Lecture 3: The Basics of Writing and Catherine Gratwick
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If you’ve made it this far, then you know the rough idea behind making a decent premise and decent options to match. Now, to have some decent writing to accompany those issue options.
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Lesson 1: The Basics:
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Writing issues is somewhat different from other forms of writing, like stories, roleplay, poems, or formal legislature. It’s its own, unique form of writing, which is good if you’d like to work on your writing flexibility (as one teacher has already done irl), but bad if you have a good style of writing and don’t have much luck with other forms of writing. Keep this in mind when you’re writing, yourself.
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For instance, the premise and options all have only so much available room for text, and certain standards. But they also have a general format. For instance, the issue description (premise) is meant to strictly address the core issue and tell the main story. Dialogue is not normal (though permitted), and fluff is sometimes allowed (particularly if it sets the scene or adds some humor), but otherwise, it’s mainly there to describe the issue.
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Options normally are written in the following way:
“(a sentence of dialogue),” says @@RANDOMNAME@@(or a fixed name if you want to reference someone), (description of what they’re doing and/or what job they have). “(Rest of the argument).”
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Sometimes this varies. For instance, sometimes the pre-narrative dialogue is discarded. Rarely, no dialogue will be present at all, and the option’s described using no text. It’s perfectly fine to experiment and do things differently, like have two options coming from the same speaker, or every option come from a document you’re reading. But this is the normal way of doing things, for the most-part, and is a good starting place.
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They are also usually written in a way where the craziest option comes last, and isn’t too crazy, but still fairly crazy. There are exceptions, but normally, if there’s an option crazier than the others, it comes last.
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Also, the more options there are, the shorter the text of everything should be. Admittedly, the issue description should always be short, and option length can vary, but for the most part, more options = less text. Which brings me to:
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Lesson 2: Small Writing Tips!
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Some things are fairly straightforward. For instance, when writing an issue, you have to make sure the option you’re proposing is clear about what it’s doing (unless it’s purposefully not meant to be clear, which can be an interesting and creative technique, but only if it’s appropriate for the situation). You (normally) want people to know what the issue is, and what the option does. Just because you know what it does doesn’t mean everyone else should always know what it does, but generally it’s a good idea.
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Options should also try to describe why the option is good. Have your speaker try to explain why they think their option is valid. If they can not provide a reason better than the other options, then it’s too weak. Another tactic is to have the speaker attack another, discussing the downsides of doing the other option. You also may inject some humor by making the option’s speaker have alternative motives, or exaggerate something to make their voice have less merit, but if you go this route, make sure you do this for every option — make them roughly equal for the target audience.
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Something else about options and the description is they should be brief. Far briefer than these lectures. They should have only so much text. It’s probably best to look at existing issues for a rough estimate of length. You want to capture the mood, humor and arguments, so you want your options to have some meat, but you also want to not bore the reader with unnecessary fluff, lengthy explanations, or repetition. I have trouble with this in non-GI things, myself, as you can tell by this course.
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You may also want to try and incorporate some atmosphere, animation, mood and character into both your description and options, particularly if you’re referencing someone as a speaker, or something for the entire issue. Don’t focus all your text solely on atmosphere, as the other points tend to be more important use of space, but do keep this in mind to try and colour the space you already have with an accent, a few choice adjectives or words, a way of phrasing things, or a way of thinking. Adding more text, particularly for actions or description, should be blended with the dual purpose of adding humor. And, as with any writing, try.
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Try to be as appropriately funny as possible. Don’t destroy your draft trying to inject some humor, but try to make your issue and options humorous when appropriate. This is satire; it’s supposed to be funny. A dire situation can be far more serious, and a taboo topic handled with care and caution, but as a whole, try to add some humor; especially if the topic itself is a silly one. This will go a long way in helping your drafts.
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One thing that has both mood and humor is references. GI loves references, be it Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, famous politicians, Elon Musk, or, most of all, 1984, Got Milk?, or Max Barry. REAL LIFE can not be directly referenced, but can have a fill-in, like Ronald Rump as Donald Trump. Even nations and religions should be NSified (looking at you, original issues with irl religions). Famous political books and ideologies are an exception to this, such as Marxism and the Communist Manifesto.
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When referencing someone, you may use direct quotes, but you may also want to have your own take on it. Or you may even want to use a name similar to a real life person or place, but make it totally different on purpose. You could even reference another character or place already mentioned in NS, which may in turn also be a reference. Catherine Gratwick is a great example, as she (maybe two people) keeps ending up in a fantastic series of varying jobs. Elon Musk, on the other hand, is the opposite; different guys with the same kind of name, and not all even taking similar positions. Eckie-Cola and Eckie-Ecola both take hold of Coca Cola, but are now both canon. However you see fit!
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Which brings me to my last major point: Incorporate your own writing style into this. GI is somewhat restrictive in what you can do, and how much, but exceptions can be made. Humor not your thing? As long as it’s well-written, it’s fine! Not got much character? Frankly, a lot of issues don’t have interesting characters. Lengthy and long-winded? Work on that, but exceptions can be made. The best thing to do is find yourself, see what works, and roll with it.
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HOMEWORK
Write your first draft! Ignore the title, effects, and criteria for now if you want; we’ll cover those in lecture 4. If you know about this stuff, however, and feel comfortable with them, then feel free to add them. But all I ask is you send me a first draft, where you take your plot framework and make actual text to express them. This is not a particularly easy step, and you may fail at first. You may be a huge success at first. I won’t sugarcoat this, if you start out bad, it’s hard to get better; most authors were pretty good right-off-the-bat. But I am proof that someone who started out very bad can get better. Not truly great, mind you, but better.