Monday, January 30, 2023

Pondering ideas, need input

So this is the rarely-used 'writing' portion of this 'writing/gaming' blog. I'm fully aware I don't have a lot to contribute on this side of things, even if we filter out my gaming session write-ups and compare game-writing to fiction-writing.

Regardless, I'm considering something relatively major with regards to my writing, and I'm seeking input.

Some context, just in case: For almost a decade now I've been building up a furry cyberpunk setting I've been calling 'Conversion.' The setting picks up a few decades into the future, where circumstances forced a sizable chunk of the Earth's population into undergoing a process of being turned into anthropomorphic animals. (I'd go into further detail but at that point I'd just be reposting the first chapter.) Hence the name 'Conversion.' I've written a number of smaller stories in this setting, but there's been a larger 'central' work I've been very gradually writing in chunks, and that story is almost finished (I'm in the late stages of writing a denouement). Said story is the one I initially named 'Conversion,' and through it established much of the setting's basics. I used to post chapters here to the blog in addition to other sites, but there wasn't enough interest to warrant further cross-posting. 

You can find all that here if you're curious. (Rating-wise, I'd put the central story at PG-13-level violence with R-level swearing. And while the site isn't inherently NSFW unless you're logged in with an account, it may still trip some work filters.)

But now we get to the meat of the matter. I'd been looking at 'Conversion' as the overall setting name for a while, and I've been trying to work up alternate names for that central story for when I finish it, edit/polish it, and post an updated, collected version that all reads like it came from the same writer and not a half-dozen incrementally-better writers over time. But more recently, in addition to all that, I've been looking over the setting as a whole and considering renaming/rebranding it. In particular, I'm concerned that the name 'Conversion' gives the impression that these are transformation stories in of themselves. In addition, only a handful of characters featured in the stories so far have actually undergone the Conversion process themselves -- most of the leads have been second-generation anthros.

So I'm just looking for input, suggestions, or even any advice on how I can sort this out for myself. We're talking about a story and a setting I've been putting effort into for nine-and-a-half years, and it's only very recently I've put any serious thought into changing the name, and it might be a 'forest for the trees' scenario.

If anyone has anything they want to contribute, feel free to comment here, or whatever social media site that linked the post, or over on FurAffinity if you have an account there.

Thanks in advance, even just for reading this far. I appreciate it.

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