Featured Author: An Interview with EddieSims

Sul Sul and Happy Timezones! Once again, it is time to feature an author through an interview! Today’s is with EddieSims who writes, “The Sloane Legacy” along with some other amazing stories at “Eddie’s Sims World!” Eddie is an excellent storyteller and writer and “The Sloane Legacy” is one of my favorite stories ever! If you haven’t read her legacy yet, I would highly, highly recommend it. You won’t be disappointed.

Shall we begin?

1. How long have you been playing The Sims and what got you into it?

I’ve been playing The Sims since 2005. A friend of mine had The Sims and I remember thinking how boring the whole concept was and yet she would play it for hours. A game with no end goal or boss battle? It seemed kinda dumb. And then I started playing it and I understood. You get caught up in wanting to make your little person the best they can be. You want them to find a partner and have a family and improve their home and lifestyle. The little girl in me who loved to play with dolls and create elaborate backstories for them (yes, I legitimately did this as a kid) felt like she finally got the dollhouse she always wanted. With each version of the game, I get an upgraded, fancier dollhouse to place my dolls in, with the ability to create even more elaborate backstories and hidden agendas!

2. Why did you begin blogging your sims story?

I got the Sims 4 about a month after it came out. I had been reading SimLit for years, so I decided I would give it a shot since I loved writing and playing the game. In December 2014, I jumped in head first with my legacy. My original legacy founder was going to be a guy and it would have been a first-born heir system but then I decided I would make my legacy a matriarchy since I thought the story would be more interesting if it was female-centric. I could easily write from a female perspective since I am one, but all of my heiresses ended up so different from the real me that it has tested my creativity from time to time. It’s been a welcomed challenge as a writer.

3. How do you come up with your story ideas?

I’ve always loved storytelling. Since I was 11 years old I’ve been writing stories, mostly for the amusement of my friends. I love reading books and watching movies/TV shows. Human behavior intrigues me which is probably why I love this life simulation game. My ideas come right off the top of my head, heavily influenced by the stories that I read and watch and even a few real-life scenarios. I also allow the gameplay to influence the plotlines too.

4. Do your sims actions help create new ideas or make the story go in a different direction then you had intended?

Most of the stuff that happens in the story actually happens in the game. Some game events, I put a creative spin on it. For example, in Generation 4 when ghost Danielle visited Gemma. Ghosts in the game usually pop up at random so it’s hard to plan anything with them unless you’re patient or you add them to the household. I took this as an opportunity for Danielle to try to talk some sense into her daughter, but Gemma, of course, did not take her seriously and thought she was hallucinating. I didn’t plan on having a ghost-mother/daughter heart to heart but the game gave me an opportunity, so I took it. Also, when Zachary was abducted by aliens and ended up pregnant it made me angry at first. Then I made it part of Gemma’s nefarious scheme to punish him. More recently, I was messing around with the settings for the WickedWhims mod and that resulted in a teen pregnancy between two of my heiress’ friends. Oops! Stuff like that happens a lot and I just go with it. I try not to plan too much but sometimes I get an idea and I have to do some planning in order to implement it.

5. Which character is your favorite and why?

I don’t have a favourite and that’s probably because I write each of the heiresses so they have a little bit of me in them. None of them are exactly like me but some aspects of their personalities are relatable to me. Ariana was very independent and likes to do things on her own, same as me. Bree is an overachiever and I can be that way too. Danielle is a sucker for love but she knows her worth and accepts no less. Gemma…well…hmm…okay, maybe I outsourced for her! LOL. Ivy is the most like me in terms of her social anxiety and love for video games and geeky hobbies. Maia’s passion for food and cooking is similar to my own. Olive’s desire to help others which ends up getting her into trouble happens to me all too often.

6. What chapter has been the most difficult to write so far, and why?

The most difficult chapter was Chapter 7.22 – Interlude: Confessions. It’s my longest one so far and there’s so much in there that it was hard for me to take all that craziness out of my head and type it out. The part where Eli talks about the altercation with his father was also tough. I struggled with the screenshots the most because I didn’t want it to be too graphic but I needed it to be dark enough so you get the idea. In the end, I’m proud of how it turned out.

7. Is there anything you wish was different about your story?

I wish I developed my characters a lot more in the early generations. Generation 3 was when I really started to get creative with the storylines. The first two generations were narrations of the gameplay with a little storytelling in between. Now that I’m in generation 7 my legacy is mostly storytelling guided by gameplay and I like it this way.

8. Do you have advice for any other writers who may just be starting out?

Having someone whose opinion you trust to read your chapters before posting is very helpful. My fiancé does it for me. He’ll not only point out typos, but he’ll let me know if something is too over the top or uncharacteristic for one of my characters. It’s good to bounce ideas off someone before you commit to them as well. Ultimately, the final decision is yours. No one else will know your story or your characters as well as you do but having a second opinion can’t hurt.

9. What are the challenges of bringing your characters to life?

For me, it’s trying not to put too much of myself into them. It’s tempting to try to make your character do as you would do in a particular situation, even if it goes against their personality. In my mind, it’s the sensible and just thing to do but I have to put myself in their shoes and write accordingly.

10. Would you like to share an excerpt from your story or a summary of your story? Or both?

Alternate Question: What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?

I’ve always loved writing. I started many short stories and didn’t complete them because I would procrastinate and when it was time to get back to it I’d lose the motivation to continue. I wanted to tell a story but I also wanted to make sure I didn’t fall back into old habits, so I combined my writing with my love of The Sims and turned to SimLit. Having a blog gives me extra pressure to make sure I don’t give up. Knowing there are people in the world reading, waiting for more of the story is good motivation. I am very grateful to all of my readers for keeping me motivated and for making this blog a positive experience for me.

Thank you so much, Eddie, for such an enlightening interview! I really appreciate it!