Sunday 8 January 2012

A Day in the Life of a Murder-Mystery Game Writer

Alongside my full-time job, I am currently writing a 16-player interactive murder-mystery game for the lovely, ever-patient Freeform Games. Something tells me I should have been rather less ambitious.
   Most of the time I love writing, but some days, like today, turn out like this:

10:00 Get up. Make coffee. See the laptop glinting in the morning light. Suddenly have a mysterious urge to clean the fridge. End up cleaning the entire flat surrounding the fridge too.

13:30 Square up to ancient laptop. Turn it on. It is making a malevolent buzzing noise. It is probably thinking about crashing and then blowing up, for something to do.

14:00 Realise I haven't eaten anything yet. Inhale three shortbread biscuits, followed by more coffee.


17:00 Am forced to acknowledge that instead of writing my game I have wasted hours looking up murder-mystery weekends and Orient Express trips, neither of which I can afford. Feel bad about not having left the flat or achieved anything; get up and walk around, flapping arms, as though this is a substitute for either of these.

17:20 Actually start doing some work.

17:25 Am suddenly hungry. Get up and make 'salad' of cucumber, tinned chickpeas, cheddar, lemon juice and black pepper, messing up newly-cleaned kitchen in the process. It is verging on unpleasant, but I eat it anyway.

17:40 Hate Zoho. Shout at it for being a rubbish program. Think about drinking something other than coffee, but don't. Wish I was a smoker so the anguished writer scene would at least be picturesque.

18:00 Realise I am stuck. Cry. Consider turning to Poirot box-set for comfort but decide to soldier on.

18:20 Admit defeat, wondering what other, normal people have done with their Sunday.

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