Another friend and I were lamenting that we missed the creative process that was fulfilled by gaming back in the day (both of us have stepped away due to the politicized gaming community).
Christian smartly said: “Don’t do anything grand, fellas. Field notes map doodles, star block, adventure seeds, etc. Quick little bites for a daily creative check in, but leave it at that.”
And you know what? He was exactly right. I immediately stepped back, pulled out my field notes, and tossed this together. No grand “I am going to publish this!”, no “I am going to throw this into Affinity and clean it up, add color!”…just a notebook and a pen.
I think too often my desire to create morphs into a desire to create things useful to others. My enjoy moves from the most important thing for me and is replaced with others' needs. I think I have let this dominate the way I create things for so long that I honestly do not know how to just do for me. This left me feeling very much unfulfilled as a creator, gamer, heck...person.
"Hi. I am back. I am going to have some fun for me and enjoy some creating and gaming, my way."
Couldn't agree more. I know I'm a gronard when I saw this, but I think it's still a valid point. I miss the days when zines were not slick productions. All the polish and stylization these days has also increased the costs of zines. I miss when it was one person creating the zine, printing it from home, making a few dozen copies and either giving them out, trading for a zine you made, or charging under $5. The zines today are great, but they lack the personal feel.
ReplyDeleteAnd draw a map. Good or bad. Share it. Just the act of creating without expectation.
Same here. I loved the G+ era, everyone was creating, sharing, playing and having a great time. Sounds stupid to say, but it was a magical time. The RPG community was truly that, a community. I miss that.
DeleteGreat advice! Good to see you back on track.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteSounds like a great plan! I always try to amuse myself first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteThis is the way
ReplyDeleteThis is the way
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Good to see you back creating! And G+ was a golden era for sure!!
ReplyDeleteI like seeing the smaller maps you publish for yourself. I like seeing others do the same. They mostly all have something I like, that I can use. And they often inspire me to do my own, because they’re on the same scale as something I can doodle up now, for example, while waiting for lunch in a café. I often have issues with stocking larger maps; I can roll dice and consult tables, but the result often just feels wrong, or random. Smaller maps with a hint of backstory are much easier.
ReplyDelete