Sprint 004, day 4

A consultant advised us to trying working in two-week development "sprints".  This is our first attempt!

Hi everybody!  I worked more on the "wireframe" of the sex scene today.  This is the biggest of the tasks, and it'll take a few days to finish, but I'm excited at how fast and natural the progress feels.

I'm essentially building up the scene using very simple language, e.g.: Max kisses Kate on the balcony.  We'll later build that up into more evocative, interesting language, but right now I'm just describing what happens in each passage using blunt, placeholder language.

This is based on a technique I deduced from reading some of Robert E. Howard's unfinished drafts for future Conan stories, years ago.  Howard's writing is detailed and evocative, but the drafts read simply and mechanically, like this:

At this instant a magistrate entered with a number of soldiers and arrested Conan, who set his back to a wall, and drew his sword.  [Short synopsis of an action scene]  The turmoil which followed gave Conan and the girl the opportunity to escape.

I think Howard just plotted out the action in his early drafts, then went back in and wrote in dialogue, emotion and action.  That's the process I'm trying to emulate with this wireframe.

I will never be as great a writer as Robert E. Howard, but I've got some tools available that would have blown his mind.  While I'm working on the simple language, I'm adding in game mechanics and dynamic text – so Max kisses Kate on the balcony can also be Kate kisses Max on the balcony, or Kate talks to Max on the balcony, or Max puts his hand on Kate's ass on the balcony and then she decides how to reäct, depending on decisions and dice rolls.

I'm enjoying this task, but I'm also eager to get this out ASAP, so the whole community can finally see what the new sex scenes are going to be like.  Next sprint day is tomorrow.  

(I have some handover meetings at my old job in the morning, but will get in at least a half day.)