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Clay Sheldon

@claysheldon.bsky.social

2.9K followers 140 following 5.5K posts

Writer, DM, Storyteller and a fan of all things fiction. Represented by the Rights Factory http://claysheldon.com/ Check out this fantasy murder mystery party game! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/402695/mysteries-of-the-flying-haddock-a-trilogy

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · Aug 22

Do you like fantasy? How about murder mystery party games? Good news! The Flying Haddock is open for business! Solve three unique mysteries with friends, before the killer gets you!

And if you're feeling generous, I would greatly appreciate a like and a repost!

www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...

Mysteries of The Flying Haddock - a trilogy - Enigmatic Events Collective Inc. | DriveThruRPG

Mysteries of the Flying Haddock are a set of threeshort murder mystery roleplaying games inspired by Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition and the Forgotten Realms. It is, however, not a 5th edition adv...

www.drivethrurpg.com

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

Dramatic irony is one of the stronger tools in a horror writer's toolbox. This is when the reader is aware that something important that a character in the story is not aware of. For example, The main character might believe that they are home alone, but we as the reader know better.

a man standing on the porch of a white house at night

ALT: a man standing on the porch of a white house at night

media.tenor.com

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

When writing horror, don't rush things. As tempting as it is to get the action started, take your time with it. Stretch out the moments of tense quiet. Create an environment of unnerving quiet through subtlety, environmental clues and dramatic irony about the circumstances.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

There are many different types of fear to draw upon for horror writing. Explorations of different phobias are often a good place to start. While using your own fears to fuel your horror writing is often tried-and-true, exploring more unusual fears can often lead to interesting fiction. Explore!

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of the spookiest month, consider writing a horror story! Even if you're not normally a writer. It doesn't have to long or even necessarily good. But give it a try! Think about what scares or unnerves you. Explore that (in a safe way) and put it to the page. You might just surprise yourself!

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

Horror writing is often about setting the mood. You can't just have a monster appear and attack people. That's just an action movie, or a thriller at best. Horror involves setup. Have mysterious disappearances or strange sightings. Have the protag thinking someone is following them. Stuff like that.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

Just had an experience in a mystery game where I had to interview multiple characters, and the game wasted fifteen minutes because I had to talk to these characters in a specific order and ask them about specific things to unlock dialogue options for previous characters I already talked to. Eugh...

Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

In most modern fiction, remember that your characters likely own a cell phone. This not only means they can call for help, but those electric wonders can solve all sorts of problems. Call for food delivery, or a cab, text someone in a hurry, check the news or social media, stuff like that!

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

If you want to practice your horror writing, study urban legends and myths. There's a reason these often brief horror tales stick in our heads. Hell, consider writing some of your own for your local area. Just for fun though. Don't go spreading rumors like that around. Write responsibly!

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

One of the worst things you can do as a writer is set up a juicy cliffhanger and then refuse to do anything fun with it. This is often done so you'll 'tune into the next episode' or 'check out the sequel'. Cliffhangers can be fun, but do them poorly at your own peril. You might not get that sequel.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

Being intentionally vague in your writing is not always the same as being mysterious. Intentionally hiding details from your readers can create an air of mystery, but if you do it too much for seemingly no reason, it'll just piss them off. For example, the 'There's no time to explain' excuse.

a blurred image of a man with the words a good question for another time

ALT: a blurred image of a man with the words a good question for another time

media.tenor.com

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

One of the easiest pitfalls when writing a murder mystery is accidentally making identifying the culprit far too easy. This often happens by having too few suspects, or writing your mystery in such a way that one character has no reason to be in the story besides being the culprit. It happens a lot!

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

While Urban Myth Dissolution Center is a really cool concept for a game, I'm starting to notice some places where it really could have been improved. Each chapter format is really repetitive, the game is insanely linear, and the 'mentor' character is basically solving all the cases for you.

a pixel art drawing of a girl holding a cell phone with a log icon above her

ALT: a pixel art drawing of a girl holding a cell phone with a log icon above her

media.tenor.com

Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

You earn an ability early on in Silksong that allows you to play music to open doors. However, it has a secret function, allowing you to play music for NPCs (even enemies) and they'll often start singing along with their own harmonies and/or lyrics. With some very interesting results.

A female bug in a red cloak plays a tune on a makeshift silk guitar. A wild beast bug nearby sings with her while standing on a floor made out of bells.

Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

The one thing that current-era AI cannot do (as far as I can tell) is provide true spontaneous wisdom. It can copy-paste platitudes and mimic wise things said on the net, but it lacks the basic comprehension necessary to internalize that wisdom and create its own original thoughts to add to it.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

Good writing comes from passion. Not passion to make a dollar or passion at being noticed, but passion about the subject matter. Passion about the work itself. That is where good storytelling comes from.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

I'm curious to see how many bots are on the platform. Let's run an experiment. I'll put a lot of popular topics into this post and see who interacts. If you're human, DO NOT like, comment, or repost this post.

Trump Silksong Politics Nintendo Republicans Wells Fargo Lindsey Graham Sports Writing

Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

There is truth in fiction. Storytellers use the facts of reality to make our fictional worlds feel real. But also we reflect the real world back at itself and show not only what is, but what could be. There are those that abuse this power, but others still that make the world a better place.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

A good scare in fiction is more than a monster jumping out and screaming in your face. There's a subtlety to it. A creeping dread. It's the creak of a door you swore you locked. The faint sound of floorboards creaking, getting closer. Then, going to check and finding nothing. You're alone... right?

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

Horror fiction is often rooted in empathy. If we don't care about the well-being of the characters, then we don't share their fear. That makes it all the more important to develop those characters rather than just picking them off one-by-one without even getting to know them.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 1d

A story with something to say is more than just the message. It's also a story. Even if you have a point to make, you still have to tell the story well to get that point across.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 2d

A good villain is convinced that they are the hero of the story.
A good hero asks themselves if they are the villain, then proves that theory false.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 2d

If you're brand new to anime and curious to see if it's for you, start with the classics. We're talking Cowboy Bebop (space western), Trigun (Apocalypse Western), Ranma (romantic kung-fu comedy) Full Metal Alchemist (Dark Fantasy Steampunk) and others.
That's a good benchmark to see if it's for you.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 2d

In my opinion, good isekai anime is often where the protagonist isn't given any advantages at all when they arrive, and have to start from square one learning how the world works and how not to die. If they do get some sort of advantage, it often has a serious drawback. Re: Zero is a decent example.

Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 2d

One of the big issues with a lot of Isekai anime (reincarnating in a fantasy world or whatever) is that they really lean into the power fantasy. They often get game-breaking superpowers without earning it and then just go around stomping anyone they don't like. It's boring and childish to be honest.

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Clay Sheldon @claysheldon.bsky.social · 2d

Just a quick tip to anyone trying out a new anime. Generally, if the title of your anime is a literal sentence, odds are it's not going to be very good. Sure there are exceptions, but if your title is 'I got reincarnated as X and now I travel and do revenge and stuff', that's not a good sign.