Starting the Words

Something that’s quite interesting and possibly worth a read.

Original is posted here http://www.irishgaming.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=1

So you want to write a LARP for a convention?

Writing is possibly one of the toughest things in gaming. Some people might say “naw it’s easy”, but either these people are lying or they’re bad writers. This is a fact that can’t be denied because to be creative is draining and requires research, thought and possibly late nights.

In saying that, putting together a well crafted game and having it run is something of intangible joy that can only truly be understood by those who have written and run games. So in order to understand this joy pick up a pen and start writing! There are different approaches a writer takes to writing a LARP compared to a tabletop RPG or even a LRP.

An RPG usually takes place over many in-game days, multiple locations and is mostly some high-octane fun all round. RPGs are wonderful fun and allow the writer to really get to grips with the interactive story.

LRPs are usually more linear. They involve weapons and interaction with the environment. To even consider tackling an LRP you should have some safety and first-aid training. Have other people helping out with similar amounts of training and of course some place outdoors but away from the general public to avoid inadvertently going to jail for scaring the bejesus out of people walking their dogs. However, a well thought out LRP with a good writer and staff is something that should be done at least once in your life. If only because it makes you feel like a big kid.

LARPs are something of a middle ground between both of the above. I’ve always approached LARPs as interactive plays where the cast are all in one place and must interact with their environment in order to somehow work a resolution for their current situation.

One of the most difficult parts of LARP writing is the setting. How does one manage to get approximately 15 people to stay in one place for 3 hours? This is quite a predicament. If you’re writing a LARP based off a current system like L5R the inspiration can come from the core setting material. Conflicting factions of a group meeting to discuss terms of a truce possibly? Maybe an illegitimate gathering of outcasts who are trying to topple the established power group? If you read most of the rulebooks in most systems there is plenty of fodder there and established protocols for getting together a group of people in one place.

If you’re writing away from an established setting then things are a little bit more difficult. Think what you want your game to be about. Try to find reasons why these people would all be in one place at one time. I should point out here that the use of Deus Ex Machina is perfectly acceptable. However, if you have a player who really wants to get of the situation they will – It’s part of human nature after all.

Characters

The next part is the characters. There should always be two things involved when writing up your characters. The first is conflict. Conflict is an essential part of character development and it’s essential to make the story interesting and the game lively. Sometimes this can manifest as a person mildly disagreeing with a particular point right through to a duel being played out in the middle of the game. It’s also surprising how the players themselves interpret things. Mostly for the better and in a way you as a writer never would have considered.

The second, which is something that many writers forget, is that people need something to do during the game. It’s perfectly acceptable to have a small group of super-important characters who have wonderfully crafted elegant backgrounds with a laundry list of things to do and be achieved during the game. However you shouldn’t forget about that one person who was last to arrive and gets landed with the character of only a few lines and no objectives. Although if you’ve done this then maybe you should have spent more time writing up characters and plot. Everyone should have two to five things that they need/want to do. Whether it be seeing somebody fail, stealing an artifact or unmasking the murders of their father, they need to have something to do. Again players will surprise you in how they interpret things and achieve their objectives.

Plot

So characters are written but what about the plot? More than likely before you even put pen to paper you had some key events planned. These were in mind when you were writing the main characters too.

After writing all of your characters you’ll see some main events happening character-wise. Whether it’s a fight or a theft of something valuable some main events will happen. Since you’ve written the characters you’ll be able to guess how things will go or you can nudge things in the right direction. You simply can’t ignore the fact the there will be one or two big events which will happen during any LARP. How you want the game to go will determine the type of plot points you have, and they will range from subtle to overly grand events. As the writer it’s up to you to determine what happens and when.

There are two notes to add when actually writing plot for a convention LARP. Firstly, the plot should be intersting and unique. This alone will be a challenge as many things have been done to death. However taking something very standard and adding strange elements can make a dull plot sparkle. It’s all about the approach. If the plot is dull people will get bored and just leave. Secondly, the plot should be accessable to all players. The worst crime that any writer and storyteller can make is to construct a wonderful plot that’s only for a couple of characters to enjoy. There could be lots of interesting subplots to distract them but people will almost always want in on the big main plot.

Something I should also add here is that when writing a plot in particular for a convention game (although this can go for long running campaigns) try to avoid “railroading” your players. Give them choices that may or may not affect the main plot. After time you should develop the skills that will help you write and run a game which has people chasing the plot without them even knowing it. Remember the game is not for you to feel all smug and superior because people couldn’t crack your crazy plot. It’s for other people to enjoy and have fun.

Now you’ve gotten all of the core elements of the game done. The rest is window-dressing but can help.

The Padding

If possible try to get a space that reflects the theme of your game. If the game is political for instance possibly a boardroom, if the game is action based then a gym. It’s not always possible to do this but if you can it really adds an element to the game that migt not be there otherwise.

If you decide to go with props you should think about safety involved. For instance if you give somebody a stick you can almost be assured somebody is going to get hit with it. Be mindful that people can be silly and get caught up in the moment. You should try to remain as detached as possible when considering bringing things into the game situation.

And finally…

The main aim of this article is to provide guidelines and suggestions of how to go about wrting LARPs. You’ll always find that you would rather do some things differntly and finding your personal style is as important as plot and characters. Once you’ve run your game ask for feedback on what people thought of things – it will only add to your skills. You’ll never please everyone but as long as most people had fun then you can tick the game as a success. Plus, remember one very important thing you’re only as good as your last game, so keep writing.

Tip tap clacking of the mouse and the key
Silence hangs while the mind kicks in,
Vacant stares over coffee and wordless babble,
Everyone speaks but no one listens.

We stare at the boxes and the walls,
Stretch half an hour, resume.

Would change and chance make you happy?

If  the still unnamed story ever becomes a real book this is the image I’d like to have as the cover.

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Ireland/photo982070.htm

This is the spire (as described in chapter 1) and a very dark forboding atmosphere. It’s perfect to be honest to capture the mood I’d like to capture in the story.

Right I haven’t been doing enough regular updates. This is bad because I have the story in my head and a lot of the stuff is here I just need to get it out.

I’m going to be updating paragraph and line by line as I write them because that’s all I can get time to write during the day.

Well ok I seem to get creative ideas when I’m sitting in work at my desktop. The I get home, tired from the day with a laptop and the T.V and nothing seems to get written. This is awful of me. I am investing in a new Desktop specifically fro writing because at this stage it makes sense. Now all I have to do is get one in budget (500 euro) Or even better still get one off a friend who’s getting rid of their older desktops (looks hopefully at friends out on the internets)

 Anyway there will be a lot more short updates and then weekly I’ll be consolidating them in one place and updating the chapter page. I’m hoping that this way will help me be a little bit more productive and help people to critique my work a little bit better.

 I’ve also set a Goal for myself that by December I will have 20 chapters.

He woke up on a hard mattress. The first few moments were a blurry eyed daze before his surroundings came into focus. The light was intense and his room was a cold creamy white. The moment he moved he noticed the pain. His hands and knees sent thousands of sharp stabbing sensations through his body.

He looked and his hands were bandaged. That was when he noticed he wasn’t wearing his suit. He seemed to be shod in a blue papery material. His head hurt as he sat up.

*tap tap* is this thing on?

Ok yes I have been utterly terrible about updating. I apologise to everyone about this. There are a few reasons for the silence.
First off I’ve moved house. This means that I’ve spent a lot of time, energy and money in getting into the new place. The getting settled takes some time which is unfortunate because you need to be settled to be creative.
Second thing and it’s a big one is this damned economy. I’ve become far busier trying to keep down my actual real life job. If I could get paid for writing then this website would be much fuller with shiny things and tonnes more work. So by the time I get home I’m exhausted and just can’t sit down to look at a screen for another few hours.

Now what does all this mean? Am I going away? Am I hell! I’m still here, I’m settling in a bit more. The economy, well worldwide, is beginning to get a little bit better so there’s a smidge less stress.
I’m going to set out a schedule for writing as well so that I should have more regular updates in the future.

Right well no update in a while which is terrible of me. Apologies to that single person who kept checking in on me. It is appreciated and I hope you keep popping by.

So firstly some notes on the last chapter. It’s definitely not sitting well with me to be honest. I really don’t think I’ve captured the fear and the pain well enough. I did want something tragic and shocking to happen to the female lead but I don’t know that entire final scene just felt very flat to me. Serves me right for writing it in an airport. It’s definitely marked for a reworking.

Also I’m still not happy with the female lead’s name. Stephanie just doesn’t sit well with her personality. At least I don’t think it does. I’m leaving it for now but I will be thinking of a new name.

Talking about names, still no name for this project. The only thing I’ve been able to think of is “Spire and Lightning” but that’s kind of tat and a little bit low budget sci-fis for me.

Also in other news, I’ve been quite busy with this real life lark. It’s a bitch but unfortunately it has to be done. Work has become exceptionally stressful and also I’ve been sidetracked with college projects. It means I’ve not really had time to sit, think and write properly. I’m hoping to have at least Chapter 5 started though soon enough and get my grove back.

Now I’m off to the park to run about and not have my head explode!

She walked to the train station to catch the DART. All of the faces she passed were wet and miserable. This happened after all. It had now been raining all morning. In the distance she heard thunder but it could have quit easily been a lorry nearby.

Near the train station she began to look for her ticket in her handbag. It wasn’t exactly a flimsy bag but there was a lot of stuff in there. She began to wonder why she couldn’t find her purse when there was sudden violent stop to her movements. A guy, thin, head shaven wearing a tracksuit and very expensive runners, ran passed and grabbed her bag. It was halfway down her arm when she realised what was happening. That momentary shock. She tried to hold onto it but he punched her square in the face.

She was knocked to the ground, her light frame carried by the force of the hit. He face hurt and she realised she was looking up to the sky. She never noticed the birds in the station fly past her sprawled frame. There was some shouting as people around her wanted to be seen to do the descent thing and apprehend the criminal but wanted to avoid a fate similar to hers.
She climbed to her feet. She was trembling now and the tall skinny man was nowhere to be seen. Obviously run off in his expensive shoes.
Once she was on her feet somebody said “you better go to the gardi misses, better to report these things” She wasn’t paying attention but nodded.

Somebody took her by the arm and led her to the police station. She hadn’t really been paying attention because the adrenalin was coursing through her system still. She looked and saw the hand on her arm was attached to a wrist and in turn to a grey suit. There was a man leading her. He looked smart, dashing almost. The suit looked expensive and the man looked Italian with his dark hair and tanned skin. He gave an air of knowingness of authority and of kindness.
They stopped outside a police station. The blue mock gas lantern with Garda Siochana and the well recognisable badge over head. The man smiled and nodded and led her into the building. The entrance was blue with old well used benches along the walls. The floor was covered in blue lino with a stain where obviously somebody had spilled coffee on the floor near the reception desk.
The man led her to a bench and let her sit down for a moment. He then went to the desk and started talking the officer on duty. She didn’t really hear much of the conversation since she was so dazed.
She started replaying over the last half hour in her head. The office, her boss, the mugging.
Tears started to roll down her cheek then and the shaking returned.

It wasn’t that she was having an affair with her boss. An affair implied something sordid where he had a wife at home who was oblivious to them sleeping together. Actually her boss was unmarried and not seeing somebody.  They weren’t exactly seeing each other either because they occasionally slept with other people as well. It was more they had an understanding which seemed to have worked quite well for the past two years. 

Usually it wouldn’t bother her to see him with another woman. However today wasn’t a usual day.

Today she watched him flirt with the new sectary in the office. A petite woman from London called Maria. She giggled and touched his arm “oh David, you’re so funny” , then she flicked her long brown locks out of her face.

She watched, felt the pounding in her head which was the hangover and her heartbeat racing.

He smiled back at Maria and said something else that was inaudible, she laughed again.  Maria wandered away then off to her desk somewhere in the bowls of the building. 

“Your files Mr. Stewart, you have an appointment at two and Mr. Lambton’s office called and something about it being cancelled, ehm the sectary wasn’t very clear on what came up”

He nodded, took the folder from her and winked.  She scowled back at him.

“Hey what’s up Stephanie? You don’t seem yourself”

She paused, it was rare that he used her full name, most of the time he just directed speech at her so this was very odd.  She remained silent for a moment then, “ehm I’m just not feeling well, think it’s the flu or something”

He nodded smiled a little, “go home get some rest, I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning”

There will also be a part 3 to this but i thought it might be best to give at least some update.

He had sat in the reception for almost thirty minutes. A cold breeze blew across the polished marble floor whenever a person opened the door. Since this was the main time for people to arrive for work, he was shivering before he finally hear his name being called.

The woman, he noticed, was quite thin and well dressed in her skirt suit. Her dyed blonde hair was put in a neat pony tail and her skin had an orange sheen. He had never understood this particular look but it was so common now that he simply ignored it. The woman beckoned him to follow her so he did. The lift was graciously warm but with the damp clothes this short journey began to make him uncomfortable. The woman hadn’t spoken except to give him instructions.

On exiting the lift he found himself in another reception area. The receptionist was almost like an exact opposite of her colleague with pale skin and dark hair. She was also impeccably dressed. He looked around and realised that he was very much out of place here. How badly he must look compared to all of those around him. He wondered how these people even managed to get to their office without encountering the rain.

For a moment he imagined secret tunnels from their houses coming out somewhere behind the reception desk. This thought was almost immediately shaken off.

A quick glance up and a warm smile from the brunet made him realise how icy the blond girl had been. Maybe she just didn’t like going down to the cold building lobby.

“Dermot yes?” she asked in a friendly way.

He smiled and nodded.

“Mr Lambton is running slightly late, so do you mind waiting?”

He didn’t really have an option so he ended up sitting in a more comfortable atmosphere.

Well going to be off traveling for the next week then heading into another operation after that.

Means that there’s going to be little in the way of updates for the next two weeks but it might help me get some insipration.

Ok I’m currently working on chapter 1 pt 2.

Mostly I’m trying to balance the introductions of the characters and such.

Also I’m trying to set the mood.

For those who are curious about the parts of the city that I mentioned you can go to http://www.dublin.ie/ it has alot of information about the city itself.

Right now I don’t have much time to myself but I’m hoping to get some more done soon. It’s a case of this part of the chapter is forming in my head but getting time to put it on paper is far harder.