Comments on: The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Creativity http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity The Game Mastering Blog Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Tollymain http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-9058 Tollymain Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:08:04 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-9058 TvTropes is a good source for ideas concerning NPCs, plots, settings, etc. Just keep hitting the random page button until you find something interesting. I've found that doing this often gives me new ideas.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('9058','Tollymain'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> TvTropes is a good source for ideas concerning NPCs, plots, settings, etc. Just keep hitting the random page button until you find something interesting. I’ve found that doing this often gives me new ideas.
Reply
]]> By: Blog Post: Friday Links for November 20, 2009 (on Sunday, November 22, 2009) | Moebius Adventures http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8135 Blog Post: Friday Links for November 20, 2009 (on Sunday, November 22, 2009) | Moebius Adventures Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:34:17 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8135 [...] And lastly, over at Gnome Stew, DNAPhil has encouraged us to properly care for and feed our creativity. Mine’s been starving a bit lately, so his advice is well received by yours truly. I love the idea of creating a new NPC, location description, or plot idea every day or every few days. It’s something I hope to put into practice soon! http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity [...]<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8135','Blog Post: Friday Links for November 20, 2009 (on Sunday, November 22, 2009) | Moebius Adventures'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> [...] And lastly, over at Gnome Stew, DNAPhil has encouraged us to properly care for and feed our creativity. Mine’s been starving a bit lately, so his advice is well received by yours truly. I love the idea of creating a new NPC, location description, or plot idea every day or every few days. It’s something I hope to put into practice soon! http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity [...]
Reply
]]> By: rocketlettuce http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8126 rocketlettuce Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:50:49 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8126 Kudos to DNAPhil for pointing out the importance of caring for your creative self. GMing is an art and must be approached as such. Julia Cameron, a filmmaker, writer, and creativity guru recommends writing "morning pages" every day. Morning pages are three pages of free-writing first thing in the morning. I have found this technique, coupled with weekly "artist dates," to be invaluable to my games, my work, and my life as a whole. Check out her book. It's called, The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. (Don't let the spiritual part scare you off. You'll like it anyway.) Bryan<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8126','rocketlettuce'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Kudos to DNAPhil for pointing out the importance of caring for your creative self. GMing is an art and must be approached as such.

Julia Cameron, a filmmaker, writer, and creativity guru recommends writing “morning pages” every day. Morning pages are three pages of free-writing first thing in the morning. I have found this technique, coupled with weekly “artist dates,” to be invaluable to my games, my work, and my life as a whole.

Check out her book. It’s called, The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. (Don’t let the spiritual part scare you off. You’ll like it anyway.)

Bryan

Reply
]]> By: penguin133 http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8115 penguin133 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:35:18 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8115 I really like some of these suggestions. Creativity is the name of the game in roleplaying, for any game system or milieu. Telas, yer right, I found moving around was a great stimulus when actually GMing, let alone when writing or creating. Good way to keep up the interest and "Spark" characteristic of the best GM. Storytelling is very important; I honed my skills through my old Army mates and several generations of kids and then Grandkids!I have since developed great hopes of telling tales for another Generation with the recent birth of my first Great Grandchild! Teaching and a good "Manner" are another prerequisite of the better GM. After all, you are expecting your Players to "believe" via their imaginations in some-hing that really exists only between your ears? This is one of the reasons I am a great believer in minis, even paper and card ones, Counters and almost anything that can represent the "real thing", so that PCs can visualise things in a "video" manner. (I sometimes wonder if the present pandemic of video games is a good or a bad thing, it is certainly a stimulus to the imagination, but limiting, even stereotyping, perhaps to the creativity of the Players?) However I'm wandering off topic! "Handouts" are another thing which is a great help in creating the necessary "Belief", or at least suspension of Disbelief. I tend to think of it as the "Quantum of Solace!", the story by Ian Fleming, not the recent Bond movie? If you can hand the Player(s) a real map or a document in some authentic-looking Font (available on the Net and mostly totally free), and challenge them to get it translated (or feed some Dwarven(?)character the "Real" answer, which can provide some innocent amusement as you watch said PC try to wring some advantage out of what "he" knows, whether it be some ancient Diary (See Moria and the "Drums in the deep, extremely chilling IMO!)May IU in passibng congratulatethe maker of the Gnome standups,m by tyhe way, an excellent idea? I have been using card figures and counters to supplement my Figure collction for a long time, not only does it let you provide more figutres in greater quantity, and they will traveol i n hyour pocket with no problem;' but it lets you have a greater variety of figures and "types". And play differing milieux with figures you might not otherwise have? I also find that figures often give me an idea for a personality otr story? Thanks, Ian<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8115','penguin133'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I really like some of these suggestions. Creativity is the name of the game in roleplaying, for any game system or milieu. Telas, yer right, I found moving around was a great stimulus when actually GMing, let alone when writing or creating. Good way to keep up the interest and “Spark” characteristic of the best GM. Storytelling is very important; I honed my skills through my old Army mates and several generations of kids and then Grandkids!I have since developed great hopes of telling tales for another Generation with the recent birth of my first Great Grandchild!
Teaching and a good “Manner” are another prerequisite of the better GM. After all, you are expecting your Players to “believe” via their imaginations in some-hing that really exists only between your ears? This is one of the reasons I am a great believer in minis, even paper and card ones, Counters and almost anything that can represent the “real thing”, so that PCs can visualise things in a “video” manner.
(I sometimes wonder if the present pandemic of video
games is a good or a bad thing, it is certainly a stimulus to the imagination, but limiting, even stereotyping, perhaps to the creativity of the Players?) However I’m wandering off topic! “Handouts” are another thing which is a great help in creating the necessary “Belief”, or at least suspension of Disbelief. I tend to think of it as the “Quantum of Solace!”, the story by Ian Fleming, not the recent Bond movie? If you can hand the Player(s) a real map or a document in some authentic-looking Font (available on the Net and mostly totally free), and challenge them to get it translated (or feed some Dwarven(?)character the “Real” answer, which can provide some innocent amusement as you watch said PC try to wring some advantage out of what “he” knows, whether it be some ancient Diary (See Moria and the “Drums in the deep, extremely chilling IMO!)May IU in passibng congratulatethe maker of the Gnome standups,m by tyhe way, an excellent idea? I have been using card figures and counters to supplement my Figure collction for a long time, not only does it let you provide more figutres in greater quantity, and they will traveol i n hyour pocket with no problem;’ but it lets you have a greater variety of figures and “types”. And play differing milieux with figures you might not otherwise have? I also find that figures often give me an idea for a personality otr story?
Thanks, Ian
Reply
]]> By: Kurt "Telas" Schneider http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8100 Kurt "Telas" Schneider Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:31:24 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8100 This probably won't be a popular opinion among gamers... General Patton once said that you shouldn't sit down for more than twenty minutes; walking around or engaging in some other physical activity "stirred the juices". I've found this to be somewhat accurate, although I think the timeline is greater than twenty minutes. I've broken through a number of 'writer's blocks' by doing something physical (as opposed to another intellectual activity).<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8100','Kurt \"Telas\" Schneider'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> This probably won’t be a popular opinion among gamers…

General Patton once said that you shouldn’t sit down for more than twenty minutes; walking around or engaging in some other physical activity “stirred the juices”.

I’ve found this to be somewhat accurate, although I think the timeline is greater than twenty minutes. I’ve broken through a number of ‘writer’s blocks’ by doing something physical (as opposed to another intellectual activity).

Reply
]]> By: Bercilac http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8096 Bercilac Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:48:48 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8096 All good points. I teach history, so I definitely go through having to exercise my creativity, come up with new ways to present dry material (guess what I use a lot of...), and some serious downtime after a lot of lesson planning.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8096','Bercilac'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> All good points. I teach history, so I definitely go through having to exercise my creativity, come up with new ways to present dry material (guess what I use a lot of…), and some serious downtime after a lot of lesson planning.
Reply
]]> By: Scott Martin http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8087 Scott Martin Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:51:33 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8087 I like the idea that frequent (or regular) creative exercise can increase your capability-- or at least help creativity come on command. That's a valuable skill, well worth some effort to develop. In some ways, I already recognized it-- improvising as GM leads to better improvising and more confidence, encouraging a GM to step a little further away from the tracks and trust a little more. But I didn't know it in as strong a form as you presented it-- thanks for underlining it!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8087','Scott Martin'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I like the idea that frequent (or regular) creative exercise can increase your capability– or at least help creativity come on command. That’s a valuable skill, well worth some effort to develop. In some ways, I already recognized it– improvising as GM leads to better improvising and more confidence, encouraging a GM to step a little further away from the tracks and trust a little more. But I didn’t know it in as strong a form as you presented it– thanks for underlining it!
Reply
]]> By: icarus1863 http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8074 icarus1863 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:14:41 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8074 Planet Earth series is definitly awesome. So far my PCs have climbed mounds of bat guano, crossed swords on monolithic stalagmites, & encountered jack jumper ants. I have plans for the salt crystal caverans, and the spores. Dirty Jobs: "There is always a pit." The PCs, who have performed pivital parts in ending the war against the barbarians, have been awarded a land grant. The base village located there Applewood - Is actually Walnut grove, from Little House on the Praire. Watched it as a child, Now i have a entire village of NPCs that i know -goals, jobs, reactions.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8074','icarus1863'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Planet Earth series is definitly awesome. So far my PCs have climbed mounds of bat guano, crossed swords on monolithic stalagmites, & encountered jack jumper ants. I have plans for the salt crystal caverans, and the spores.

Dirty Jobs: “There is always a pit.”

The PCs, who have performed pivital parts in ending the war against the barbarians, have been awarded a land grant. The base village located there Applewood – Is actually Walnut grove, from Little House on the Praire. Watched it as a child, Now i have a entire village of NPCs that i know -goals, jobs, reactions.

Reply
]]> By: callin http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8067 callin Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:44:20 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8067 Very true. I recently finished up creating a 4E character class. While I was working on it I kept referencing other character classes already made, primarily to make sure my numbers were right. I started rereading all the other classes, and sure enough, ideas would be sparked. It wasn't even a case of lifting ideas and transplanting them but rather a new idea would form. One idea I've heard related to Random Encounters. The individual puts his random encounters onto index cards, one per. Then once a week he spends about an hour adding index cards to his pile, thus keeping his random encounters fresh. At the same time he is inadvertnetly exercising. My blog- http://bigballofnofun.blogspot.com/<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8067','callin'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Very true.
I recently finished up creating a 4E character class. While I was working on it I kept referencing other character classes already made, primarily to make sure my numbers were right. I started rereading all the other classes, and sure enough, ideas would be sparked. It wasn’t even a case of lifting ideas and transplanting them but rather a new idea would form.
One idea I’ve heard related to Random Encounters. The individual puts his random encounters onto index cards, one per. Then once a week he spends about an hour adding index cards to his pile, thus keeping his random encounters fresh. At the same time he is inadvertnetly exercising.

My blog- http://bigballofnofun.blogspot.com/

Reply
]]> By: John Arcadian http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8065 John Arcadian Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:02:47 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8065 This is an awesome article, and something I need to take heed of. I get pulled into so many projects that I never take time off. I also tend to feed my creativity when I get a new project, but not as a matter of course. If I'm world-building for a system then I look to sources that evoke the similar feel of what I want to get. I'll play video games that are evocative, or charge the areas I want to be using, or read books that have a similar style. I'll write little things down in a notebook and then, when looking over them later, wonder what piqued my interest in the first place. I'll start trying to fill in holes as to why I wrote down "Square sword with holes in the blade" and it will blossom in multiple new directions. The end result rarely looks like the inspiration, but it gives me a starting ground to jump off of.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8065','John Arcadian'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> This is an awesome article, and something I need to take heed of. I get pulled into so many projects that I never take time off.

I also tend to feed my creativity when I get a new project, but not as a matter of course. If I’m world-building for a system then I look to sources that evoke the similar feel of what I want to get. I’ll play video games that are evocative, or charge the areas I want to be using, or read books that have a similar style. I’ll write little things down in a notebook and then, when looking over them later, wonder what piqued my interest in the first place. I’ll start trying to fill in holes as to why I wrote down “Square sword with holes in the blade” and it will blossom in multiple new directions. The end result rarely looks like the inspiration, but it gives me a starting ground to jump off of.

Reply
]]> By: Tyson J. Hayes http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8064 Tyson J. Hayes Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:08:45 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8064 I couldn't agree more with this article. I'm currently in an intense development cycle for the roleplaying game and I'm planning on a sabbatical from roleplaying to rest my creative juices and gear up for another run. Great thoughts thanks for sharing them.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8064','Tyson J. Hayes'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I couldn’t agree more with this article. I’m currently in an intense development cycle for the roleplaying game and I’m planning on a sabbatical from roleplaying to rest my creative juices and gear up for another run.

Great thoughts thanks for sharing them.

Reply
]]> By: trisj http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-proper-care-and-feeding-of-your-creativity/comment-page-1#comment-8062 trisj Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:45:12 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=5339#comment-8062 I like to troll Wikipedia and click on the featured items if they seem remotely interesting. Clicking on one usually sends me down a rabbit hole of craziness where one starts off looking up 'diarrhea (for the correct spelling)' and then winds up on 'Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki' and 'Ark of the Covenant.' I kid you not, I have a game idea that has something to do with all this. I also like to watch nature shows that show breathtaking, sweeping landscapes to give ideas for dungeons and settings. The Planet Earth series was phenomenal and the 'Cave' show especially was insane. Listening to music and paying attention to the lyrics sometimes gets the ideas flowing. Nick Cave, The Black Heart Procession, Blonde Redhead, PJ Harvey...ideas for NPCs and story lines abound in their strange lyrics.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('8062','trisj'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I like to troll Wikipedia and click on the featured items if they seem remotely interesting. Clicking on one usually sends me down a rabbit hole of craziness where one starts off looking up ‘diarrhea (for the correct spelling)’ and then winds up on ‘Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’ and ‘Ark of the Covenant.’ I kid you not, I have a game idea that has something to do with all this.

I also like to watch nature shows that show breathtaking, sweeping landscapes to give ideas for dungeons and settings. The Planet Earth series was phenomenal and the ‘Cave’ show especially was insane.

Listening to music and paying attention to the lyrics sometimes gets the ideas flowing. Nick Cave, The Black Heart Procession, Blonde Redhead, PJ Harvey…ideas for NPCs and story lines abound in their strange lyrics.

Reply
]]>