a grey area. A simplified system would probably only have ratings ranging from -8 to 8.

There are many successful games which capitalize on both schools. Heavy Gear has a very simple system while other games like World of Warcraft utilize complex formula to calculate Statistics. While I dont wish to get as complicated as that (it makes little sense to me how exactly a bonus of "+25 Defense" does not actually increase your "Defense" stat by 25, but I'm sure they have a method to the madness somewhere) I do feel that it adds a certain depth to things.

Decisions, decisions.

It all starts with a Prototype

2007-06-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

If you're here and reading this, it either means you're a friend/relative, or you're someone interested in reading about my series of games. In either case, welcome! Studio Topia is a loose association (3 people) who have banded together to create tabletop role playing games.

Studio Topia found its roots in my Junior year of college at Western Washington University. It stems both from a good friend of mine who wrote his own RPGs and from a monumental inspiration I received from a Comics & Diversity Class I was taking at Fairhaven College. The initial result was a very rough draft of my first game, "The Neurojack Chronicles." After some initial success with a Beta version and some playtesting, I continued on and created a fantasy game called "Red, White and Black." As time went on, I added more games to my repertoire, found a graphic artist friend of mine to do layout, and an artist to illustrate what will eventually be printed books. While none of the games have been fully prepared for the book treatment as yet, Neurojack is closer than ever to a state of publishing readiness.

The Neurojack Chronicles

Ah, my very first game. I mentioned it all began with a Comics & Diversity class at Fairhaven. This is true. The final for the class was to create a comic book, in one form or another, that included diversity in some way. My initial idea was to do a story about a futuristic SWAT team on a colony world that utilized mecha (large robots) as a type of advanced armor. I seem to like acronyms and it was the acronym for the mecha that eventually led me to develop the Neurojack world. Dubbed "SPARTANS" (Self-contained Power-Armored Robotic Tactical Assault UnitS), these mecha would eventually grow into one of the driving forces behind the Neurojack world.

I drew a lot of my inspiration from one of my favorite RPGs, Dream Pod 9's "Heavy Gear". Set on the colony world of Terra Nova in the 61st century, Heavy Gear focused heavily on mecha combat and had a rather interesting setting. The world itself was divided, both physically and politically. Much closer to the sun than Earth, the climate on Terra Nova was much dryer and forced most of the populace to concentrate either in the northern or southern poles, where the temperature was not as harsh. Covering the entire equator of the planet is a vast desert known as the Badlands, which is sparsely settled by raiders, pioneers and others seeking to find their own way.
Mired by constant warfare, Terra Nova was hotbed of conflict, rife with intrigue and huge battles.

The world of Neurojack drew heavily from Terra Nova: the planet on which I set my story, "Asperian", is also divided politically and geographically. Northern and Southern governments maintain an uneasy peace despite vastly differing policies while the planet itself is divided by an enormous archipelago that coats the planet's equator. Various island nations exist in the "Equatorial Chain", though they pale in comparison to the might of the polar governments.

The Northern government, built primarily upon corporate mining conglomerates, is concerned primarily with profits and protecting their business interests. The South, by contrast, is occupied with preserving the agricultural stability of the planet and protecting the environment from the sort of degradation witnessed on Earth. The South also has the distinction of being the home of the first colonists to settle Asperian.

Add to this mix a new type of metal called "Illuminus." Illuminus possesses super-tensile properties, allowing the construction of kilometer-high buildings and nigh-impenetrable armor. Additionally, Illuminus can act as fuel in the environment of a fusion reactor, providing power for several years before needing replacement. It was the discovery of Illuminus that brought the mining conglomerates to Asperian in the first place, but there is more. In reaction to the reckless development exhibited by the mining corporations, various elements in the South began a covert terrorist war designed to subvert the agenda of the corporations. Among their number was a brilliant scientist who discovered a third for of Illuminus: liquid. Known as "Mercurial Illuminus", this liquid metal can be consumed by people known as "Imbibers" to transform them into something more than human. Through the use of Imbibers and terror tactics, the Southern rebels take their private war to the north.

There is a lot more to the game that I am leaving out, but this is the general foundation. Conflict is built on political ideology, nationalism, racism and social discrepancies.