9 Comments
User's avatar
Yarns for One's avatar

Good (and different!) advice from most of the usual wordsmithing sorts of advice articles. I used to daydream a lot more. Time to rawdog some flights (or drives) and let my mind wander I guess!

Samwise Gamgeez's avatar

Turning off the input (YT, music, audiobooks) is one of the hardest things I have yet to accomplish on a regular basis. I am going to also give raw dogging life a try again

Ivo Ziskra's avatar

It might be weird, but I think it is brilliant and fascinating. But I am strange and weird myself. Trying to find strange ways to invert what is known into some different and strange.

Per's avatar

It's not about capturing the idea, but about exercising the muscle. If the idea is strong enough it'll be remembered

That there resonated very well with me! I sometimes get a bit stressed out when I have an idea and no nearby means of jotting it down. But in reality that has exactly never been a real issue. The real issue is I don't do enough daydreaming and creative exercising.

A great read! Thanks for sharing this 🙂

Terry Tibke's avatar

I think I daydreamed 3 separate times during the course of reading this. My doctor calls that ADHD, but I call it a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor, I say. Yeah, you really did a fantastic job of capturing this process and putting it into words.

Tom Jepson's avatar

Love this. Your love for the craft shows.

SoloRPGamer's avatar

I need so much more of this content! Thanks for taking the time and sharing it! It is very much appreciated.

Benjamin's avatar

Could you write a bit about how you handle the constant dopamine-distractions

of the modern world? Especially cell phones. I have an idea and go to write in in my phone's app,

and suddenly there are a dozen whispering voices

Shouldn't you check your Facebook?

What were we watching on Youtube?

Any new Discord Messages?

And if I am not quick and careful, the idea is gone like a bird from an open cage.

This is why I need to start keeping a physical notebook again.

This has me thinking about the things that always move me, the things I obsess over, that I always come back to.

The beauty and majesty of nature

The eradication of Christian legacy in a materialistic world

American Mythology, is Billy the Kid really our King Arthur substitute?

Diegetic gameplay and Narrative gameplay intersectionality

RPG's as community art vs commercial product

Telling stories with Civilization games

Devouring Darkness and Desolate Deserts

The Internet, messenger to millions and peddler of rubbish

Unfairness of institutions

The real Middle Ages

Being a child of two worlds and Pre-2000's technology

Anyway, got me thinking.

Murkdice's avatar

I’ll be honest, distractions are not usually a problem for me (kinda a rubbish answer I know). I tend to be pretty focused in a tunnel vision sort of way! But my best advice is to create a distraction free environment: work on paper, turn the internet off on your machine, that sort of stuff.

Start small, try to work continuously without interruption for 15 minutes a day to start with, and gently increase that time as you get comfortable working with that kind of focus :)

Remember though, breaks are good, and you’re not aiming for perfect.