Shiny Things

05:45 am - State of the Career(s)

Current Mood: content

06:14 am - Starting Out Right #4: Games from Games

Here are my answers to another set of questions from the Protospiel mailing list. My previous post in this series can be found here.  (I never posted my response to set #3, oops.)

07:55 am - Maybe He Wasn't Joking

When Ashleigh Brilliant said "If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it badly," maybe it wasn't just a joke. Maybe the way to get really good at something isn't to start out with natural aptitude, but to be so passionate for doing it that you are willing to do it badly. The only way to get good at something is to do it, and if you aren't willing to make mistakes and learn from them, you don't do it enough to get good at it. I hear from the best writers that they are appalled at what they wrote in their youth, but they kept writing. Chuck Jones said that the way he learned to draw his wonderful cartoons was to draw thousands of bad ones: he kept it up because his drawing teacher said to him, once he got really started, "Now you look like you're having fun."

I'm too miserly with my time. I'm not often willing to work on things that won't turn into a finished product to share with the world. I don't do the writing or game design equivalent of sketches. I'm beginning to think that's rather stupid of me. The investment in my own skills and passions to work on those things is very worthwhile, even if what I'm producing at the moment is not. I guess we wouldn't send kids to school if it didn't work that way. I also hear that even failed projects are never wasted, because there's usually something salvageable in there for future projects.

I'm a little burned out from pounding on StoryCards all this year, and there are still some things on it I need to do. But I've got another idea burning in the back of my head: not a new idea, but a new angle on it. Maybe it will suck. Maybe that doesn't matter so much, as long as I have fun working on it.

02:35 pm - Starting Out Right #2: What Are You Good At?

Here are my answers to the next set of questions from the Protospiel mailing list. My answers to the first set can be found here.

08:22 pm - Starting Out Right #1: Why Design?

Mike Petty posted the following questions on the Protospiel mailing list. I thought I'd post my answers, in case anyone was interested.

06:49 am - Overwhelmed

It's been a hell of a month.

( Beware: long, rambling, self-involved post. )

09:51 am - My Strengths

One of my Christmas presents was Now, Discover Your Strengths. I just took the test included with the book and here are what it claims are my top strengths:

1. STRATEGIC: People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.


2. INTELLECTION: People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.


3. INPUT: People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.


4. LEARNER: People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.


5. COMMUNICATION: People strong in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.