Jonathan Green's Blog, page 107

Thought for the Day

"It is perfectly okay to write garbage - as long as you edit brilliantly."

~ C. J. Cherryh

Interactive Fiction Saturday: AdventureX 2016 and WordPlay London

For some reason, this weekend seems to be the weekend of Interactive Fiction here in London. AdventureX is enjoying its sixth(?) and biggest year, with all manner of people demoing all manner of interactive adventures over the course of the weekend at Goldsmiths University in south-east London, and yesterday saw the international WordPlay festival take over the British Library for the day. Seeing as how I live a tube ride away from central London, it seemed rude not to attend both.

Goldsmiths University, venue for AdventureX 2016.
I started at AdventureX, where I listened to a very interesting conversation with Rhianna Pratchett and briefly got the chance to say hello afterwards, and then headed back across London to the British Library, where I was appearing on a panel myself.

Rhianna Pratchett in conversation.
Both events took over their respective venues, with laptops dotted about the place and people trying out each others games (AdventureX in a stairwell/hallway, and WordPlay in the environs of the British Library). There was a real buzz at both events and it was pleasing to see that the gamebook hasn't died out, rather than it has evolved.

The British Library, venue for WordPlay London.
I arrived at WordPlay in time to hear the panel before mine, entitled 'Practical Considerations of Writerly Games' and found myself nodding away as the panellists discussed the pros and cons of crowdfunding platforms, the challenges faced by independent games designers trying to market their games, and how to actually earn any money from such ventures.

Does what it says on the tin...
And then it was time for 'Worldbuilding with Words'. Hannah Powell-Smith (creator of various interactive games in which a far bit of making out seems to take place) did a sterling job moderating our panel, on which I was joined by Helen Carmichael (whose new game 'Shadowhand' is out imminently) and Nate Crowley (who has contributed a story to the soon-to-be-Kickstarted short story anthology SHARKPUNK 2 ).
We discussed how to avoid overloading readers with information, pacing, design vs storytelling, creating believable worlds within a limited word count, and matching the setting to the game mechanics. (I also plugged Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland and The Wicked Wizard of Oz - a lot!)


After all that talking, it was only right that we decamped to a hostelry down the road to refresh ourselves and talk more about this business we call 'Writing'.
Thanks to everyone who came along to listen to our panel (especially loyal FF fan James Aukett) and for being such an involved and interested audience*. And here's to WordPlay London happening again next year!


* One gentlemen was taking copious notes on his laptop and I'd love to read his transcription of the talks, if such a thing were possible.

Gamebook Friday: NaNoWriMo progress and WordPlay London

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Saturday 19th November 2016, I shall be taking part in  WordPlay London  at the British Library.

You can find out more about this event by following this link to last weekend's post about it. The panel I'm going to be on is currently scheduled to take place from 4.15pm-5.00pm, and is called:

Worldbuilding with WordsCreators of interactive fiction, prose-forward games, Twitter microfictions and gamebooks discuss the challenges and joys of using words to evoke historical eras and weird universes.

In other news, you'll see that I've made significant progress with The Wicked Wizard of Oz since last week.

Thought for the Day

"However great a man's natural talent may be, the art of writing cannot be learned all at once."

~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

Jonathan Green at WordPlay London 2016

Next Saturday, 19th November 2016, I shall be taking part in WordPlay London at the British Library.

WordPlay is the Hand Eye Society's international festival of writerly games and the British Library is the ideal venue. For one thing, it’s the largest library in the world boasting a collection of over 170,000,000 items. For another thing, one of those items is the manuscript copy of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (which was later published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ). And for yet another thing, the Beowulf manuscript (the oldest surviving long poem in Old English) is housed there.

London has been chosen as the location for this year's festival because of the wealth of interactive fiction talent in the UK, including friends of Fighting Fantasy, inkle Studios. The date, Saturday 19th November, has been chosen to coincide with International Games in Libraries Day .

The panel I'm going to be on is currently scheduled to take place from 4.15pm-5.00pm, and is called:

Worldbuilding with WordsCreators of interactive fiction, prose-forward games, Twitter microfictions and gamebooks discuss the challenges and joys of using words to evoke historical eras and weird universes.Hannah Powell-Smith, Twine creatorNate Crowley, dystopic Twitter writerHelen Carmichael, historical game writer

Jon Green, gamebook author

As the focus of the festival is digital games, I think I'm there to represent the retro processed tree carcass contingent.

So, if you're interested to know how I endeavour to evoke different eras and settings using words alone (and a minimal number at that) they why not come along next Saturday?

Maybe I'll see you there.

Gamebook Friday: On NaNoWriMo and the Dangers of Project Fatigue

As readers who have been following this blog for some time will know, I've dabbled with NaNoWriMo* in the past. (As has my friend Bill King.)

I contemplated taking part again this year, to work on a new project, but it got to the start of November and The Wicked Wizard of Oz was still unfinished and so I have decided to use NaNoWriMo as a motivational tool to help get me through to the end.

Why? You may well ask. Basically, two months into writing my latest gamebook I found myself in need a something to motivate me to keep going.

Why? Because half term happened, including a family holiday, and I took a break to write a couple of short stories, and I have a raft of new projects, snapping at my heels, that also need to be written. Also, because despite having reached section 500 I am still nowhere near the end of this particular adventure. The Wicked Wizard of Oz is going to be significantly longer than Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland (which means it will also be my longest gamebook to date) but then that's what happens when you allow the player to be one of five different characters all with their own abilities and unique backstories!

You will see that I actually started NaNoWriMo a week late, but I'm confident that I'll be able to catch up, and besides, I'm back on the horse now and galloping into Winkie Country as I type. Sort of.

I feel I should point out that the word count displayed above is what I've written during NaNoWriMo, not the total word count for the book so far!
In other news, someone has written a new and very pleasing 5-star review of Night of the Kraken , and fans of gamebooks may be interested to know that Joe Dever's Grey Star is back, courtesy of a new Kickstarter campaign.


* A.k.a. National Novel Writing Month.

Thought for the Day

or 'Woeful Wednesday: On writing and the futility of existence'

Whatever your personal politics, you can't help but be dismayed as the divisions that are forming around the world at present and the economic consequences of recent democratic decisions.

Like many other creatives, I am sure, I find that my ability to work on creative projects is directly affected by my mood. If I'm distracted by things, I find it hard to settle. If I am worried about things, I find it hard to write anything at all.

Waking up to today's news, that the leader of the free world is to be one President Trump - on top of everything else that is going on in Syria, Russia, and the rest of Europe - my initial reaction was, "What is the point in even turning on the laptop today? How can I contemplate spending my time writing a silly little gamebook based on The Wizard of Oz? The world might end tomorrow. What's the point?"

Now I would never claim that what I do is Art. For example, the other night I was out with friends and heard some incredible tales about their time working in Kuwait around the time of the first Gulf War. One of them said I should write a book about it. Then another asked me what I'm working on at the moment, and even as I was explaining The Wicked Wizard of Oz to them, I felt like what I was doing with my days was insignificant and juvenile, when compared to the woes facing the world.

I don't do Art, I do Entertainment. And that remembrance was the trigger that meant I deleted the self-indulgent tweet I had composed* and sat down to write this blog post instead.

I'm not saying that people should disengage from politics and the world, and live in Airy Fairy Land. Far from it. But if reading a inconsequential little book inspired by The Wizard of Oz improves someone's day in these dark times, if only for a minute, then surely it's worth knuckling down to finish said book.

As I said, I would never claim to create Art, with a capital A, but today, Neil Gaiman's words are going to be my mantra.




* In case you're wondering, it read: I shouldn't do politics on social media, it never ends well, but there doesn't seem much point in working today. #amnotwriting #pointless

Tie-in Tuesday: Robin of Sherwood - The Knights of the Apocalypse

Word is that my long-awaited novelisation of Richard Carpenter's Robin of Sherwood: The Knights of the Apocalypse will be released by the end of he month, with spare copies left over from the printing to fulfil pledges for the crowdfunding campaign going on sale through the Spiteful Puppet website.

I will, of course, keep you informed of developments. After all, nothing's forgotten... Nothing is ever forgotten.

Thought for the Day

"Good writing is essentially rewriting."

~ Roald Dahl, author (1916-1990)

Sharkpunk Saturday: SHARKPUNK - The Audiobook

I found myself down in Poole this week, appropriately enough, there to record my own introduction to the short story anthology SHARKPUNK .

It was a revelation with regards to how much work goes in to recording a segment that's about seven minutes long, and I can't wait to listen to it along with the other stories in the anthology.

The audiobook is being produced by Circle of Spears Productions , led by Helen Stirling, who was the one who had to patiently ask me to re-record names of Hawaiian shark gods and the like.

 The Talking Shed.
Inside the Talking Shed.
Helen Stirling at the recording desk - and who wouldn't want a TARDIS for their recording desk?
Yours Truly, inside the Talking Shed.
Helen working her magic inside the Talking Shed.
Helen also just happens to be married to SHARKPUNK and Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu contributor Andrew Lane , who stopped by to say hello and talk all things sharks, Cthulhu and Sherlock Holmes.
Quiet! Genius at work!
Andrew Lane, and obligatory pet Godzilla.
SHARKPUNK - The Audiobook will be released soon, and I will of course let you know when it's on sale.