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 |  A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe. |
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The Interactives "The Book of Masks"  : A high school student discovers a grimoire that can make magical disguises."The Wandering Stars" : Sequel to "The Book of Masks.""Student Bodies" : A high school student is turned into a blue goo that can possess people.For non-WdC Members "The Book of Masks: Archives" : Dodges the "Servers Busy" barrier!"The Book of Masks (Abridged)" : Introductory storylines for new readers.Community "BoM/TWS Message Forum" : Community for readers of the interactives."BoM/TWS/SB Wiki" : Notes and documentation for authors. Spoilers!Current Polls None The Latest 7/1: Interactive: "Solving Other People's Problems" 7/1: Public: "Solving Other People's Problems"
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| It was a close-run race the other day, so the sequel chapter had to wait a day before going up, but it's here now: "Invalid Item" . The content might be a let-down to those who voted for that choice, but I have to be faithful the characters as they exist in my imagination, and what I wrote is what I could do with them. |
| I guess I needed to a take a break. I sure didn't mean to disappear like that, and I didn't realize it was such a hiatus. Even now, it feels like it's been ... two days? ... since I posted that note about my computer needing work. Anyway, I'm back today with two chapters: "Invalid Item" and "Invalid Item" . Two of 'em because the first ends with a "Continue" and that didn't seem like a nice way to come back.Oh, and that voodoo plot that I said I had to stop to consider? Yeah, there's no details on that, are there? How come? Because that's the way the words sometimes come. The imagination stops working when it sees a problem in front of it; but just because the problem gets solved doesn't mean that the solution is going to get talked about in the story. I know what happened to Hannah, but I'm much less sure now that it's going to be revealed. It's just a thing that's not going to stop me going forward. Minecraft might stop me going forward, but that's a different kind of stoppage. (Damn the Millenaire mod, for finally updating to 1.12.2!) |
| So, never mind on the post below. I have an old computer, and was worried that the problem might require that tit be shipped back to Apple to address. But the repair guys were able to fix it while I waited, though it was a near-run thing as they only had one in stock of the item that needed replacing. Anyway, I'm back and in business. |
| I was getting ready to return to writing, I swear -- I got that book read and have a pretty good idea for how to use the stuff I read. But my computer, which has been wheezing for awhile, took a turn for the worse this afternoon, so I have to take it in for repairs before things get too bad. I'm not sure how long it will take. Possibly a few hours, possibly a lot longer if it has to be sent in to Apple for work. So I'm posting this as a preemptive note about it. |
| Between us, we have managed to push me into a corner. BoM is mostly consistent between its branches (but it's far from perfect). This consistency extends beyond characters and character traits and histories and relationships to include events. What I mean is that there are certain events that are assumed to "come off"in every branch unless Will does something, directly to indirectly, to interfere with them. I keep a kind of calendar in my notes where I keep track of such events, and in whatever branch I'm writing I try to keep track of those events in case they become relevant to the storyline. One such event just became relevant. The storyline I've been writing for you guys is now hung up on a Sunday; the previous Friday there was a party at Catherine Muskov's house, and something happened there, something to do with Hannah and this voodoo plot that the girls are tormenting her with. But I've never decided exactly happened or what caused it. But now I have to figure it out. Which means I've got to do some research about voodoo because I don't want it to be the cliched stuff. I have a book that I'm reading, and I like it because it emphasizes (controversially) the "astral" aspects of voodoo, and astrology is a big part of the BoM mythos. I'm about halfway through the book, and with the weekend I should be able to plow through it. But I'm going to have to take a few days off to do that research and to do some sketching and thinking before I can return to writing. |
| Well, yesterday's vote was a blow-out. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since the other three names were only that--names--while the chapter did at least show a little bit of the winner. So here's the sequel: "Invalid Item" . Frankly, I'm expecting another blowout vote, but I don't think the alternates are merely placeholders. |
| Sorry about missing yesterday. I was distracted (minecraft) and totally lost track of the time and didn't even write anything until late last night. But there's a new chapter today: "Invalid Item" . The names are probably not going to be familiar unless you're a long time reader and have a good memory. So I have no idea how the voting is going to go. |
| Well, that vote was pretty close, and one of the contenders was one I didn't expect to even be in the running. So, no chapter today because I didn't know which sequel would get chosen. See you tomorrow. |
| I'm not surprised that "Confusions, Confessions, Temptations" won the meta-poll; and I'm only a little surprised that it won a majority in a four-way race. People like it when Chelsea shows up, I've noticed. Just because I put up that poll, though, doesn't mean I'll be dropping the current storyline anytime soon. (Oh, and here's the next chapter: "Invalid Item" .) But I'll be working on "CCT" on those days when the vote is so close that I don't know which sequel to write in the Reader's Choice Edition.Will today's vote be close? I don't know. I'm pretty sure that options 1 and 4 will get very few votes. That's why I split the remaining option into two variations: one where Will tries to work with Stephanie on a "gaslighting" project, and one where he does it behind her back. That way the vote could at least be interesting. |
| Yesterday's vote ran close all day, and I wasn't sure who the winner would be until I woke up this morning. So I don't have a chapter for you today. I do have a poll for you, though. Which storyline should I resume publishing when I finally wrap up the present branch? "Invalid Item" |
| So the good news is that you guys get a new chapter today instead of having to wait 24 hours: "Invalid Item" . The bad news is that it doesn't have much to do with the choice that you voted for yesterday. I keep an outline going as I write, and part of the outline includes a calendar so that I can keep track of the days of the week, how much time has passed since certain events, what else is going on the world of Saratoga Falls, etc. Like, did you know that while Will was at the movies with Katy, Catherine Muskov was throwing a party at her house? And Joe and Frank Durras were laying plans to break into Salopek? I know that, because the master outline tells me so. Anyway, the outline told me that the golem (which in this branch is going to be known as a "lackey" or something else) was done cooking. That was some business I wanted to get out of the way; and besides, it would be a new wrinkle in the Will-Stephanie relationship. I guessed (rightly) that the vote at the end of "Invalid Item" would be close, and that I wouldn't know for sure which one would win until the deadline. So instead of worrying about that, I wrote a sequel chapter that had nothing to do with the previous choice and everything to do with the golem. That way you'd have a new chapter, only at the price of it having little if anything to do with the previous choice. This morning I edited the chapter a bit so as to acknowledge the results of the vote, and here we are.Oh, and this new location that they're moving to? Partly that was an excuse to get Will and Stephanie to the basement so they could find the golem done. But it was also an attempt to add a little bit more to the universe. There are a couple of other locations around town where Will could do his experiments, but I've never had occasion for him to discover them yet. |
| Well, yesterday's wasn't very close at all, was it? I was sure "Insist on telling Katy" would make a stronger run of it. Here's the chapter you voted for: "Invalid Item" . It's a bit expository, I know. But I wanted to show Stephanie getting acclimated to what she's just been shown. She's such a hard-headed girl. |
| It was a close vote yesterday, though the winning choice ("Tell Stephanie") took an early lead and never lost it. But I still held off on writing that sequel, in case some of the other choices had a late surge. You should have had to wait a day to get Chapter 25. But I woke up early, and I knew exactly what to write, so I hurled myself into it when I saw that "Tell Stephanie" held a practically insurmountable edge. Here it is, then: "Invalid Item" |
| Yesterday's vote was a runaway (no surprise), so Chapter 24 is now up: "Invalid Item" I suspect today's vote will be closer. |
| So yesterday I said I had "no friggin' clue what comes next." Today brings an answer: "Invalid Item" . But back to that comment. I said it as though this is a new experience for me. Actually, that's been my experience all through this experiment. Because you guys are the ones making the choices, I have no idea what's going to happen until you vote. I can't lay in any long-range plans, because you guys might make a choice that sends it veering off in completely new direction. The best I can do is write something consistent with the choice you've voted for, and plant possibilities for later development. "Invalid Item" is a case in point. Will had a mask of a P. E. coach. He even had her clothes. He even went out once and pretended to be her, at the gym and with friends. But the voting more or less shut that line down—by voting for him to visit the graveyard and move his operations in the school basement, you guys were basically indicating that Will should concentrate on getting into the book rather than upon shenanigans. That left me at a bit of a loss. Any immediate further fun with Coach Schell's mask would have felt (to me, at least) like an ass pull.So what could happen to him while waiting for that spell to finish cooking? I improvised, desperately. I went back to the idea that Will is terrified of running into the coach, for fear of being recognized, and invented an excuse that would send him into the gym. And as I was writing that scene, almost as an afterthought, Katy Conlee smiled at him. Hmm, I thought, and then I had Yumi run up after Will and make a comment about how maybe she was interested in him. I didn't intend for that to go anywhere in particular, any more than I intended anything from the dropped comment about Carson and James's prank on the jocks. It was just a thing thrown in, on the chance that it might lead somewhere. So was the device of putting a brain-band onto Yumi. That action has led to Will being interested in Katy, but it's still lurking in the background and might have a use later on. So this is the way I'm having to compose this storyline: Not with any particular destination in view. Not even with any particular idea of what will happen in the next chapter. Only with a view of creating possibilities, some of which could be developed in the sequel chapter. This, BTW, isn't a whole lot different from the way I write anyway. The chief difference is that I can usually see a little farther than past the end of a single chapter. It's like a rambling walk through the wilderness: Oh, there's a peak that looks interesting, let's see if I can reach it and have fun along the way. |
| The voting was close on "Invalid Item" . Unlike the vote at the end of "Invalid Item" , it was much more balanced, and it wasn't until I woke up Sunday morning that I found one of the choices had taken a lead. So you guys will have to wait a day for the sequel. Maybe more, because as I write this I have no friggin' clue what comes next. In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy Masktrix's chapters: "Cover and Recover" . If you like his stuff, send him a tip, even if it's just 10 GPs, to let him know. Same with rugal and WordSmitty and smitch or anyone else who has written chapters you like. Send GPs to imaj, tell him you want him back here contributing again. |
| Okay, so the chapter that was due yesterday is up now: "Invalid Item" . I'm still not thrilled with it. But I had to balance narrative economy, character plausibility, and a certain amount of back story. (1) Will puts a brain band onto Yumi. How does he escape with it? Easy: he grabs it up and runs away. That's narrative economy. But that would lead to all kinds of awkwardness when he next sees her, if we're taking character and personality seriously, so he's got to have some kind of cover story. How much time and how many words to spend on achieving that balance? Would it be faster to leap ahead and explain after the fact how he got away without embarrassing himself? It might save some words, but not very many, if a good explanation is given. So there's one spot where I have to struggle to convey something that's minimally plausible without getting bogged down. (2) If you've read a certain other branch in the story, you know Stephanie Wyatt and what she's like and how she acts around Will. But that's only one branch in a sprawling interactive, and I can't assume familiarity by readers. So I have to describe her at least in part. It is usually best to let a character speak for herself instead of telling the reader what she is like and what her history is. But in this case Will is meeting her under another face, so she is not going to be characteristically herself, not the way she would be if he were himself. Also, there's the irony that she is going to be the subservient personality in this meeting. So it seems best to do some introductory telling. Here again, the question is how many words to spend giving that set up. (3) Will in his disguise. Look, I know why you guys voted 2-to-1 in favor of the "Use Coach Schell disguise" choice. You want to see Will inside it. Narrative economy says, "Skip from Will exiting the coffee date with Yumi directly to him entering the DQ." But you guys will want some mirror time. Psychologically, Will will want some mirror time too. There's also a tiny bit of family business to gloss over. So there's another big chunk of prose that should be inserted. (4) Even in disguise, it won't be easy for Will to be a part of the conversation he wants to listen in on. Time has to be taken to get the other characters comfortable with him, and to establish his relationship with them. Consequences of the above: The point of the chapter—to position Will as a disguised eavesdropper—doesn't come into play until very late. I wish it were much earlier. For reasons of space—interactive chapters have a hard 10K-character limit—it has to end at that particular point in the conversation. A "Continue" could easily come next. The choice itself doesn't excite me much. But I can dimly imagine very different scenarios unfolding from what Will does next. |
| Sorry, you guys are going to have to wait another day for the next chapter. The winning choice took an early lead, so I knew what I had to write. But I had absolutely no idea what would come next. I did get a chapter written, but it's too much filler and throat-clearing, too much improvisation and delay, and I don't like it. So I'm going to throw it out and try again today. Wish me luck! |
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