The Game

(Reposted from 03/29/08)

As you might expect, with all the action scenes, writing The Game was particularly fun for me. But, aside from the inherent excitement of writing scenes with ice orbs and magic swords, I realized that there are two things that make SFA particularly enjoyable for me to write.

The first is that whatever fight scenes or conflicts we include, they always move the plot forward--bring people closer, push them apart, set up the next event, etc. Of course, that also makes it a little tricky to write, since we have to pack as much into each scene as possible. But, it makes it worth it when we come out with a good scene or two.

The second great thing about writing SFA is that the characters aren't stagnant. They're only fifteen, and they're still trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. This chapter perhaps showed this better than the previous chapters. The School for Adventurers kids have been there for a few months, they're beginning to change and adapt to life at Eastridge. They're starting to understand more about themselves. Overall, it's just fun to write, and hopefully... fun to read?

...And, well, of course there's a third factor that makes SFA enjoyable... and that's getting to write with JLY. One of the great things about these latest scenes (and the new upcoming scenes for the next couple of weeks) is that JLY and I have written them mostly together. Even though we're both pretty busy (what, with that not-quitting-our-day-jobs, and all), we've both been freer than, say, when we were still at our respective colleges, so we've managed to write most of these scenes collectively. And, as luck would have it, writing with JLY turns out to be incredibly amusing... well, at least, it seems incredibly amusing at the time.

A typical day in the collaborative writing of SFA:

JLY typing Wisteria's line: 'And, in what realm am I afraid of you?'

KL: "...All right, let's italicize the 'you'."

JLY types: 'And, in what realm am I afraid of you?'

KL: "...."

JLY: "Oops. Wait! that worked out so much better than I originally planned!"

Then again, what isn't funny when you've had five hours of sleep and spent the past three hours writing?

But, maybe that's what keeps us writing.

Ah, good times.

KL