A bit of silly fun for the Holidays – and because the Reality Show Generator provided to be deeper than I expected, we have the Class Masher!  Remember all those “X” characters as “Y” RPG class memes (especially Disney Princesses and The Avengers?).  This generator does it for you!

So you can get:

• Arya Stark (Game Of Thrones)-Demon Hunter (World Of Warcraft)
• Big Macintosh (My Little Pony)-Beast (Etrian Odyssey)
• Billy Quizboy (Venture Brothers)-Paladin (Diablo)
• Gomez Adams-Sinner (Disgaea)
• Kermit The Frog (Muppets)-Blue Mage (Final Fantasy)
• White Rabit (Wonderland)-Ninja (Final Fantasy)

Enjoy!

-Steve

OK the Webinar on geeky careers with Lauren is done.  Check out the replay – https://laurenorsini.leadpages.co/live-webinar/

Plus you can get a serious bargain on e-copies of ALL our books – for a limited time – https://gumroad.com/l/oRRM

This was also a big experiment for me.  See, I’ve thought of doing webinars on a various subjects including creativity.  Think you Sanctum folks would like to have webinars with me and other creators talking on creativity?  Let me know what you’d like to see!

• Steve

Hello everyone, hope you’re all doing well. Been a bit of a busy week for me work-wise, so you can guess I’m looking forward to the holiday.

First, a shout-out to all the NaNoWriMo participants?  The NaNoWriMo traffic spike is lasting longer than last year, so I hope I’m helping all of you out!  Be sure to let us know how you’re doing and leave feedback.

Secondly, Way With Worlds – I should have prereader feedback start of December, so I can start editing – my big focus being sure I nail down the concepts.  I’m pretty positive I got it, but this was pretty heavy stuff to write, so I need the feedback.  As noted, it’s really going to be two books and then there will be supplementary material.

Oh, and I’m debating some webcasts on the subjects, maybe even before the book is out.  So stay tuned.

Third, new generators.  I have two in mind, and in both I want to try to actually write up an analysis, building on what I learned from the more painful processes of the Plot Twist and Writing Prompt generators.  The upcoming two are humorous/less-serious, but I’ll let you stew awhile longer on the subjects.

So, let me know how you’re doing and good luck all you NaNoWriMo Writers!

– Steve

OK gang, yes, I know people have asked me to do more than just speak at cons.  Well Lauren Orsini asked me to be part of a webinar and I accepted!  It’s a chance for you to join us and talk . . . careers!  We’re doing a discussion about how people build geek careers realistically, covering seven major steps that you’ll want to follow.  I figure that fits a lot of you folks here at the sanctum.  So,  you can read more at Lauren’s blog (which is well worth following), or just go and . . .

Sign up now!

It’s free, but seats are limited.  So go on, sign up, and we’ll get a chance to talk careers Sunday, November 8th at 9am Pacific, (12pm Eastern).

Now the big thing with this?  This is an experiment for me.  If it works, I want to try other Webinars, including ones on creativity, writing, and more.  So hopefully this’ll work out and I’ll try some Sanctum-themed Webinars on creativity, worldbuilding, etc. I’ve been a bit iffy on Webinars, but Lauren sold me on trying it out – and now I can’t wait!

• Steve

So Way With Worlds is off to the pre-readers!  I’ll be back to editing it in December, after a well-needed break.

Now one big change?  It’s definitely going to be two books.  When I realized the final book would be some 500 pages long, it just wasn’t going to work unless I made it bigger, or broke it up. So now it’ll be two books, a basic/essential and a detailed one.  It breaks up pretty well.

Still editing it as one block though so it stays consistent.  You’ll see them both this summer!

– Steve

Well, after a “final run” the Plot Twist generator is done.  Well, “done.”

I made a big push to flesh out data, and improve and enhance some of the existing data patterns and basic plot types.  I’m going to consider it “done” for now because I really can’t think of much else to do.  I’m sure there’s plenty more, but I won’t be doing it for now.

Now that I’ve done both this and the Writing Prompt Generator, I’ve had a pretty useful insight about these kinds of generators.

The short form?  These seemingly inspirational generators would work better if done a bit more “scientifically.”

At first, I figured both Writing Prompts and Plot Twist Generators would be best created in a kind of free-form, inspired way.  Surf examples, try ideas, play around, integrate feedback, get creative.  That seemed to make sense at the time.

But when I look back to it, it actually made things more complicated.  I might “go down the rabbit hole” and get lost in one kind of plot twist.  I’d try some data structures that turned out to not be quite right.  I’d revise data, which gets a bit complex once you’ve already set so much information up.

The end result is that, if I’d taken time to break the data down more carefully, analyze deep structure, and look for common patterns this would have gone easier.  I wouldn’t have been able to jump right into it, but it would have been faster, easier, and probably better.

Also I could have written it up for people’s reference.

So, lesson learned.  Now onward to some other generators after a bit of a break . . .

• Steve

OK first, the Way With Worlds book is through it’s second edit.  Done.  It goes out to pre-readers tomorrow, and in general I plan not to think about it for about two months.  I need a break.

My impression is that this version is a heck of a lot better.  Tighter, smarter, a bit less overblown, something you can read and reread as you want.  After pre-readers and my editor go through it it’s definitely going to be worth your time.

Also if you want to be a pre-reader, well, contact me . . .

Now, that leads on to the Plot Twist generator!  I’m going to make one more big stab at it and call it a go.  I think one more push is what I need – and like the Writing Prompt generator it won’t be perfect, but it’ll be enough to really help people.

Then after that a break and something fun, and possibly very, very silly.  The idea I’m kicking around is not just a fun and silly generator, but documenting it.

Finally, I added a link to my Newsletter in the menu.  That’s a place to go to get updates and insights on my projects, here and elsewhere.

OK, long day, lots of editing done, time to rest . . .

• Steve

First of all I’m pleased to say the Plot Twist Generator is clearly in Beta.  In fact, after a few more additions, it’s farther along than I expected.  I can’t say it’s the best, but it’s pretty decent.  I’ll probably give it one more stab, check the feedback, expand some of the data, then call it done for now.

Then a break before I do something damned silly.  And yes, I have a generator in mind, with a few extras . . .

Next, the Way With Worlds book should go to pre-readers next week.  I got a bit behind due to work, so I’m making a serious, insane effort to finish editing round 2.  I really want to get this right for all of my readers.  I’m also letting the pre-readers sit on it for two months so they can take their time.

That’s it here.  Be sure to check Scott’s latest as he’s delving deep into great stuff on remakes, and let us know how you’re doing in the comments!

– Steve

So I did a huge update on Way With Worlds this weekend.  About 80+ pages edited.  I’m actually pretty pleased with it – I think I was being a bit harsh on some of the less well-written areas.  A lot of it is pretty good.

I’m going to try and get it to pre-readers next week – which gives me a two month break while my pre-readers go over it.  Mostly I want to have a review conceptual review more than anything else – the grammar and spelling will be the domain of my editor.  Grammar and spelling can be edited – its getting the actual concepts right that’s important since that’s kind of the goal.  Worldbuilding isn’t exactly a science, and I want to make sure my modest contribution to it is clear and helpful.

It’s also still huge – 462 pages at the last count and probably be about 500 pages with formatting.  This is gonna be a hefty one, but should be worth it – plus it’ll make a great gift!

• Steve

Hey gang, just so you know the Plot Twist Generator has had some updates.  I’m going through suggestions to tweak it and feel like it just crossed over into being “really kind of functional.”  I appreciate the feedback and have much more to include.

– Steve