Now, I don’t want to oversell the game, but let me say this about The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. Its greatest sin is that it released in the same year and quarter as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate -- because if it chose any other time period, then it would probably, if not easily, be my Game of the Year.
I mean, it’s not perfect. There are some technical issues (on the Switch, at least), a decent chunk of the puzzles are surprisingly basic (except for one at the end involving a big shoe), the voice acting occasionally reaches a point where main heroine JJ is channeling the spirit of Tommy Wiseau, and…yeah, I can see the general length of the game -- or lack thereof -- being a sticking point for gamers that want bang for their buck. Then again, my $30 got me about 8 hours of entertainment, so your mileage may vary. Also this is both a complaint and a compliment: this game really pops off in the final act or so, meaning that the ending is…yikesy mikesy.
I’ll probably talk more about the game another day, but for now? Buy it, watch an LP, read up on it, consume it however you can. Now let’s spend the rest of this post talking about big dumb writing projects.
First things first: I’m planning to go on a hiatus for a bit. As is the custom around these parts; nothing gets to me like the onset of a cruel winter, you see. But because it is a custom, it’s worth mentioning that it’s not a months-long, hibernation, radio silence sort of hiatus. I’m just scaling back the output for a bit so I can work on other stuff. And sleep. And stay warm. So instead of two posts a week? Down to one. And, crucially, that’ll start up after a short break. That is, my plan is to just not upload much of anything until Smash Ultimate comes out and I can spend a month writing about that. Because I probably could, even before touching it.
So the plan is as follows. I’ll try to get another post out on The MISSING this Thursday. After that -- Monday, 11/26 -- I’ll have another post making a formal announcement of the hiatus…and tied to Green Naruto, because I’ve been grinding the crap out of My Hero Academia recently and loving it. And then? Blank spaces until (ideally) Thursday, 12/13, I.e. after I’ve had LOTS of time to dig into Smash. Then it’ll be one post a week for the rest of December, likely about Smash unless something earth-shattering jumps on a pike in front of me. Or takes a bullet. Whichever comes first.
Essentially, the plan is to fill December up with Smash stuff. What about January, though? Well, I’ll fill it up with something a bit less…simple and clean. Yep, Kingdom Hearts III is nearly upon us, and before I can write about that (whether it’s a trainwreck or not), I’ve got to get out content re: the games I have played. So assuming I can keep the length of each post manageable, the first two Thursdays of January will focus on 0.2, the second two Thursdays will focus on Dream Drop Distance, and the last? A quick, knee-jerk reaction thingamajig on the main event, KHIII. Assuming everything goes to plan.
I guess that after that (February, in other words), it’s back to normal. It’ll probably mean that I missed out on talking about a lot of games and events in the meantime (unless there’s something I absolutely HAVE to write about), but considering that my backlog right now is making the Colossal Titan look like Tinker Bell, I’d say I’ve got no choice but to cut my losses and run. I’m just being realistic here; the probability of me making any headway in Red Dead Redemption 2 is a few hundredths shy of negative infinity.
Now here’s the real shit. I’m not just scaling down because of incoming games or the winter doldrums. And in spite of my “preparations”, I want to do more than just manage Cross-Up…which is saying a lot, given that I also want to do a visual overhaul and tend to admin stuff I’ve put off for ages. Setting aside the fact that I need to work on/rework/revamp…that character for the 89th time, I’ve got some novel things I’d like to tend to. Because you can’t be a writing hero if all you ever do is talk about files that stay locked in your computer 24/7.
Luckily, I’ve already made progress. I pretty much have by default; it’s worth nothing that I started and finished a project early into the life of this blog. I mean, it didn’t go anywhere, because of course it didn’t, but it was -- if nothing else -- practice. A stepping stone. A means to see what I needed to do next. There’s a part of me that wishes “what I needed to do next” didn’t necessitate a complete overhaul -- which is a charitable euphemism for “start the fuck over” -- but, well, here I am.
So what am I on now? I know, but in the interest of stemming confusion, I’ll just say that -- revisions aside -- this is the third version of the same general story. It’s significantly denser than the other two, so that even if it technically doesn’t cover as much ground, it has a much stronger focus on a single event/scenario. Ideally, that’s the format I’ll use going forward (if only so that the train top battle I had in an earlier version gets buffed into a major story arc instead of a set piece…because I secretly love train top battles). But before I can think about the future and the relevant ambitions, I have to think about the present. The first step, not Step 94.
So I’m on nu-version 3, but as of writing? The editing I’m doing makes it 3.5, or something close to it. All of the content is there, spread out over 22 chapters -- and it’s worth noting that those 22 are the result of an overhaul of an overhaul. I probably should (possibly could?) upload a post going over some of the changes, but I can tell you right now that the main characters have been revamped, the first quarter got retooled, one of the villains (such as she is) got rejiggered, and the ending is now something you’d expect to see Green Naruto pull off…only with more suffering, and much less success.
Then again, my guy doesn’t end the story with broken legs, sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…Deku’s got him beat there. Also, funnily enough, he’s taller than my lead. Which isn’t saying much, admittedly.
In any case, the work I have ahead of me is critical, and possibly the most challenging of all. I can write tons of stuff and get it down on a page, as you can guess. Now I have to work on cutting out content -- removing redundancies, getting rid of extraneous details, ensuring the flow of the story remains intact, etc. Probably the big thing is that I have to be mindful of the word count. Literary agents and publishers probably don’t give a damn how much work I put into the project, and/or how badly ghosts get punched. If they scan the query (read: the 1-page summary/proposal for your story) and they see a word count that’s too high for your liking, I can imagine them giddily throwing your shit in the shredder.
I’ve got my work cut out for me. Last I checked, I made it through the first 6 chapters and slashed out stuff -- buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut the plan is to make another pass once all’s said and done to see if I can cut more. (And run it through some programs I’ve got for spelling/grammar checks.) After that? Then it’s submission time again. I have to come at agents and publishers with everything I’ve got, because the odds aren’t in my favor. Setting aside the fact that I’ve failed before (albeit inched closer each time)? I’m a new and untested writer in their eyes, and this impending submission is the first in a trilogy -- meaning that Part 1 has to justify Parts 2 and 3 decisively. Can I do enough to make the cut? Can I find someone willing to gamble on me? Can I overcome the odds for real this time?
Probably, yeah. I dunno, I’m feeling lucky this time around. But just in case, I’ll have to give it 110%.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that’s about all I’ve got for now. I’ll try not to bore you guys with novel junk for a while, so look forward to game stuff in the near future. Thanks for reading, and GO PLAY THE MISSING.
It’s the only way you’ll learn why there’s a moose-headed doctor who keeps talking about “major hemorrhage” in backwards-talk played forward. Or…something.
No comments:
Post a Comment