@GeneralJist
Thanks for the heads-up. I decided to go back and finish the Degree I started on with Game Art & Design as I figured it would help me in long-run with the industry. I'm almost finished, so I also decided to take a Minor in Creative Writing as that can help me to hone my skills with writing in the meantime. So I'll dabble a bit into what I am writing: one is a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. I kind of hate calling it that because while it does use characters, worlds, and stories from other franchises, the story that I am writing is fully original and does not use the characters and current story of Kingdom Hearts, only certain tidbits (i.e. all worlds have a heart and Kingdom Hearts is the end all, be all to the universe). The other is a fanfiction of Scott Pilgrim and acts as a sequel to the story.
The Kingdom Hearts one I envision more so to be structured like a Manga, while the other a Graphic Novel. I say envision because right now I am still working on the outline and have yet to even get to the script. I say this because I have been doing it on my own and would like to ask what I should do once I finish my outline? I know some people gather a team together to help them work on their projects, and I am sure this may be required for me to do so, just how would I go about doing so? I do conversate on Reddit and Twitter, so I am active to where I can talk to others.
You're not wrong about me worrying about the future and struggling with it. It's definitely been a concern for me, even when I was starting to have the nagging question of if this is the right career for me, I just never thought it was anxiety until some months back when I was diagnosed. The model you have is great, and it outlines everything pretty clearly. I definitely have some activities that I enjoy which are sketching, gaming, discussing such topics, writing, and a few other things.
I am using my social media accounts to post my works on, but there was a point where I think I made it more of a chore instead of enjoyable because, when that Career Advising person told me about getting a Social Media presence, I tried to push out as much as I could and ended up exhausting myself. Not only that, I found that I was struggling to get ahead and be known online. Most of this was on my Instagram account, though after talking with someone, I was starting to realize that I was not consistent in keeping my account specifically about art and am now trying to do so. He brought up the idea that I should post a sketch a day for 7 days to get me back in the loop of the search engine, though I'm not sure if that is necessary. I know I need to be more consistent and post more, but I am not sure if it needs to be that consistent.
I am trying to work on my Twitter account. Any advice on these accounts will be appreciated. I haven't been super talkative on there since I opened up a new account about a few weeks ago, and that could be hindering me. I'm getting back to sketching and plan on posting soon, as well as buckling down and learning Photoshop so that I can give even more detail to my sketches. If I may ask, I usually work on paper, but would sketching and coloring it through Photoshop really help to make it stand out on social media? I am aware of fanfiction.net and was considering going there to post my work. I do plan on streaming as I would like to get into that, but I am working on getting the necessary tools to start.
As well, I have been told that I have a voice for Radio. Because of this, I have considered looking into Voice Acting, though I am struggling to know how to break into such a career because of how there doesn't seem to be a degree needed to get into it. Is it possible to do what I have seen others do online: try to link up with someone needing a VA for a project? In general, one of the biggest things that I am also struggling with is getting somewhere on Social Media. I know once I have broken that ice, it should really help out.
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Finding my place in the Gaming Industry
@undefined
I think majorly, it's just getting certain things under my belt that will help me by that point. I know nothing is guaranteed, but it does help to already have an audience, experience, and a good reputation behind you.
Well.
Social media is nice and all, but it really takes a lot of work to get known. Most of the creatives that I know just focus their time on creation, and don't focus on social media. But that is from my experience.
As for looking for help to complete projects, you can use the hobby classifieds here, and also on reddit, INAT (I need a team).
IMO, instead of focusing on social media, you should make a portfolio website.
If you want to try out voice acting, then just record yourself saying some lines, and post on sound cloud, look around for Voice acting roles. They will probably be unpaid and for hobby projects but if your fine with that, give it a shot. The professional path for that can lead into VA work for audio books and commercials.
Explore.
Also, Thanks for liking my model, I'm trying to get it published, or in a game so it can reach a wider audience. IDK yet.
If you're planning to pursue writing as a hobby, write whatever you feel like. However, I would recommend moving away from fan fiction if you intend to pursue writing professionally, for a few reasons. For one, due to copyright, you can never make money from it. Also at least in the film industry, it's very looked down on. I've heard in writing for games they're broader about what they like to see in writing samples, but I'm not sure.
It sounds like your Kingdom Hearts piece is only loosely based on the game anyway. If you changed the KH names and references, would the story still work? Generally your writing skills are best displayed by showing you can create worlds and characters yourself, and getting the reader to care about them. Or alternatively if you like writing for established characters, look at writing a Spec script. The key difference in Spec and FF is that Spec is faithful to the characters and existing story so much so that it feels like it could be an episode of the show. Writing spec shows you can seamlessly work with a larger team of writers. If you're willing to use script format, that's worth considering.
@GeneralJist
I think I may know what to do with my Social Media accounts. The Career Advising guy may have been right, but what I was doing was starting to make something that should've been fun a chore. Instead, I'll use them for more specific purposes (IG for sketches, while Twitter to conversate while posting sketches to expand my range of followers), and just be more casual and have fun with my accounts. If something comes from them, good, if not then it does have my work on there. What is a portfolio site? I had an instructor not too long ago that was showing me some of his work and his site where he posts his work, so I think I may know what you are referring to.
Definitely. I started watching people who did voice overs for Sonic Comics (mainly the Archie run as that was my favorite run), so I may can start by just doing simple voice overs, or read certain novels that I like. If I can, I would like to work with someone on a project so at least it won't just be my voice reading off lines. The model is great, I'm not sure how it would work in a game, but an open mind is always good.
KevlarGolem said:
If you're planning to pursue writing as a hobby, write whatever you feel like. However, I would recommend moving away from fan fiction if you intend to pursue writing professionally, for a few reasons. For one, due to copyright, you can never make money from it. Also at least in the film industry, it's very looked down on. I've heard in writing for games they're broader about what they like to see in writing samples, but I'm not sure.
Oh, I already had that in mind. I just wanted to do two fanfictions just to get my name out there and to show people my work to give them an idea of the potential I have. After those two, I plan on creating my own original works as I already have some story ideas. Inbetween, I had in mind rewriting certain series to give my interpretation of how I think it should've ended, but that would just be for fun.
KevlarGolem said:
It sounds like your Kingdom Hearts piece is only loosely based on the game anyway. If you changed the KH names and references, would the story still work? Generally your writing skills are best displayed by showing you can create worlds and characters yourself, and getting the reader to care about them. Or alternatively if you like writing for established characters, look at writing a Spec script. The key difference in Spec and FF is that Spec is faithful to the characters and existing story so much so that it feels like it could be an episode of the show. Writing spec shows you can seamlessly work with a larger team of writers. If you're willing to use script format, that's worth considering.
That I have also thought about, and I'll explain why I'm not changing it. For starters, while it is loosely based, much of the story still follows the same structure of KH (Light vs. Darkness, Villains who want to plunge worlds into Darkness, Kingdom Hearts being the key to all worlds, the X-Blade, etc.), so even if I did, it would still be obvious as to what this is influenced from. As well, the common enemies that show up eventually will have a role, so it just wouldn't work as an original story. Spec I wouldn't mind, that actually is much of what my fanfiction works is like. Where would I look to work on something like that?
GeneralJist said:
Just came across this:
https://www.moddb.com/jobs/vo
Thanks.
…the story still follows the same structure of KH (Light vs. Darkness, Villains who want to plunge worlds into Darkness, Kingdom Hearts being the key to all worlds, the X-Blade, etc.), so even if I did, it would still be obvious as to what this is influenced from. As well, the common enemies that show up eventually will have a role, so it just wouldn't work as an original story.
Spec… Where would I look to work on something like that?
There's no rules against being influenced, its almost impossible to write without it. Let it bounce around in your head a bit. I can't be sure without reading it, but Light v. Dark for example is like the most common basis for storytelling. Weapons as keys though is a bit more specific but if you step it back and use it not as a literal key but rather a tool to move forward you again see that a lot, like Excalibur or even that dagger Rey finds in the last Star Wars movie. Rewriting/editing/retooling is where real writing happens, as all the grunt work of getting words on paper is done.
As for spec writing, it's not actually a job, its more like a resume. It's piece that proves you could write for an existing show, by just doing it on your own. Granted basically no gets hired for the show the wrote the spec for, but it shows you have that skill set to use elsewhere. Writing spec scripts is a very common writing tool, so there should be tons more information available out on the interwebs.
@undefined
I have let it bounce around in my head, multiple times, but I cannot because many of the smaller points are still closely tied to KH in general. If I did change it, it would either drastically change the whole story to where I would have to scrap years of hard work, or would be looked at as a rip-off or plagiarised (I know it is a fanfiction, but this will start to be a problem if I try to tout it as original or try to legitimately publish it) because of how it is still closely tied to the story. The keyblade is both a tool and a weapon (tool because of how it works with the worlds, enemies, and universe in general; weapon because it doubles as such), that cannot be changed as its significance is very important to the series in general, especially when I am using the literal Kingdom Hearts as the structure of the stability of the universe. Some of its themes are very specific, and those themes will be seen in my story at one point or another. This is why I said that I hate calling it a fanfiction because while it does not use the main characters and main storyline, it is in that gray area of where certain points and aspects still are strongly prevalent in the story. Think of it like a Spin-Off, because that is how it is being written.
Hmm, thanks for that information. Honestly, you all telling me about these things are really new to me, I had no idea that these things existed and how there can be multiple ways to enter into the entertainment industry.
