The Devil Is in the Details

[rynling]

I'm structuring the Zelgan fic I'm currently writing like an adventure game, which means that I'm devoting an inordinate amount of attention in the early chapters to setting up clues that will be important to the plot.

In the second chapter, the major clue is a scrap of paper that will later function as a linguistic palimpsest. Basically, instead of Chekov's gun, I'm setting up Chekov's research question. ISN'T THIS EXCITING.

I commissioned one of my favorite artists in the Zelda fandom to do an illustration of the first chapter, and she has been very patient and supportive as I try to describe the background. I don't know whether she's genuinely interested or just curious to see how pedantic I can get, but she has prompted me to write detailed descriptions of the architecture of Hyrule Castle and the plants in its garden. I'm like, LET ME TELL YOU, ABOUT THE PHENOTYPES, OF THE MORNING GLORY, WHICH CAN BE POISONOUS, WHEN,

Honestly bros, writing plot is hard, especially since the only thing I care about is the fucking.

Comments

[rynling]

Aahhhh thank you!!

Plot is basically a framing device for kissing; this is a true thing that applies to every story that has ever been written.

Commissioning people is rough, though. It's always a financial gamble (one out of three times the artist will take the money and run), and exposing the deepest core of your heart to a stranger with Photoshop is scary. I wish beyond all reason that I could make my own art, then I would be unstoppable.

Out of curiosity, do you have any experience with commissioning artists?

[selenicdistance]

I don't really -- the only time I've ever commissioned someone, it was a friend of a friend who needed some help, and I was more concerned with, you know, giving her some. It was still kind of discomfiting when she didn't get around to drawing the little sketch I'd paid for until months after the fact, though.

If you mean actual, reasonably professional artists who make a good portion of their livelihood off commissions -- then no. (And, still caught in the Experience that is poverty as I am, this is unlikely to change any time soon.)

Aha, I'm usually more interested in kissing as something to erect a plot around. Usually.

[rynling]

Thank you for putting so much thought into your response! You gave me a lot of food for thought, and I may have ended up writing a long rant on the topic of supporting artists.

Instead of actually posting it, I guess I should say that recently I've been thinking a lot about the value of fan labor, specifically how it's unequally compensated. Because writers always seem to get the short end of the stick, I may be a bit resentful toward artists.

I'm sorry to hear that you're currently stuck on the bizarro theme park ride that is The Poverty Experience. I spent a few years of my life belted into it myself, and I remember it being a terrible nightmare. Good luck, and I hope that your circumstances improve sooner rather than later.

[renegadefolkhero]

Artist > Writer routinely comes up in the development circles I've run in. While writing is ostensibly very important in story-based games, people are far more resistant to paying a writer than they are to paying an artist. Treat the writing as disposable, you get a disposable script, and the cycle continues.

Game writers are bitter, bitter creatures.

[rynling]

Oh jeez. When it comes to writing, I am a bitter creature as well.

A number of artists I follow on Tumblr make a big deal about wanting to be paid for their work. I get the sense that is a relatively recent development in the broader cultures of fandom. Back when DeviantArt was still a thing, there was a strong backlash against discussions of money. On Tumblr, however, there are constant calls for commissions, which are often accompanied by requests to contribute to the artist's Patreon. This demand for actual money tends to be mixed in with reblogs of people saying things like "you should never work for exposure" or "don't draw gift art for your non-artist friends."

Paying artists for their work makes perfect sense to me, especially now that I have something resembling a disposable income. That being said, I don't like being made to feel as if I should be paying an artist for their participation in fandom.

This feeling stems partially from the fact that, as someone who writes fic, I will never receive as many likes or reblogs as any given artist, and no one would think to compensate a fic author for what she produces.

Although I guess there are exceptions? I think you wrote a post about fic writers on Patreon awhile back, but the only writer I've run across who does this gets less than $10 a month. This seems sad to me, especially since the artists I support on Patreon receive monthly donations of several hundred dollars.

It seems grossly unfair that, broadly speaking, the work of artists is valued so much more than the work of writers. It infuriates me to know that this is the case in game development as well, although I suppose that doesn't surprise me.

I SHAKE MY FIST AT THE WORLD.