Xae's Guide to QuestWriting

[Xae]

This is here in the hopes of it being helpful in some way, in any way. If not to someone else, then helpful to me for learning something new about the subject of writing. It ended up a lot longer than I'd originally planned, and this is me trying to keep it relatively short. It's easy for things to get out of hand when typing up something like this but I've made attempts to restrain myself.

Please feel free to point out any spelling or grammatical errors, as well as general critique or requests to add something that's missing. I might return to this occasionally to make improvements. Now, there is of course an endless amount of additions that could be made to this but there's only so much one man can do.

Writing is one of those areas of artistic expression that has no rules or fixed guidelines. If there were, the rules would continuously be broken and all the best stories would steer clear from the guidelines. One could say it's something one has to have a "feel" towards. "This doesn't sound right" or "I think it should be this way instead" are both questions that can be very resistant to motivation. It's like trying to explain, in music, why an A Minor chord would sound better than an E Minor chord. It just does, right?

The only rule to remember is this: If you're going to do something, do it properly.

Nevertheless, I will be attempting to draw up some guidelines but these are all optional, and are nothing more than one path of many.

Introductions aside, I'll be doing my best to give whatever helpful tips I can on writing quests, for Oblivion and for video games in general. The tips are ordered after the stage of writing, these being, in chronological order: brainstorming, preparation, presentation, and revision.

Keep in mind that these tips are largely based on structured writing. Free writing is different and as such will not be kept in mind as I'm writing this. Also, this text is adjusted to fit well for the practice of writing quests for Black Marsh.

Now, the hardest but most rewarding way of writing is to integrate all stages at the same time, to see the significance of every sentence from all perspectives. One could call this "juggling" as it requires attention on several objects at once.

The example quest in this guide is not at all intended as a paragon of quests, but as an obvious and simple example to help illustrate some of the points.

I: Brainstorming

The iconic question in this phase is "Alright, so where do I start?". Worth noting is that aimless art, art without direction, is like playing the lottery. It can go any way and be either perfect or wildly unmanageable. Usually, it's best to first decide on one's "strive"; the point and purpose of the quest that you want to write. Instead of deciding "I'm going to write a quest, any quest" one must shift perspective to "I'm going to write this quest".

Now, the type of quest you are able to write depends greatly on your own personality, talents, memories - anything. Some people aren't suited for writing anything and some have been concocting up stories in their heads since puberty. This is the blind spot behind the moon of human creativity, and as such would require an entire forum of its own for discussion.

So, for now, we'll only concern ourselves with Will. Not as in Will Smith, but as in desire. You want to write a quest, and that's all that matters for the moment.

First Question: What is needed?

Since we're talking Black Marsh, we'll begin with what the mod needs in terms of quests. To answer this question, one really has to simply look around the various places of the worldspace, throw a dart at one, and start there. Either you're lucky enough to get to pick whatever suits your fancy or you have to be more restrictive since there has to be a limit on the amount and types of quests.

Second Question: Where do I fit?

It's obvious that a huge and long epic quest requires proper treatment from the other quests around it, and small insignificant quests also require another kind of treatment. Although a short, funny quest may be just the right fit for an in-between, it can sometimes kill immersion.

So, we have to decide on a type of quest, the length of it, other aspects (such as available characters), and then make our best approximation of where this quest might fit. Or, we could use the reversal technique and begin backwards. In layman's terms, the first way is to pick up the key and try the locks, and the second way is to examine the locks and then pick a key.

At the end of the brainstorming stage we will have something like this:

"A medium-length quest involving two villagers and a missing child. This quest will serve as a darker undertone to a settlement that currently has mostly light-hearted quests. There's already a large and very significant quest in this settlement, so this new quest, being unrelated, will have to be less grand in scale."

II: Preparation

Now, we have the most basic outline of our quest. It's not very restrictive and we still have a large amount of freedom. When preparing a quest there are several things to consider, some of which in order to avoid having to double back and change parts of sequences, which brings us to the essence of the preparation stage:

A quest is properly prepared so that when writing it it's tantamount to stringing together bits and pieces without having to change major plot points.

It's futile to attempt a list of things that need and needn't be prepared when writing quests, so instead I'll give a list of conditions that should help in knowing what to prepare.

Significant events. Climaxes, important moments in story-telling. Anything that needs a buildup in order to work properly. These are often obvious and as such require little specification.

Gameplay sequences. A quest is not a quest without having some of the backbone of western RPGs in it. Dungeon crawling, fighting, exploring, etc. This is the representation of the core part of the particular game's gameplay mechanic. For example, in Mass Effect 2, this is cover-based shooting. In Final Fantasy, it's moving through areas with random encounters. Typically, it's the killing of people and things and as such isn't hard to recognise. Nevertheless, these sequences need to be prepared to make sure that the quest is playable and is not just a story. Gameplay sequences are what separates video games from TV shows and movies. During this stage it's also important to pick the right utilisation of the game's gameplay mechanic. Using Mass Effect 2 as an example again, this is the choice between holding a position, pressing forward with a time limit, large battle in open-field etc. In Oblivion this is the choice between a position being assaulted by mobs, fighting magicians/necromancers/fighters/beasts/etc, in cramped spaces, open spaces, easily traversed spaces or rocky and environmentally dangerous areas, lots of easy enemies, some medium, one very tough enemy and so on and so forth. Anyone who's played Oblivion is aware of the many different types of gameplay that it offers.

Wholeness events. This is a tricky aspect but ultimately rewarding when done right. First, what separates wholeness events from climaxes is that they're generally not integral to the story. They're icing, so to speak, fine little details with magnitude. They can be skipped entirely and the story would still work. Nevertheless, it's these details that often bring out that little extra from quests. They often follow a three-step sequence: presentation, development, climax, although the second step is often left out. When this happens, the wholeness event is treated as a question. For example, why is my Glenbridge quest called "Lucky Little Glenbridge"? At first look, it makes very little sense and can only really serve as a slight tie-in with a sarcastic way of saying something bad happened to the town, but when the player discovers the tombstones in the basement it suddenly becomes apparent. The question is resolved, so to speak, without actually having a significant impact on the story. It's mostly an "Oh"-moment, the kind of thing you say "Huh, clever" to and move on.

Immersion factors. Since we're talking interactive medium we have the option to rope the player inside the game. These factors are essentially the answers to the question "What makes this quest interesting?" and they come in three different types: proactive, active and retroactive. Proactive immersion is a promise. You place an object or event of interest in the future, show the player that it's what they're aiming for, and build up anticipation. For example, (typically in RPGs) this is revealing skills that the player will learn; a promise of developing your character. This also includes finding equipment that you can't use yet, even if this isn't quite applicable to Oblivion (not including weapons that you have to build piece by piece). Active immersion is the here and the now, it's the dramatic fight to the finish line while listening to powerful music. Retroactive immersion is in my opinion the more interesting of the three. It's when the sense of immersion comes after the event. In essence, when you can say "Ok, so that wasn't at all what I thought it was" or "What the hell just happened?". It's often used as deception, such as in Please Just Die, when the player visits the basement and discovers that he's been played. Also, in a manner of speaking, one could say that retroactive immersion is a side-effect of the other two types. A quite notable example of this is from Oblivion. Every once in a while you'll exit a dungeon of some kind and hear Peace of Akatosh playing (the only choir piece), which will retroactively affect the dungeon crawl and you might just think that it was a bit more enduring than it actually was and maybe that your character would appreciate some rest. Naturally, this is largely dependant on the personality of the player. If you're a hopeless romantic that cried at the end of Dragon Age: Origins, then you'll probably know what I'm talking about.

Items, rewards etc. This is particularly important if the quest revolves around acquiring a certain item, however it's often possible to completely disregard this aspect and simply add it in later.

There is of course no limit to the amount of things that can and probably should be prepared, however this should serve as an outline to begin with.

At the end of the preparation stage you'll have an outline of your quest.

So, to this:

"A medium-length quest involving two villagers and a missing child. This quest will serve as a darker undertone to a settlement that currently has mostly light-hearted quests. There's already a large and very significant quest in this settlement, so this new quest, being unrelated, will have to be less grand in scale."

We'll add:

Prepared events, in chronological order:

Quest start. Player learns that a ghost of a child has been seen walking around town.

Gameplay sequence. The player is to ask around about the ghost.

Significant event. The player finds the parents of a missing child. Parents say that he's been gone for seven days but that last night his ghost visited them and said that he was trapped near a wizard's tower.

Gameplay sequence. Player is to ask around town if anyone knows of a wizard's tower. Introductory part. Create some interest around the wizard and the tower. The obvious place to start is a place called The Wizard's Tower Inn right here in the village.

Significant event. The Innkeep greets the player by saying "The water's been tasting kind of funny lately so I'd recommend a stout instead". The Innkeep also reveals that his establishment is named after a nearby tower thought to be inhabited by a wizard.

Gameplay sequence. Player is to travel to the wizard's tower.

Gameplay sequence. Player is to fight his way to the top of the tower.

Significant event. Player discovers the bones of the wizard, who's apparently been dead for years. Player reads his journal and discoveres references to the wizard's brother, an innkeep in a nearby village.

Significant event. Player confronts the Innkeep with his suspicions. The Innkeep confesses that he's the late wizards brother but that he's not a magician himself. The only spell he's ever cast was quite recently. He summoned a spirit to help him rid his water supply of an awful taste. The player asks if someone's bothered to check the well. The well gets its water from a small underground spring. The well itself is barred shut and as such can't be entered in any way. The underground spring can be reached through a nearby cave, but a pack of wolves have recently occupied the cave, which is why the Innkeep summoned the spirit for help.

Gameplay sequence. The player fights off a few wolves inside the cave and reaches a moderately sized chamber with a small pool of water in the middle, with the well's masonry visible on the back wall.

Climax. In the small pool is a corpse. On the corpse is a journal. The final entry reveals that the child's father got angry and struck the child. He was bleeding from the head and went down into the cave to hide, stating that no one would find him there. Then the player is given a choice whether to tell the truth about what happened to their son. If he lies, he's able to extort the father for money.

III: Presentation

A significant part of presentation is concerned with dialogue. Hence, there will be some general guidelines for solving problems and getting lines just right.

1: Avoiding clichés

Everyone knows what a cliché is. It's that over-used and stale line that sometimes makes you cringe. Worth noting about clichés is that they're time-bound, and as such one must be aware of what is "in" today. Also, when trying to avoid clichés it's not a viable strategy to compare it to vanilla Oblivion's writing, as it is dated and was filled with bad writing and clichés when it was released. Nevertheless, now we'll make some attempts at keeping our writing clean.

What follows is a list of words, lines and concepts that should be more or less avoided, or given special treatment. These lists are by no means incomplete, and can be made very long. Also worth remembering is that these guidelines are under the condition that the writing be taken seriously. If a character is meant to be one of those moronic moral outrage people then the intention more or less invalidates the cliché, even though such writing is quite a cheap shot.

A: Words

Highly questionable. These are words that should not be used at all, regardless of context.

Chosen one, legend(ary) fighter/warrior etc, prophecy, destiny, ultimate.

Questionable. These words require proper treatment to avoid clichés.

Ancient, orphan, gifted, special, sacred, darkness, death, suffering, secret, foretold, vision, forsaken, revenge, mission, quest, purpose, sacrifice, evil, damned, hell, anger, determined, unleash, wrath, finally, dragonkin.

B: Lines

Questionable. These are lines that should be avoided.

Any line beginning with "I just..."
"You're the only one who can..."
"Embrace your destiny."
"The fate of something is in your hands."
"I have been waiting for you."


C: Concepts

Questionable. These are concepts that require special treatment to avoid clichés.

Thoughts about one's own death.
Inner emotional pain.
Any prophecy-like concept.
Right and wrong.
Revenge.
"For death and glory".
Disbelief.
Dying for someone.
Dreams.
Waking up.
Searching for missing parents.

A very important point regarding clichés is that there are certain words, concepts, stories, etc that can not be used at all, regardless of how they're treated. They'll come off as clichés no matter what. The best way to handle situations where your writing requires a cliché is to draw attention from it, which brings us to Expression, and a common writing technique 'Misdirection' (further down).

2: Expression

A most crucial part of dialogue writing, as well as any spoken or read communication through language. Expression is the difference between Mickey the 14 year-old Emo kid and Nietzsche. Following is a more extreme comparison of the two (the concept here is indescribable pain):

Bad:

"Life is a curse. No one can understand this pain I feel inside. If only there was a way to heal my soul, but all I can do, day after day, is walk through the darkness from the pit of my nightmares."

Better:

"I find that when I sink deep enough, I can see an I that begets me no longer, and as such I can almost explain how I'm losing the struggle against the illusive enemy inside."

Naturally, this entire concept is a massive cliché, and this helps to demonstrate that there are certain concepts that you just can not use if you want to keep your writing clean. Now, we'll go through a few concepts with examples of good and bad expression.

Thoughts about one's own death & dying for someone.

Bad:

"I've never given much thought to how I would die, but dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go."
- Opening line of Twilight (2008)

This line has two major clichés in it. Death-talk and dying for someone else. A minefield, to say the least.

Better:

"I don't think about the end of my time here in this life, though I suppose it wouldn't be a tragedy if it happened sooner in order for someone else to stick around a while longer. Especially if I loved that person with every last breath I had."

Dreams & waking up.

Bad:

"When I was lying there in the VA hospital with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying. I was free. Sooner or later, though, you always have to wake up."
- Opening lines of Avatar (2009)

This is both an ok and a bad example. The first line is quite good, the second is ok but the last is bad, because it's merely stating something obvious and uninteresting. There's no build-up and the fact that you have to wake up eventually is of no particular significance. It's the type of line people say because they think it sounds cool but it really doesn't mean anything.

Better:

"When I was lying there in the VA hospital with a big hole blown right through the centre of my life, I started to dream of flying, of freedom. The wings brought me away from the life I'd always known and the farther away I got, the more I wanted to leave it behind, and never return, but the dreams would always end and send me right back to where I started."

This rewriting is longer and has more closure, but the last line is a cliché in itself (waking up) and is difficult to be made to sound right. This is a good example of why certain things should be avoided and replaced with something else, as regardless of how the subject is treated the result is always a tad cringe-worthy.

Right and wrong.

Bad:

"Who decides what's right or wrong, anyway? It's all subjective."

This line is too colloquial and too blunt. It's concerned only with bringing the point across and not with aesthetic writing.

Better:

"Morality is the coward's attempt at outlawing opposing perspectives."

This expression is more interesting, as it's not immediately obvious what the intention is. Also, the use of the word "outlawing" to hint at the concept of "wrong", which is inherent in morality.

3: Common writing techniques

A: The Clinch

The Clinch is a bold but very rewarding move when executed correctly. In essence, it's a secondary climax that isn't built up the way climaxes usually are. Instead, it generally feeds off of the entire story and, most importantly, the relaxation set in by the primary climax. Once the tension has started to lower, the player feels that things are coming to a close, and then it comes on suddenly. The key word is 'revelation' as it is the most common way in which these are used.

Clinches are closer to retroactive immersions than anything else but are given different treatments depending on the medium. In video games the action keeps on going afterwards (unless used in the very end of the game), and as such the Clinch takes the shape of a sudden spike with a slower decay than in, say, for example, movies.

The end of Please Just Die is a moderate Clinch. A better example from the world of cinema would be the ending to The Life of David Gale (a movie that I heartily recommend).

In order to properly write a Clinch one must remember that it is a wholeness event, and not a climax. If the player is expecting it, it won't work. An example of a failed attempt at a Clinch is the ending to the movie Drag Me To Hell, where they attempted to mix together a climax with a Clinch, and failed since the twist was too obvious. Worth remembering that a failed mix, such as this one, is worse than a properly executed standard climax.

(If you've seen the movie Drag Me To Hell you may have noticed that the failure of their Clinch was inherent in the entire story. There was simply no way to covertly convey both possible endings, which is an exellent example of why ideas have inherent value of their own, regardless of how well they're treated.)

The story must be in a state of closure. All questions must be given fully believeable anwers so that the Clinch doesn't change the story, it simply gives new answers to the same questions. For those of you who remember algebra, this is the equivalent of a polynomial equation that has two equally correct answers.

Here, it's important to distinguish a Clinch from a deceptive climax. The latter involves a standard build-up but when the climax comes, the audience/player is given questions that completely differ from what was expected. A Clinch comes after the questions have been answered or while it's not apparent that there are questions left unanswered. Hence, it's unexpected.

B: Spike Climax

A spike climax, or break, is simply a climax that isn't built-up and as such happens suddenly. It's often a complete turn in the storyline and can be called an intermediary Clinch. Most commonly, there's only one in the entire storyline as having more would simply result in less believeability overall.

An example of a failed spike climax can be found in Mass Effect 2 (spoiler alert) when the Collectors take over the Normandy SR-2. It's just too painfully obvious what was going to happen when Shepard is told to take the shuttle, and as such, there's no surprise element to it.

(Again, here, you may realise (in case you've played Mass Effect 2) that the flaw is inherent not in the story but in the mechanics of the game. The event couldn't simply have taken place on any other random trip to planets as it would interrupt the player from doing whatever it was that they were up (not to mention the lack of a main storyline sequence of missions that'd make timing arbitrary and messed up) to and it would be ruined because the rest of your teammates would still be on the ship, essentially preventing the Collectors from assaulting the Normandy.)

A good break leaves the player significantly dishevelled and without footing. Common examples of these are disastrous failures during missions, character deaths and deceptions. What's key to remember in regard to spike climaxes are the words 'more than expected', as they can be built up and then revealed to be something different, resulting in a higher spike because of the sudden change.

C: Misdirection

This brings us to a very important point, something that applies not only to quest writing, or writing in general, but also to the psychology of aesthetics and human perception. In essence, it's the answer to the following question: "What do you notice?"

The answer is "change". The momentum of any story is very dependant on change, or fourth dimensional movement. If you're down in a cave and all of sudden see something moving, you noticed it because it involved change. What you saw with your eyes changed into something else. This is why pictures can't represent stories, but only scenes, as they are static.

This is relevant in the treatment of clichés. If you have, for example, a story involving a woman searching for her lost father (a common cliché), then we can assuage the sensation by bringing as little attention to the cliché as possible. If we mention it only when necessary and mention it in a more casual tone, then we'll have a more immersive experience.

For example, the introduction. We could write a line such as: "I've been searching for my long lost father for almost 5 years now" or we could be a bit more subtle with it and embed the revelation inside something else: "In my line of 'work' as a cat burglar I often came across stories that some wanted made public and that others wanted gone completely. On one particular job I discovered that the story I'd been told of my father was a lie of omission. He wasn't dead, he wasn't missing; he was on the run, with enough stolen gold to buy half of Chorrol. 5 years later, the search for him had brought me to the Oak & Crosier Inn...". This, of course, involves changing the entire story line. Another example of how there are certain things that you simply can not use without proper treatment.

Naturally, the whole self-narration thing is a bit of a cliché in itself (thanks to video game trailers) and as such we can instead make use of in medias res and dump the player in right in the middle of it all. Revealing how this woman is searching for her father is a big decision. This is why so much of writing is concerned with expression and presentation. It's the difference between an exciting novel and a history book. Also, coming back to something I said in the introduction, it sheds some light into why juggling is the best way of writing.

Misdirection is also relevant in voice acting. Let's say we have a line that goes as follows: "But then, what he unleashed upon his return, was more than we'd feared". This line can be both very bad and alright. It's all about giving it the proper treatment.

If the voice actor was to leave a significant pause after the word "return" it would emphasize the cliché. Instead, he should speak it as if it's not particularly dramatic, and leave a slightly lesser pause between this sentence and the next. Doing this brings attention away from the cliché. It's worth remembering that if the voice actor says something as if it's not dramatic, then it won't come off as particularly dramatic.

To illustrate, here is the line spoken dramatically (trailer-speech) and more casually: dramatic, casual.

In conclusion, misdirection is an effective tool to reduce the amount of bloated drama that often sinks into video game writing. If the writing is dramatic on its own, then there's no need to try to enhance it.

D: Contrast

Another important point we should quickly go over is contrast, which is also taken out of human psychology. You may have seen the optical illusions that trick your eyes into thinking that there's difference between two colours that are actually identical, or that trick your brain into thinking that one object is larger than it actually is by placing a smaller object next to it, and so on and so forth.

Essentially, contrast is concerned with difference. A black spot is more noticeable when it's placed on a white paper, and almost not at all when it's placed on a very dark paper. In the same way, a satanical person appears less significant if the entire village is full of satanical people. In this regard, the "villain" becomes the entire village (such as Hackbridge or that cannibal town in FO3) which is an effective tool that often comes with a spike climax. Then, the contrast becomes the village versus the other villages. This is important to remember when establishing the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s).

Lack of contrast between the various characters results to a certain type of ambiguity that can be called Wild West-style, like the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where neither party really has any claim to win and as such the audience roots for the most likeable character. It's worth remembering that in today's media it's very much "in" to have an anti-hero. The grip on the characters has changed from the soppy moral Christian ideal where the "good guy always has to win" and shifted to it's free for all, and not necessarily in a lesser evil type of way, but almost completely whomever you personally want to win, for whatever reason you have.

This brings us to sympathetic writing.

E: Sympathetic writing

How do you make the audience like a character that isn't nice, good and empathetic? How do you write characters like Gregory House?

Here it's important to establish the baseline of character attraction. There are certain qualities that are "attractive" to the audience/player, almost regardless of how they're used (not including the extremes, of course). These are commonly: intelligence, humour, depth, skill/talent, mystery, appearence, voice and one of the most interesting of all; polarity.

(Now there are of course many other significant aspects that are relevant to the area of character attraction but they're far too numerous and not relevant enough to have a place here.)

Only the latest require some kind of explanation. Essentially, polarity is the display of various opposing qualities inside a character. A particularly good example is a cold-hearted character that plays Clair de Lune on the piano. The question becomes "How can he be so callous but still play the piano so beautifully?". It's a fine display of depth that's often seen in a climax.

From the video game world, the love between Squall and Rinoa from FF8 is an example of this, if you're the more soppy type, that is. In practice, it's a manner of surprise and fragility that begs the audience thinking that the character isn't complete, he's trying to force himself to be the way he is yet there are certain impulses that he can't get past. For all that he's managed to become, he's still human, and as such, flawed.

Now in a less deep sense, the use of sympathetic writing to make a character likeable without affecting his personality, actions and such, is concerned with not only including this particular character a bit more than most (directly or indirectly) but also the separation of the characters around him/her. This does of course not mean that they're meant to be stupid but only to establish contrast. I suppose the Traveler from Lucky Little Glenbridge is a good example of this. He's emphasized not by being cool, not by being around all that much, but by being talked about behind his back as well as him being an outsider, just like the player. He sticks out, more or less, and is therefore more interesting. There's contrast, which is noticeable.

Another way to emphasize a character is to make him the only one around. Take System Shock 2, for example. There's not a soul around and it instills a sense of searching in the player; you want to meet someone. The same sense is present in the Hell world of Doom 3, where the voice logs are the only link to the human world (even if this effect isn't given much thought to and as such comes off rather flat).

This technique is the shining light at the end of the tunnel. "A lot of the same and then a sudden change" is a good way to sum up this particular way of sympathetic writing.

4: Getting the point across

This integral part of writing is concerned with how, and not what.

So, you have this girl who is searching for her father.
Maybe you need to travel to Chorrol in order to find more clues.
Perchance there's been a murder in the village of Muckfock.
Or mayhaps there's a ghost living in the Rumpfonk Manor up Evil Street.

How in the name of all that is holy do I bring this to the player's attention?

First, we need to go over the various forms of communication that can be used in TESIV.

Direct conversation.
Indirect conversation.
Eavesdroppin'.
Written words.
Event.
Flashback.
Present memory.

A: Direct Conversation

This one's obvious. You're talking to a dude and either you ask him or he specifically tells you something.

B: Indirect Conversation

Can also be called Unintentional Conversation. Essentially, you're talking about something else and the information comes along as something unrelated to the current topic. This is a form of misdirection.

C: Eavesdroppin'

In Oblivion this sucks, to be quite frank. All of sudden while out walking you get a quest prompt saying that you overheard something. Your first reaction is to say "Yeah" out loud and then try to figure out when this supposedly happened and why you should care.

D: Written Words

Quite simple, but also quite ham-handed in Oblivion, as you never actually have to read the stuff yourself. You open a book, poof, and the quest prompt tells you what you never had a chance to read, why it's important, what you should make of it, why Kristin Kreuk is hot and what you need to do about it (the quest, that is, not Kristin).

E: Event

Maybe the most obvious of all, however it's restricted to the present. The player sees something happen and as such, is made aware of the fact that it's happened.

F: Flashback

Care to refresh your memory? The player is transported into the past and gets to play something that has already happened.

G: Present memory

This is the same as a Flashback although the memory is the thing that's transported into the future and the player gets to relive it. Lucky Little Glenbridge is a present memory quest.

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Now, first one has to decide what kind of communication is the most fitting for the situation at hand. This is often very simple but it can occasionally get very hard to pick the right type in order to yield the highest level of interest and immersion, not to mention what the player is most likely to notice and pick up on.

How important the snippet is is the first thing to consider. How integral is it that the player is made aware of it? Also, what level of drama should be attached to it? Is it a climax? Is it supposed to be subtle or brandished right up your face?

If you take the time to plan this then you'll notice that it's not all that difficult. What makes the most sense, is easily answered and is often the best way. One thing to remember, though, is that adapting the revelation in order to be more dramatic is a very risky move. You have to make sure that there's not actually a good reason why it didn't need to have happened that way.

5: Intended effect(s)

How do you write a line, scene or setting in order to provoke a certain feeling in the audience? Here, there are three main archetypes:

A: Natural

Natural effects are the obvious ones. Generally, they're interpreted freely by the eye of the beholder, and as such are more free from restraint. Some consider torture porn to be funny, some think it's lame and some can't stand watching it. This can be a problem, if it's essential that a scene is interpreted in a particular way. In these situations, a writer resorts to dishonesty instead.

B: Forced

In essence, forced interpretation simply leaves less room for the audience to judge the scene. It's not as restrictive as it sounds and can just as well be described as "setting the mood". Nevertheless, this can backfire greatly. Many writers make the mistakes of adding sad music to, for example, a film that isn't sad at all. This causes a disconnect which spoils the sensation, sometimes completely.

Now when it comes to forced expression, a child walking up to you generally isn't cause for a alarm. But, if she's walking slowly, blank expression, with off-beat violin music in the background, you might just feel differently.

This has become a great cliché in recent horror films. You may have noticed why the antagonist so often is just a young girl? This is an excellent example of dishonest or forced portrayal of a scene, where the audience is shoehorned into interpreting a scene in a particular way.

Most films with music have some mood setting from start to finish. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, but it's worth remembering that natural interpretation can be quite useful at times. One example of this is the episode The Body from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not because the episode is of particular quality, but because there's not a second of music in it, which is a good example of natural interpretation used well, as it sets the mood in a different way. It also works particularly well since the show commonly has music in almost every scene, so the effect is enhanced by contrast.

C: Cheap shots

A cheap shot, as you may well know, is a move with a very high chance of success but that is generally considered morally questionable, unfair or crude.

In cinema these have been used widely for the better part of the last century, not to mention the last decade. It's one of the main causes of the desensitizing of every generation since the mid-90s. It's why there's even a genre called torture porn, or gore-horror, and why people can actually watch a movie like Antichrist and find it entertaining because it's "artsy".

Nevertheless, cheap shots are the backbone of many stories and should not be avoided simply because they sometimes lack novelty value in today's culture. The key here is tasteful and sparse use. Too many of them will rid the story of the contrast that initially makes the first cheap shot work so well.

This is a good example of a well-executed cheap shot:

A man is sitting in an armchair, and he appears to be sleeping. It's very bright outside and the house he's in has bright yellow walls and homely décor. Birds are singing outside and you can just about hear ocean waves lapping against the shore.

A young girl wearing a yellow dress walks up to him, gently, and says "Daddy, wake up". The man opens his eyes, rubs them a bit, and turns his head to look at the girl. "Shelley?" he exclaims as if startled, even sitting up slightly in the chair. Then, the girl puts her hand in her mouth and loudly starts chewing off her fingers, making loud crunching noises.

The man wakes up, and it's obvious that he's just had a dream.

These are some common cheap shots:

• Bodily harm
  
• Self-mutilation
  
• Premature burial
  
• Impending death
  

6: Reaction patterns

This brings us to human reaction psychology, and the area of identification and projection. In essence, why we respond in predictable patterns to certain external stimuli.

In the above example, the first stimuli that the audience will notice is something nice. A comfortable sensation. A nice, beautiful day and a man seemingly enjoying the peace. This makes most viewers respond positively to the scene. It's nice, so why shouldn't they?

Then the girl appears. She looks nice, and is a young girl, which is also a positive thing. Nothing bad here and hence no reason to be alarmed. She calls the man "Daddy" which also lightly suggests "family" which is also a positive sensation.

But then, the man seems almost startled at the girl's appearance. This is useful trick, a preparation phase to prepare the audience for something. It's there so that the coming scare isn't completely sudden, instead the audience is almost waiting for another turn and as such their senses are heightened, they're paying closer attention and the coming jump will be more effective. "Something's about to happen" they think, otherwise, why would he be startled to see his own daughter? This preparation can be called a pick'n'throw, where the "pick" is the preparing event and the "throw" is the actual scare.

When the girl starts chewing on her hand this registers in the audience as causing bodily harm and intense pain to oneself. The reaction to this is obvious, and the deal is sealed by the crunching noises, confirming that she is in fact biting off the bones of her fingers. All in all, it's a very unpleasant event.

Now, the way why this works has been known for quite some time. When a human being sees something happen to another human being, the brain sends out similar signals, as if it was actually happening to them, as well. It's an intriguing form of empathy, and one that we'll make good use of when trying to creep out the player.

IV: Revision

Alright, so somewhere down the line you noticed that the quest is boring, or a certain event doesn't fit, or you suddenly thought of something new that you wanted to use but that doesn't fit, or an asshole like Xae comes along and tells you that what you've written sucks and needs rewriting. Where do you start and what do you do?

No, no, no, no and no, not all writing needs revising. Never think that, under any circumstances. What you should think is this: All writing may need revising. There's a possibility, but never feel forced to rewrite something just because the entire quest is still without revision.

First, if the only question you have is "how can I make this better?" then there's not much objective advice around. Ask people on the forum, ask your cat and friends and search for subjective criticism.

Now, if you need to revise because of a structural error, the first thing to question is the idea itself. Is the idea good or is it the fundamental problem why you're now stuck?

If the idea is good, then at what point of the quest is it no longer working?

Keep going forward from the start and discover just how much you need to revise. Some tips:

• If the moment you built the entire quest on doesn't work then you may have to consider changing it to something else, or rewriting the entire quest to fit with it.
  
• If you're trying to figure out why a line doesn't sound right, say it out loud. No, not in your head and no, not quietly. Say it properly as if you wanted someone to hear and understand you. Say it over and over and you should be able to pin-point the problem.
  
• It's alright to use misdirection in order to cover up flaws in the storyline, and these flaws can be huge as long as they're not mentioned. For example, in the Lord of the Rings, why does Gandalf not simply ride on one of those huge birds and drop the One Ring into the crater of Mount Doom? In this example, it's integral that the fellowship is formed otherwise there'd be no story. Nevertheless, these should be avoided when possible.
  

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Wow! Big guidelines here. Thanks Xae. This should prove to be a very useful reference point. I've only skim-read it so far but there's some good stuff on there. I'll give it a full read-through a little later. Hopefully, it won't be long before I start on quests for myself so I'll refer back to it then.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I felt that this needed to be stickied. :check: