poetry from a hole

One of my main issues when writing and drawing (comics, games, etc), is the balance between poetry and reality: How direct in the mediation of feelings should I be? I don't want to say too much, be too obvious and cliché, yet I don't want to be too cryptic and weird, so people won't understand a thing. 

I had the same struggle when I wrote Stilstand; I tried to minimize the use of language and let the visual and game mechanics speak for themselves, which made the few words used extremely impactful. But then comes a new problem: The words. Are they powerful enough, does this one word show exactly what I wanted to show, etc.

And then you can just continue twirling forever in a circular motion, going back and forth between poetry and directiveness until you deleted every word and then nothing in the writing makes sense, and then you find yourself in a pitch black hole, where letters are fading in and out, and you hear an omnious sound, a deep growl from within, a ... stop.

Becoming a poet lol

Now, in the beginning fase of storyboarding and prototyping, I make two versions: A direct one and a poetic one. For example, in describing pregnancy: 

Direct: I didn't know it would feel like this.
Poetic: A sprout. Then, a fever.

Personally, I really like the poetic notions, yet I am not a poet. I have no idea what I am doing. Somehow it feels more safe to be direct. The single sentence can be very impactful. With Stilstand it was definitely these honest reflections that hit the hardest. 

In the case of Mamimal (work title still), my new game about motherhood, I really want to open the door to it all. Yet motherhood is so abstract and other-worldly sometimes, that I want to reflect that too.

Poetic visuals?

Where Stilstand portrayed a real apartment in a real Copenhagen, Mamimal will be in an abstract universe. Inspired by for example Kids the lumpy female character will be in "the white room" of nothingness, where everything can happen. She moves around, becomes pregnant, gives birth, experiences the loneliness of motherhood, connects with nature, etc.

ida hartmann, artwork 'Mamimal' 2024

Parallel to the mamimal character, you will also enter the room of Mother Earth, who lives in a decadent apartment. 

ida hartmann, artwork 'Mamimal' 2025

Hopefully the visuals and the gameplay (mostly drag and drop, pull, reveal) will reflect the abstract feelings, and create a poetic room, where the few sentences will reach something in the player. 

Maybe if the visuals are very surreal and poetic, the language doesn't have to be too?

Or... 

Maybe it doesn't matter? 

Games can be magical, you know - when audio, animations, visuals, gameplay and writing comes together, it can say all the words I didn't know how to say. 

Maybe my real real issues is existing somewhere else:
What it is I want to say with this game? 
 

oh shit.