An Update -- editing, gaming, and house painting
Annalise: the rushing
Nathan's print solution went ass over turnpike and he had to scramble to find another printer. As a result, his deadline shortened by a week and everything was due, um, yesterday at noon. With only a slight groan, I did everything I could to get him the final edit on the layout version of Annalise with less than 24 hours notice. That meant editing during my breaks from painting the sun room and getting up early on Sunday to finish up. It's a relatively short game (just over 30,000 words, or 72 pages with layout) so it wasn't too painful.
I don't blame Nathan. The publishing business -- like any business with deadlines -- can get crazy towards the end of the process. I'm just happy I could be a part of this wonderful game and I'm eager to see it in print. Also glad I could help out a friend in a pinch.
Tenra Bansho Zero: the beginning
I'll be doing a light edit on Andy Kitkowski's English translation of Tenra Banso Zero. The manuscript needs heavier editing work than Andy can afford, even with my mate's rate. I can only imagine that translating a role-playing game from Japanese to English is rather difficult. Andy is a strong writer but I think his head gets mired in Japanese linguistic constructions and it doesn't always play well in English.
This is my first experiment with the "light edit." My fear is that my sense of perfectionism will cause me to do my typical heavy edit on the game anyway. As the text weighs in over 120,000 words, I really must be careful with the level of edit I provide or I could end up doing ten times more work than I quoted. My concession is that I will note opportunities for rewrites when I see them and just change the text that is easier to change than to explain what needs changing; I will also tell Andy about problems that arise repeatedly.
My other concern is that people will see "Editing by Adam Dray" or whatever in the credits and not realize that I did not give the manuscript my full-on editing treatment. Despite these small concerns, I'm totally psyched to be working with Andy (and Luke, who is doing layout!) on this project.
Andy has been talking about TBZ for a while. Frankly, I wasn't interested in the genre or the game. This weekend, as I edited five sample pages for Andy, I was enthralled. The game just exudes cool atmosphere, and so far I've read only eight pages about futuristic samurai and demon-conjuring Taoist priests. The sooner this game gets done, the sooner I can play it!
Real Life: the painting
We painted our sun room this weekend. It's gorgeous. There was paint-choosing drama, as usual, but it turned out well. Now that the room looks beautiful empty, we're loathe to put our crappy furniture back into it. A few pieces fit nicely, like the Ikea Expedit shelves and the beige leather couch. The old armoire we use as a pantry, the white wire shelf, and the rickety green and brass baking shelf need to go. Time to pick up some more Ikea stuff. I really like the room's weird combination of Monticello butter yellow with white trim and modern geometry with black accents. We'll have to post some pictures.
I keep discovering spots of paint on my skin. Just when I think I've got it all, I find a spot on the dark side of my wrist, or a blotch on -- of all places -- my sternum. I don't paint naked or anything. It must have seeped through my shirt.
Gaming: the postponing
Had to postpone my first Transit get-together, as Brandon closed his house deal and had to move furniture Saturday. We'll play the first weekend in September. Disappointed, but it gives me more time to plan and it gave me time to paint.
GenCon: the traveling
(Have I pushed the title thing too far yet?)
GenCon is coming up soon! I plan to show up and have fun. I have no more concrete schedule than that. Sure, I pre-registered for a bunch of stuff but I have long forgotten what those things are. Other loose plans involve meeting various people for breakfast or lunch, checking out demos of many games in the Dealer's Hall, and spending most of my free time in the Games on Demand area (running or playing games) during the day or in the Embassy Suites lobby during the evening. It will all be amazingly fun and terribly exhausting.
Oh, now that I am part of the Evil Hat team, I have a seat at the ENnies! That will be cool. I'm wearing a suit. Phear me.
Nathan's print solution went ass over turnpike and he had to scramble to find another printer. As a result, his deadline shortened by a week and everything was due, um, yesterday at noon. With only a slight groan, I did everything I could to get him the final edit on the layout version of Annalise with less than 24 hours notice. That meant editing during my breaks from painting the sun room and getting up early on Sunday to finish up. It's a relatively short game (just over 30,000 words, or 72 pages with layout) so it wasn't too painful.
I don't blame Nathan. The publishing business -- like any business with deadlines -- can get crazy towards the end of the process. I'm just happy I could be a part of this wonderful game and I'm eager to see it in print. Also glad I could help out a friend in a pinch.
Tenra Bansho Zero: the beginning
I'll be doing a light edit on Andy Kitkowski's English translation of Tenra Banso Zero. The manuscript needs heavier editing work than Andy can afford, even with my mate's rate. I can only imagine that translating a role-playing game from Japanese to English is rather difficult. Andy is a strong writer but I think his head gets mired in Japanese linguistic constructions and it doesn't always play well in English.
This is my first experiment with the "light edit." My fear is that my sense of perfectionism will cause me to do my typical heavy edit on the game anyway. As the text weighs in over 120,000 words, I really must be careful with the level of edit I provide or I could end up doing ten times more work than I quoted. My concession is that I will note opportunities for rewrites when I see them and just change the text that is easier to change than to explain what needs changing; I will also tell Andy about problems that arise repeatedly.
My other concern is that people will see "Editing by Adam Dray" or whatever in the credits and not realize that I did not give the manuscript my full-on editing treatment. Despite these small concerns, I'm totally psyched to be working with Andy (and Luke, who is doing layout!) on this project.
Andy has been talking about TBZ for a while. Frankly, I wasn't interested in the genre or the game. This weekend, as I edited five sample pages for Andy, I was enthralled. The game just exudes cool atmosphere, and so far I've read only eight pages about futuristic samurai and demon-conjuring Taoist priests. The sooner this game gets done, the sooner I can play it!
Real Life: the painting
We painted our sun room this weekend. It's gorgeous. There was paint-choosing drama, as usual, but it turned out well. Now that the room looks beautiful empty, we're loathe to put our crappy furniture back into it. A few pieces fit nicely, like the Ikea Expedit shelves and the beige leather couch. The old armoire we use as a pantry, the white wire shelf, and the rickety green and brass baking shelf need to go. Time to pick up some more Ikea stuff. I really like the room's weird combination of Monticello butter yellow with white trim and modern geometry with black accents. We'll have to post some pictures.
I keep discovering spots of paint on my skin. Just when I think I've got it all, I find a spot on the dark side of my wrist, or a blotch on -- of all places -- my sternum. I don't paint naked or anything. It must have seeped through my shirt.
Gaming: the postponing
Had to postpone my first Transit get-together, as Brandon closed his house deal and had to move furniture Saturday. We'll play the first weekend in September. Disappointed, but it gives me more time to plan and it gave me time to paint.
GenCon: the traveling
(Have I pushed the title thing too far yet?)
GenCon is coming up soon! I plan to show up and have fun. I have no more concrete schedule than that. Sure, I pre-registered for a bunch of stuff but I have long forgotten what those things are. Other loose plans involve meeting various people for breakfast or lunch, checking out demos of many games in the Dealer's Hall, and spending most of my free time in the Games on Demand area (running or playing games) during the day or in the Embassy Suites lobby during the evening. It will all be amazingly fun and terribly exhausting.
Oh, now that I am part of the Evil Hat team, I have a seat at the ENnies! That will be cool. I'm wearing a suit. Phear me.