Random

My Very Own Triangle

| estherkrogdahl

I recently completed a nine-week course of coaching with the wonderful Cindy Kennedy. What kind of coaching, you ask? I guess if I had to lean in a particular direction I’d say that it was career coaching, however in the end Cindy coached me in all areas of life because she is a downright GURU!

So what did I learn? A flippin bunch!

Firstly, I learned that having a strong, intelligent, passionate and creative woman holding you accountable every fortnight is a great catalyst for getting your shit together and striving to achieve (my primary school motto!).

Secondly, I learned that I value Confidence, Presence and Authenticity (Hint: This is where the triangle comes into play), yet I’m not always doing these values justice. I’ll give you an example…

Confidence – I am good at decision making and identifying what I want, BUT I ultimately give way too many fucks about inconsequential things outside of my control. So something small can crop up and really sap my confidence – like say, being asked to publicly speak.

Presence – When I meditate I manage to stop thinking about stuff for five whole minutes BUT outside of that, my brain is a busy hive if thoughts and plans. I’m constantly looking for new things to try, learn and grow from. This means that spending time with my husband and kid is often not as fulfilling as it should be (or as I want it to be). It also means that I multi-task at work and don’t check in fully to meetings and other people interactions. It means I get a lot done, but at what cost?

Authenticity – I hate pretending to be someone else. I can do it, but it makes me feel really uncomfortable. As a new people manager I’ve tried to emulate other managers around me with awkward consequences. I’m also an author and I’ve found myself looking at what other authors/writers are doing on social media (*cringe) rather than just doing my own thing, my own way.

Now I’ve identified my current behaviours relating to my values I can go about CHANGING them to be more balanced and positive. How do I do that? Well here are some suggestions that are working for me:

Mirror mantra – Look in the mirror and tell yourself what you need to hear daily. I focus on Confidence and Authenticity here – “I’m not a robot, I’m human. I don’t need to be perfect. I am enough.”

Meditation – I have a few go-to guided meditations that I try and do before bed most nights. I’ve also taken to a 5 minute self-guided preparation mediation when I’ve just woken up. This grounds me in the present and helps me set the “being present” tone for the day.

Being brave – Confidence = bravery. Confidence doesn’t mean everything is easy and suddenly I’m a perfect public speaker, it means that I don’t shy away from speaking opportunities. It means I dare to be brave.

Identify my values and what I like/dislike – To be authentic, I need to know who I am and what I value. I need to avoid what doesn’t feel authentic and be open and honest (and unapologetic) about what does.

Positivity – fake it until you make it! Even if something feels daunting or like it is going to SUCK, change the way you talk to yourself and others about it – add a positive spin. It’s surprising how fast you start to believe it 🙂

So there you have it, the outcome of some top-notch coaching with Cindy Kennedy! I can whole-heartedly recommend her services to groups and individuals alike. She runs an amazing corporate training program too called, Rise to Shine (which my company has done – this is how I heard about Cindy). I saw so many positive changes in the people who attended the workshops over several weeks. If you are thinking about doing something like this, then jump in. You won’t regret it.

No Child Wants to Curl up with a Good Lecture

| estherkrogdahl

If you are a budding writer and dream of getting a book published one day then first off, you should listen to every Words and Nerds podcast ever made. Dani is host of the literary podcast, where she chats to authors of all genres about the social and political impact of the writing and the writing process.

The podcast now includes a spin off called, Publisher Insiders, and it contains so many deliciously good tips and tricks for pitching and submitting manuscripts (oh that sort of rhymes). I’ve tried to distill some of what I’ve learned from listening to the podcast here – with a focus on Picture Books (because that is what I’m currently working on) – although many of these points apply to ANY book type…

  • A publisher insider once said, “No child wants to curl up with a good lecture.” What does this mean? Well, don’t be all preachy in your picture book story. Have a heart-warming or “soul-sticking” message, sure. But don’t force your message down the throat of the child or their parents.
  • The goal of your story/submission should be, to be READ, not to be PUBLISHED. Getting published doesn’t mean people are going to buy the book, so being conscious of the market and how this might appeal to retailers is key.
  • Find realistic comparable titles which help describe your story’s theme and hook.
  • Start with the hook – Distill the book idea into a tiny fragment that can be explained in 1-2 sentences max. This is much more important than who you are and what you’ve written or published to date.
  • Know who you are pitching too. Research the agent/publisher first and ensure your story is inline with what they publish

So there you have it. I’ll be referring to this when writing or preparing for any future pitches. I just wish I’d known this years ago! 🙂

Games can be Life-Changing

| estherkrogdahl

I was listening to a Reply-All podcast episode called, Autumn, the other day and it reminded me how powerful and life-changing games can be. The episode is about Autumn who, during a troubled childhood, loses the one person who seems to love and care for her – her Grandmother. Autumn doesn’t get to say goodbye or grieve in the way she needs to…

During this time she is also playing The Sims – building a representation of the perfect world that she wished she lived in. Her grandmother’s death triggers an idea for Autumn and she rebuilds the world to match her own less-perfect life. There is one difference though, she includes her grandmother in the sim with aging turned OFF.

As Autumn’s sim grows older and has her own family, she realises there is something she must do. She must turn aging ON for her grandmother’s sim – she must say goodbye but this time, on her terms. Autumn actually uses this GAME to relive a pivotal moment in her life – the death of her grandmother – but in a way that allows her to better process and deal with it.

I personally find it amazing and truely inspiring that we can deal with trauma through playing games. Games are a powerful platform for us to express ourselves and play out What-If scenarios.

Something to think about when next playing or designing a game experience.

Rejection for Breakfast

| estherkrogdahl

Mmmmm yum! Rejection! I love it so much, I eat it for breakfast!

Actually, perhaps I should qualify what type of rejection I’m talking about here. I’m not a fan of all types…

I DON’T like the type of rejection where my kid isn’t invited to a school birthday that seemingly EVERY other kid is invited to.

I DON’T like sending a manuscript my publisher and hearing nothing… for what seems like an eternity… then a ‘no thanks.’

BUT I DO like querying an agent or publisher and getting a personalised rejection email/letter in response.

This last point might sound counter-intuitive but I assure you it is not. The fact that I have received a personal response means that someone has taken the time to read my work (so it has clambered through the moat, scaled the wall and ended up in the room of royalty somehow). It also means they feel inclined to provide some reason why they don’t want to partner on this piece. This means I have an opportunity to:

  1. Learn from the feedback

2. make my work/pitch/query better

There is always a silver lining when it comes to this type of rejection. So, I wish my fellow writers all the best in getting a good dose at some point and turning it into success! Nom Nom!

Wonderscope

| estherkrogdahl

I was lucky to work on this awesome app experience called, Wonderscope! It is an Augmented reality app that presents the user with beautifully designed stories that are truely a work of digital art!

I’d like to call out to writers and illustrators alike, that there are other opportunities for us to get creative, outside of just print media. Artistic and creative digital platforms and experiences are exploding right now, so keep your eye out for other mediums to share your talent!

Grumbelina

Grumbelina poorly drawn
| estherkrogdahl

My first children’s book will be released in July! Grumbelina is available for pre-order now. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out. Aleksandra is an amazing illustrator and seeing how she has brought my words to life is truly inspirational. I have a few other books bubbling away in the background but as of now I’m going to take a deep breath and revel in this precious moment – I’ve been published by a huge publisher – Hatchette! Thank you to my contacts at Hatchette and all my friends and family that have supported me through this journey. Grab a copy here and tell me what you think 🙂

Grumeblina by Esther Krogdahl

Missing Translation Review

| estherkrogdahl

I’ve been playing and reviewing FREE games on steam. Despite the price tag, or lack of one, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a few titles. Missing Translation is one of them.

The narrative is light but basically you get pulled into an alien world and have to find parts to fix the portal that transported you there. To do that, you need to explore (in a very linear way) the world and solve puzzles. Apparently you can also try to figure out the native dialect by talking to people in the world and ‘studying’ at the school, but that is optional and frankly, I didn’t bother.

The puzzles are pretty cool, in my opinion. Although there are no hints or any explanation of what to do (or why), I found them fairly intuitive and very rewarding. For a while there I felt like a flipping genius!

You have to solve 25 levels of three different types of logic puzzles. Note: 15/25 in the first set of puzzles set my brain on fire for a while there… There is no punishment for failure and often it is a mix of trial and error and puzzle planning that gets you through within a few minutes. One thing I did find annoying was that I had to ‘re-engage’ with the puzzle every round (e.g. 1/25, 2/25 etc). I guess this was to give you the option to leave the puzzle without having solved all 25, but it mostly just created dead space between rounds and unwanted extra clicks.

The whimsical ditty playing in the background made playing through so many rounds… kinda nice. The simple art style and black and white palette worked with the game and the simple narrative. There was enough detail to pull me in but not take up too much of my time (I have a 2 year old, I don’t have a lot).

Final thoughts – definitely worth a casual play.

Oxenfree Review

| estherkrogdahl

This game is aaaaaall about the narrative. Oxenfree’s story follows Alex, a teenage girl, struggling to cope with the recent death of her brother. At the same time she’s learning to accept her new stepbrother, Jonas.

The game starts with Alex, her stepbrother and her friends on a ferry to an abandoned island for a night of reminiscent fun. Soon after they arrive, Alex finds her hand-held radio is picking up strange signals and voices. After a brief interlude of teenage angst and conversation, Oxenfree dives into supernatural suspense.

Playing as Alex you explore the island and talk with friends, uncovering the secrets of Oxenfree’s characters and world as you do so.

Now for my thoughts on the game…

The game mechanics are quite simple but very cool. Your time is spent walking around a mostly 2D environment, usually with a friend or two. But the magic is in your radio that’s frequently used for clever interactions and lends itself well to the supernatural horror setting. You are also in constant conversation with a friend or two. Speech bubbles with multiple options to choose from appear over Alex’s head and you select the option or let them fade away if you choose to remain silent. You can offend other characters and change the course of the game by the selections you make.

Speaking of characters, all of the character backstories and dialogue is very realistic and interesting. You really want to get to know them, and quickly begin to translate their actions against their history.

So what didn’t I like about Oxenfree?

There was an hour or so in the middle of the game where I started to get bored of the constant chatter and seemingly useless choices to be made. Walking and talking, walking and talking and talking while walking. Also, the game map is a little tricky to use with various forks and alternative routes that can sometimes leave you frustrated (after walking for 30 minutes, only to find you went the wrong way and have to back track for screens and screens). Luckily, the story pulled me back in and I ended up finishing the game, quite content.

The only other brief annoyance was the intermittent “quizzes” towards the end of the game that depended on your knowledge of the island history. I tried my best to tune into island history points and listen read relevant plaques and signs but I think, since there are alternative routes to places, sometimes key areas are bypassed and then consequently I had no idea of correct answers. It’s not really important whether you “fail” the quiz or not, but it got on my nerves a bit.

Over all, the game made for an interesting and fun few hours. The interactive story and characters were the prize in this game. I definitely recommend everyone play it, no matter what your preference of game.

FTI Writing for Games Course (Day 3)

| estherkrogdahl

The third session focused on characters.

Initially we looked at the features and attributes of a Player Character – PC  (as opposed to a Non Player Character  –NPC) and discussed “Player Verbs” and game mechanics. Player verbs determine HOW a story can be told. For example if a player can walk and collect things, the story can be delivered by exploring a scene and examining objects. Player verbs are supported by the game mechanics e.g. Press and hold X to do [player verb].

I found this very interesting article on Gamasutra but here is a short exert on the subject:

The lower the number of player verbs, the easier it is to control the variables and rein in scope. However, a low number of verbs can result in more and more onus being put on out-of-game narrative mechanisms to convey a story. For example, if all the player verbs in a game have to do with combat and none have to do with traversal movement, then how will you bridge from one combat context and location to another? With no option to provide the player an interactive journey from Point A to Point B, you will likely lean upon noninteractive storytelling techniques to establish a change of location and a new reason and context for the next battle. This can range from the simple, five-second panning of images in between Angry Birds worlds all the way up to the sumptuously rendered, ten-minute cutscenes from the Metal Gear Solid series. As you make the hard decisions about player verbs, keep in mind that the more narrow your focus in this area, the more you might be overburdening the noninteractive narrative tools at your disposal.

Another point to consider with regard to player verbs is that people and fictional characters are, in many ways, defined by the choices they make and what they do. In a game, a playable character ends up doing only the things the designers allow. Thus, the gameplay verbs that are available to a player character define, in a very basic way, who that character is. It’s important to realize that player verbs and the player’s character are inextricably interwoven, and should be concepted and developed concurrently.

Further, if you are using a pre-existing character as a (or the main) playable in your game, be aware that the character may come with baggage that includes a bevy of implied verbs. Spider-Man, for example, has inherent wall-crawling and web-swinging abilities that can cause waking nightmares for your level designers and camera designers/engineers. Other characters may imply other abilities.

We then went on to look at NPCs and relationship systems. The example of a relationship system Anthony used was an in-game shop, where if a player spends more than X dollars, the shopkeeper provides a 10% discount for future purchases. A cool game that includes a complex relationship system is  the teenage horror game, Until Dawn. Not only does the PC switch between NPCs but relationships are formed based on your interactions as the PC.