SIM:Jessica the Writer - Taking the Reins
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Characters
Summary
While Jessica is attending Orson College she decides to join a mentoring program for young creative writing students.
Sim
((Present Day))
::It's been six months since I started going to Orson. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice. They say they're a "liberal arts" school. That's why I've got to take all these weird classes that have like nothing to do with my major. I'm trying to be a writer here, not a home maker. Frack they've even made me take philosophy. What a waste of time.
And next semester I've gotta take this class called life skills. In that class they make you stop going to lectures at the drop of a hat and work with these guys on learning to manage a household and hold down a job and stuff. And all during that I've gotta maintain my courseload. What a load of crap.
Oh well. What I'm really writing about here is this mentoring program I joined. Basically you get mentored by an older creative writing student. The one I'm in is weird. But I'll get to that in a sec.
So I sent my application in to my academic advisor. He said it looked good and I could start with this old guy who's been in the program off and on for the last ten years. His name's John Ewen. When I met him it was kind of weird.
So I knock on his door and I can hear all this paper rustling and the door finally opens. Out steps this older looking guy. Well he's in his forties anyway. So he says,::
Ewen: Can I help you?
Jessica: Hi. I'm Jessica. I'm here for the mentoring program.
Ewen: Ah. So you're my new protege are you?
Jessica: Uh, yeah, I guess.
Ewen: How long have you been writing?
::Oh man. How long? I bite my bottom lip and then say,::
Jessica: Well this is kind of my first time trying it.
Ewen: Everyone has to start somewhere. Come on in.
::The guy's room is a mess. I can hear a few other people in the dorm too. They're all at least in their thirties. Some even have kids.::
Ewen: This is my extended family of sorts. I tend not to see them very often since I'm cooped up in here writing most of the time.
Jessica: Cool cool.
Ewen: So what got you interested in writing?
::I tell him I just wanted to do something creative for a living. It's complete crap but he buys it.::
Ewen: Well, I can think of a great project you can help me with. Seeing as you have absolutely no experience and this project is still in its infancy, relatively speaking, it might be beneficial for you to work on it with me.
Jessica: Sounds great.
::I have no idea what he has in mind, but I need all the help I can get. I mean let's just say it's a good thing this guy doesn't seem curious about my marks or anything. Oh man, my advisor probably already forwarded them to him.::
Ewen: It's a story about a young engineer aboard a Federation starship, so it's definitely a period piece.
::Oh God. This is going to be so boring. So he like to write stories about history and engineers.::
Jessica: Okay. What's his name?
Ewen: Lewis Cantor. I got the name off of the list of graduating students from the academy. But if you want you can change it.
::Wow. I get to change the main character's name.::
Jessica: Okay.
Ewen: You don't sound terribly enthusiastic, Jessica.
Jessica: It's not that. I'm just trying to get in my element you know?
::He doesn't buy that one.::
Ewen: In your element? Anyway, I can do the research for you while you do the writing. Like I said, we'll be working on it together.
::There's something funny about all this. It sounds too familiar. He shows me a picture of the officer. He's got brown hair, hazel eyes. I could swear I've seen him before somewhere. I hardly remember anything anymore. It's all a blur. I mean I know I fell down a mining chute back on Desperot and before that I was a shelf stocker. But it just seems so unreal now, you know?::
::So anyway we get to talking for a while and then it clicks. Oh my God. I've been dreaming about this guy. Every few nights I have these wild dreams where I see him doing stuff on a giant space station, like talking to this Andorian guy. He's one of his officers. But in my dream, the guy's chief of science. He's not an engineer. But no. Maybe he is. I don't know. Wait. That's right. He got transferred a while back.::
Ewen: Anyway, I have given him a wide berth of knowledge. For example, he is familiar with poetry and also quantum mechanics. Indeed, his superiors recently transferred him to the science department, though he still does engineering work.
::Bingo.::
Jessica: Um.. I can definitely help with this.
Ewen: I'm glad to hear it. At first you seemed hesitant.
Jessica: Can I change the name now?
Ewen: Sure. What did you have in mind?
::I've got to make this more personal. It's my dream. He's stealing it. I say the first thing that comes to mind.::
Jessica: Kevin Breeman
Jessica
Student of Creative Writing
as simmed by
Lt. Jg. Kevin Breeman
Chief of Science
USS Independence-A
Commentary
With this sim, the narrative voice re-absorption is completed. Jessica realizes that she has been dreaming about Kevin Breeman's adventures and proceeds to write about him. This sim retires Jessica as a character and allows Breeman's writer to create a sense of plausibility when he makes the narrative less academic sounding. Jessica's narrative voice will add a more casual sound to future sims.
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