d23 Retrospective

I haven't been talking about it much, but I've been steadily working on my d23 project since December. (I'm using a hobonichi weeks planner and it starts in December '22, so there's a level 0 in my dungeon.) Up until this month I've mostly kept on track writing one room a day and if I fell behind it was only for a day or two and easy to catch up. Now I think I'm going to change my approach.

At the end of June I took a short break to look back on what I'd done and consider what to do going forward because I was starting to flag.

I work best when I can completely focus on a project, get it done, then move on to the next thing that inspires me. A year-long ongoing project like d23 is the exact opposite of that and after six months it was wearing on me. Having something unfinished for that long got stressful (mildly, but still noticeable) and worse, it split my focus and distracted me from other projects.

I also discovered, after writing every day for six months, that writing every day is not ideal for me. It's good practice for some folks, but I need stretches of time where I don't write and let ideas percolate. I knew that before, but hadn't realized how much I needed that fermentation time.

So with that in mind I've decided to stop slowly grinding away at d23. The one room a day schedule isn't working for me, so I'm not going to stick to it. I'm just going to finish the whole thing now. This isn't a marathon anymore, it's a sprint and I think it'll be fun as hell.

I've actually been having fun doing d23. Despite my brain's complaining it's been a blast and I'm genuinely proud of everything I've made so far. It's been excellent practice for drawing maps and creating concrete-feeling physical spaces, both things I've historically struggled with, and it's made me seriously think about how a dungeon goes together. I know how to organize rooms, add stairs/exits/loops, and why Jaquaysing is important. Even so, actually doing the work and making decisions about where things go on the map made me examine those internalized concepts and refine them. I'm definitely better at this now than I was back in December. I also probably wouldn't have started a project this size at all if not for d23.

It's also been nice having a project that's just for me. I started this with no intention of publishing it. d23 is for me. My dungeon for my table to be run by me. I might share it as an ashcan eventually, but that'd be it.

So the plan going forward: Write the last five levels.

My method from the beginning was to get a concept of what I wanted the level to be, draw the whole map, and make an outline of all the rooms at the start of the month. Then I'd write the rooms in detail each day and make a d30 encounter list (or two/three) at the end of the month once I was sure what lived there. It's a solid system so the only thing that's going to change is the speed I work.

I've already got the ideas for what I want to do on the remaining levels laid out, so now I just need to map and write.