newbie.t.'s Blog

Sorry about the delay with episode 5. I've had to do quite a bit of planning for my job (I'm a tutor) and it's all piling up on me. Plus, episode 10 was a nightmare to write! I'm gonna try and stick to a target of at least 2 episodes a month. If I can do more, brilliant! But I there WILL be at least 2! And I've decided I'm not buying Sims 3 until the series is finished - that's a distraction I don't need... even thought it would be so good... soooo good... NO, MUST WORK!! So, hope you enjoyed episode 5 and Vadamar <3. He has issues. But then don't they all? Here's a sneaky peeky at what's coming in episode 6! *It's called 'No Noose is Good Noose'. ;P *The last new main character, for a total of 7. *Atra pushes Murk's buttons. *Vadamar meets his match. *Why's Yarilo so sad? *Dania gets to use 'Kerry'. And here's a preview piccy. Reminds me of one of those old silent films, where the heroinne would get tied to a train track by a moustache-twirling cad. Mwah hah hah!

So I've only just had episode 4 published, but it's never too soon to give a sneaky peeky at the what's coming next. First, though, I'm gonna make myself do episode 10. That was a hard a hard one to plan out (one of those where I seriously have no idea what I'm gonna do) but now I've come up with something... So all I have to do is spend a couple of days taking pictures, and then 3 or 4 more days writing it out... as well as trying to live real life... Give me a fortnight, and I should be done. Then I'll upload episode 5! It's a favourite of mine, mainly because it's dominated by one of my personal favourite characters, who's new. I love all my babies, but I do find myself saving really good lines for him. Imagine Swindle had younger brother with a lot less morals and magical powers, and you'll be someway towards him. There's also a new couple of secondary characters, both of whom will crop up from time to time and be important. On with the teasers! *A new main character! Again! *Boy-on-Boy action! (at bloody last! ;)) *Boy-on-Girl action! (equal opportunities and all that) *Atra and Grastion get to know the new character. *Find out about Dania's doll... *Is love in the air...? Episode 5 is called 'Not the Only Fruit'. If you've heard of a certain British film, that may give you a clue. Well, I think it's apt anyway... Now for the screenshot preview of the week! I'm a sucker for this sort of picture. I like the balance with their hair and skintones, and they look really sweet together. And the thing I like most is that what's really happening isn't sweet at all... Mwah hah hah!! So which one do you think is my new hero?

Episode 3 just got published at last! I knew that was going to be a difficult one to re-edit, but I never realised just how difficult! So my next task is making episode 9. That shouldn't take very long. It's not very complex in terms of pictures, and I know exactly what's going to happen. I'm looking forward to it, it'll be a really fun episode with a lot of comic/dramatic potential. As soon as that's done, I'll upload episode 4. I've just been through and re-edited it, and it shouldn't be anywhere near as difficult to get passed. So, some teasers for the next episode: *Find out a lot more about Murk's background. *Get to know this new Yarilo person. *Grastion in 'nice side' shocker. *ZOMG ZOMBIES!!!!!111!!! *A brand new main character. Episode 4 is called 'Daddy's Little Girl'. Look out for it around the end of the month. Here's a sneak peek! All together now - 'Cuz this is thriller! Thriller night! You're fighting for your life inside a thriller, killer, chiller, diller(*) niiiiiiight!' (* If anyone actually knows what a 'diller' is, please let me know)

Okay, so now's a good time to explain my little writing process. Basically, I like to keep 5 episodes ahead. Yes, 5! So I've already made episodes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and I'm nearly finished on episode 8.

So why do I do this? Firstly, it stops me from stalling. I'll (hopefully) never hit a complete dead end, because I've got a 5 episode buffer. Second, it gives me time to read things fresh before I submit. It's usually quite a long gap between writing and submitting, and sometimes I have new ideas to slot in, sometimes I realise something doesn't work, so I just cut it out. And last but not least, it allows me to take your feedback into consideration. If people are confused about something, I know I can clear it up. If people like someone, I can make them less likeable. If people dislike someone, I can make them the hero [I love messing with people's heads ;)]

The downside is that it's taking some self-control not to just submit them all! I'm the kind of person who sees a doughnut and eats a doughnut. ;D So you'll just have to trust me when I say 'It really does get better and better'.

I'll finish episode 8 real soon - it's turning out to be an epic one! As soon as I have, I'll submit episode 3. It's called 'The Colour of Straw' - you'll know what that means when you read it ;). I wrote episode 3 before I was aware of the exact rules on TSR censorship, so I've had to do quite a bit of tweaking and careful wording. The original draft was quite gruesome! But hopefully it will be here by Monday, maybe sooner. The story moderators have been really helpful so far, always saying exactly what I can and can't do, so I'm very grateful for that.

Here's a sneak peek at episode 3! I like their reactions, but I'll leave it up to you to decide what they can see...

Only took 2 years to save up for one! I'm still trying to work out how to manage this thing, but hopefully this will be an easier way to post updates. Now, where's the button for polls...