Tag: Writing

Fifth Wednesday Personal Updates: October 2025

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Happy Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Today is the rare fifth Wednesday of a month, so our writers will be sharing personal updates over the past few months. I’ll kick things off for this month’s Personal Updates.

Kyra’s Games

I’ve been sick (with the crud) over the past few weeks, but before getting sick, I was featured in a board game design panel at Nuke-Con early this month. While the panel went well, I’d like to expand on it for next year. Be on the look out for Nuke-Con 2026. I also playtested Rustbucket Riots and Whirligig Pets several times during this same convention.

Monthly Update: Whistlestop Pets Title Card

Whirligig Pets (formerly Whistlestop Pets–I need to change the above image) is ready for submission. I still need to find a better way to ramp up the tension in Rustbucket Riots. I think I found a way to tweak the enemy/time cards, so players experience a steadier upward ramp. Before this recent change, evening cards were brutal. I like the new balance, but higher player counts are where balance can get tricky. We’ll see if this new balance sticks.

I won’t go into too much detail with Rustbucket Riots. I already did some of that with this month’s Game Design Brain Dump. If you’re interested, you can see Rustbucket Riots’ origin.

One last important note I discovered during the con: I need to figure out the best way to teach this game. Rustbucket Riots has a lot of odd game mechanisms that many players find unfamiliar, and the spatial puzzle can be overwhelming. I know many of you haven’t played, but here’s a quick rundown on how a round plays:

1) Enemy Turn (Draw Time Cards Equal to Number of Players)
2) Players play one card from their hand
3) Roll and Lock Dice
4) Place Dice (on gears)
5) Spend Dice (by removing dice from gears)

I’ll begin with this and then get into the weeds as the game progresses. Maybe this will help. I hope to see some of you at the gaming table soon.

Storytelling

Kyra’s Writing

Similar to board game design, I posted a writing brain dump earlier this month. I’ll try not to recap too much of what I posted there. I’m still viewing my work in progress through a macro lens. Characters have merged. I combined some characters who could be considered fridged (the character’s sole purpose was to motivate the protagonist) with another character with a larger role. I’m finding character arcs for each major character, and I’ve found I don’t have as many characters as I did prior. This may be an easier editing pass than I first thought. Famous last words.

Novel in November (formerly National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo) begins in a handful of days, and I’ll be attending as many Omaha Writers’ League (OWL) events as I can. Above is a calendar of OWL events. All locations are in Omaha. Events are subject to change. (I believe November 11th is left blank in observance of Veterans’ Day.) If you’re in the local area, I look forward to seeing you at one of these events. I’ll be at many of these events, trying to make sense of my nonsense. There’s a reason I call my updates writing brain dumps.

That’s all I have for this month. Let’s see what Skye’s been doing.

Skye’s Update

I’ve done some interesting things over the past quarter. I became a member of my local library’s board-game community, attended Metropolitan Community College’s annual Inter-Tribal Powwow, and protested the protection of the United States’ founding ideals of “liberty and justice for all,” among other things.

My greatest achievement–in my opinion–in the past quarter was scheduling a date with my surgeon to undergo the final part of my medical transition. I’m scheduled for November of next year (2026), and words can’t describe my immense satisfaction. Advanced warning to y’all: I suspect I’ll be in recovery during that time next year. I’ll do my best to post, but I might be hopped-up on pain meds.

Overall, I would consider the past quarter (Aug-Oct) a productive one. Despite personal obligations, I’ve still enjoyed posting and offering my opinions on JKGeekly with the rest of the Geekly writers. Posting my thoughts online is one of my greatest joys, and I thank everyone for welcoming me into the Geekly Gang.

Here’s to another three months of Geek with y’all. Happy Halloween!

Storytelling

Season’s Update

Hi, Geekly Gang! It’s been a while since I gave an update. I’ve recently started a new full-time job, so I’ve been adjusting to my new schedule. I’ve also been sick with the crud this past week. It’s a good thing I’m writing this update, because my voice is shot. Blegh!

As for writing, I’ve tried to get a couple of pieces published, but no luck yet. They’re a couple of short flash fiction pieces. Maybe I’ll share them here someday. I’m going to keep submitting until I get some bites. Fingers crossed! I’ve also been enjoying writing monthly plushie reviews for you, Geekly Gang. If you have a favorite plushie, please let me know. I’m always down for new plushie recs.

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. Those are our writers’ updates for the past few months. Feel free to share what you’ve been up to over the past month or three, Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Writing Brain Dump: October 3, 2025

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Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. I didn’t know how to start this type of post. Heck, I don’t even know if I’m sold on the title “Writing Brain Dump.” It’s a work in progress. Hopefully, I can express how my writing has been going over the past couple of weeks. I’ll be spouting random ideas about writing/editing I’ve found in between each of these posts. Perhaps, you’ll find a cogent thought here somewhere. Buckle up for a Writing Brain Dump.

Reverse Outlining

I’m continuing to reverse outline last year’s novel, set in the same world as my board game Rustbucket Riots. I’ve struggled with this part of the editing process, but reverse outlining and the next section I’ll mention are invaluable.

I began with a spreadsheet that includes the following headings:

Scene Description
Characters
Setting
Point of Scene
Themes
Scene Length
Actionable Item

You may add or subtract a heading or two (or five), but these seven headings help me stay focused. I’m a hybrid pantser (someone who writes without a plot) and a plotter (someone who writes with a plot). My best analogy would be a lighthouse writer or lighthouser. Most stories I write have a scene or two that serve as Lighthouses; I’m building toward these scenes, and while I’m writing a first draft, I need to find the scenes that connect the Lighthouses.

The difficult part of the reverse outline was going back through my manuscript. I waited long enough to gain distance and objectivity. A month or more is a good time period to wait before diving back into a project. But I may have waited long enough to wonder if anything in the manuscript was any good. LOL.

After some emotional cutting (I’m only slightly exaggerating), I found direction, and the reverse outline helped. “Scene Description” allows me to revisit each scene. Sometimes, I need to mark scenes as incomplete. And that’s okay for now. This was an early draft.

“Characters” and “Setting” remind me of the scene’s who and where. I can glance and see when a Character is first introduced or if I’m returning to the same Setting for multiple scenes, and if that’s necessary or not. Or if a character only shows up in one scene, is that character needed? Can I combine the one-off character with another character, tightening the manuscript? I did this more than once.

“Point of Scene” and “Themes” differ subtly. Point of Scene shows whether the scene progresses the story (or plot), while Theme is more the scene’s emotional weight (What’s the scene’s takeaway?). Scene Length is another glance to make sure the pacing for the scene feels right. And during Actionable Item, I suggest something I could do to improve the scene.

Sometimes, a scene doesn’t do enough to progress the story, and I scrap it. Why line-edit a scene that doesn’t do anything for the story? Reverse outlines can be difficult—correction, reverse outlines are difficult—but I need them to keep me on task. I wouldn’t know where to begin editing without a reverse outline. After each draft, I begin a new reverse outline. Elements change.

Some of you may be plotters, but reverse outlines may be a great way to see your story from the other side. Reading your manuscript with fresh eyes may yield themes or points of a scene you didn’t know were there. While a reverse outline helps pantsers or lighthousers (or plantsers), they can still help plotters. Like I said, I begin a new reverse outline after each draft because storytelling elements change.

Timeline

While one could combine a reverse outline and a timeline, I prefer to have these as two separate documents. Chronology is important. You don’t want to say something would take a week when it takes two weeks or vice versa. Going back to “Scene Length,” the manuscript’s pacing also needs to match the timeline. A week needs to feel like a week, however that week feels for the character(s). I forget how many time warps I’ve caused. Hopefully, I will avoid time warps altogether by starting a timeline while I write the first draft. If only I’d remember to start a timeline while writing a first draft.

Always Be Escalating (ABE)

I promised a Writing Brain Dump, and here we go. I’m kinda bouncing back to the first topic (Reverse Outlines), but through a different lens or two. One of George Saunders’s 9 Rules of Thumb is “Always Be Escalating” or ABE, and a hidden benefit to the “Point of Scene” header in a reverse outline is showing that your story’s stakes increase with each scene. Escalating scenes propel the story. They’re the secret sauce to page-turners.

Causality

“Causality” is another one of Saunders’s Rules of Thumb. Saunders often links causality to Chekov’s River. Many of you may know Chekov’s Gun. Quick Recap: If a gun is shown in the first act, it must be fired by the third act. Chekov’s River follows a similar path, but in terms of causality. One character choice should directly lead to another choice by the character, like a river of character choices. Chekov’s River gives characters agency. It also minimizes coincidences.

Coincidence versus Choice

Coincidences at the beginning of a story aren’t so bad, but if a story relies too heavily on coincidences, they become a crutch, and the advancement feels unearned. Batman (1989) will always have a special place in my heart, but it relies on coincidence. Jack Napier (Jack Nickolson’s Joker) falls into a vat of chemicals; he blames Batman. This is a coincidence, but this happens at the beginning. It isn’t too bad—yet.

Then, Joker happens to read a newspaper with a picture of Vicki Vale (Batman’s love interest) and falls in love with her as well, putting the two characters at odds. Why wouldn’t Batman and Joker already be at odds because of their chosen vocations? Make it a choice, not a coincidence. But yes, let’s go with a bizarre love triangle.

Fun Factoid: Because not all parties in a typical Love Triangle are in love with each other, most Love Triangles are actually Love Bipods.

I promised a brain dump. Consider yourself brain-dumped.

Finally, Joker meets Batman (as Bruce Wayne) and threatens him with a gun while saying, “Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?” which happens to be the phrase the Waynes’ killer used. So, Batman surmises the Joker killed his parents. Sure. As you can see, each coincidence cheapens the story.

I suppose there is causality with Joker killing Batman’s parents, and then Batman “making” The Joker, but even Joker dubs this story absurd. “You made me. I made you. How childish can you get?” Batman also leans heavily on flashbacks, which also takes away from the present story. Ground the characters with their choices in the story you’re telling, not choices during flashbacks.

And I’m saying don’t use too many flashbacks when my first novel, Crooked as a Dogwood, features a character skin-walking through their past and their relatives’ past. Ugh! I may need to rethink that novel. LOL

In short, character choice should impact the story more than coincidences. Try to minimize coincidences and flashbacks. Grant characters agency.

I’ve lost the plot. Maybe I need to reverse outline this post. Oh well. I promised a writing brain dump, and this may qualify. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, happy writing and have a fantabulastical day.

Fifth Wednesday Personal Update: July 2025

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Happy fifth Wednesday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. Since it’s the fifth Wednesday of July, that means our writers will be sharing personal updates. I’ll get things started.

Kyra’s Writing

My writing and game design will sound similar this month. The two center around the same concept. I wrote a first draft of a novel based on one of my board games, Rustbucket Riots, and I’m in the throes of reverse outlining.

Reverse outlining is an important stage of writing/editing that I learned after multiple novels. During the reverse editing stage, I take note of what happens in each chapter/scene, looking at the novel from a macro level, rather than a micro level (like line editing). Reverse outlining allows me to see who the point of view (POV) character is for each chapter (if there’s more than one POV character for the novel). If a character has only one POV chapter, I may need to give them more chapters or consider omitting the chapter or using a different POV character. Jotting down what happens in each chapter makes it easier to see which chapters are pulling their weight (from a narrative perspective), which ones could do more, and which ones may not be needed.

In previous novels, I made the mistake of line editing after writing the first draft. That doesn’t work–at least, not for me. The sunk cost fallacy (the tendency to continue an endeavor because of the time and effort spent on the project) is strong when a writer does this. Slapping together a crappy first draft and then taking a macro look at each chapter makes it easier to “kill one’s darlings.” If I haven’t spent hours editing a chapter, that chapter hasn’t reached the status of one of my darlings. It’s easier to make cuts.

Depending on when you’re reading this, I may be slashing through thousands of words in one keystroke. Can you hear the ink cry?

On a different note, I’m still querying agents. Fingers crossed.

Kyra’s Game Design

I received a ton of great feedback for Rustbucket Riots and Whirligig Pets. Both games are well on their way to being publishable.

I’m continuing to refine my other designs, and I’ll be at Comic Con Nebraska this weekend. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hi. I’ll be in the game room, demoing various designs that will include Rustbucket Riots and Whirligig Pets. I’ll even have JK Geekly badge ribbons.

Tangent: I joined a board game publication and pitching course, so hopefully, my board game pitches will improve in the coming months. Lol

That’s all I have for these past three months. Let’s check in with Skye.

Skye’s Update

Believe it or not, I do have a life. I know, I was surprised too. Not much has happened since the last time I did one of these, but there were a couple of things I wanted to mention.

First, I have a new job at my local movie theater. Y’all know how much I love movies, so this kind of job is right up my alley. There’s a more community-oriented culture at Marcus Theaters with several opportunities to learn and connect with the team, which I love. Of course, there’s also free movie tickets. This means that I can start covering recently released films on my personal blog, TGIMovies, in a more financially responsible way.

Second, I took this summer off from college. So far, I’ve been having a good time relaxing and dedicating my time toward things I love, such as my hobbies, my relationships, and this community. I’ve learned a lot about myself, spent time with those I care about, and started working towards my future. At this point in my life, I’m the most excited I’ve ever been about what’s to come. I’m glad I got to share it with y’all!

Thanks for reading about my experiences and for inviting me to this website. Though I don’t say it often, I’m greatly honored to be a part of this community, to experience geeky content with like-minded people, and to have a platform to offer my thoughts. I’ll see y’all next week with another “Whatcha.” Take care!

Kyra Kyle here again. Season doesn’t have an update for the past three months. She graduated from college with a Bachelor’s and continues to look for work in her field. Fingers crossed that she’ll find something soon. And feel free to share what you’ve been working on over the past three months. We’re all part of the Geekly Gang. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Fifth Wednesday Personal Update

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Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Geekly plans to do individual personal updates on the fifth Wednesday of each month (not every month has a fifth Wednesday; this happens about once a quarter). This particular post is mine. Hey! How are you? I’ve been keeping busy for the last several months. With Geekly finding its groove, I’ve been able to switch to other endeavors.

Kyra’s Writing

My first novel is a part family epic, part fictionalized war memoir titled Crooked as a Dogwood. I continue to submit Crooked as a Dogwood to literary agents. I’m on a path to 100 rejections, and then I plan to submit to small publishers. In the meantime, I’m editing a second novel based on events after Rustbucket Riots, the title of one of my board games in progress. I may be submitting the Rustbucket Riots novel before I reach my 100 rejections for Crooked. And I’m not stopping there, I’m writing fiction, essays, and poetry most days. I have enough for a collection or two, and there’s a third novel in progress.

Hopefully, one of these titles will get picked up, and that could help out with the others. Even if it doesn’t, I’m enjoying the ride, just like the one with my board games.

Kyra’s Game Designs

As I mentioned a few times, I attended Protospiel Kansas City earlier this month. The convention was a good time. Spending time with like-minded people is always fun, but the newly established United States tariffs hung like a cloud over the con. I’ve mentioned the tariff’s negative effect on board game companies at length. Several small board game companies have banded together in a lawsuit against President Trump. And that’s what most people discussed during Protospiel. The future is uncertain.

But what is certain is that I’m going forward with small game designs (Whirligig Pets, Spill the Beans, No Jack, and Wildflowers) and one larger design, Rustbucket Riots. The four smaller designs should be ready to present before the end of summer, with Rustbucket Riots not far behind. I’d prefer to go with a publisher, especially with the uncertainty of tariffs, but Geekly could be in the publishing business (both books and games) in the not-so-distant future.

So, I’ve been keeping busy. I have a roadmap for writing and game design, but it’s okay if plans change. I’m willing to go with the flow. That’s all I have for now. I’ll hand the post over to Season and Skye, so you can see what they’ve been doing.

Season

Hey, Geekly Gang! I hope everyone had a fantastic April. I’m graduating with my BFA in Creative Writing this May. Yay! I’ve been busy with classwork and work work. I work full time and, even though I have one class, my schedule’s been packed with my final portfolio, ordering my cap and gown, a capstone presentation, etc. Phew!

I’m taking a break from major projects for Geekly for a couple of months while I get everything sorted. I’ll still be working behind the scenes on the editing side of things during that time and I’ll be participating in Wednesday posts. Don’t worry. Video Game Cult Classics aren’t going away. I’ll keep up with them regularly once my schedule stabilizes.

That’s all I’ve got for this update. See you next time. What have you been doing, Skye?

Skye

Hello, Geekly Fam! I’ve come to tell you about what’s been going on in my life this past month. Wait, I have a life outside of blogging? Surprisingly, yes. Science still can’t explain it. Here are some noteworthy moments I can tell y’all about.

I had a life-changing medical procedure at the end of last month. Don’t worry. I’m not sick, I’m just trans. To be clear, this medical procedure isn’t the one you’re thinking about. That one comes later. Despite not being the epic leap forward I hoped for, I’m still delighted with how it turned out. For two weeks, I was bedroom-bound, but now I’m feeling better and more active.

In fact, I’m so active that I’ll be switching jobs. I’ll still be blogging, but my day job is changing. A Barnes & Noble opened this month closer to where I live. I was dissatisfied with my previous job and decided to seize the opportunity. Nothing has been decided yet, but I have been invited to an interview. I’m excited! Fingers crossed.

Those are the major developments. Hopefully, plenty of big things will happen over the next three months when we do another one of these updates. Thanks for reading, and I’ll try to give y’all all the juicy Skye goss I can. 😉

Way Overdue Update

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Hey, hey, folks! Long time, no upload. I’m Kyra Kyle, and JK Geekly has returned.

A lot has happened since we last updated this website. Some events spanned the globe like the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. Glad that’s over.

I had a few personal events occur. I’ve been diagnosed as autistic and ADHD. I didn’t know one could have both, but I’m an AuDHDer. Is that how I spell it? The two don’t always play well with each other. I attended the Origins Game Fair last year and was alternately over and under stimulated. Meltdowns are fun. Other times, the two play too well with each other. I paced a trail into the carpet. It’s okay; we needed new carpet.

Pacing aided me to finish writing a novel or two. I’m pitching my first novel, Crooked as a Dogwood, to agents. I’ve gotten further than I’ve ever gone before with this process, so that’s great. I’m unsure if it’ll get picked up but that hasn’t stopped me from editing the next one and writing the one after that. Just keep writing. Just keep writing. Autism loves the routine; ADHD wants some strange. So, I’ll pace in between stories.

Speaking of stories, my short stories and poems have been published in several journals since the last update. I’ll have to look back and see which ones were published in which journals over these past several years. I’m fighting the urge to backtrack these past few years. No. I’ll do it later. Ack! I’m so bad at making shameless promotions for my work. Consider this a generic, hopefully modified soon plug.

On a somber note, my mom passed away last year. I’m still processing the loss over a year later, but I’ll do something in her memory, perhaps a top five tabletop games that she liked to play on her birthday in November. Or a list of games that I play that remind me of her. There may be at least a few games that have been released around or since her passing that Mom would’ve enjoyed.

Mom also liked that I design tabletop games, and it turns out that I’m also pitching multiple games. I’m less familiar with this medium’s pitch process, but I’ll learn. One company has already expressed interest in Spill the Beans, but as of this post, I have yet to sign a contract, so I’m still pitching until a deal is reached. Here’s an initial Spill the Beans sell sheet.



And here’s the sell sheet for a second game I’m pitching to board game companies, Whistlestop Pets.



Whistlestop Pets factors into one of the books I’m working on as well. There may be some crossover possibilities.

I have several other projects (both game designs and writing) that aren’t as far along or I’m not at a stage where I’m comfortable talking about them here, but I’ll keep you updated. Hopefully.

And that brings me to the last point: What will happen to JK Geekly? In short, I don’t know. The site can go in many directions. I have one article I want to upload this November (love you, Mom), but aside from that I don’t know. I’ll probably try several things. If anyone has any suggestions, leave them in the comments.

I hope that wherever you are, you’re having a great day.

~ Kyra