Workflow · 1:06am Jan 30th, 2013
It's an interesting experience, using google docs to write chapters. I've been using it all along, but after getting used to the comment functionality recently, I've begun to work them into my workflow, and it seems to be helping.
I haven't really mentioned this before, but in addition to doing world design for books I never write, most of my actual writing has been done in online pen and paper and freeform roleplaying; DnD, Exalted and the like but with people who sometimes write a page or two to describe their turn. The problem is, this has led to me usually writing extremely linearly—one action at a time. Given my penchant for getting caught up on getting a turn of words right, the result is an often glacial pace (which I will tell you, certainly hasn't worked well historically in RP either.) Writing "drafts" of chapters has never worked for me either, since if I could find the words to communicate what I want to say in prose, I wouldn't be stuck!
It's nice, then to be able to place a marker in the document and explain outside of the narrative exactly what is missing / needs to happen there and move on. It's a new experience, so for all I know it'll all backfire on me, but I can only hope it works out.
If you want/need prereaders, I'd be more than willing to see what I can do to help!
Hmm Exalted you say... It should be impossible but you might have missed this fic: My Little Exalt.
The author has done a marvelous job of explaining the universe, since I don't know much about Exalted, and I can still enjoy it thoughtfully.
And as Marching Thunder said I offer my assistance as a pre-reader and well anything except grammar.
My experience is similar, minus the page or two to describe their turn.
What would you even say in all that space? Most of the people I play with will write 2-3 paragraphs per post. (And I've always been even more concise, yet take even longer to post, to my frustration and shame.)
I, too, have recently taken to writing comments on my stories as I write. It's immensely helpful. MS Word and OpenOffice Writer both have comment functions, too, so you don't have to use GDocs (though the latter certainly has other advantages).
Yeah, the comments GDocs provides helps out immensely. How goes the writing on the next chapter if I might ask?
769667
Creation is big enough that you can pretty much drop whole settings wherever, though. The only game I'm actually in at the moment is in fact a modern superhero game using a d20 system called Mutants and Masterminds
I'm actually, ironically not that big a fan of the Exalted world itself
769869
Exalted has a mechanic where actions can be rated as stunts from +1 to +3 dice, though. In addition to making an action more effective, such actions also reward combat resources (motes of essence or willpower) at various levels, so some players can get long-winded, have long emotional flashbacks or whatever if something is really important.
2-3 paragraphs is more normal, yes. Counting in pages is extreme
As for google docs, I use it by choice for the instant saving, revision history, etc. So long as my internet isn't acting up, it's great.
769916
Things are going fine, though. Trying not to let comments affect how I write things that were in my plans since the beginning, the usual.
I've deleted 800 words so far, so I'm not going to quote counts on the words I've actually kept just yet
771100
Lol, I've been there. Had a 2,500 word segment that saw ~2,000 words deleted while I was trying to write it. Was a fun time. got folks editing as you go, or?
771131
No point in having something proofed if it just gets deleted!
As much as it adds to the overall time it takes to get a chapter out, I'm sticking to the two-stage process of writing a chapter, then having it proofed.