5 Tips on Writing: With J. Isaac Gadient
I’m isaac—big into style, not big into seeing my name written with san-serif capital I’s. Reading is, for most of us, a visual medium. You’re looking at these words right now, aren’t you? Probably on a screen. Since I was wee I dreamt of seeing my own creations in print. A life-changing moment for me was seeing a mixtape that an upperclassman had made, but the cassette and case and insert had all been customized. I loved sketching and such, but to see a thing made in the mode of the manufactured took me into a sense of realness. Authenticity and commercialization aside, the thing was elevated. I wanted elevation, if not exultation. Still struggling with ego and the doorstep of virtually infinite possibilities of next-words and paths to pick, I’m here filling out a form at twist-tales dot com slash submission dash 5 dash tips dash on dash writing slash.
Hooking Your Audience
There are ways to manipulate humans. Science has been invoked to seemingly codify methods of capturing attention. Naked ladies have been hidden in ice cubes in magazine advertisements. The smell of cookies has been piped through grocery store air vents. Mentalists can plant seeds of specific ideas in your thoughts to encourage precise responses from their prey/audiences. These seem cheap to me, but I’m becoming less and less of a moralist and history stretches on like a pair of yoga pants hanging onto my hips for dear life as a Bichon Frisé tugs them away from me towards the horizon. Are you still reading what I’m writing? Why?
Mastering Plot Development
Never underestimate your readers’ intelligence or maturity. Never overestimate your own intellect. Never say never. Why is this happening? Why is this happening to this character? What is this happening to this character right now?Have you reread all this out loud to yourself? Have you stepped away and let your mind let go of the story’s spark and let it take on its own life as a consummate, sovereign Thing? If it is sat there, passive and solid…pick it up and hold it, see how the weight and texture strike you. You’re a different person already, and the story may have evolved on its own.
Effective World-Building Strategies
If you have a lifetime like Tolkien, go ahead. It’s your time to waste. If you love it, then it’s not time wasted; just spent, lovingly. But consider your goal: do you want the world to seem…huge? Full? Bustling? Lived-in? “Realistic?” (I have to credit Hannah Nicklin and Artur Ganszyniec for pointing out to me recently that when most of us say “realistic,” we really mean “naturalistic.”)
Techniques for Character Development
Let your characters surprise you. Let them live and grow in you. Think of times people have not said or done the things you’ve expected. That should be most of the time. Small changes seem to me to be the way we express our own growth in our lives. I’m a Gemini so I am absolutely prone to grand gestures. And I do love drama, both in stories and in my everyday real life. That said, a recent watch of mine felt like the characters weren’t themselves but rather facets of the screenwriter, just telling me: This is exposition. Here’s my motivation. Drop of backstory. Tidy.
Crafting Meaningful Decisions
Choices are often not ultimately meaningful in games, if we’re looping the player to an inevitable outcome. But perhaps its the sprinkles of choosing here and there that are the real meaning-making they make along the way. What’s the difference between a seemingly meaningful choice and a meaningful choice, if the player’s enjoying themself either way? Material change from specific decisions players make can be delightful and profound. Little accents of meaning can fill out a world or experience as well—the act of making any choice at all, that opportunity that we give them, is enjoyment enough, many times.
What are your strengths in writing and narrative design?
I can type for much longer than I can write with pen or pencil before my hand cramps up. I firmly believe rules are made to be broken; but if it doesn’t work, it ooesn’t work. I think quick on my head-foot.
Which games or stories have you worked on?
You can check my itch.io page on my site: http://www.jisaacgadient.com. Most of my games are playable there. Caveat emptor! (They’re for free.)
Exploring Favorites
Whichever one I read next that makes me feel like the world is new and being alive and on this planet is a blessing rather than a burden.
A Wish for Interactive Audio Stories
I’d love to hear an interpretation of Outer Wilds told not from the perspective of the Hearthian Hatchling, but dramatic readings of the Nomai who left text logs. Download the TWIST Tales app now and experience the best way to enjoy audiobooks. Available for iOS and Android.
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