This is more of a writing question as I really admire your work and I’m trying to write my own IF but am kind of stuck. I’ve done a lot of the character drafting and plot drafting, but when it comes down to actually sitting down and WRITING the story (even just a small portion) I just get stuck.
So I guess my question is, is how did you start writing the actual story of Infamous? How do you get about moving the story along?
Thank you and OK! This is going to be long because I'll share my beat sheet for the first act of Infamous!
So I've talked about this very briefly, but I will never stop championing beat sheets. I get so many questions every day asking me how I write so much and so quickly, and it's because I already have a layout planned that's basically just holding my hand. I'm not a magical wizard with a writing wand (though I wish...)
This is a traditional novel system and my only background is writing traditional novels. Infamous is my first IF, and I did have to tweak how I approach writing because they're just not the same. IFs are different because they're essentially multiple novels in one. One route can look completely different to another route, but the basics at least helps you with narrative plotting.
Once you recognize the building blocks of a story, it'll become easier to write it. For example, here's the beat sheet for Hunger Games. It is known that Hunger Games follows a beat sheet beat by beat and does it very well.
I will give you my beat sheet for Infamous
MC has a dream of the final goal of the band. It's meant to mirror what the end goal of the story is supposed to be. Ruining it by wakening up is meant to hook the reader by making them realize it's not true yet. Set up the story conflict: the tour. I introduce the characters and their dynamics (orion getting angry at MC for sleeping, Rowan joking around with Orion, Iris and Devyn etc.) I foreshadow a few things and I set up the stakes of the tour and how much the band needs this. (They talk about their gigs and how they want to do more.)
The inciting incident for INFAMOUS is winning the audition and finally getting on tour. That's what incites the story! The first dilemma is getting into a fight at the party due to cheating allegations. Now the reader is aware that this isn't all sunshine and daisies. We're all just fucked, basically. j/
Well. This is pretty obvious. Having to make a choice on the bus. It helps that the tour hasn't started yet and both options deal with characters that have conflict with MC and the band (Seven and UWB) so now it's like: this decision will impact the rest of the tour, and makes it much bigger than just choosing to ride with a band every other week.
obviously this is all spoilery but your goal is basically: how do i make my MC suffer as much as i can? conflict is fun to read, it's what drives people to continue watching/reading/ investing. For IFs it goes beyond that, because people like making decisions on how to fix conflict or make it worse!
I love talking technical writing on my personal @amyreads I don't talk about it much here because it can get boring. But yeah! If you have more questions you can swing by there :)
"In the same way that your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. If you don't, then it doesn't." -- Brennan Lee Mulligan, D20, Fantasy High
This is harking back to an outdated and obsolete idea of science that was held up until the mid-20th century: the idea that the scientist/observer was separate from what they observed. They were uninvolved, only dispassionately watching and recording what happened as if they were not there. Scientific papers even used phrases like "It was observed" as if nobody was observing it, when someone very much was. It was Einstein who blew that apart with relativity, by recognizing that the observer is always part of the equation. What is seen is affected by who is seeing it and how. There is no "outside" for the observer to be. You are there, you are watching, you are part of the scene.
So the idea that there can never be involvement is bullshit.
irsshawty on Pinterest / I Saw The TV Glow / internetfavorite on Pinterest / kiyogakukai on Pinterest / Spotify on Pinterest / ladycranes on Pinterest / micheallasboard on Pinterest / Ryan O'Connell / norhanelhadry474 on Pinterest / @inanotherunivrse on Tumblr / ??? / Charles Wright, Scar Tissue in "Scar Tissue" / Barbara Kingsolver, The Lacuna / Priyer on Pinterest / vangore on X / perfumebathing on Instagram / marvinandrea89 on Pinterest / @hannahlockillustration on Tumblr / stickybaby on We Heart It / lesedimorapeli25 on Pinterest / Jnkskxm on Pinterest / Jeff Vandermeer, Annihilation / Fernando Pessoa, "English Song", A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems / Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness / MrsandMrStyles on Pinterest / Chuck Palahniuk / justgiveittime on Pinterest / Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 6: 1955-1966 / Mary Macdonald, romanticizeaquietlife on Pinterest / Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl /
I accidentally deleted my credits while creating this & struggled to find the original creators again as I had already downloaded all of this content. Some of the credits are towards the original creators, but some are just references to where I was able to find the content after deleting my original credits. Please feel free to correct any of my credits if you see one that is incorrect 🫶🏼
There once was a crow that got turned into a boy...
For two years, I played the character Morgan the Crow, a bird turned human turned thief, in a DnD game. During this game, Morgan fought monsters, auditioned for an opera, slept at brothels, broke his lock-picks, and fell in love with multiple people.
This art books explores his story and campaign through sketches, comics and illustrations.
47 pages of art, sketches, and comics (includes NSFW)
Richard Siken, "The Worm King's Lullaby" // Anne Sexton, A Self-Portrait in Letters // Trista Mateer, "I Still Forget We're Not Even Friends" // Naomi Shihab Nye, "I Still Have Everything You Gave Me" // Ashe Vernon, Wrong Side of a Fistfight // @/hollywarbs on ig // Ryan O'Connell // Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous // June Gehringer, "I get so jealous of euthanized dogs" // Jenny Han, P.S. I Still Love You
turnnoffyourmind
gracieabrams
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
ellievsbear
pixelskylines
theartofmadeline
