This month I engaged in two time based creative activities and instead of feeling overwhelmed by the deadlines and high demands, I found myself falling in love all over again with writing and creating and story telling. Even editing. I never thought I'd come to love editing, but now I think it may be my favorite part, sclupting that product into something more likeable, more alive, more right.
For those of you who don't know, GGJ or Global Game Jam is a worldwide challenge to get together in teams and create a game in 48 hours based on a theme of their choosing. It can be a video game or a more traditional game, but you must have it ready to view in 48 hours. To be fair, the requirements of "game" are kept rather loose when it comes to actual playability, but getting the idea going, getting something started, a choppy maybe even ugly prototype that represents the start of something great.
This was my first time, and while I don't know any programming, I had a lot of fun writing the script and dialogue for my team's game. Who knew flow charts could be fun? I'd love to get more involved in video game writing, but while I work on that, things like this will have to do.
Here is my team's game from 2015: Runaway Dinner
NYC Midnight on the other hand is a fast paced writing competition. I do the Flash Competition every year they offer it. In that case, you write a 1000 word story in 48 hours using a genre, location, and object of their choosing which is not revealed until the timer starts. There are 2 guaranteed rounds in that one, 4 total, and it is a blast. I've made it as far as the final round before.
This is my first year in the Short Story Competition, which is slightly different. This time I had 8 days and 2500 words to work with and I'm given a genre, a character, and a subject.
I got Action/Adventure, Dentist, and Ocean Rescue. What the what? But in the end, I was able to pull through with a story I like (and so far seemingly others like as well). If I make it to round two, it's a shorter story and time period, and round three is the shortest of all: 1500 words in 24 hours!
I don't ever post these to my blogs because I do plan on reworking and submitting them for publication. Despite my dismal attempts at sending things out, this actually happened with one story from the Flash Competition. Butcher's Shop. Ice Block. Drama. You can find "Bequest" here.
I like how the deadlines push me to make tough decisions, but mostly, I just like creating things, and competitions give me an excuse. On a day to day basis, deciding between vacuuming or going to the grocery store or paying bills or grading essays routinely wins out over sitting down and creating something. Not because I'd rather but because I must. If I paid to enter a competition (NYC) or promised others to be there even if I've never met them before (GGJ) and it must be done by X date and time, then creation finally wins the priority debate of life.
Besides doing these types of events more often, I think I need to focus on prioritizing them as necessities instead of as luxuries.
Also, besides the deadlines, both of these events/challenges put me in touch with like-minded (like-hearted?) people. In GGJ I get to work with them face to face. With NYC there is a rich community to be found in the online forums where we can share our work and get critiques. So there is a social aspect as well.
Whatever you want to call it or boil it down to, one thing remains true: I need more of it in my life.
For those of you who don't know, GGJ or Global Game Jam is a worldwide challenge to get together in teams and create a game in 48 hours based on a theme of their choosing. It can be a video game or a more traditional game, but you must have it ready to view in 48 hours. To be fair, the requirements of "game" are kept rather loose when it comes to actual playability, but getting the idea going, getting something started, a choppy maybe even ugly prototype that represents the start of something great.
This was my first time, and while I don't know any programming, I had a lot of fun writing the script and dialogue for my team's game. Who knew flow charts could be fun? I'd love to get more involved in video game writing, but while I work on that, things like this will have to do.
Here is my team's game from 2015: Runaway Dinner
NYC Midnight on the other hand is a fast paced writing competition. I do the Flash Competition every year they offer it. In that case, you write a 1000 word story in 48 hours using a genre, location, and object of their choosing which is not revealed until the timer starts. There are 2 guaranteed rounds in that one, 4 total, and it is a blast. I've made it as far as the final round before.
This is my first year in the Short Story Competition, which is slightly different. This time I had 8 days and 2500 words to work with and I'm given a genre, a character, and a subject.
I got Action/Adventure, Dentist, and Ocean Rescue. What the what? But in the end, I was able to pull through with a story I like (and so far seemingly others like as well). If I make it to round two, it's a shorter story and time period, and round three is the shortest of all: 1500 words in 24 hours!
I don't ever post these to my blogs because I do plan on reworking and submitting them for publication. Despite my dismal attempts at sending things out, this actually happened with one story from the Flash Competition. Butcher's Shop. Ice Block. Drama. You can find "Bequest" here.
I like how the deadlines push me to make tough decisions, but mostly, I just like creating things, and competitions give me an excuse. On a day to day basis, deciding between vacuuming or going to the grocery store or paying bills or grading essays routinely wins out over sitting down and creating something. Not because I'd rather but because I must. If I paid to enter a competition (NYC) or promised others to be there even if I've never met them before (GGJ) and it must be done by X date and time, then creation finally wins the priority debate of life.
Besides doing these types of events more often, I think I need to focus on prioritizing them as necessities instead of as luxuries.
Also, besides the deadlines, both of these events/challenges put me in touch with like-minded (like-hearted?) people. In GGJ I get to work with them face to face. With NYC there is a rich community to be found in the online forums where we can share our work and get critiques. So there is a social aspect as well.
Whatever you want to call it or boil it down to, one thing remains true: I need more of it in my life.
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