Candy Man!

[End Master]

In true stalker fashion, I've noticed this guy rating several stories over the past few weeks. I get the impression he might be using the random story option since some of the stories don't even appear in the public reading list.

http://www.infinite-story.com/member...?user_id=13373

Anyway, if Candy Man browses the forums, we're aware of your presence and welcome to the site. Don't know if he'll actually sign up here and post though, since I only said his name once rather than five times in this message (two if you count the title), but a little supernatural horror would still liven things up around here.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

I know it was you in the corner of my room last night.

I know it was you, End Master.

Just because I started crying doesn't mean I'm scared of you, dude.

I was going through some personal shit.

I'm sorry, what were we talking about?

[End Master]

That wasn't me Chubby, it was just your imagination.

The same imagination that causes you to see shadows from the corner of your eyes.

Can you see them now?

The shadows in the darkness. The primal fear of humans. They're always there. Forever watching...and waiting. Creeping about on their gangly disjointed limbs above you... below you...

around you...

If you manage to catch a glimpse of their faces, you will temporarily freeze from the stare of their soulless eyes, just before they disappear.

Sometimes you can hear them. Whispering...

You can hear their voices. Some hiss in raspy voices, some babble incoherent madness, some speak in a coldly distant tone. They tell you things that are true, but that you don't want to hear because you want to ignore that blackest pit of your heart...of your soul.

Because if you actually listened to them for a moment, you'd know they are completely right and you should just give in and let them take you.

And then you could be alone with them forever and ever and ever...

In the dark...

DO IT

[mizal]

And this would be why all the new people get scared away. Shit like this, right here. This is not how you do a welcome thread.

Also I'll be having nightmares forever now, thanks man.

[End Master]

Hah! He just signed up!

In your face!

Of course now he's gotta wait around for DEP to buzz him in.

[donteatpoop]

Once again your shameless resourcefullness has proven successful, great Master of the Ends.

[TheCandyMan]

Thanks DEP! Now...what to do with this life of threads and forums...?

Am I going to be gossiped about any further, or will we do something that will keep us occupied long enough? But for what exactly...?

[End Master]

Probably won't be gossiped about any further, unless you do something more noteworthy.

If you're interested there is the IWT8 Contest going on right now, the rules to it are in this thread. Don't sign up unless you're sure about committing to it though!

http://forums.infinite-story.com/showthread.php?t=2697

Just to address something in your PM, I wouldn't count on any chance of an organized collaborative story. The few people that still actually lurk on these forums tend to write alone, but there are always the hundreds of open ended stories you can freely add on to. Pretty sure Apoth would be happy if you added on to his HOID story assuming you haven't already.

http://www.infinite-story.com/story/2726/

That's about it I guess.

[TheCandyMan]

I see..I'll be sure to check it out...But at the moment I'm working on a little story that will take a little work. I'm not into all that Contest-y Bubbly Jubbly.. but hell, I'll check it out.

[mizal]

Hah! He just signed up!

In your face!

ACTUALLY, maybe he joined because I sent him a friendly welcome message. Without any nightmare fuel pictures attached. (And then I told him not to click on this thread but I guess he didn't listen...sorry man but you were warned. Sleep tight.)

Anyway, good to hear you're working on a story. Any chance you want to share anything about it? Or is it a secret, like the location of the remains of all of Ends victims? Feel free to blab about it in the writing projects thread, general discussion could really use a little kick in the ass about now.

[TheCandyMan]

Indecisive! D:

Unfortunately, I am currently unable to think up of anything at the moment..I'm not exactly sure what to write, I'm glad to say, I definetly have improved after the last couple of weeks, and I'm ready to write something... But.... You get the big picture here. Do you peeps have any ideas?

[TheCandyMan]

Actually. I did listen, but of course, my curiosity got the better of me. There's nothing wrong with this thread, is there? (Besides the picture...)

[mizal]

Hey Candyman, just got your message. I'll be replying here if you don't mind, and hopefully some of the others will be along to toss in their two cents soon. (which would probably be a lot more useful to you anyway seeing how most of them have actual completed stories here, I'm still kinda the newb of the bunch...)

There's nothing wrong with this thread, is there? (Besides the picture...)

Yes, that...that thing is what I was referring to, but we're on another page now, so no worries, we're safe.

...I hope.

But anyway, as far as ideas go, coming up with plots doesn't come naturally to everyone, neither does making them work in a non-linear way for a CYOA, and even once that's done, having the stamina to follow through to the end is a whole nother ball game.

I've never really had any trouble with the first (honestly I have the opposite problem, I've got so many ideas I'm drowning in them and can never stay focused on just one) but I'm still getting the hang of the last two. What sort of genre are you interested in, to begin with?

I can't seem to ever write anything but fantasy and sci-fi, though I read a lot of historical stuff and that might influence it in a way. My general approach is to come up with an idea for a regular story first and then make an outline for it. I spend a whole lot of time on this step actually, I plot it all out step by step and scribble down any other random details that pop into my head too. For me having everything broken down into bite-sized chunks makes the whole project easier to tackle when the time comes, and makes sure I won't forgot anything important if for whatever reason I have to leave off for awhile right in the middle of things.

When converting a plot to a CYOA, this usually forms my 'ideal' main path. Then I just let my mind wander to other possibilities for the other branches, with a generous helping of random deaths etc. thrown in to keep them trimmed down to a manageable size. And those fuckers do like to bloom out on you uncontrollably, so watch out.
edit: https://bubbl.us/ is a site 3J linked me to once and is great for this


None of this may even remotely work for you, I don't know. Everybody's method is different. But as far as I've seen, pretty much all of the regulars here are above-average to amazing writers, so if all else fails maybe just spend some time reading their stuff and see if inspiration strikes. Apoth's HOID is a great place to just let your mind wander and write whatever random crap you feel like too, and maybe something you toss down there will trigger an idea for a more serious project.

[Dragavan]

From what I've seen there are a few different ways to make something into a CYOA format. I don't think any of them are really the right or wrong ways to do it, just different ways. Find the one that works best for what you want and go with that one.

A: Main plot (or two) and many short branches off
This seems to be the main way I see most people who actually finish stories do. They have one main story (or a few that branch off fairly early) that you can follow through to the "real" endings. You then have a lot of choices that only lead to short branches that dead end with all the "bad" endings. This is fairly easy to write, since you only really need to write a single linear story and then throw in a bunch of relatively pointless short "what if" choices throughout it. If one of those "what if" choices grab your fancy, it's also not hard to extend them into a whole long story branch of their own.

B: Giant octopus of branching options
This seems to be the main thing that happens with most of the open to the public and usually unfinished stories. They start with a relatively simple story seed and then spread out in all directions with near random results. As the branches get more spread out and farther apart the story parts really start to feel like they aren't even part of the same story any more. They can work if you want more of a wild, sandbox, anything can happen feel, or you want to tell many different stories involving the same base characters. This also works well for stories with multiple writers, as they can go off and do whatever they want in their own branches.

C: Mostly linear with branches returning to the trunk
This is a story that has lots of choices, but many of them actually lead to the same story hubs along the way. Kind of like there are several paths that all lead to the same destination. There could still be a number of dead ends, and even more than one of these central stories to follow, but most of it keeps things along a set path. This allows for many long ongoing branches, so you don't constantly hit dead ends and have to go back, but can feel a little railroaded upon multiple readings (since all roads lead to Rome). This uses the ability to interlink pages to great effect, as you can actually have several point to the same page without having to make copies of the same page repeated in every branch.

D: Actual game format stories
This is not used so much here at I-S, since it doesn't have the random/dice and variable saving abilities of some other sites, but it still can partially be done here if you are willing to make enough rooms. These are stories that do have choices, but they also have a lot of things that are choices but some other element that makes them (random die roll, having done something earlier in the story, being a certain thing, etc.). They are far more complex to write, as you have to deal with a lot of different variables (and sometime programming, at sites that have basic scripting), and make it much harder to "brute force" your way to the good end of the story.

I'm sure there are others and each one has plusses and minuses, but none of them is truly the right or wrong way to do it. Some people really prefer one style over the rest, but when reading it should mostly come down to how well it's put together and written for the format they chose. I have enjoyed stories in all these styles and seen ones done poorly in all of them. I tend to prefer writing C (but have been chastised and marked down in ratings a few times for it), but like reading any form as long as it grabs me.

Why did I go off on this subject and post such a long post... I should be packing and getting ready to move, not wasting my time writing long pointless posts in forums... Bad me. I think I'm gonna go post a long blog post chastising myself for doing this and wasting time I should be using for more constructive things.

[mizal]

Apoth's HOID is a great place to just let your mind wander and write whatever random crap you feel like too, and maybe something you toss down there will trigger an idea for a more serious project.

So I was just looking around Candyman's profile and it looks like he doesn't need this particular bit of advice, he's been amazingly prolific since joining here, just not on a story of his own yet. Take the leap man, we believe in you!