Saturday, June 23, 2012

Developing an Idea

It takes me longer these days to get an idea to come to fruition.  Most of the time the idea comes in as bits and pieces.  I know I have something interesting, but its not all there yet.  I'm not sure if its because I'm older, my energy is divided amongst too many things or I have an intense job that depletes me of my mental strength.  I'm sure its a combo of them all.  Or maybe I just know now that there is more to the idea and I need to wait.  When I was younger I would go ahead with a half baked notion.

I've been writing for the second issue of The Manor and one part has been giving me a problem.  I've written it over eight times.  Still not liking it.

Today, Ivy and I go out to the grocery store she loves.  I like it because it has big ass tables I can spread my crap all over, put on my iPod and go to work.  I kept it simple today, no Nook, no cell phone and no laptop.  I took the maps I was working with and just a tablet with the seed of an idea on it and a pen.  Old school writing time!

After dicking around watching people trying to by beer with no ID card and arguing with the cashier even though there is a big ass sign reading 'No ID, No Alcohol' I got to work.  And as I was writing up a typical monster description a simple sentence I wrote, something unrelated to everything else I had thought of, tied the concept together and gave it a new depth and made it more playable.  Now I have what I want to do with it.  And of course instead of writing it I'm here writing a blog.

I've written for many years with a wide range of success and failures.  I was just reading over at Telecanter's Receding Rules about his discovery of things.  How he likes to single things out and make them work.  I know what he's talking about.  I do it with my writing.  I do it with reading other people's works.  Apparently I do it at the grocery store watching people get mad because they aren't getting their beer. 

Back to work for me.

2 comments:

  1. Very nice, very nice, writing about the process. This is important stuff, some times it's things like the "No I.D., No Beer" signs that inspire us to throw that extra spice into our projects.

    But I'm confused by the new logo under the Happy Whisk link. Guess I'll have to go there and see what it is about? Fight on!

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  2. I love the creative process...having got four hours sleep I wok with the need to work out hwo to stat a dwergi...They are a precursor to dwarves...only more savage and yet more industrious.

    I went looking in the indoeuropean section of my dictionary and found dwei means 'to fear' or 'Dire' so it hit me - a dwergi was a Dire Dwarf - and I plundered the dire wolf of its dire template and slapped it on the dwarf and got an 8' tall savage dwarf who is all strength and intelligence - rather than constitution and intelligence...its like your brain goes off like a nuclear weapon and you come up with a solution.

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