Getting Feedback in Hearthstone

The bad news is that 50 people died in a hotel fire; the good news is that we got exclusive footage.
– Jessica Savitch

I’ve written before about feedback. It’s so important for learning that it’s almost futile to begin your practice without it – especially in practices where the immediate result of your choices aren’t obvious.

When you find yourself in that situation – not being sure of the origin of your results – you can hugely speed your learning by finding a way to improve that feedback. Here’s an example:

For relaxation lately I’ve been playing Hearthstone with some of my friends. My favorite mode of play is called Arena – you draft a deck of 30 cards, one at a time, by choosing from sets of 3 at a time. Then you’re matching up with other Arena players and you try to win as many games as possible before losing 3. The more you win, the better your prize (though I’m only really interested in in-game gold used to play Arena some more).

There are a couple things that make Arena challenging. First, there are 30 individual decisions to be made during the drafting process, each with a huge combination of options and each influenced by the class you’re playing, the choices you’ve already made, and your predictions about what’s coming. There are a LOT of opportunities to help or harm your cause.

Second, while playing each game there are even more choices – what to play, in what order, usually 8-14 times a game.

Finally, you don’t often get immediate feedback about your plays – everything seems okay while it’s happening, and when you lose on turn 14 it’s not at all obvious that anything that happened on turn 3 had anything to do with it (though that might have been the deciding turn). Even worse, by the time you’re drawing and playing cards you drafted you probably have no memory of the draft itself, and what you could have done differently there.

So: You can win or lose games on turn 14 based on a card you played on turn 4 that you drafted 3/30, several hours ago.

This makes getting better almost impossible without some help. You’ll just never know why you *really* won or lost each game.

Until you wise up and feel the ground. In this case I needed a way to associate wins and losses with choices I’d made much, much earlier, so I could remember those wins and losses the next time a similar choice came around. I did it this way:

I downloaded Microsoft Expression Encoder, which records up to 10 minutes of video free (and also allows you to edit and merge them, neat.) Then I started recording all my Arena runs, and periodically I watch them and note the apparently pivotal moments of each.

Here was my first recorded run. I didn’t start this one until the drafting part was over, silly me – and I won’t bore you with the notes I took rewatching it. Still, I wanted to put my video where my mouth was, so here’s my video.

(NB: This also marks my first foray into YouTube uploading since I was a kid making smoke bombs. Firsts!)

I learned three times as much from watching this run as I did from playing it – and even my errors are positives, when I know they’ll be recorded for my later improvement.

Do you have an example of going out of your way to get feedback, so you can get better? Do you play Hearthstone (so you know how bad of a run that was)? Let me know by email or in the comments.

How to Break Promises

“Promises were like laws; smart men knew when to break both.”
– C.J. Hill, Slayers

You’ve seen a little bit of Scrivener stuff on the blog already – it’s the tool I used to write The eBook, and I use it to write anything longer than a couple of hundred words. There are a lot of guides to its use out there – blog series and even a solid-looking book (David Hewson is a bestseller and has a writing blog).

In the last post, I told you I’d tell you how to write your next eBook with Scrivener – but as I sit down to do that, I realize it’s not a good idea. I’m not an expert – I haven’t yet written a full-length novel with Scrivener – and there are actual experts out there telling you how to do it.

So I’m going to leave it to them. Google “Scrivener” and give it a shot – I promise it’s a hell of a lot better than Word, Evernote or whatever you’re using to write right now. It’s probably overkill for blogs (and it doesn’t help you with WordPress formatting anyway), but for long form stuff it’s great.

—

That’s not the only writing promise I’ve broken lately.

I also said here that I’d soon write a post about dealing with sleep schedule problems. I didn’t write that post, and I’m not going to, see the reasons above. I’ll figure it out eventually, and I’ll tell you how I did it – but that’ll probably just be a link to whichever brilliant solution I eventually stumble on.

—

This is part of the reason I dropped the Progress page – I have a bad habit of saying I’ll do something just so that when I do it later, I can check it off of a list and feel accomplished. I’m trying to get away from that – from mindlessly checking off lists, clearing inboxes, chasing that dopamine rush. That means not getting attached to post possibilities or todos that have gone stale.

So. The next post will be different from, and better than, either of those possibilities.

Six Months of Agony

Your work is carved out of agony as a statue out of marble.
– Louise Bogan

Let’s talk about Agon.

Agony, noun:

1. extreme and generally prolonged pain; intense physical or mental suffering.
2. A display or outburst of intense mental or emotional excitement: an agony of joy.
3. the struggle preceding natural death: mortal agony.

Antonyms:
comfort, ease, pleasure.

1. definitely doesn’t apply. My life is pretty easy, actually – if I were satisfied with it I could sit back and coast and get an above-average middle class existence.

2. is a little more appropriate – I’ve definitely experienced those this year. In the gym, in the bedroom, and in my office when I hit a major milestone.

3. sure – I try to live my life this way, but I fall short a lot of the time. I’m half slacking as I write this blog post – I could give excuses, but it’s enough to say I’m not living as if I were struggling for life right this second. This despite the fact that I am in “the struggle preceding natural death”, like we all are.

The antonyms fit a lot better – I am, in life, trying to avoid comfort and ease as much as possible. Pleasure, not so much – but we’ll ignore that one.

But to find the inspiration for the name Agon, and the idea I’m trying to embody with it and with this blog, we should go back a little farther.

Our word agony comes from the Latin agon – the singular accusative of the verb “ago” – which is pronounced “ah-go”, which means “I…

do, act, make, accomplish, manage, achieve, perform, transact, drive, conduct, push, move, impel, guide, govern, administer, discuss, plead, deliberate, think upon, am occupied with, stir up, excite, cause, induce, chase, pursue, drive at, rob, steal, plunder, carry off, pass, spend, slay, kill, put forth, sprout, extend

Excellent. This comes from the Ancient Greek “agon”, which means “contest”. In fact, the Greeks had a God or spirit named Agon – brother to Nike (Victory) and Zelos (Rivalry). He was a personification of struggle and competition. According to Google Image Seach, my profile picture is of a statue of his in Tunisia (lol at Greek tiny-dicked statues).

So. That’s Agon, and this is who I’m trying to be, this year and into the future. Let’s look at how I’ve done.

Selling My House

Seven out of ten Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.
– Pras Michel

(Here’s hoping I’ll join them, sooner than later.)

Now: It’s now almost three months after I thought I’d list the house, and I have an appointment with the realtor to do so on Monday. It looks better than I ever thought it would, though.

Next: Sell the fucker. With any luck it’ll be off my hands within three months, and I can put the time and money towards something that I want to keep.

Fighting

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.
– Marcus Aurelius

(Trying to cover my bases by getting good at both.)

Now: I’ve competed in one tournament, where I won my first match by submission and lost my second on points. It feels incredible to have that concrete progress, and to see how I’m staring to hold my own with the other regulars at the gym.

Next: More time at the gym is the only way forward, and I’ll compete in another tournament by the end of the year. As for the “real” fight – I’m not sure of a strategic way to do this, so it might be as simple as laying $100 on the table at one of my friends’ houses and giving it to the last man standing. That’d be fun to explain at work the next day – but it’d keep me out of jail.

Fitness

No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training… what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.
– Socrates

Now: I’ve been slacking. Beyond what we do in BJJ and grappling, I haven’t done any explicit exercise, let alone lifting. That said, I’ve made a lot of progress in 3-4 months of solid training and I can no longer say “I’ve never lifted.”

Next: When I get my ass in gear and get back in the gym, I’ll spend a lot of time getting my form right on every lift. I’ll also be adding cardio once or twice a week, since I’m noticing my endurance in matches isn’t what it could be. BJJ demands total fitness and it’s made me a lot stronger already, but I know endurance and explosive strength will drive my game forward massively. I’ll meet my fitness goals and then some by January, I’m sure.

Writing

One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
– Jack Kerouac

Now: I published an ebook to Kindle. Sure, it’s an 11k word monster erotica ebook, but it IS an ebook. I wrote 100 some blog posts, and I don’t know about you but it feels to me like my writing has gotten visibly better.

Next: I’m going to write a full-length novel (~50k words) and a screenplay by the end of the year. They won’t be very good and I can’t imagine they’ll sell, but I’m going to write them. The blog is going to change – I’m sick of writing about what I’m going to do, and I’m running out of cliches and truisms to preach on.

Blogging

An audience is always warming but it must never be necessary to your work.
– Gertrude Stein

Now: I hover at 10-20 unique visitors a day, mostly from search engine traffic (which is a new thing – it used to be only referrals). I have occasional email correspondence and comment exchange with other people – not as much as I’d like, more than I’ve ever had before.

Next: I have a couple guest post submissions planned and intend to start reaching out a lot more often (h/t Radhika who is much better at this than I am.) I’m still learning, but I think my goal of 100 visitors/day is within reach by the end of the year with: more outreach, more regular posting, and longer articles that are less about planning and journaling. See: this one, and not the one you’re reading. The Progress page is going down, begging for you to email me is going up – less telling you my plans and goals, more storytelling and retrospectives that you can really benefit from.

Geographic Freedom

“Forcing everyone into the office every day is an organizational SPoF (single point of failure).”
– Jason Friedman, Remote

Now: I had my yearly review and brought up the idea of full-time or part-time remoting with my boss – he seemed amenable. One more of our guys went fully remote last week, and one went three days a week.

Next: I’ve got a meeting with the Big Boss, and I’ll bring it up aggressively there. Moving out and my girlfriend moving are possible excuses, and with employees no more valuable/reliable than me doing it, there isn’t much standing in my way. It looks like even if I’m in the same job come January, I’ll be doing it at least three days a week from wherever I want.

Motorcycle

My dad is a motorcycle guy, not a Hollywood guy.
– Shia LeBouf (lol)

Now: Basically no progress this year, and I’m starting to get antsy as summer drags on. That said…:

Next: My dad bought a motorcycle. Couldn’t have asked for much better luck – they live in the country where I can practice safely, he bought a small 550 bike, and he’ll be a good teacher. This should be simple to knock out within the next couple months in just one or two free weekends. Depending on how much I get for the house, the budget should be set to get a bike for myself this year – maybe not soon enough to ride it this year, but that’ll be the goal met anyway.

Where We’re Going Now

So here we are. The year’s half over – I’ve come a long, long way. In some ways it’s hard to believe how far; in others I’m disappointed – but when I look at my life now and compare, I can see the distance traveled and know it’s in the right direction. I’m officially an amateur grappler. I can lift a barbell without looking like a complete idiot. My house will be on the market in less than a week, and my credit cards are paid off (albeit with help). I’ve opened the door to remote work and discussed my geographic needs with my boss, to good reaction. I’ve published an 11k word short story, the longest I’ve ever written. At least ten people who aren’t my real-life friends visit my blog each day (hey guys! Email me. What’s up with you?).

There are six months left in the year, and I’m still lit up with the fire of Agon – of competition, of strife and struggle. I’m flexing muscles I’ve never felt before, and I can feel the chains loosening.

Come with me. Let’s see how much farther we can go.

How To Publish an eBook From Scrivener to Amazon

A child of five could understand this. Fetch me a child of five.
– Groucho Marx

NB: This has got to be my most SEO-friendly article to date. Did you get here from a search engine? If so, email me and I’ll take a look at your book once it’s published.

This process was remarkably simple, and if I may be bold, the End Result doesn’t look too bad.

Step 1: write a book in Scrivener

This post is coming next, and I’ll link to it when it’s up.

Step 2: Get some ebook cover art

If you’re handy with Photoshop you could do this pretty easily yourself, using some stock photography and free fonts – that’s really all there is to it. I was lazy and busy (two virtues I suggest you cultivate) and I already had a Fiverr account, so I took care of it there – using this gig, specifically.

For this gig, you have to pick the stock photo yourself from this site, which has a pretty wide selection. Took me about half an hour to search all the terms I could think of and decide between the finalists to land on the one you see on the book.

I sent that to the Fiverr guy, along with the following info:

Hey Jimmy,

1. Monster Hunter Captured
2. Agon
3. Surrender is inevitable
4. Erotic horror: A medieval monster hunter faces a demon none of them are prepared for, and learns what it means to be defeated
5. http://depositphotos.com/4596178/stock-photo-conceptual-image-of-a-hand-holding-a-womans-head.html?sst=0&sqc=19&sqm=1244&sq=3iterx

Take a moment to groan at 3 and 4, if you like. It only gets better from here.

If you’re smarter than me, you’ll start this gig a while before you actually want to publish the book, so you don’t have to wait for it and you’ll have plenty of time to ask for revisions or make your own tweaks. Luckily, my cover looked pretty great the first time around and I was able to move on to:

Step 3: Convert your Scrivener project into an .epub file formatted for Amazon

NB: this is for Windows. According to Apple commercials, you guys already all know how to do this, and are probably on your book tour right now anyway.

Luckily, Scrivener makes this really easy. This will differ depending on how you formatted your book – I broke mine into simple Chapter headings, like this, under one folder:

Note the title – Demon Hunter Captured. I ultimately titled the book “Monster Hunter Captured”, and Scrivener’s going to use that title in the eBook, so I had to change it. Luckily that’s as simple as clicking on the text there, pressing F2, and entering the new name. You can rename the project itself by opening File -> Save As… and saving with a new name (Ctrl-Shift-S).

So. If your structure looks like this and you want the Chapter headers to show up correctly in your published work, you need to Compile it correctly. That’s File -> Compile (Ctrl-Shift-E), Format As: Custom, Compile For: ePub eBook (.epub). Just like this:

Teaser text in the background – that’s free, you’re welcome

We’re not quite done yet, though, so click that little blue arrow to see the options.

Uncheck the “Story” folder so that header doesn’t show up in the book, and check everything else that you want:

 

There are a ton of other possibilities here, and I only understand about half of them. Took me another half an hour to figure out that if I want Chapters to show up right for a book structured this way, I have to click on Formatting on the left and set it up like this (the checkboxes are the important part):

Before you leave, hit Save Preset in the bottom left corner and give it a name like ‘Kindle eBook’ – that way, you can improve this sucker progressively instead of trying to remember what you did last time.

Boom. Save your .epub wherever you like. To check that it turned out semi-correctly, you should open it in an ePub reader – I recommend Readium for Chrome. I might do a post on that a bit later – for now, know that it’s free, nice to have in a pinch anyway, and it’ll let you open your epub in Chrome itself and make sure everything looks at least sort of okay.

To Amazon!

Step 4: Log in to Kindle Direct Publishing with your Amazon account

Here’s the link: https://kdp.amazon.com – there doesn’t seem to be a simple way to get there from the rest of Amazon (if there is, email or comment and let me know).

Sign in and hit “Add New Title”, and you’re off to the races, wondering why you didn’t publish an eBook months ago – it’s easier than paying your cable bill.

NB: I don’t know about KDP, so I don’t know if it’s a good idea. If you know, tell me or leave a comment.

To complete this page you’ll need:

• Your epub file
• Your cover file
• A description. I suggest including an excerpt, all the best fiction sellers seem to.
• At least one author. Doesn’t have to be your real name, thank God.
• Two categories. Mine fits perfectly in ‘Erotic Horror’, so that was easy, and it automatically set the Age Range to 18+ so I didn’t have to worry about that. I’m not a lawyer, so figure out the age range for yourself.

I’d walk you through the rest of this form, but Amazon does a pretty good job of that themselves – just note that you can’t complete this page without those five things.

On the next page you’ll deal with:

• Pricing your ebook
• Content rights

I went with $2.99, the minimum price required for a 70% commission. There might be a better price for launch, but I figure in for a penny, in for a pound (of pennies, which is still only like three bucks).

Boom! You’re just about done. If you haven’t yet, before you hit Publish you’ll have to:

Step 5: Fill out your Tax Info for Amazon

This is a legal requirement, and you can’t publish without it – they’ll stop you. Conveniently, they give you a link to this page and it takes about three minutes.

(I’m so flush with cash from my associate links, I of course had already done this.)

Step 6: Wait

It took about 24 hours for me to get the confirmation email saying my book was up.

It took two days after that (Just now!) for me to realize the title was wrong – “Demon Hunter Captured” on the book, “Monster Hunter Captured” on the cover. Whoops.

Step 7: Change Your Amazon eBook’s Title, Then Wait Again

Your book’s visible on your bookshelf, here: https://kdp.amazon.com/dashboard

You can change just about anything in the two pages you filled out previously. Note, though – when you hit Publish again, it’ll be another 12-24 hours for Amazon to review your changes. Make sure everything’s fixed to the best of your ability before you hit that button, because you can’t make any further changes in between.

Step 8: Shamelessly Beg for Reviews

That’s the part I haven’t done too much of, yet, but while we’re here…

For my loyal readers, a free copy of the eBook to anyone (18+) who asks for it. You don’t *have* to leave a review after you read it, but God, wouldn’t it be nice?

Look at the reviews on a comparable book: The Dungeon of Depraved Beasts (yeah, mine is downright classy by comparison. Intelligent horny female readers, take note.) Surely you can spare the time to write something like that?

—

That’s it, then. The thing is ‘done’. Over the next week or two I’ll be looking into ways to market it – ultimately my revenue goal is just $25, the price I paid for the cover, and you may have noticed this wasn’t exactly a killer launch – no reviews yet, no mailing list, etc. You’ll hear about those things as they come together.

If you made it this far, you either like me a lot or you’re interested in publishing something in a similar way. Either way (especially the first way), email me and let me know.

Published

“Light”, the demon commanded.
– Agon

It’s out. What are you waiting for? Go buy it, “read” it (or actually read it – I’ll never know unless you tell me), and give me a review.

(Much love to my editor – any remaining errors or awkward scenes are only partially her fault.)