To all those present, I give you a Toast!
May the coming year be full of joy and light,
May friendships and romance survive more then a night.
May you find strength, peace and health this coming year,
May no darkness, hate and sorrow fill your soul with tears.
May life grant you everything it can,
May you find the grace to help your fellow man.
With this toast I do say,
May this year be nothing but brighter days!
Toast!
Craig
Monday, December 24, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Total Chaos: The Last Post
I owe anyone who's been waiting for me to finish off my thoughts about Total Chaos an apology. But my writing has been taking up much of my time. I have two stories into the Battle Corps site, which I hope will be up soon for your reading pleasure. I also have six more stories into the workshop, and several more stories mostly written. In addition, I've done some writing for other Battletech products, fact-checked several more products, and contributed some thoughts on some behind the scene going-ons.
Here, as promised, is the last look at Total Chaos and my contribution to it....
In addition to creating and fleshing out Gannon's Cannons, I also wrote one of the sidebars that detail some of the more important campaigns. I asked for and received the Terra --- Sandhurst and Western Europe sidebar. I had sixteen hundred words to give you, the reader, details of these campaigns.
Sandhurst was the easier of the two sections. I used the background of my Battlecorps story, The Blood of Man, to base the description of the campaign. It was a nice way to tie in the story with the "historical fact" of Stone's Terra campaign, a much different war then elsewhere on the planet.
Western Europe was taking everything I could find in the other Jihad Terra, arrange them into some type of clear order and filling in a few holes. It wasn't hard, except I had to keep one eye on the word count. As I have said in other posts, Word count for a Battletech product is absolute, and it forced me to rewrite both sections more than once to put as much information into those 1,600 words.
In addition to the sidebar, I also had to create two brand new tracks to round out each mini campaign. I wanted two different tracks and hope I succeeded. Hint: both tracks I wrote relate to the sidebar I wrote.
That's it for now; hope I was able to give you a glimpse into my thinking.
Craig
Here, as promised, is the last look at Total Chaos and my contribution to it....
In addition to creating and fleshing out Gannon's Cannons, I also wrote one of the sidebars that detail some of the more important campaigns. I asked for and received the Terra --- Sandhurst and Western Europe sidebar. I had sixteen hundred words to give you, the reader, details of these campaigns.
Sandhurst was the easier of the two sections. I used the background of my Battlecorps story, The Blood of Man, to base the description of the campaign. It was a nice way to tie in the story with the "historical fact" of Stone's Terra campaign, a much different war then elsewhere on the planet.
Western Europe was taking everything I could find in the other Jihad Terra, arrange them into some type of clear order and filling in a few holes. It wasn't hard, except I had to keep one eye on the word count. As I have said in other posts, Word count for a Battletech product is absolute, and it forced me to rewrite both sections more than once to put as much information into those 1,600 words.
In addition to the sidebar, I also had to create two brand new tracks to round out each mini campaign. I wanted two different tracks and hope I succeeded. Hint: both tracks I wrote relate to the sidebar I wrote.
That's it for now; hope I was able to give you a glimpse into my thinking.
Craig
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Total Chaos: A Writer's View --- Part Three
In addition to creating and fleshing out the mercenary units, each author was also given a list of tracks to write intros and aftermaths for each one, as if the unit was part of the battle. Each author received about thirty or so tracks, with each intro a maximum of 150 words and the aftermath no more than 250 words.
We were given large latitude in what form we could use, as long as the intros were from the POV of a character in the battle. One of the Mercenary authors used multiple viewpoints in both introductions and aftermaths, while the other used the character POV for the intros and a summery of what happened from a third-person POV. All were valid ways of doing these small sections, and I think it helps give a more organic feel to the entries.
I took the tack of using entries from Gannon's journal for half the entries, and reports from a Wolfnet spy inside the Cannons. Half the introductions were from Gannon's journal, while the other half were excerpts from the reports from the Wolfnet spy, codenamed Ramrod. For the other half, I decided to use Ramrod's report excerpts as the intros and Gannon's journal entries for the aftermaths. I did it so whichever one was the aftermath became the POV for the next introduction. Simple, right?
Not really. Each intro and aftermath had a MAXIMUM word count of 150 to 250 words. For the intro, we have to give the track come context to the POV, a brief idea about what's happened to the unit at that moment in time, and establish something about the POV's character. The Aftermath, while a hundred words more, has to sum up the results of the track, give the reader some idea what happened and feed a little more about the POV character. There's only a few words you can devote to character development, so I had to spread out the character interaction over those intros and aftermaths
For Gannon, I made his entries direct fact, no truth-shading or excuses. When the Cannons fail a mission, he says so. When he expresses his opinion about someone, he doesn't pull punches. Gannon is a direct person, even in his personal journal.
Ramrod, on the other hand, is a Wolfnet agent, assigned to infiltrate the Cannons and find out if the Cannons were going to accept an offer from employment from Colonel Wayne Waco, only to find themselves stuck with the Cannons after the attack on Outreach. They spend fourteen years keeping Wolfnet up to date on the Cannons activities and sending data on the planet's situations and nuggets of intel for Wolfnet.
We didn't do all the tracks -- a number of tracks were created after we'd been assigned our tracks, so others wrote those intros and aftermaths. So, over these tracks, the reader catches a glimpse of these units personalities and how they survived fourteen years of intense warfare.
Next up -- writing textbook fiction....
Craig
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Total Chaos: A Writer's View, Part Two
I had more than just the Cannons to write for Total Chaos, but today I'll talk about how I gave life to Gannon's Cannons.
There were three of us writing up the mercenary units, each handling a mercenary unit. Each of us creating these units had only a couple of guidelines to go by, so we had free reign to create what we wanted for the most part. We had artist's notes describing both the commanding officer and the executive officer, and a rough description of what the unit consisted of at the start of the Jihad. For the Cannons's TO&E, I had the following: "This unit sports one lance of 'Mechs and one lance of vehicles." Our instructions were not to detail the unit, but to give anyone who wanted to use the unit a framework they could plug their own units into. We wanted to walk the like between structure and flexibility for the players.
But there were a few differences between the other authors and myself. Unlike the other two, I had a few more points to form the unit around:
1) The name of the unit would be Gannon's Cannons.
2) The commanding officer would be Gannon Derer.
3) Gannon's BattleMech would be a BattleMaster.
4) The Cannons' color scheme would be red/orange and black tiger-stripes.
5) This would be the "Good Guy" unit, one that had a sense of morality about it.
Other than those points, I had free reign.
The first thing I wanted to do was make the Total Chaos' Gannon like his real-life counterpart. TC's Gannon survived leukemia at an early age, and the fight for his life gave him the strength and determination to take on whatever life threw at him head-on. Everything else about TC's Gannon comes from that aspect of his personality. He doesn't expect to fail, but he also works hard to limit the chances of failure. No matter what happens on or off the battlefield, Gannon takes it head on. His leukemia, the loss of his grandmother's 'Mech, the near destruction of the Grave Walkers, every setback he's faced doesn't break him. I also decided that the Cannons were brand new to the Battletech universe, so the fan can see the unit from the beginning.
A word here about the other two authors: beyond a few general emails with Ben about common topics, we didn't discuss what we were doing with each unit. Originally, all three of the mercenary units had Federated Suns roots(!), which would have been a bit bias. Since the other two had Federated Suns planets mentioned as their homeworlds, it was a simple thing to make Gannon from the Lyran Commonwealth, as he was already over there. (I also noticed that all three mercenary commanders wanted to use Mister Askai, the broker, as target practice. Hmmm.....)
I wanted Gannon to have some experience as a soldier before he formed the Cannons. That meant he couldn't be some new guy on the scene, but someone who was a veteran, though a young one. Someone who had held company command, but not in a no-name unit. On the other hand, it wouldn't fit for Gannon to be a member of a unit like the Kell Hounds or Wolf's Dragoons, as they were too well-known and didn't fit Gannon's personality. I also wanted him to easily leave the unit.
The Grave Walkers fit the bill as a known mercenary unit who were nearly destroyed by the Jade Falcons. So, I made Gannon a captain in the Grave Walkers -- establishing him as an experienced commander, gave him an intense dislike of the Jade Falcons, and a good reason to leave the unit. He leaves the unit not out of disgust or hate, but because he knows that without a 'Mech, he's useless to the Grave Walkers, a drain on tight resources. So, he's willing to leave and allow those who remain a slightly larger share of the tight resources.
He's on Arc-Royal, dispossessed, without any future, but Gannon isn't the type who sits and bemoans his fate. He takes a few jobs and goes back to school, and learns to be a better mercenary.
I also wanted Gannon to be an able administrator and well-versed in running a unit. The schooling on Arc-Royal gave him the foundation, and the two years as the Cavaliers' administrator gave him the practical experience. The BattleMaster came into play here as Gannon's new ride. Changing the Cavaliers to the Cannons gave Gannon a core of experienced soldiers who had worked together.
While I started Gannon on Arc Royal, the Cannons' first mission was far away from that part of the Inner Sphere, only two Jumps from Outreach. So I needed to take the unit from Arc-Royal started the Cannons on Outreach. I decided the unit would be the Cannons when they reached Outreach, and let the Cavaliers disappear into history
So, I have a young, through experienced, CO. Now I needed an executive officer. From the start, I toyed with the idea that she was from the Clans. Which Clan? Wolf Clan-in-Exile seemed like a starting point, but what sort of person is she? The artist description mentions she has a broken nose. Broken nose? That told me she is a brawler, which led me to her being a freebirth, use to fighting and clawing her way through every moment of her life. Made her good enough to get a command, but unlucky enough to lose it. For reasons I won't go into here, I needed her on Outreach, as a member of Wolf's Dragoons when Gannon showed up.
There were three of us writing up the mercenary units, each handling a mercenary unit. Each of us creating these units had only a couple of guidelines to go by, so we had free reign to create what we wanted for the most part. We had artist's notes describing both the commanding officer and the executive officer, and a rough description of what the unit consisted of at the start of the Jihad. For the Cannons's TO&E, I had the following: "This unit sports one lance of 'Mechs and one lance of vehicles." Our instructions were not to detail the unit, but to give anyone who wanted to use the unit a framework they could plug their own units into. We wanted to walk the like between structure and flexibility for the players.
But there were a few differences between the other authors and myself. Unlike the other two, I had a few more points to form the unit around:
1) The name of the unit would be Gannon's Cannons.
2) The commanding officer would be Gannon Derer.
3) Gannon's BattleMech would be a BattleMaster.
4) The Cannons' color scheme would be red/orange and black tiger-stripes.
5) This would be the "Good Guy" unit, one that had a sense of morality about it.
Other than those points, I had free reign.
The first thing I wanted to do was make the Total Chaos' Gannon like his real-life counterpart. TC's Gannon survived leukemia at an early age, and the fight for his life gave him the strength and determination to take on whatever life threw at him head-on. Everything else about TC's Gannon comes from that aspect of his personality. He doesn't expect to fail, but he also works hard to limit the chances of failure. No matter what happens on or off the battlefield, Gannon takes it head on. His leukemia, the loss of his grandmother's 'Mech, the near destruction of the Grave Walkers, every setback he's faced doesn't break him. I also decided that the Cannons were brand new to the Battletech universe, so the fan can see the unit from the beginning.
A word here about the other two authors: beyond a few general emails with Ben about common topics, we didn't discuss what we were doing with each unit. Originally, all three of the mercenary units had Federated Suns roots(!), which would have been a bit bias. Since the other two had Federated Suns planets mentioned as their homeworlds, it was a simple thing to make Gannon from the Lyran Commonwealth, as he was already over there. (I also noticed that all three mercenary commanders wanted to use Mister Askai, the broker, as target practice. Hmmm.....)
I wanted Gannon to have some experience as a soldier before he formed the Cannons. That meant he couldn't be some new guy on the scene, but someone who was a veteran, though a young one. Someone who had held company command, but not in a no-name unit. On the other hand, it wouldn't fit for Gannon to be a member of a unit like the Kell Hounds or Wolf's Dragoons, as they were too well-known and didn't fit Gannon's personality. I also wanted him to easily leave the unit.
The Grave Walkers fit the bill as a known mercenary unit who were nearly destroyed by the Jade Falcons. So, I made Gannon a captain in the Grave Walkers -- establishing him as an experienced commander, gave him an intense dislike of the Jade Falcons, and a good reason to leave the unit. He leaves the unit not out of disgust or hate, but because he knows that without a 'Mech, he's useless to the Grave Walkers, a drain on tight resources. So, he's willing to leave and allow those who remain a slightly larger share of the tight resources.
He's on Arc-Royal, dispossessed, without any future, but Gannon isn't the type who sits and bemoans his fate. He takes a few jobs and goes back to school, and learns to be a better mercenary.
I also wanted Gannon to be an able administrator and well-versed in running a unit. The schooling on Arc-Royal gave him the foundation, and the two years as the Cavaliers' administrator gave him the practical experience. The BattleMaster came into play here as Gannon's new ride. Changing the Cavaliers to the Cannons gave Gannon a core of experienced soldiers who had worked together.
While I started Gannon on Arc Royal, the Cannons' first mission was far away from that part of the Inner Sphere, only two Jumps from Outreach. So I needed to take the unit from Arc-Royal started the Cannons on Outreach. I decided the unit would be the Cannons when they reached Outreach, and let the Cavaliers disappear into history
So, I have a young, through experienced, CO. Now I needed an executive officer. From the start, I toyed with the idea that she was from the Clans. Which Clan? Wolf Clan-in-Exile seemed like a starting point, but what sort of person is she? The artist description mentions she has a broken nose. Broken nose? That told me she is a brawler, which led me to her being a freebirth, use to fighting and clawing her way through every moment of her life. Made her good enough to get a command, but unlucky enough to lose it. For reasons I won't go into here, I needed her on Outreach, as a member of Wolf's Dragoons when Gannon showed up.
From these thoughts, Amanda Wolf was created.I named her Amanda after a friend of mine, a woman who had several hard patches in her life, but has managed to get through them with her sanity and warmth of personality intact. Like both Gannons, both Amandas are survivors and that is an important quality in this time of Battletech history.
Next post, creating Cannons history a couple of hundred words at a time.
Craig
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Total Chaos: A Writer's view, Part One -- Background
If you have read the New Total Chaos book or have been reading Ben Rome's series about putting Total Chaos together, then you've seen some of my latest writing.
When the requests for pitches went out among the authors, I pitched for all three mercenary units. And when the units were assigned, I ended up getting Gannon's Cannons. It was then I realized I had been given a great honor. Because Gannon Derer isn't just a mercenary commander, but a brave and strong little boy.
Bill Derer, Gannon's dad, is a Catalyst Games agent, one of the small band of dedicated people who demostraite Battletech and the other games in CGL's line. He's active on the official Battletech forums, as Slade the Gray Fox, and from the few interactions I've had with him, he's a nice guy. (And Bill, if you read this, my Dad's family's from Norristown!)
More than a year ago, Gannon contracted leukemia. It's bad when you get news like that, but when you're six-years old? But they caught it early enough and Gannon had good doctors and a strong family to help him through this rough time.
Well, word got out among CGL's freelancers and agents. And being the great people they are, they contributed in their own way -- they sent Gannon battlemech minis painted up in his favorate color scheme. Soon, Gannon had his own battalion of BattleMechs and vehicles. Sometime during this period, "Gannon's Cannons" was born as a name (I kind of remember hearing about how that happened, but I'm not sure if either my memory or the story is right, so I won't repeat it here at this time.)
The Cannons made their first apperence in Field Manual 3085, under the list of mercenary units working for the Lyran Commonwealth. But when Ben Rome decided to included new mercenary units with Total Chaos, he decided from ther start that Gannon's Cannons would be one of those units, in honor of Gannon.
Gannon is now free of his leukemia and is working on becoming a clever Battletech player. I was honor to given the chance to flesh out the unit and give it life. The artwork for the unit is magnificent, and I hope you like what I did.
I'll explain my process about creating the Gannon's Cannons in my next blog post.
Craig
When the requests for pitches went out among the authors, I pitched for all three mercenary units. And when the units were assigned, I ended up getting Gannon's Cannons. It was then I realized I had been given a great honor. Because Gannon Derer isn't just a mercenary commander, but a brave and strong little boy.
Bill Derer, Gannon's dad, is a Catalyst Games agent, one of the small band of dedicated people who demostraite Battletech and the other games in CGL's line. He's active on the official Battletech forums, as Slade the Gray Fox, and from the few interactions I've had with him, he's a nice guy. (And Bill, if you read this, my Dad's family's from Norristown!)
More than a year ago, Gannon contracted leukemia. It's bad when you get news like that, but when you're six-years old? But they caught it early enough and Gannon had good doctors and a strong family to help him through this rough time.
Well, word got out among CGL's freelancers and agents. And being the great people they are, they contributed in their own way -- they sent Gannon battlemech minis painted up in his favorate color scheme. Soon, Gannon had his own battalion of BattleMechs and vehicles. Sometime during this period, "Gannon's Cannons" was born as a name (I kind of remember hearing about how that happened, but I'm not sure if either my memory or the story is right, so I won't repeat it here at this time.)
The Cannons made their first apperence in Field Manual 3085, under the list of mercenary units working for the Lyran Commonwealth. But when Ben Rome decided to included new mercenary units with Total Chaos, he decided from ther start that Gannon's Cannons would be one of those units, in honor of Gannon.
Gannon is now free of his leukemia and is working on becoming a clever Battletech player. I was honor to given the chance to flesh out the unit and give it life. The artwork for the unit is magnificent, and I hope you like what I did.
I'll explain my process about creating the Gannon's Cannons in my next blog post.
Craig
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Writer's Q&A (Part Two)
I'm sorry for not keeping up with this blog, but last month or so has been hetic, writing-wise. You can see some of what I've written in the new Total Chaos book (I will go into this in a another blog posting) and there are a couple of other products down thae line that will have some of my writing in it (I will discuss them when they come out) But for now, the rest of the Q&A thread that I started on the Battletech forum. . .
****
How did you get started writing for Catalyst?
I submitted to Battlecorps and started writing for them. Then I was added to the stable of writers and allowed to pitch for products.
When did you decide to become a writer?
Years ago -- if you have a copy of Battletechnology issue #21 lying around, you'll find a few things I coauthored with my friend. But seriously? About six years ago.
Do you write full time?
Alex Keller
Due to the local economic climate, right now, I do....
****
My question is probably going to get answered with a YMMV, but: where do you find the time? That's always been my big block.
Easier when the local employment situation is bad.....
Relatedly, about how long does it take you to crank out an average story?
The Hawk
One to three months for the first draft, another month or two to refine them.
****
Have you ever been working on a story. read something published by one of the other authors, and had to crumple the story, or part of it, because what the other author wrote changed your plot?
i.e you've got something going on planet A with faction C. But Author B wrote that Planet A was taken by faction D.
jc.knight
Nothing like that. I have had stories rejected because they didn't fit into events as they were unfolding, but nothing that another author wrote.
I generally take established events and slip the story into them. . . .
****
What is your fav era to write in or just love anyway?
I love them all!
As a writer, I can't get stuck in one era. Each era has it's own charms and strenghts and I try to write stories that work best in those eras. With the Reunifacation War, War of Reaving and the Liberation of Terra sourcebooks now out or soon to be out, I have new material for stories that you'll see down the road (I hope!) My goal is to have published Battlecorps stories in all eras of Battletech by the end of the year...so we'll see....
Thanks for posting this and talking to eveyone.
****
How did you get started writing for Catalyst?
I submitted to Battlecorps and started writing for them. Then I was added to the stable of writers and allowed to pitch for products.
When did you decide to become a writer?
Years ago -- if you have a copy of Battletechnology issue #21 lying around, you'll find a few things I coauthored with my friend. But seriously? About six years ago.
Do you write full time?
Alex Keller
Due to the local economic climate, right now, I do....
****
My question is probably going to get answered with a YMMV, but: where do you find the time? That's always been my big block.
Easier when the local employment situation is bad.....
Relatedly, about how long does it take you to crank out an average story?
The Hawk
One to three months for the first draft, another month or two to refine them.
****
Have you ever been working on a story. read something published by one of the other authors, and had to crumple the story, or part of it, because what the other author wrote changed your plot?
i.e you've got something going on planet A with faction C. But Author B wrote that Planet A was taken by faction D.
jc.knight
Nothing like that. I have had stories rejected because they didn't fit into events as they were unfolding, but nothing that another author wrote.
I generally take established events and slip the story into them. . . .
****
How do you keep you muse on track and writting? mine seems to always vanish when i want to do any type of writing. then i have to track her done and keep her tied to a chair to get stuff done.
My muse is a stay at home muse (Unlike a fried of mine, whoes Muse is out riding the wilds of America and beating up poor defenseless bikers and tearing up biker bars for laughs -- she's a tough Muse.) As long as I write every day, she's willing to cut me some slack....
My muse is a stay at home muse (Unlike a fried of mine, whoes Muse is out riding the wilds of America and beating up poor defenseless bikers and tearing up biker bars for laughs -- she's a tough Muse.) As long as I write every day, she's willing to cut me some slack....
Can we look forward to any more adult drink being added in up coming stories?
I think I can work in a few new adult drinks....stayed tuned....
I think I can work in a few new adult drinks....stayed tuned....
What is your fav era to write in or just love anyway?
I love them all!
As a writer, I can't get stuck in one era. Each era has it's own charms and strenghts and I try to write stories that work best in those eras. With the Reunifacation War, War of Reaving and the Liberation of Terra sourcebooks now out or soon to be out, I have new material for stories that you'll see down the road (I hope!) My goal is to have published Battlecorps stories in all eras of Battletech by the end of the year...so we'll see....
Thanks for posting this and talking to eveyone.
Not a problem -- thanks for taking the the time to ask the questions!
****
Next post, Total Chaos from a writer's POV. . . .
Craig
****
Next post, Total Chaos from a writer's POV. . . .
Craig
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Writer Q&A (Part One)
A serious rush job of a writing project has come up, so I maybe not blogging for a couple of weeks. But Here is part of a Thread I started on the battletech forum, in which I asked for questions. Part one is below and part two will be next week.
Intro (From the first post in the Thread)
I have a Blog dealing with Battletech and writing for the universe and I have decided to open a thread in which anyone can ask me questions about writing for Battletech. Now, there are things I can't talk about, so I can't answer every question, but if you have any general questions, you can ask away!
If I get anough, I'll take the Q&A and make then into a blog entry.
Craig
***
Q: OK, thanks for the offer. I would be interested to know how many swings and misses you had before your material was first accepted and what were the key improovements you had to make to get accepted on a regular basis.
blacknova
A: Well, I was submitting the old fashion when when I started -- hard manuscript mailed to IMR (Only, what, six years ago?) I'd sent two stories in the old fashion way, and well, there was a postal black hole between here and Washington state, because I had to send the manuscripts several times in three years. One of the two was rejected -- Still have the rejection letter on my bulletin board, with Loren's hand written notes.
But finally, Jason S, the all powerfull BC editor, decided that electric submissions were the way to go, and I started submitting there. And with the faster turn around, it was easier to get a handle on what I needed to write. The Lance Killer was first story, (One of the two Snail-mailed)and Hikagemono was actually written for the 25 years Anniversity book (Was set aside, as the authors that were included had all bigger BT writing credits than me -- Which I understood 100%)
Since then, I've had a pretty good track record -- only one story I submitted was rejected, and I can see why now, as things were moving in a different direction from what I was doing.....
Key improvements? Getting together with fellow BC writers and letting them read the stories and spotting the flaws before Jason S. ever sees them. Rewriting is a necessary skill to learn, and every story has been rewritten four or five times before it sees publication. I've learn where to rewrite and how to do it.
I'm still learning the craft, and hope to throw some more stories at Jason S. soon....
***
Q: How much product have you participated in making since you became a BT writer?
A: Besides the stories I've written, my first DTF work was a couple of entries in the TRO prototypes. I have a couple of other assignments from CGL I'm working on, but I can't say any more than that.
***
Q: Do you have a personal goal for number of story submissions a month, and if so, how do you handle lapses in new ideas? Have you gone through your pool of initial story ideas, or do more keep coming to you all the time?
Daemion
A: No set goal for a monthly submission rate, but I have set a goal for eight BC stories for this year (I only had four in 2011, and six each in 2009 & 2010, so that would bring my avarage back up to six/year)
New ideas are always coming -- I have a spreadsheet tracking my progess on stories and story ideas and I have a few stories in the writing process, and three times as many story ideas waiting for me to work on them. With the new stuff coming out all the time, it's easy to mine them for story ideas.
***
Q: How many crotch-kicks has Herb bestowed upon you?Kit deSummersville
A: Half a dozen broken safety cups worth....
***
Q: How long are submissions, typically?
Falchion
A: I keep them under 10,000 words -- my first half dozen were 6,000 - 7,000 words. Only one of them has been over 10,000 words -- The Blood of Man, and we were given a little more leeway for lenght by Jason Schmitzer.
***
Q: What era do you find hardest to write in?
Fallen_Raven
A: Star League and Post-jihad, because not all the details have been filled out yet. But I will be exploring them soon enough!
***
Q: How many fictional liquors have you contributed to the game?
Alain Dumont
A: Hmmm....I think just Fulgar's Beer......
***
Q: I acknowledge that this is a heavily biased question based on my on personal faction fandom, but:
When is the CapCon going to be written to be the unambiguous good guys in the way Stackpole had his lovefest with the FedSuns back in the 80's?!!
StuartYee
A: When they get a leader who isn't loopier than Daffy Duck? ;)
I try to avoid the stereotypes in writing, but sometimes.....
It's hard to avoid writing factions as villians 100% of the time. And the Confederation tends to be the easist to do that to. I do try to make the Capellan characters compentant and avoiding the screaming fanatic (most of the time). But I really need to write a story in which the Confederation wins....***
Part Two next week!
Craig
Intro (From the first post in the Thread)
I have a Blog dealing with Battletech and writing for the universe and I have decided to open a thread in which anyone can ask me questions about writing for Battletech. Now, there are things I can't talk about, so I can't answer every question, but if you have any general questions, you can ask away!
If I get anough, I'll take the Q&A and make then into a blog entry.
Craig
***
Q: OK, thanks for the offer. I would be interested to know how many swings and misses you had before your material was first accepted and what were the key improovements you had to make to get accepted on a regular basis.
blacknova
A: Well, I was submitting the old fashion when when I started -- hard manuscript mailed to IMR (Only, what, six years ago?) I'd sent two stories in the old fashion way, and well, there was a postal black hole between here and Washington state, because I had to send the manuscripts several times in three years. One of the two was rejected -- Still have the rejection letter on my bulletin board, with Loren's hand written notes.
But finally, Jason S, the all powerfull BC editor, decided that electric submissions were the way to go, and I started submitting there. And with the faster turn around, it was easier to get a handle on what I needed to write. The Lance Killer was first story, (One of the two Snail-mailed)and Hikagemono was actually written for the 25 years Anniversity book (Was set aside, as the authors that were included had all bigger BT writing credits than me -- Which I understood 100%)
Since then, I've had a pretty good track record -- only one story I submitted was rejected, and I can see why now, as things were moving in a different direction from what I was doing.....
Key improvements? Getting together with fellow BC writers and letting them read the stories and spotting the flaws before Jason S. ever sees them. Rewriting is a necessary skill to learn, and every story has been rewritten four or five times before it sees publication. I've learn where to rewrite and how to do it.
I'm still learning the craft, and hope to throw some more stories at Jason S. soon....
***
Q: How much product have you participated in making since you became a BT writer?
A: Besides the stories I've written, my first DTF work was a couple of entries in the TRO prototypes. I have a couple of other assignments from CGL I'm working on, but I can't say any more than that.
***
Q: Do you have a personal goal for number of story submissions a month, and if so, how do you handle lapses in new ideas? Have you gone through your pool of initial story ideas, or do more keep coming to you all the time?
Daemion
A: No set goal for a monthly submission rate, but I have set a goal for eight BC stories for this year (I only had four in 2011, and six each in 2009 & 2010, so that would bring my avarage back up to six/year)
New ideas are always coming -- I have a spreadsheet tracking my progess on stories and story ideas and I have a few stories in the writing process, and three times as many story ideas waiting for me to work on them. With the new stuff coming out all the time, it's easy to mine them for story ideas.
***
Q: How many crotch-kicks has Herb bestowed upon you?Kit deSummersville
A: Half a dozen broken safety cups worth....
***
Q: How long are submissions, typically?
Falchion
A: I keep them under 10,000 words -- my first half dozen were 6,000 - 7,000 words. Only one of them has been over 10,000 words -- The Blood of Man, and we were given a little more leeway for lenght by Jason Schmitzer.
***
Q: What era do you find hardest to write in?
Fallen_Raven
A: Star League and Post-jihad, because not all the details have been filled out yet. But I will be exploring them soon enough!
***
Q: How many fictional liquors have you contributed to the game?
Alain Dumont
A: Hmmm....I think just Fulgar's Beer......
***
Q: I acknowledge that this is a heavily biased question based on my on personal faction fandom, but:
When is the CapCon going to be written to be the unambiguous good guys in the way Stackpole had his lovefest with the FedSuns back in the 80's?!!
StuartYee
A: When they get a leader who isn't loopier than Daffy Duck? ;)
I try to avoid the stereotypes in writing, but sometimes.....
It's hard to avoid writing factions as villians 100% of the time. And the Confederation tends to be the easist to do that to. I do try to make the Capellan characters compentant and avoiding the screaming fanatic (most of the time). But I really need to write a story in which the Confederation wins....***
Part Two next week!
Craig
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