Adam Heine's Blog, page 12

Inspiration

My Boys' First RPG

I've been wanting to try my boys out on an RPG for a while now, but I wasn't really sure how. I'd given away a lot of my sourcebooks, so all I had left was the d20 SRD which, while great, wasn't quite what I wanted.



Then I got this fancy schmancy Numenera corebook in the mail. This system is what I wanted: simple, flexible, and with a heck of a lot of leeway for a GM who wasn't sure how well his players would get things. But the Ninth World can be kinda . . . creepy, at least for 6- and 7-ye...

Loving What You Write

I've had a hard time writing lately. Oh don't worry, there's still a novel on sub, and another novel ready to go after that one. This page is still up to date (wait, is it up to date? . . . Yes, now it's up to date).



What's been hard is writing something new. Part of that has been RPG crafting systems and dialogue design (who knew two full-time jobs would be so much work, am I right?). Part of it is in that first paragraph: I'm on sub, have another ready to go, and my brain is saying, "Why a...

Fact: NYC Has an Airship Dock

A friend of mine visited New York City recently and sent me this very important information along with photo evidence.

"The top section of the Empire State Building, including the spire, was
actually designed  to allow dirigibles to dock at the building and
passengers to disembark at the top. The interior of the spire has a
massive winch installed where a drag line from the blimp could be
attached and reeled in, then a small walkway would be extended to the
bridge of the ship."

Click...

"Do you credit a Most High God?"

John Scalzi recently described himself as "an agnostic of the 'I'm almost certain God does not exist, but
intellectual honesty requires me to admit I just don’t know' stripe." That's a belief I have a lot of respect for.



I'm both similar and opposite (yes, I can be both). I'm certain God exists and cares for us, but intellectual honesty requires me to admit I could be wrong.



I said I have a lot of respect for beliefs like Scalzi's, and that's because there isn't proof of a God -- not in the...

Writing Game Dialogue

A lot of you know I'm a multiclassed programmer/writer. Before I drafted four novels and got an agent, I had a Computer Science degree, scripted for Planescape: Torment, and completed a few dozen Project Euler problems (until they got too hard). Unfortunately, since I've been more focused on writing, my levels in programming have gone largely unused.



Until now. It turns out game dialogue is the perfect job for my class combination. It's nowhere near as complicated as writing a program to sol...

First Impact: BEHIND THOSE EYES by Chris Warrick

It's been a while since we've done a First Impact Critique (it's been a while since I've gotten one!). To refresh your memory, First Impact is
where we take a look at your queries, first pages, back cover copy, and
more. You want to make an impact right from the start. We're here to
help you do that.



I'll offer my critique below, then if you're nice (and you are, right? Otherwise what are you doing hanging around here?), you'll offer your own thoughts as well.



If you'd like to submit your f...

So You Launched a Kickstarter Campaign

ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!



Kidding.



So, you know you're ready for Kickstarter, and you've put your entire pitch together. What can you expect from the campaign itself?



THE LIFE OF A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

Most Kickstarter campaigns follow the same general trend:


A large amount of pledges on the first day.
A quick drop-off of pledges over the next couple of days.
A long "lull" where the amount of pledges per day is about the same.
A spike of incoming pledges on the last two o...

So You Want to Launch a Kickstarter Campaign

I think one of the reasons 56% of Kickstarter projects fail is because people tend to believe it goes:


Have idea.
Click 'Publish.'
Rake cash.

But a Kickstarter campaign, a good one, is a lot of work. Not as much work as writing a novel, but it's not something you just post on a whim. Before you click "Launch," you need to know (or have) ALL of the following.



WHY KICKSTARTER?

This is every backer's first question: "Why are you coming to me for money instead of doing it yourself?" There are...

So You Want to Kickstart a Novel

Kickstarter has funded the hopes and dreams of thousands. Could it do the same for you?



Maybe.



First things first: Kickstarter is not the new self-publishing. A quick look at their own stats will prove it: less than half of the projects put up on KS have been funded. The statistics for the publishing category are even more grim: only a 31% success rate.



Still, it's better than querying, amirite?



I want to spend a couple of posts talking about what you can do to get yourself in that 31%, a...