Pierre-Alexandre Garneau's "Unforgettable" Game Design Blog

Unforgettable
by Pierre-Alexandre Garneau

I’ve played pen & paper role-playing games quite a bit in the past. Being a game master is great training for game design: you have to create an exciting and entertaining experience for your friends on a regular basis.

One thing a game master must do is create a lot of non-player characters. The challenge is to create memorable characters on a regular basis. After creating what must be a few hundred characters, I figured a few simple tricks. These tricks are useful whenever you’re creating new characters, whether they’re for a pen & paper RPG, a video game or even a novel.

The key to a memorable character is distinctiveness. The character must stand out from others — nobody remembers the average Joe. If your character is distinctive in multiple ways, that’s even better. I try to create characters that are distinctive in 3 different aspects:

• Appearance: The character should be obviously different by simply looking at her. This is particularly important for characters that are not actually seen, only described — like in a novel. A character with a peculiar haircut might be good enough for a movie or a comic book, but it would probably be hard to describe memorably in a novel.

• Actions: The character should act in ways that are different from the norm. This can take the form of special abilities (like a superpower or a peculiar weapon the character always uses) or the way the character acts (a weird way of speaking or is she’s paranoid, for example).

• Background: The character’s past should be interesting, to somehow hook into whatever you’re creating. A character could be an orphan, or have trained with a secretive order of ninjas for example (or both, like Bruce Wayne).

Let’s take Captain Jack Sparrow as an example of a memorable character. He has a distinctive appearance, what with the thick black eye-liner, the dreadlocks and the bandanna, he most definitely acts in a memorable way, thanks to Johnny Depp’s wonderful acting, and he has a distinctive past, having been the captain of a mutinous pirate crew turned undead.

Another good example is Darth Vader. Vader’s apperance is definitely unique, with his black outfit that doesn’t show a single inch of skin. His mastery of the force gives him unique abilities that make his actions distinctive. As for his past, it’s interesting enough that it spawned a whole trilogy of hit movies.

Of course these guidelines aren’t the most subtle thing in the world, so they’re probably not ideal for stories with very realistic characters. The broad strokes these guidelines create are very good at creating memorable larger than life characters however, and that’s a type of character that’s useful in a lot of games.

Writing Consistancy: Vatican paper says 'The Simpsons' are okely dokely

Writing Consistancy: Vatican paper says 'The Simpsons' are okely dokely

Wed Dec 23, 3:37 AM PST

To put it as the devout Ned Flanders would, the Vatican's newspaper thinks "The Simpsons" are an okely dokely bunch.

L'Osservatore Romano on Tuesday congratulated the show on its 20th anniversary, praising its philosophical leanings as well as its stinging and often irreverent take on religion.

Without Homer Simpson and the other yellow-skinned characters "many today wouldn't know how to laugh," said the article titled "Aristotle's Virtues and Homer's Doughnut."

The paper credited "The Simpsons" — the longest-running American animated program — with opening up cartoons to an adult audience.

The show is based on "realistic and intelligent writing," it said, though it added there was some reason to criticize its "excessively crude language, the violence of certain episodes or some extreme choices by the scriptwriters."

Religion, from the snore-evoking sermons of the Rev. Lovejoy to Homer's face-to-face talks with God, appears so frequently on the show that it could be possible to come up with a "Simpsonian theology," it said.

Homer's religious confusion and ignorance are "a mirror of the indifference and the need that modern man feels toward faith," the paper said.

It commented on several religion-themed episodes, including one in which Homer calls for divine intervention by crying: "I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"

"Homer finds in God his last refuge, even though he sometimes gets His name sensationally wrong," L'Osservatore said. "But these are just minor mistakes, after all, the two know each other well."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

----
That's my Homer. Whether climbing the Himalayas to talk to the Lama, being chased by Ganesha's representative, or taking a baptism for Bart, Homer is searching and fumbling his way through spirituality much better than some who go to church/temple, or whatever every week or day. --Neale Sourna

Susie Bright's Sex Consultant to the Stars: Her Consultation for "Bound" by The Wachowski's

Susie Bright's Sex Consultant to the Stars: Her Consultation for the film "Bound" by The Wachowski's

First, I sent Larry and Andy a picture from the cover of the book I was working on, “Nothing But the Girl”, about lesbian erotic photography.

When I first met Gina [Gershon], I carried the same picture in my hand: a beautiful butch woman sitting a la Rodin’s “Thinker”, tattooed and muscled with a cowlick like Elvis’, but with all the shadows and soft curves of a woman’s figure. The model’s name was Ronny, but when I sent the picture to the filmmaker’s, I said, “This is your Corky”.

Corky’s character is a revelation in Hollywood cinema, because it is the first time since the days of Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo that female masculinity has been eroticized. Usually when
we see a woman who looks like a “dyke’ , a mannish woman, she’s the psychopath, the social misfit , the pathetic creepy person who there’s no hope left for.

She’s the prison warden, the weird jock, the brutal nurse, the fucked-up punk.

When have we seen a gorgeous woman of our generation on screen who moved like Jimmy Dean, sulked like a young Brando, drew a bead on you like Eastwood? Corky had to be the kind of woman that everyone in the theater would be dying to go to bed with, and she had to do it without acting the least bit like a girly-girl.

Violet [Jennifer Tilly], on the other hand, couldn’t just be any straight girl on the drift. She had to be a femme queen, as calculating and sensual as a cat; a woman who’s lost a bit of her soul fucking men for money, but who knows exactly what kind of touch she needs to find redemption.

Most of all, and this was the part that cracked the cliché about dangerous femme fatales--she had to be a dangerous femme you could count on---whether it was getting you off or getting you out of a jam.

The Wachowskis had the character and dialog ready to roll in their script, it was just a matter of how to keep...MORE

Susie Bright's Sex Consultant to the Stars: Her Consultation for the film "Bound" by The Wachowski's

Game Writer Exchange at LinkedIn.com

GAME STORY WRITERS

WANTED: Established game writers, rank beginners and working in-betweeners. Share your latest job and career notice finds, give information and advice, or submit education hookups concerning game story writing and/or requests for short to long fiction for games or comics.

Writers are often THE LAST TO BE CALLED into the game planning and development process, but are expected to pull a gigantic elephant out of the tiny hat.

Just like art graphics and programming code good writing and especially GREAT WRITING needs time to build its understructure and then layer on muscle and flesh.

The more WE WRITERS share and give one another a hand up to get each and every one of us into projects earlier, the better our writing will be and THE BETTER THE GAMES WE WRITE WILL BE, and the sooner we’ll be asked to the party.

No more last minute literary rescues and trying to piece together plots that makes all the already chosen graphics work. Which can be great—if it works—and disastrous and a blame on the writer when it doesn’t.

Let’s all move ahead, together.

--Neale Sourna at GAME WRITER EXCHANGE

*******************************

An open letter:

GAME WRITER EXCHANGE just needs to be simple. It seems there are few writing gigs, or we don't hear about them until late. Or, we're busy and want to pass on something we've found to another, who's qualified.

Some of us are getting fairly regular hits, but if we writers can pool or resources and therefore--like attractive gazelles at a watering hole a women in a women's college attract the interests of power hitters; once they see us here.

Although the women's college thing is better but way too similar to lions hunting gazelles!

If we can gather a decent, solid range of starting, medium, and advanced writers in an easier to find virtual location, I think it will improve our access, our writing, and our marketing and cash flow.

Hopefully, this open approach will encourage the planners, developers, and recruiters to see us. We're here! We need to be added to the planning and the payroll way before all the artists and whomever find they have logic holes.

We game writers just need to be gathered together much as the artists and coding programmers here at LinkedIn; together like them, but highlighted and spotlighted in our own element, away from them.

And if anyone has questions, we can share answers.

I've seen game writer and game comic, etc questions spread out around my other author, scriptwriting, and game groups; but not specialized to it. I see comics, and even script planning art boards, in a similar area as game story narrative.

Also there are narrative articles and blogs at Gamasutra.com and other places, and it wouldn't hurt to gather those. I've been pulling a few into my own character writing blog [http://writing-naked101.blogspot.com/ ] but ... I'm a little lonely, I think.

I'm alone when I write, edit, layout, and publish my works or write or rewrite other peoples scripts, novels, and games.

The programmers I work with are sometimes helpful but busy cranking out their games and my questions are normally only in what they do or do not want, which leaves me with more questions on how to improve, what others skills and game design programs [like Neverwinter Nights] from a writer's approach is best--and EASY and SENSIBLE--for the next step, in writers helping the game from concept to player.

I felt it was a burning idea and I didn't see it repeated anywhere else here, or I would've joined.

So, I've no desire to play dictator or mess up anybody's stuff but writers of every kind need to gather our power and use it to get us more: power, respect, reputation, opportunities, and the cash.

And, as always, I'm open to positive, useful suggestions for our project here in gathering game writing info, news, jobs, etcetera.

Neale

www.Writing-Naked.com
www.Neale-Sourna.com
www.PIE-Percept.com

Neale Sourna Game stories:

"Heartwild Solitaire" 1 & 2 pc games
"Margrave Manor" & "Margrave Manor2: The Lost Ship" pc games
"Berlin'61: The Wall" RPG

Character of the Viewer: On Tiger Woods and Other Supposed "Roll Models"

Character of the Viewer: On Tiger Woods and Other Supposed "Roll Models"

Some of us want to write, to create and craft characters that will inspire.

Some of us want to be one who inspires and leads. Well, it is better to inspire than to lead, and it is better to allow the viewer of you or of your works to discover for themselves what about you or your well-crafted works gives them inspiration.

So....

Don't worry about "roll models" letting you or another you love down, because the true nature of a roll model is to APPEAR to be what you BELIEVE them to be, not what they ACTUALLY are every moment of the many seconds of a long, real life.

Drug addition, sexual infidelity, etcetera ALL MEAN NOTHING, the only thing that truly means anything is if your roll model MADE YOU BE or FEEL BETTER at a particular time.

• Made you try again.
  
• Made you succeed, as they did.
  
• Made you improve yourself within and without.

That is all a roll model owes you. Nothing more.

--Neale Sourna

J.C. Hutchins at Tor.com: Why the best sci-fi TV and movies don’t *feel* like sci-fi

MORE, including comments at http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58311
posted Tuesday December 01, 2009 04:16pm EST

Why the best sci-fi TV and movies don’t *feel* like sci-fi

J.C. Hutchins

Last week, I suggested that sci-f/fantasy readers and authors could benefit from reading genres other than SFF. I contended that the quality of SFF stories can improve from exposure to mainstream genres, reduce the barrier of entry for newcomers to SFF, and create an even larger community of fans.

Today, I’d like to illustrate this by geeking out on some movies and TV shows that inject high doses of SFF elements into their stories, yet proved to be completely accessible to mainstream audiences. Some of these stories aren’t usually classified as sci-fi by norms, which is awfully cool: it shows us that SFF need not alienate audiences with a high barrier of entry, and that the surly “us vs. the world” underdog/junkyard dog attitude a vocal few SFF audiences and authors have need not exist.

I’ll then follow up with why I think these SFF-in-sheep’s-clothing stories are so successful, and what we fans (and writers) can learn from them.

• Back to the Future: A time-traveling DeLorean. Often found in the comedy section.

• Groundhog Day: A loop in the space-time continuum. Comedy.

• Somewhere In Time: Accessible time travel. Drama.

• The Truman Show: Super surveillance, for a society of one. Comedy/drama.

• Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: Toons in the real world. Comedy.

• The Road Warrior: Post apocalypse. Far more often considered action than SF.

• E.T.: Often considered a “family” movie, but sci-fi all the way.

• The Time Traveler’s Wife: SF packaged as romance.

• Jurassic Park: Cloned dinosaurs. Nearly always found in the action section.

• The Abyss: Aliens in the ocean. Typically associated with action.

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Mindwipe technology. Found in comedy/drama.

• Galaxy Quest: Funny SF movie. Found in comedy.

• Cocoon: Biological rejuvenation thanks to alien pods. Drama.

• King Kong: Giant ape terrorizes Manhattan. Action.

• Iron Man, Batman Begins, X-Men, Superman: Most often found in action.

• Contact: Sagan’s SF masterpiece, often found in drama.

• Quantum Leap: Time-jumping. Often classified as comedy/drama.

• Third Rock from the Sun: Brilliant show about incognito aliens. Comedy.

• The Six Million Dollar Man: They rebuilt him. They had the technology. Action.

• The Boys from Brazil: Hitler clones. Drama.

• Short Circuit: Sentient robot. Comedy.

• Ghost: Victim’s soul sticks around to solve his own murder. Drama.

• The Matrix: We all live in a computer simulation. Action.

• Innerspace: Submarine inside a dude’s bloodstream. Comedy.

• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Time travel. Comedy.

• Gremlins: Muppets gone bad. Comedy.

• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The title says it all. Comedy/family.

• Deja Vu: Space-time paradoxes. Drama.

• Sliding Doors: Parallel universes. Drama.

I’m certain there are dozens more (which you can share in this post’s comments). So why were these movies and TV shows so successful at attracting non-SFF fans—especially when the beating heart of each of these stories is a skyscraper-sized SFF conceit? Nearly all of them take place in present day, which helps: the storytellers don’t have to send much time building a brand-new world.

But I believe it’s far more than that. Examine wildly successful properties that are known as SFF, yet attract millions of mainstream viewers—Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Alien and Aliens and The X-Files. These stories sport the same successful characteristics as the list above.

Yet they rarely let the SFF elements eclipse the story or characters. They give enough information about those fantastical elements to deliver understanding and relevance for the audience, but not so much as to alienate them. They focus on characters. Their protagonists—even if they were born on other planets—are immediately grokable thanks to their very “human” behaviors and characteristics. Audiences want to emotionally identify with characters, and whenever possible, the world in which they occupy.

I believe these are the most successful traits of great SFF (and stories, period): nigh-universal appeal. To be clear: I’m not criticizing fans or writers who love to deep geek in their fiction—one of my favorite novels, Vernor Vinge’s A Deepness In the Sky, is hyper-granular in its worldbuilding and geekery. There is absolutely a place for this content, and a thriving subculture exists that will support it.

But I do believe that these movies and TV shows (and more—sound off in the comments!) can provide priceless inspiration for SFF storytellers, and opportunities to grow our community well past the SFF section of our book- and video stores. If storytellers and evangelistic SFF fans can accomplish that, then we all win. MORE, including comments at http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58311

---

J.C. Hutchins is the author of the sci-fi thriller novel 7th Son: Descent. Originally released as free serialized audiobooks, his 7th Son trilogy is the most popular podcast novel series in history. J.C.’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post and on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

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StoryLink: Melissa Rosenberg on Writing "Twilight" Series and "Dexter"

http://www.storylink.com/article/329

You Asked ... Melissa Rosenberg,"Twilight" Series, "Dexter"

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Melissa Rosenberg

StoryLink

Interviewed by StoryLink

November 5, 2009

We are thrilled to have Melissa Rosenberg as our November Featured Screenwriter.

The head writer and producer for Showtime's Dexter, Rosenberg also wrote the screenplays for the Twilight series (from the novels penned by Stephenie Meyer). Dexter is currently in its fourth season. Twilight: New Moon, the second in the saga....http://www.storylink.com/article/329

When adapting a novel for the screen, especially one as loved as Twilight, how do you determine what parts go into the film and what parts don't? Especially under the potential wrath of crazy fans? – Kelsey

The most important element to bring from the book to the screen is the emotional journey of the characters. That should never be sacrificed. There are important scenes and plot points that enable those characters to go on that journey, and they become the framework of the story. As to what parts don’t make it in… I guess I’d say… in a novel, conversations that last for chapters can be utterly compelling. Certainly that’s true for the Twilight books. But film is a visual medium, and you want to keep it engaging visually. So it’s probably those conversations that tend to get pared down the most, condensed or cut.

So much of the way Dexter is written is internal thought processes, and the "dark rider" who seems to be an alter-ego of Dexter operates almost as an additional character. I'm wondering how difficult it was to write to this character (the dual-faceted Dexter)? – Deborah

I love writing for Dexter’s character because he’s so complex, and has such conflicting elements to his personality. His secret, alter-ego is the source of so much of the show’s humor. But his voice-over can also be the hardest part to write – it often distills a scene or an episode or an emotional arc down to its most minimal form. It’s like writing haiku; the fewer words the better. But those words need to say so much.

When creating smoldering romantic chemistry between characters, what are some of the most magical/powerful equations between dialogue and action that absolutely "grabs, locks and loads" the female audience? What the heck is the secret to writing romantic chemistry? – Joann

For me, I guess it’s about what’s not said in a scene. The subtext. It’s also the conflict between two characters; the obstacle keeping them apart, together with the longing drawing them together. But of course, you can’t actually write chemistry. I could write the sexiest scene ever, but if two actors were cast who didn’t have chemistry, the scene would still fall flat. I – we – got very, very lucky with Rob [Pattinson] and Kristen [Stewart] for Twilight]!

When did you start feeling the inspiration to....http://www.storylink.com/article/329

...As a writer who has written for both film and T.V., what do you see as the main differences in writing for those two mediums? As a writer, how do you have to jump mentally and technically from T.V. writing zone to feature writing zone? – Bill

T.V. writing is much more collaborative. You have a staff of writers who sit around in a room all day inventing a story. It’s energizing, exhausting, inspiring, hilarious, and frustrating. It’s a little like being on a submarine together. At one point you’re going to hate each person in that room, and they’re going to hate you. It’s like family that way. In the end, you love them all, but it takes navigating a lot of personalities, and that takes energy.

Writing features, it’s just you alone in your little office with your keyboard. You don’t have to listen to anything but your own creative voice. There are no office politics to deal with, no feelings to hurt, no one to piss you off. Then again… there’s no room full of talented, creative people at the end of the hall that you can run to any time you’re stuck.

I love doing both equally, but both come with their own sets of challenges. Jumping back and forth has been perfect for me. Just when I need a break from the writing room, I get to go home and write a feature. Just when I start getting lonely in my little office, I get to go back into that writing room with some of my favorite people in the world - writers....http://www.storylink.com/article/329