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plutherusI’m looking at some of the lessons to be learned from the writing in the video game Life is Strange: Before the Storm, focusing on how they might apply to novel writing.
For the complete series, see https://plutherus.dreamwidth.org/tag/lifeisstrange
Warning: Contains many many spoilers.
The play’s the thing!
When last we left off, Drew and Mikey were rushing to the hospital and Chloe may or may not have an extra $1000 on her. (When I played it, Chloe gave the money to Drew. After all, he gave up everything to protect it from Drew. I didn’t think she’d ever forgive herself if she kept it.)
Wandering out of the dorm, you again see the forest fire that Rachel set, over the hills. It’s getting bigger. Both in terms of physical size and how much emphasis they’re giving it. You wander over to the stage where they’ve set up for The Tempest, the play that Rachel is going to be in. (Or, if you’re like me and got her kicked out of it, was going to be in.)
Two things in this scene are worth mentioning this time not for what they did right but for what they got wrong:
The first, though, I did notice. It was actually pretty jarring. It’s worth spending a bit of extra thought to come up with a believable motive. They could have got both girls there through a variety of means and still have this entire scene. Maybe it’s on the way to the parking lot. Heck, they could have made it a stronger motivation just by replacing “... before Victoria needs it.” with “...before Victoria finds my weed stash.”
At any rate, you find Victoria and have a chance to psych her into dropping out of the play, leaving the drama teacher with no choice but to reinstate Rachel as Prospera. It’s then revealed that the student who is playing Ariel is delayed by the fire (good going, Rachel!). Chloe is therefore, of course, roped into doing it.
This one seems like it should strain credulity but it doesn’t. Unlike Rachel’s motive, this one had enough build up to sell it. Steph (in charge, apparently, of all lights, costumes, makeup, props, set design, and construction) is at the hospital with Drew. Juliet, who’s supposed to play Ariel, is delayed by the fire, then Victoria is scared off of her role by you. The show’s getting hammered, so Juliet‘s delay fits right in perfectly, especially because it’s once again Chloe and Rachel’s fault.
This, in my opinion, is one of the most important rules of writing: You can do anything you want, but you have to sell it. In Yellow Tape and Coffee there is a scene where a character commits a particular crime. None of the early readers - a workshop and a critique circle - liked the scene, thinking it “too far-fetched.” The funny thing about that is, I based it on something that actually happened and that I had first-hand knowledge of. It happened exactly the way I originally described it. This leads us to the corollary: “The truth is no excuse.” I re-wrote the scene to sell the action better, and added in a couple of lines in earlier dialog to set it up, and inner thoughts of the character doing it acknowledging how dangerous and difficult it would be to pull off. Nobody had a problem with it after that. (Interestingly, nobody had a problem at any point with this same character turning into a wolf in the following scene.)
Finally we get to the play itself. Rachel is playing Prospera and Chloe Ariel. I’ve never seen The Tempest. I want to now. (I look forward to plays being a thing again.) The concept of the play-within-a-play, where the characters in a work of fiction perform a play to either discover or reveal some information is of course as old as the original series Star Trek episode The Conscience of The King where a travelling acting troupe performs Hamlet, paralleling the events going on in the episode which leads to the discovery of the infamous Kodos the Executioner.
In this case, it isn’t to trick the performer into revealing himself (as in Star Trek) or the audience (as in Hamlet), but for Chloe and Rachel to have an important discussion under cover of performance.
Chloe gets a few moments to look at the script and then you’re thrown into the play. You have several chances to get the lines right, or flub them in hilarious ways and let Rachel cover for you by improvising enough to bring the script back on track again. I tried it both ways and they both seem to lead to the same conclusion. The only difference seems to be that if you get the lines right, everyone is happier with you once Juliet shows up to take over her role for the rest of the performance.
Whichever you choose, it ends with Rachel going off script in the end. When Ariel asks for her liberty (or equality, if you want to go off-script in a French way). Whatever Prospera says in Shakespeare’s original, Rachel denies it to her:
Chloe responds in kind, keeping in character but confessing her true fear:
Rachel reassures her that it is not so, she has no intention of leaving and when they’re done there, they will leave together:
Again, it’s a conversation on two levels, echoing their meeting in Principal Wells’ office at the beginning of the chapter. Unlike that conversation, though, Chloe is now fully committed.
For the complete series, see https://plutherus.dreamwidth.org/tag/lifeisstrange
Warning: Contains many many spoilers.
The play’s the thing!
When last we left off, Drew and Mikey were rushing to the hospital and Chloe may or may not have an extra $1000 on her. (When I played it, Chloe gave the money to Drew. After all, he gave up everything to protect it from Drew. I didn’t think she’d ever forgive herself if she kept it.)
Wandering out of the dorm, you again see the forest fire that Rachel set, over the hills. It’s getting bigger. Both in terms of physical size and how much emphasis they’re giving it. You wander over to the stage where they’ve set up for The Tempest, the play that Rachel is going to be in. (Or, if you’re like me and got her kicked out of it, was going to be in.)
Two things in this scene are worth mentioning this time not for what they did right but for what they got wrong:
- “Help me clean out my space before Victoria needs it” seems like an awfully clumsy excuse to get both of them together backstage at the Tempest. Especially because by the time you get there, Victoria is already in costume and finishing up her makeup.
- It’s supposed to be early May. That’s an awfully risky time to be doing any kind of outdoor production in Oregon, especially on the coast. I suspect whoever did the research on this area did so around July or August. Even then, you don’t leave anything that’s not waterproof uncovered overnight. Even if it doesn’t get rained on, the dew is going to destroy it.
The first, though, I did notice. It was actually pretty jarring. It’s worth spending a bit of extra thought to come up with a believable motive. They could have got both girls there through a variety of means and still have this entire scene. Maybe it’s on the way to the parking lot. Heck, they could have made it a stronger motivation just by replacing “... before Victoria needs it.” with “...before Victoria finds my weed stash.”
At any rate, you find Victoria and have a chance to psych her into dropping out of the play, leaving the drama teacher with no choice but to reinstate Rachel as Prospera. It’s then revealed that the student who is playing Ariel is delayed by the fire (good going, Rachel!). Chloe is therefore, of course, roped into doing it.
This one seems like it should strain credulity but it doesn’t. Unlike Rachel’s motive, this one had enough build up to sell it. Steph (in charge, apparently, of all lights, costumes, makeup, props, set design, and construction) is at the hospital with Drew. Juliet, who’s supposed to play Ariel, is delayed by the fire, then Victoria is scared off of her role by you. The show’s getting hammered, so Juliet‘s delay fits right in perfectly, especially because it’s once again Chloe and Rachel’s fault.
This, in my opinion, is one of the most important rules of writing: You can do anything you want, but you have to sell it. In Yellow Tape and Coffee there is a scene where a character commits a particular crime. None of the early readers - a workshop and a critique circle - liked the scene, thinking it “too far-fetched.” The funny thing about that is, I based it on something that actually happened and that I had first-hand knowledge of. It happened exactly the way I originally described it. This leads us to the corollary: “The truth is no excuse.” I re-wrote the scene to sell the action better, and added in a couple of lines in earlier dialog to set it up, and inner thoughts of the character doing it acknowledging how dangerous and difficult it would be to pull off. Nobody had a problem with it after that. (Interestingly, nobody had a problem at any point with this same character turning into a wolf in the following scene.)
Finally we get to the play itself. Rachel is playing Prospera and Chloe Ariel. I’ve never seen The Tempest. I want to now. (I look forward to plays being a thing again.) The concept of the play-within-a-play, where the characters in a work of fiction perform a play to either discover or reveal some information is of course as old as the original series Star Trek episode The Conscience of The King where a travelling acting troupe performs Hamlet, paralleling the events going on in the episode which leads to the discovery of the infamous Kodos the Executioner.
In this case, it isn’t to trick the performer into revealing himself (as in Star Trek) or the audience (as in Hamlet), but for Chloe and Rachel to have an important discussion under cover of performance.
Chloe gets a few moments to look at the script and then you’re thrown into the play. You have several chances to get the lines right, or flub them in hilarious ways and let Rachel cover for you by improvising enough to bring the script back on track again. I tried it both ways and they both seem to lead to the same conclusion. The only difference seems to be that if you get the lines right, everyone is happier with you once Juliet shows up to take over her role for the rest of the performance.
Whichever you choose, it ends with Rachel going off script in the end. When Ariel asks for her liberty (or equality, if you want to go off-script in a French way). Whatever Prospera says in Shakespeare’s original, Rachel denies it to her:
I never said how dearly I hold thee; my habit’s been to keep my soul well-draped.
Is acting in my service not replete with excitement, amusement, and delight?
Chloe responds in kind, keeping in character but confessing her true fear:
Of course, mistress, most truly it is so
But excitement ages quickly and I fear,
If we set out in search of new… uh, fun,
You’ll soon tire of me, and then I’ll be alone.
Rachel reassures her that it is not so, she has no intention of leaving and when they’re done there, they will leave together:
We shall fly beyond this isle -- The corners of the world our mere prologue.
Again, it’s a conversation on two levels, echoing their meeting in Principal Wells’ office at the beginning of the chapter. Unlike that conversation, though, Chloe is now fully committed.
