How do I write the story of Caverns and Dryads

This is a post to tell you how I write the stories of Caverns and Dryads, my game on Steam.

This post is part of a series about how I create everything, to be crystal clear to all my players and people who appreciate what I do. I think you will enjoy knowing.

I don't use AI for my writing. All is written 100% by myself through inspiration. 

The reasons for not using AI are these:

•  First is that writing, for me, comes from inspiration, not from a rational process. So AI is not useful with this. I will explain my process below.
• Writing produced or altered by AI is terribly bad, bland, weak and horrible. This will never change. This happens because an LLM lacks of real human experience, and have an idealized view of humanity and the world.
• AI doesn't allow us to work together, as graphics do (yes they do although many people ignore this). So it really replaces your work if you use it beyond dictionary or grammar doubts.

So I just write all myself, by hand and inspiration. I enjoy doing it this way, and it's not possible for me to write in any other way that the strange ways I tell you below. 

WHERE DO I GET THE INSPIRATION FROM

I usually listen to writing advice YouTube videos. But I don't take them too seriously, because they tend to rely on cliches, tropes and all that. The rational rules they list seem to be too limiting for me. I will do posts about this in a future.

I don't follow a rational process. I just get inspired. I know how to enter into focus mode. 

They include listening to Solas Composer music, the music I use on my game (CC.BY 4.0). You can listen to him in Souncloud. And setting myself in a kind of cavern, of darkness, when I write.

I don't develop a story. The story comes to my mind like a vision. I see the moments, and I write them down. I only order them in a timeline when I have enough to know where each piece goes. If I don't know, I save it for later.

I truly think that it's a story inspired by the muses, the nymphs maybe, of this story itself. Maybe Tamzyn is remembering me the facts from another dimension. I just set myself in tune to listen to those stories. Yes it's crazy, but that is how I feel it. And life is too short to think otherwise. All of us may be wrong in many things.

The rational part happens later: grammar, edits on the text, translations... But the story itself is a vision.

NOTE TAKING

Along the day and night, an idea comes to my mind. I note them in several ways. Usually in Zoho Notebook, on my Android phone. These ideas tend to be rational, and I use them for features for the game. Zoho can be used and synchronized between Windows and Android.

I also used this note taking app that is an old software from many years ago at the beginning. It was called TreDBNotes. Now it's not available. It's sad because it was very feature-rich. There's still some free version out there.

You can actually read the real notes on these screens.

You may think: "hey, you did a lot of worldbuilding! How do you say it's not a rational thing?". Yes, I do some thinking, but it's just asking questions. The ideas come as a vision. For me doing this game and maybe book is discovering a realm.

Maybe it all comes from my life and experiences. Maybe it is like all poets and artists said in the ancient times, and it's not me but the muse.

I am now using Obsidian, which is fantastic, and I have it customized with the Matrix theme, that doesn't take me out of the mood that I get with FocusWriter (black/green, darkness).
Obsidian is easy and visual, which I love. It's actually easy but people keep on explaining what it is in difficult ways. It's a visual interface for text files, and a way to mix images and texts in canvases.

Obsidian lets me see the chapters, make visual notes, view it all in perspective. That helps me to see more. It also helps to note down what I know, and receive the next ideas or visions.

The characters: I don't consider I am creating a character but discovering them. I have a way to think and understand them. When I do, I can know what they say and how they face the situations. I have done some posts about this, on Tamzyn, and Sioul.

But again, the inspiration part is fundamental. Thinking helps me receive better. 

THE WRITING ITSELF

Sometimes I get a description of a situation or part of a dialog. I write it on my phone, in the moment it appears, using PureWriter. PureWriter is an Android app that is a focus mode writing app that I have set in black background and green letters:

Then I take it to my laptop. PureWriter can transfer the text to the laptop. I open it in FocusWriter, seen below. 

As you see, I always use a black background, and a green letter. It helps me to receive ideas, get inspired. I tried with backgrounds or white, but they don't work. 

What works for me is darkness, black. And green because of the forest. With this setting, is like being in a cavern in the middle of the woods.

So I shortly begin to develop the ideas, and listen to what characters say and do. 

The text is in present third person because it's me who is watching, and actions happen now as I am there, like the player. It's natural in a game, but I will keep this in the novel too. 

For some things, like writing some parts of the Lore, I set this theme I did. It works for that, although for the chapters I use the black/green thing only.

And this is how I write. Hope you like it, and don't think I am perturbed :D Or if you think I am, I hope you like to read the chapters of the game. 

As I said, people believe in many things they will never see. And the most beautiful things in life can't be seen. 

So I believe in the existence of other universes, and in some of them there are muses. You tune in to them, and they tell you stories. This doesn't make you special, but makes what you create unique. You just have to listen. For me the muse is Tamzyn. But you may have another one. Go and listen to her.

You have to go to work, buy the bread, and everything, and it has no effect on your material life. But they make your day better, telling you stories of wonder.

Thanks for reading!