A Note on Dragons

There is a common misconception that dragons are living creatures. Oversized reptiles that are magical and long-lived with varying degrees of intelligence, but ultimately just reptiles. They are not. Dragons are not alive in any way we would recognize. They're walking calamities, natural disasters incarnated and loosed on the world.

The mere presence of a dragon warps reality around it, causing unpredictable and unnatural changes in the physical world and any creatures unfortunate enough to be exposed. At this time the exact mode of action of a dragon's destructive field is unknown. The prevailing thought is that the extreme mutagenic and corrosive effects are caused by the hyper-concentrated zones of arcane energy dragons radiate. Unfortunately there are no solid studies to support the hypothesis yet since none of the research teams who have attempted entering dragon wastes have survived long enough to collect significant amounts of data.

What we do know from the few successful dissections we have on record is that dragons are anatomically very similar to lighter-than-air vehicles like ornithopters. Their wings are only used for propulsion and steering while the lift for their flight is generated by dozens of helium bladders distributed throughout their bodies. The helium itself is a byproduct of the internal fusion reaction that dragons use to sustain themselves and generate the energy for their destructive breath.

This lighter-than-air method of locomotion is key to dragons' ability to effortlessly fly long distances. In theory they could stay aloft forever since they don't actually need to eat and can subsist off atmospheric hydrogen and carbon dioxide alone. Unfortunately dragons enjoy eating so we'll continue to encounter them for the foreseeable future.

We also know that dragons don't reproduce. They don't lay or hatch from eggs and don't birth offspring. Eyewitness accounts of draconic generation, known as apodracosis, confirm that every dragon was once another creature which was transformed into a dragon. The exact form of the nascent dragon depends on several factors: What the creature was before the curse took hold, the strength of any nearby thaumaturgic fields, and most critically their emotional state at the moment of transformation. Greed is the usual catalyst of an apodraconic event, but all-consuming rage, pride, hatred, defiance, and betrayal are common instigators as well. In rare instances dragons can form from emotions that are generally considered positive, such as love, loyalty, curiosity, determination, and selflessness. The resulting dragons are just as terrible as the more common specimens, exhibiting a twisted form of their inciting emotion and an even greater drive to seek out living things.

It's always preferable to prevent the creation of a new dragon rather than slay one that has already developed. Should you encounter something or someone displaying the early symptoms of dracosis, don't hesitate.

Talking About My Work/Myself

I both love and hate talking about my work and myself* and it depends entirely on the context of the conversation, which is true for most people if we're being honest. The main variables that determine how I feel about discussing myself are the venue and current topic of the conversation.

I really don't like talking about myself unprompted in a public venue, like social media or a general discord channel on an open server. If it's relevant to the current conversation, like somebody else has already mentioned me/one of my projects** or someone's asking for recommendations and I really think something I've made fits what they're looking for, then I'll chime in and share. Otherwise I try not to talk about myself or post my stuff that much because I don't want to draw attention away from the actual topic to myself.*** It might be a symptom of past over-exposure to twitter and kickstarter but routinely posting about myself feels fake and marketing-esque, and I don't want to inflict that on people. It gets old fast and I don't want to burn folks out.

I do like talking in smaller more private spaces like DMs or voice chats where it doesn't feel like I'm derailing an ongoing conversation. I'm proud of the things I've made. I think they're good, and talking about them and the process of making them is a fun look back at how I've changed and grown as a creator. I also like talking about the things I'm currently working on because I'm excited about them, they're on my mind, and talking about projects and ideas helps me develop them.

A lot of times if I'm having trouble with a project talking it over with someone can help me unsnarl the issue or make connections and come up with new ideas and details to get me going again. I'm grateful that there are folks willing to listen to me ramble (sometimes at length) about whatever's on my mind. Thank you for being the wall I throw spaghetti at. Even so, I still try to restrain myself and refrain from talking about my work unless the subject comes up naturally.

I might be too hard on myself. It's good to have confidence in your skills and be proud of your accomplishments, and it's not actually rude to talk about yourself. I could probably hype myself up a little more without it being obnoxious, but I'd still rather not. For me the point of writing RPG material is to create something fun that folks can enjoy, not make a name for myself. The focus should be on the work and playing games, not me, so it's important to stay chill and just make things. Work that can stand on its own and speak for itself.

* When I say talking about "myself" I mean in a creative capacity. My current projects, ideas, and what I'm working on/doing/have done related to writing, not my personal life and experiences. This is all about the craft.

** I actually love hearing that folks have used/played my stuff and had fun with it. That's why I write it, so folks can use it and have a good time with their friends. There's a reason why everything I make has "Have fun!" on it somewhere.

*** Yes, I realize the irony of this post.

Staying Organized

Organization is a key part of my creative process (and life in general). From initial idea to final published file keeping things in order is vital to doing the work. It's so ever-present and helps me in so many ways that writing this is like a fish talking about its relationship with water, but the main thread in all of it is that good organization makes life easier overall and that makes being creative and creating easier too.

When my surroundings, materials, and tools are organized it removes barriers to my momentum. Physical ones like having to clear off a place to work or search for things and psychological ones like the passive burden of other things I need to do or getting distracted/overwhelmed by a mess of clutter right in my face. There's a whole host of little tasks that can accumulate and get in the way of starting or continuing work on a project and good organization is the thing that lets me sidestep them.

I've had a long time to figure out what helps (mostly by trial and error) and put it in place to build up a system that works for me. These are the methods I use every day. They mainly promote/support two things:

- Knowing where things are being being able to find them immediately
- Having space to work without interruptions or obstacles

That's what's important, maintaining a neat well-ordered environment so the only chaos is the positive creative kind and not the stressful "where the hell are my glasses?" kind.

Here's what I do:


Put things where they go
Everything in my house has a place where it lives. A dedicated spot where it belongs and it goes there and nowhere else. When I need something I go get it from where it lives and as soon as I'm done using it I put it back.

This is definitely the most important part of my organization system, both for writing and just generally running my household. Since everything has a place where it lives I always know where everything is. I don't lose things and I don't have to look for anything, what I want is always in its spot exactly where I left it last time. I also always know (or can easily check) how much of something I have, so I can plan when to restock consumables and avoid accidentally buying duplicates. It's the most useful, ridiculously simple thing I do and it saves me tons of time, effort, frustration, and money. It does rely on me actually putting things back when I'm done with them, but that's easy. I've been doing this my whole life so it's already part of my habits/daily routines and maintaining the organized state doesn't take much effort.

Keep surfaces clean
I keep all the horizontal surfaces in my house that aren't specifically meant for storage cleared off unless I'm actively working on a project.

So shelves are exempt, they can hold as much stuff as will fit (as long as it lives there), but tables, desktops, counters, and floors stay clear or have the bare minimum of stuff on them (like in the kitchen). They're work spaces, for doing work. Keeping them clear means that when I'm ready to work on a project I can just sit down and get started without having to clean anything up or make space first. I also have room to spread out and keep all my papers/notes/materials in view at once. It makes it easier to actually get things done and just exist in the space because I don't have the stress of looking around and feeling like the place is a mess. This is another thing I've been doing forever, so it's habit by now and easy to keep up with.


These two concepts are the basis for everything I do organization-wise. All the other things I'm going to talk about are hybridizations of these two at heart, just applied to specific areas.


Keep projects together and tidy
Working in analog means there's always a lot of paper to wrangle. I've got a few ways to organize it depending on where I am in the writing process and the size of the project, but the basic idea's the same: To keep all the papers and materials for a project together in one distinct package. Each project gets its own package and they're kept apart from each other. That makes it easy to grab everything involved in a project and move it/take it with me or keep it safe and neat if it has to sit and wait for a while. It also makes sure nothing gets misplaced or forgotten in a random shuffle. The entire manuscript is right there, ready to go at any time.

The way I store papers depends on whether a project is pending, in progress, or done.

For pending projects where I've worked up an outline and have more rough notes than can go in the ideas notebook I've got a 13-pocket accordion file. Each project's notes go in their own pocket and wait until I'm ready to sit down and work on them. It consolidates all the loose pieces and scraps that would otherwise be scattered around in piles into one compact unit that also keeps them organized inside.

For in progress projects size is a factor. Smaller pieces like blogposts go on loose leaf that gets stapled and stacked. There's usually not much delay between writing the second draft and copying it into a composition notebook for long-term storage so a neat pile of papers is good enough, but if it's going to be a while or there's a lot of drafts I'll slip the stack into an A4-size zippered plastic pouch just to have all of them in a single unit while they wait. Larger projects like zines and books that I know will be more involved go in three ring binders. I love three ring binders. They're classic, give a good level of protection and organization, and are convenient to work in. I use ones with pockets on the covers for notes and add dividers so it's easy to flip/navigate between sections of the project as I work. 1" and 1.5" sizes are the best for me since they're big enough to hold everything but not too bulky to store or carry around.

And for projects that are done there's the composition notebooks. Everything I finish gets copied into a composition notebook regardless of the size of the project. Part of it is nostalgia, I'm a sucker for a classic marbled cover, but beyond that (and my general stationery requirements of durable/cheap/common) they're a standardized size (B5) that's easy to keep on a shelf. When one's full I can just put it up with the others in a compact, visually unobtrusive set that can hang out for as long as necessary. It's perfect. To keep the info in them organized I give each notebook a number (they're technically a series), record the dates I start and finish them, and reserve the first page as a pseudo-table of contents with the titles of all the larger projects it holds. I also put sticky tabs on the pages where the large projects start so I can find them without a lot of page flipping if I need to reference something.

Really big projects like full-on books where the manuscript breaks 50 pages or projects with things like maps that don't translate nicely to a lined notebook page get an extra type of storage. I still copy what I can into the composition notebook but I also take the draft written on loose leaf pages, put a binder clip on it (since it's usually too hefty to staple), and store the whole thing in an A4-size zippered plastic pouch (with a silica gel packet or two to prevent humidity issues). The pouch goes in my filing cabinet and I keep it along with the text-only version in my composition notebooks. It's not that much extra effort to keep both, so why not?

Only use one side of the paper in early drafts
When I'm writing I only use one side of each page all the way up to the final analog draft in the composition notebook. 

I know it sounds weird and wasteful but there's a reason, bear with me. I write my early drafts in spiral notebooks and on loose leaf. Part of the process is tearing out and collecting those pages into a sheaf of loose sheets that I spread out across my table to read and work from. Writing on just one side means that when I lay out the pages I can see everything I've written at once and consider it all together. My attention can flow smoothly from page to page without breaks or distractions from having to flip sheets over and there's no risk of missing something written on the back of a page. It might sound silly/like a small thing, but I definitely notice a difference in the quality of my work when I'm only using one side of the page vs using both and having to flip them. It's also not as wasteful as it sounds since I save the pages from the old drafts and use the backs of the sheets as scratch/scrap/note paper before recycling them. (This post was written largely on the backs of previously-used sheets.)

Keep digital files simple
My digital files have an extremely elegant organization system based entirely on being as simple and straightforward as possible.

For blogposts I save them as a .txt file with the post's title as the file name. They all go in a folder dedicated to the blog and when a post is published I move its file from the main folder to a subfolder named "published". I also have an "images" subfolder that holds copies of all the images I've used in posts. Those are named [post title]+[original file name](+ a number if there's more than one image in the post) so I can find and connect them to the text easily.

Things for collaborations and zine submissions also get saved as .txt files and put in a dedicated collabs folder. The file names for these are [project/zine name]+[piece title] format.

This is plenty for blogposts and collab work since I generally only contribute writing and blogposts don't have complex layout. The file structure for larger projects is a little more layered but not by much.

For large projects I have a main "RPGs" folder. Inside that I have a folder for templates, one for images that I plan to use eventually, and individual folders for each project. The project folders all have their own subfolders for art/image assets, but other than that I usually only have three project files:

- A raw text file (.txt)
- A working file that's the laid out/finished version (.odt since I use LibreOffice for layout)
- A final printable version of the working file for publication (.pdf)

There might be more if I'm working with other folks, like original vs. edited version of the text or more subfolders in the art folder for specific references and sketches, but generally it's just the three files and art. No incremental saves or in-progress versioned documents, just the plaintext beginning and finished end product. All my backups (to removable media, the cloud, and other devices) use the same file structure so it's easy to search and add new files/expand as needed.


If these things sound like common sense, it's because they are. These are basic principles as far as organization goes, but they work. The hardest part is getting the system set up in the first place and building the habits to maintain it, then keeping an eye out for ways to improve it and making that happen. It's absolutely worth the effort though, just for how it lets me focus my energy towards creating instead of stressing over everything else.

Two Books

Part of having a lot of ideas is there's way more than I can work on in a reasonable amount of time, so I have to have a way to keep them safe and preserved in a useful format for when I can get to them. It's not that hard, I just had to spend some time experimenting with what worked and what was convenient until I found a good solution. My current method is simple: I write it all down in a notebook. It's easy to reference and add to, organized with a consistent logic, durable, safe from the problems electronics have (battery, signal/connectivity, accidental erasure issues, etc), and the entries are detailed enough that they still make sense after time's passed. It's perfect.

The exact form of the notebook took a little development. What I used to do was just put my pending ideas in the same spiral notebook that I always carried with me. That way I'd have them on hand to work on at any time. There would be pages of my to-write lists mixed in with the blank pages and I'd just cross off ideas as I finished them. It worked well enough, but it'd get more and more fragmented as I got things done; and each time I used up a notebook I'd have to consolidate and migrate the remaining ideas to the next one or cut the pages out and keep them as loose sheets that could get lost. It ended up being a waste of paper and time as the ideas built up.

What I do now is carry two books: My spiral notebook for doing actual writing and an ideas notebook that's a repository for pending projects' rough notes, bits of ideas, and anything else I'd want to revisit. When I get an idea I'll write it down on whatever's at hand (my spiral notebook, pocket notebook, scrap paper, whatever works) but not immediately in the ideas notebook. I'll let it sit for a while then transfer it into the ideas notebook. There will usually be a batch of ideas ready to be recorded by the time I transfer them over. Doing it this way means I only have to recopy the ideas once and I can look over them again and judge if they're really worthy of being on the to-write list, then refine the wording so future me will know what I meant.

It works great because it's a to-do list but it's also a collection of all the things I thought were inspiring enough to write down and preserve. If I'm off my game or just bored I can flip through the book and something will jump out to kick me into gear. It does mean that I end up carrying more stuff around but the tiny bit of extra weight and clutter is worth it.

The way I record ideas is straightforward: All entries are organized chronologically since they're added as they occur to me. Small ideas are listed as bullet points (as detailed as they need to be) and larger projects (zines, books, anything more than a single blogpost) get outlined on their own pages with some extra space after in case I think of more to add. I write everything in ink and use different colors for small and large ideas so I can easily find the larger projects while flipping through the pages. (In my last notebook little ideas were recorded in green and larger ones in red, maroon, or black.)

I'm also picky about the notebooks I choose for the job. My normal MO of 'cheap and durable, as long as it works' is good for my everyday working notebooks because I burn through them so fast, but the ideas notebook sticks around. It's going to be with me for a while so it needs to be nice to use and do its job well. I look for something durable, portable, and convenient. An A5 size book with a stitched binding, waterproof soft cover, and thin profile (~1/2" thick spine) is perfect. It's a nice easy to carry size and weight with plenty of space to write in.

To go with it I also have an 8" zippered tablet case. It's just cheap lightly-padded fabric with a few pockets on the inside that's waterproof and closes securely. I use it to hold the ideas notebook and any more detailed notes (on loose pages/papers) for the project I'm actively working on when I go out. It lets me collect everything into one compact and protected bundle that I can throw in my bag without fear of scrunching or losing anything. There are purpose-made journal cases and covers with extra slots and compartments for stationery or tools, but I think the tablet case works better for my needs because it's so simple. It's got everything it needs to do the job I have for it and nothing else to get in the way.

Setting Goals

As previously discussed at length, I get a lot of ideas. So many that I have to be selective about which ones I choose to work on. There just isn't time for all of them (and honestly some of the things I come up with are better off left as ideas). So it's important to set reasonable goals for what I'll focus on and have an initial plan of what I want to do in a project to keep me on track. My criteria for what gets my attention is simple:

1 Is it interesting?
Writing is a hobby for me so I can be picky about which projects I decide to take on. I'm not going to spend my free time working on something that's not fun, so anything I put effort into has to be an idea I'm excited about. If it doesn't grab me from the start I don't put it on my to-write list.

2 Can I actually do anything with it?
Sometimes an idea is interesting but too small, niche, or otherwise limited to stand on its own. In order for me to start working on something there has to be at least enough potential material to make a blogpost that feels like an intentional complete piece and not like I tried to pad out a tweet. If an idea's too small I'll keep it aside as something that could be worked into another idea or project later.

3 Will it be useful?
This point's not as stringent as the other two. I definitely write things that are silly or unlikely to ever see use at a table (hi, infinite cookie generator) but I do try to mostly make things that someone could use in a game. The majority of what I write is for me, either because I needed something and couldn't find it or just thought it'd be neat to have. I'll also make things that I see folks talking about or looking for. Knowing that a project would be useful/helpful to someone bumps it up in priority in my queue.

Once I've decided what to work on I set a scope for the project. I think over the potential things I could do with an idea, see if there are other ideas that might compliment it and get added in, and be realistic about how much there is to work with. Projects tend to fall into one of four size/complexity categories: blogpost, blogpost series, zine, or a full book. It's usually easy to tell which of the four an idea will suit so I choose, make an outline of the parts/components I'll need, and try to stick to that scale once I start. (Ex: For a Troika! sphere book I'd set a ballpark goal of how many backgrounds, enemies, spells, items, locations, etc. I'd want before I get started writing it.) I don't set a target word or page count, instead I aim for what feels like enough. It's not an exact science.

Every now and then I'll find I misjudged and an idea will be smaller than I initially thought or (much more often) that I can expand the project into something more involved. When that happens I'll change my plan and adapt the project's scope to the more suitable size. The important thing is that the final finished work feels like it fits the presentation and the ideas neatly fill the space they've been given, not too crowded to breathe and not overly padded or stretched.

I also commit. Once I've started on a project I generally keep working on it until it's done. My work queue is FIFO and it's rare for me to have more than one major thing in progress at at time. I also tend not to abandon projects if they've made it through the gauntlet to the point where I've started work. If I need to take a break I'll set a project aside for a while and focus on other things, but I'll eventually come back to it and finish it. There's no quitting or scrapping projects that I've taken on. If it takes a while to get them up to my standards so be it, but they will get done.

How I get ideas

In order to write you need something to write about. Without the meat of an idea to build up and develop into a finished piece you've got nothing.

My method for getting ideas is simple: I pay attention to and interact with the world around me.

Creativity is a constant process of noticing and connecting things from your environment and spinning it out changed into something else that's yours. Every idea we have comes from somewhere. You can't draw water from a dry well, get blood from a stone, make bricks without straw, pick whatever idiom you like. It all boils down to the same thing: None of us create in a vacuum. There has to be a collecting stage where you observe and gather information from your surroundings to use as the raw material and inspiration for your own ideas.

My process of collecting raw idea-stuff has two equally important and complimentary parts: A constant state of curiosity and active effort to find new things. The first keeps my brain ready to grab and hold ideas and the second makes sure I'm exposed to plenty of them.

Curiosity

The constant state of curiosity is actually a tripart combo of attention, curiosity, and whimsy. I make a point to notice what's around me as I go through the day and pick up on whatever there is to see, even the tiny mundane details. If I see a nice patch of moss or sapling growing in a crack in the sidewalk or on a roof, I note it. When I go in a building I pay attention to the architectural details and floorplan. If I see an interesting sign, unusually-colored car, art, statue, nice tree, cool fungus, weird cloud, trash, roadkill, anything no matter how seemingly inconsequential I take a moment to squirrel the memory away for later. The same goes for the random ephemeral events I witness. An overheard conversation, a happy dog going for a walk, kids doing inscrutable kid things in public, animals interacting with each other or man-made objects, it all gets noticed. Anything can be a source of inspiration as long as I can remember it, I just have to pay attention and gather what's around me.

I also make a point to think about what I've seen. Be curious, ask questions, and follow the thoughts down whatever paths they take no matter how weird or goofy. Asking questions without reservation is the key to developing new ideas. I don't just grab the idea fragments I've collected and lock them away in a brain-vault to rot until the day I might need them. I take them out and turn them over, examining them and considering how they could work or change or go together. Creativity is about adapting, transforming, and juxtaposing concepts, not just collecting and regurgitating them as-is. I want to make something that's mine, and that means thinking and using my imagination. It's fun!

My most useful question is "what if?" It's so easy to get an entire host of ideas spun out from a single what-if. From small changes like "what if digital technology hadn't replaced analog" or "what if [mythical thing] was real" to more significant changes like "what if [law of physics] worked differently" or "what if [basic feature of life] didn't exist". It's an excellent brain-stretching exercise and a goldmine of ideas for fantasy and speculative material. I also get a lot of use out of "how?" and "why?" If I'm out and see an item sitting abandoned or lost/left I'll stop and think about how it might've gotten there or why it was discarded. (Obvious answer: It's a juvenile mimic, don't touch it.) The other basic questions (what, where, when, and who) follow to fill in the details, but why and how are what usually get the process going because they're more concrete and immediate to me.

And the final part that supports and enables the others is a carefully cultivated sense of whimsy. Not a childish, naive, twee aesthetic but a firehose sense of wonder paired with a distinct lack of self-consciousness. As a writer my job is to come up with things that are interesting, fun, and weird. Doing that requires a willingness to be weird myself. To play with ideas, look at things in heterodox ways, lean into nonsense, and have the mental flexibility to string random often unrelated details together into inspiring ideas without automatically dismissing the silly or outright dumb steps I run through along the way. There's a time and place for dignity and it's not when you're trying to create. If I was too self-conscious to let myself experience wonder, play, and generally goof around I wouldn't be able to write like I do. I'd still write, but without the ability to take something and make it weird it wouldn't be the same. All my attention and curiosity is worth absolutely nothing without the whimsy to back and power it.

Being Active
The equally important counterpart of curiosity is doing things. I don't really enjoy doing nothing. Just vegging out isn't relaxing to me at all and I've never been able to take naps (I just end up actually sleeping). So I'm usually doing something. From the time I wake up to when I grudgingly go to sleep I'm almost continuously engaged in one activity or another. Not for productivity's sake but because doing things is fun. And a happy side effect of being in motion all the time is that the things I enjoy doing either generate a ton of ideas on their own or give me time to think. It's why I always carry a notebook and pen with me, because while I might not be actively seeking ideas in the moment they still show up and when they do I want to be able to corral and record them.

The main things that help me get ideas are:

1 Going out. Getting out of the house to visit museums, parks, libraries, and other places beyond normal work and errands. Paying attention and being curious about the world around me is important, but if there's nothing new to pay attention to then it's not worth much no matter how observant I am. Going places and seeing things other than the inside of my house is vital for my creativity and mental health.

2 Talking with people. I like to shoot the shit. Whether it's a specific topic or just general conversation about nothing in particular, chatting is fun. I don't go into conversations specifically angling to get ideas, but they show up. More often than not just getting a different perspective or a random offhand comment will spark an idea or inspire me to connect things in a new way that leads to something cool. A lot of times I'll share those ideas and give them to whoever I'm talking with because they're more fitting for/directly related to what they're working on, but just as many stay with me.

3 Reading. I read a lot. It's easily the main way I consume media. I read every day and even then it feels like I should be reading more. I also read widely. Whatever I can get my hands on, if it sounds interesting I'll read it. (I may not finish it because life is too short to waste spite-reading a work you're not enjoying, but I'll at least give it a try.) My taste in fiction runs to the speculative and unreal: Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, weird fiction, westerns, folklore, and mythology. I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone. I tend to avoid stories in mundane modern settings, but I'm not entirely opposed to them. Still I'll usually only pick up realistic stories on a very strong recommendation from someone instead of seeking them out myself. My non-fiction reading covers everything though. That's not an "I listen to all kinds of music"-type over-generalization either. The world is fascinating and I love learning about it, so if you put info in front of me I'll sink my teeth in. My main areas of interest are the natural world, science, and art (again, not surprising), but everything's interconnected so I'll regularly end up wandering into adjacent topics while pursuing others. I can kill hours tearing through wikipedia for fun, grabbing the cursory-level info as mental popcorn and marking subjects I want to dig deeper into with better sources later. It definitely beats doomscrolling as a way to spend time.

For the actual experience of reading I prefer audiobooks for fiction, physical books for non-fiction, and try to avoid screens unless that's the original or only way to get the info (ex: blogs, websites, vintage creepypasta, scholarly papers/articles that it's not feasible to print, etc.). I love books as artifacts, but the innards are what's really important, not the form factor.

4 Other media. As much a I love words they're not the only (or sometimes even best) vehicle for communicating ideas. It's important to experience and absorb mediums beyond the written word because they're good and worthwhile and because they land in the brain differently than text. It sounds obvious but the way we interact with sound and images is different from how we parse words. It uses other sections of the brain and makes me think about what I'm experiencing from another angle than when I'm reading.

My consumption of non-written media is still much lower than written. I don't watch movies very often (usually only when someone else organizes it) and my exposure to current TV is basically nonexistent. I don't really play videogames anymore. I also can't really do large gatherings, so live theater is out. I do like watching things and playing games. When I get the chance to it's always fun, I just don't have enough free time to engage with that type of media regularly. (I'm also spared from really crap media because my friends essentially curate what we watch/play and have excellent taste.)

What I do draw from often is music, album covers, art, and images in general no matter how refined or banal. (Plenty of people would think digging through scans of old survey maps, scientific journals, historical blueprints, and government photo archives is boring but I think it's fascinating.) Cartoons from all eras and comics, the whole swath of the medium from things like The Far Side to mainstream serialized books to indie productions. (I can't begin to describe how much of my sense of humor was shaped by The Far Side growing up.) There's always something that can spark an idea no matter how basic, all of it has potential.

The goal (beyond just doing things I enjoy) is to get a wide variety of experiences and thoughts/concepts/ideas in my head. Like I said at the start, creativity is taking what you know and connecting it in new ways. Everything I see, do, and learn builds up as background knowledge to reference and pick through for inspiration. The more I know, the more I have available in my head to draw from later.

It's like a collection of legos where the number of bricks and variety of different types/shapes/colors you have in the bin determines and limits what you can build. A larger collection has more options, so I collect and try to keep a continuous stream of new things coming so I don't get stagnant.

Editing Myself

As previously mentioned I don't usually work with an editor, so I have to do it all myself. And again: This isn't best practice. The point of an editor is having a second set of eyes to look at your manuscript and spot problems you might've missed or suggest changes you wouldn't have considered to improve the work. Also to tell you the truth. If it's good, if it's bad, if it's really bad and should never see the light of day, an editor worth their salt will tell you. That attention and honesty from a second experienced person is valuable. I'd even say it's not possible to edit yourself. You can revise your own work like I do, but to actually "edit" as it's understood in the industry you need someone else to dig in with you. (Get an editor and listen to them.)

Also important to understand: Editing isn't proofreading. You do fix any errors you find as you go, but editing is focused on the content and style of the work, not small things like typos.

When I edit (revise) my work I rely on my sense of taste. It's not good taste or bad taste, it's my taste. A definite and distinct sense of what I like and want out of my writing that lets me make changes confidently. Developing taste is vital, but takes time and effort. You have to go out of your way to experience a wide range of things in order to really decide what you do or don't appreciate. My taste is the product of years spent writing, reading, talking with folks, and absorbing wisdom from my editor friends. Because I have it I can easily decide what feels right and commit to it in my work.

I also make a point to take time between writing and revising. Patience really is a virtue when it comes to work like this that requires flexibility and attention to detail. When I finish writing a draft I set it aside to ferment for at least three days. Two if I'm on a roll. The wait gives me an opportunity to step back, let possibilities bounce around in my head, and forget exactly what I wrote so I can see it with fresh eyes when I come back. If I jump right into revising without that time for reflection the momentum of what I just wrote makes it easy to miss things.

When it's time to revise I sit down and read the draft all the way through, being honest with myself about the quality of it and what could be better. There's always something I could improve. No draft is perfect, not even the final one, so I look for the weak spots and what needs the knife. Once I've read it I set it aside, make a cup of tea, and think about why the things I noticed weren't right and how to fix it. This is where my taste and gleaned editorial wisdom come into play. It usually doesn't take long to make a plan, then I go back and start making changes.

Since I work in analog for everything up to the final draft this means getting a different color pen so the changes will stand out and going through the piece like a surgeon. I'll cross out words/lines/entire sections, cram new material between lines or in the margins, rework phrases/passages/paragraphs that I like but are missing something, whatever needs doing. If it doesn't serve the overall piece it changes or gets cut. (And working in analog I can see everything together, revisions and original text, and judge if it really is an improvement.)

The major things I look for while revising are:

Consistency
Does everything fit the tone/conceit I chose for the piece? (Ex: Dry and academic, technical, in-world, conversational, etc.) If something doesn't mesh I'll rework it so there's consistency throughout the entire thing. I made a choice in how to present the ideas, it's important to commit to the bit.

Passive voice
Get rid of it. I try to avoid writing anything in passive voice, but we all make mistakes. There are situations where it can be appropriate, but usually not and if I see it I remove it.

Over-explanation and unnecessary words
I try to keep things concise. Only the most load-bearing words make it through to the next draft. The ones that are vital for clarity and conveying the essential flavor of the piece. That means filler words like qualifiers (just, very, likely, only, etc.) and extra adverbs get cut unless they actually serve a purpose and fit the tone. Otherwise it's the knife. I also cut sections that are too specific about minor details. When a passage is overly precise and dictating particulars that I could leave to the reader's imagination, it goes. It's important to trust the readers. I believe in you. You don't need me to hit you over the head with exactly what I've envisioned. I trust you to interpret what I've written into something fun for your table, so I'll let go and leave you to it.

Flow
Does the sentence and paragraph structure read smoothly? I check the timing and pauses while reading and make changes so it feels natural. The goal is to arrange the piece so it won't sound stilted if it's read aloud. It usually comes down to breaking up long sentences that don't serve a purpose, repositioning or nixing commas to set pauses in the right rhythm, and removing accidental repetition. Repetition has its use as a reinforcing device, but if I'm overusing a word/word fragment for no reason then I need to change it up.

Word choice
I try to keep a healthy and entertaining balance between purple and beige. If there's a spot where a different word or synonym would convey what I'm trying to express better than what I've got, I make the change. My vocabulary is my most effective tool. I have an entire arsenal of obscure, archaic, and niche technical terms on standby and I love using them. Words are fun. The challenge is making sure I've used exactly the right ones to capture the nuance of what I'm going for without breaking the tone and flow of the piece or vomiting a thesaurus onto the page. It's another thing that comes down to taste. The right word will click into place in a sentence, slotting in among the other words in a way that sounds natural. It doesn't matter if it's an oatmeal-hued single syllable job suitable for everyday use or an excessively ultraviolet flourish that would be over the top even in an 18th century love letter so long as it's the right word. It's the only word that can do the job perfectly, so of course it belongs there. Refining word choice is the most important step in my revising. As a writer my words are all I have to work with. They're the pins holding my dissected imagination open for you to view. They have to be correct and placed precisely.

After the major things are taken care of I double check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other proofing minutia. By then everything is mostly in shape and the only rule breaking is intentional. (You can warp or bend any writing rule if there's a specific reason for it, but it has to be intentional and good. Doing something on purpose doesn't mean squat if it's a bad choice or poor execution that doesn't serve the work.)

Then I read back through the marked up pages and once I'm satisfied my revisions feel right and everything is there for a reason I transcribe it all into a clean copy that will be my next draft. After another two rounds of revisions I've usually got something I'm happy with and willing to send out into the world.

Nothing I've outlined here is new. This is just how writing in drafts and revising them works. Even if I was working with an editor I would still be doing these steps before I sent my manuscript off to them.

I take the time and make the effort to do multiple rounds of revisions because I think it's important to release the best work I can. If I'm going to do something I'm going to do it right. That means accepting that there's always room for improvement and being willing to take a machete to my work in order to reweave the shreds into something better.

Nobody writes a perfect first draft, especially not me.

Jams and Me

I love game jams. I've played RPGs since high school but really started creating material for publication around 2019 and jams were one of the things that shifted me from just writing blog posts into making zines and standalone projects. Oneironauts 1 and 2, Camp, Incantations. (and by extension Libations. and Devotions.), Art Game, Seven Feathers Farm, and Acidic Deadly Lands all exist because of game jams. I had fun writing all of them, but they only happened because someone started a jam and said 'hey, let's all make games about [this topic]!'

The way my brain works it needs a nucleation site to really get going. As long as there's at least one idea or theme to start with I can riff on it and spin out an entire zine/book/work, but I need that seed idea to start. Could be something I noticed or read, some random comment or joke from a conversation, anything as long as it grabs my attention and sticks. Jams are perfect for that. They give a core idea, some constraints to work with (which is good, constraints spur creativity), and a kick to get started.

They're also just plain fun. When a jam's going you get everyone talking about their projects and sharing their progress, it's an event with its own momentum. One of my favorite parts of a jam is seeing folks get excited about what they're working on and all the different ways that they interpret the jam's theme.

My only problem with jams is I almost never finish my project by the deadline. I'm not good at creating in the typical short timeframes set for entries. As much as I love the fuck it we ball intent of jams as a challenge I can't do it. I don't like to rush and would rather miss the deadline for entries than publish something before I'm satisfied that it's finished. There have been times I've actually made the deadline, but that's because it was extended. That's fine though.

To me a jam serves as inspiration and impetus to make something that I wouldn't have otherwise. When I join one it's with the idea that I'll participate as much as I can and create, but not put pressure on myself to submit an entry. Finishing something I'm proud of is enough. It's not exactly the point of jams, but who cares?

What I'd really like is to see jams make a resurgence back up to the levels there were during the first few years of the pandemic, when it always felt like there were dozens running at once. I miss that. We should do more and bring them back.

Doing the Work

Writing is not suffering. Writing is fun. I love stories and writing and games. Taking my ideas and fusing them together into something that didn't exist before I set pen to paper is magical. Making things to use and share with others, having fun with something I made, is rewarding as hell.

I genuinely enjoy writing so finding motivation to write is easy. I want to do it. Actually doing the work though, that's hard.

Getting started and putting words down on paper without getting distracted or discouraged or otherwise sabotaging myself should be simple, but it's not. Still, it's necessary. The key part of writing that makes it writing is moving the words out of your head and onto the page. After all, if you want something concrete that you can send out into the world you have to actually write it down.

My main issue is staying focused once I start and not spinning off into the weeds. I can just sit down and start writing because I make a point to deal with or avoid things I know are distractions. These are things I've noticed over the years that draw my focus away from the work and get in the way of me actually writing like:

Electronics
This is the biggest one but the easiest to deal with. Having electronics around means there's an entire internet of things to grab and split my attention. So to get rid of that my phone, tablets, computer, anything with a screen gets put away while I'm writing. I don't check them or acknowledge they exist unless there's an emergency. My attention is on the paper and ideas, everything else can wait until I'm done. (At least that's the goal. I don't always succeed.)

Rituals
I used to think writing was a special state that I needed to prepare for by doing a bunch of little rituals to get in the right frame of mind. To write I absolutely had to make tea first, or light some incense, put on music, all this elaborate setup that just wasted time and kept me from actually starting to write. I realized it was getting in the way, so I don't do it anymore. All I need to write is paper, a pen, and my brain. (I do still make tea, but because I like it not because it's a requirement.)

Stuff
Shopping for office supplies is a great distraction. I have physical materials that I prefer working with but I don't need any specific product in order to write. Any paper and writing utensil will do in a pinch. The idea that buying more stuff will make you more organized or productive or motivate you to write is insidious and bullshit, but I regularly find myself shopping for writing supplies instead of writing. The knowledge that I really will eventually use everything I buy doesn't help. The best thing I've found to counter distraction shopping is to go over the stock of office supplies I already have and berate myself to stop looking at notebooks and fill one instead. (It usually works.)

Too many ideas
I have a lot of things on my to-write list. Usually I only work on one at a time and finish them in a FIFO order, but sometimes I run into a deadlock trying to decide what to work on. Most often it's because I get too wrapped up in trying to judge what's the "best" choice based on which is closest to being done, what I'm most interested in right then, or which would be most useful to folks when I should really just pick one and get started. Once I notice what's happening I handle it by forcing myself to make a choice. I'll either pick the smallest thing that's easiest to finish just to get something done, or make a poll with my top three and let other folks decide, or put all the options on a list and roll a die. Sometimes I'll accept the result as-is, but formally asking the question at all is usually enough to crystallize a decision and push me to get off my ass and do the work. (The dice haven't failed me yet.)

Worrying about perfection
I have high standards for my work and I'm very good at procrastinating under the guise of doing something superficially useful. It leads me to doing things like stalling out because I'm trying to find the perfect word instead of just writing something and refining it later, or wasting time on researching minor details that I could confirm and correct after I've got the basics written down. It's a trap of feeling like I'm doing work that keeps me from actually accomplishing anything significant. I avoid it by being aware that the potential for self-sabotage exists, paying attention so I don't do it, and remembering that I'm writing a draft. It won't be perfect and perfection is an unrealistic expectation. There will be refining steps later, but I can't refine what hasn't been written. (This one actually works great. Don't strive for perfection, it's not real.)

Distractions still pop up even though I know what they are and take steps to minimize them. It's something I have to work around and in spite of, mostly by just putting my head down and willfully focusing on writing. It only works because I want to do the work and get shit done.

The other thing I've had to learn to deal with is writer's block. As much as I love writing there are times when I just can't. When I run up against writer's block the first thing I do is try to tell if it actually is writer's block and not just a focus problem. To do that I run through a list checking my thoughts, feelings, and actions against the things I already know I have issues with to see if anything lines up.

If I'm:
- Excited about the project but nervous or doubting myself
- Going off on mental tangents, excessively checking resources, or looking at screens
- Overly worried about perfection

Then I know it's just distraction. In that case I deal with whatever's causing the distraction and take a short break to clear my head. Five to ten minutes where I get up, move around, and don't think about words in order to do a minor mental refresh. Physically moving around is key. Stretching, looking at something else (even if it's just another room or out the window), and doing something after I've been sitting still for a while is the best way I've found to unstick my brain and refocus. After I've shaken off the funk I'll come back and keep writing.

If I'm:
- Feeling tired, bored with the project, and generally not enjoying myself
- Out of ideas, brain's completely blank
- Really doubting myself, like "this is all shit and I don't know how to fix it or if it can be saved at all"

Then it's writer's block and I need to step away for a while.

To deal with writer's block I leave and do something else. I don't force myself to try and keep writing in that condition because whatever I create then won't be up to my standards and will only make me feel more discouraged, which feeds into the block and makes it harder to start again later. At that point I'm just wasting time and making myself miserable in the process. So instead I shift away from writing to literally anything else. Accept that I've temporarily run out of steam and step away to give myself some room to breathe without a consuming focus on the problem. That lets me avoid getting so discouraged with a project that I shelve it indefinitely. Putting the work down is fine as long as I eventually come back to pick it up again.

The important thing when I take these breaks is making sure I actually take the break. The point of temporarily letting go is to be able to focus on other things, take in more ideas, and hopefully refill the inspiration tanks. That means I have to actually let go and banish the problem project from my head for a while. If I try to relax with the specific intention of recharging in order to work on The Thing later that just delays the stress instead of abating it. I need to genuinely move on to a different project and if it knocks something loose regarding the other thing, that's serendipity.

I'm rarely on a deadline so whatever's troubling me can wait until I'm rested and ready to tackle it again. There are lots of projects that I'm glad I paused because they're unquestionably better for having given myself a chance to collect more ideas and come back with fresh eyes. I'd rather have a project rest for months and be something I'm proud of than rush to release something that's just okay. Everything gets there eventually, it just takes patience and effort.

How I Write

My dark secret is I don't usually have an editor. This isn't best practice. (You should hire or set up a work trade with an editor and listen to them. An editor will absolutely improve your work.) To compensate I have a process for organizing my ideas and writing drafts to catch as many things as I can. It's not a revolutionary new way of writing, it's just the amalgamation of small things that help me start writing and keep writing to get the ideas down and refined.

Here's what I do:

0 Voice recordings

I don't always make recordings, but sometimes while I'm out walking I'll spitball ideas aloud and record it. Hearing concepts spoken aloud is helpful when I'm trying to decide if an idea is something I should continue with or if it's actually just dumb and a dead end. When I'm done with my walk I'll go back through the recording and pick out the good bits.

1 Notes
These are the raw ideas that lead to other things. Single words, sentences, chunks of lists in progress, and outlines that get scrawled on the page as they occur to me so I won't forget them later. They go in the little notebook I carry with me and lack any real organization.

2 First draft
The first draft is ugly, too long, and cumbersome in ways I won't notice until later. That's fine. The first draft is where I get words on paper and turn the ideas from my notes into full sentences. At this point it's more important to get the bones of something on the page than it is to be elegant about it.

I write first drafts on any sort of paper in pen and have no qualms about crossing things out or cramming edits between lines and in the margins. Once it's done I let it sit for a few days and ferment, that way I have clear eyes when I come back to edit it for the second draft.

3 Second draft
This is where I start editing. I read the first draft, have tea, then read it again. Then I mark the hell out of it in a different color pen. I try to be as merciless as possible with my editing and usually end up rewriting a significant portion of the draft and cutting out big chunks.

Once I'm satisfied with it I copy the edited version onto fresh loose leaf in pen and let it sit to ferment again before I go back for a third draft. (I specifically use loose leaf because it makes neat stacks. That way it doesn't look like a messy, discouraging pile if I can't get back to writing for a while.) The first draft goes in the recycling.

4 Third draft
I go through the read-tea-read sequence again to catch things I missed in the second draft and the things I decide I'm no longer happy with. Then I copy the new version into a composition notebook in pencil. The notebook is my semi-archival storage. It's durable, compact, and reliable. If my hard drive ever fails or my backups get wonked I'll still have a copy of what I've done that I can type up again and restore. It may not be exactly what the lost final digital draft was, but it's close enough that I can recreate it.

5 "Final" draft
I type up the third draft, usually making a few last changes along the way, and prepare the digital version to be published. The file gets saved as a .txt, copied to a thumb drive, put in cloud storage, and saved onto at least two other devices. Once the text is thoroughly backed up I start prepping it for a blog post, send it off to be included in a zine, or start doing layout. (The 'final' is in scare quotes because there's always some last-minute changes to make before it's actually published, but it's close enough.)

Doing it this way lets me catch most errors and produce the best work I can. There'll always be something I only spot after the PDF is exported or the blog post is published, but as long as it's not in physical print that's fixable.

The key thing is being willing to put in the time and effort to write multiple drafts, let them sit between editing rounds, then step back from what you've done and say "this could be better."

(Seriously though, get an editor.)

The Role of Stationery

I write almost exclusively on paper. Everything gets digitized eventually, but while I'm writing I prefer physical media for a variety of reasons.

- I find a blank page easier to start on and fill than a blank screen.
- It's easier on my eyes because there's no screen glare.
- There are fewer distractions than when using electronics.
- I never have to worry about battery life.
- I'll never lose my work if my machine dies.
- It's easier to carry a notebook and write than it is to carry and set up a laptop.
- I like it.

This means I go through a lot of paper and it's shaped my relationship with stationery over the years. I love office supplies, but I don't value them. I don't buy high-quality, expensive writing supplies. To me notebooks and writing tools are entirely ephemeral and expendable. They exist to be used, consumed in the process of creating, and are only valuable as a substrate for words.

Because of that my taste in materials is for the inexpensive, simple, and durable. I use things that can take a beating as I cart them around with me, do the job, and cost $1. Seriously, I try not to spend more than $1 per notebook. I wait for back-to-school sales and stock up or pick up stuff from thrift stores and garage sales. And honestly I would rather have 15 plain $1 composition notebooks to work in than 1 fancy $15 journal. It means I get to write more.

At the same time I try to get things that are nice. Not luxurious, but nice. Things that I genuinely enjoy using because even inexpensive and expendable things should be fun. If I like using my tools, writing is that much easier. If the tools I like are readily available, inexpensive, and expendable then I never hesitate over a notebook being "too good to use" or worry about wasting material. I can just get to creating.

What I end up using the most are:

Spiral notebooks
For ideas and early drafts. I try to get little ones that can fit in a pocket or get thrown in a bag. 5" x 7" (B6) is a good size, but can be hard to find. I like them mostly for the fact that you can neatly tear out pages when they're no longer needed. Lets you start fresh and cut down on distractions from past projects. (Seeing the number of pages decrease also feels like you've accomplished something tangible compared to notebooks where the pages are more firmly bound.) Being able to completely fold the spine back on itself is useful for writing while out too.

Loose leaf
Good for later drafts because it's neat and easy to store in 3-ring binders while a work's in progress. It also lets you shuffle pages and sections around as much as you like and lets you test different orders while finalizing a piece. (And it's cheap.)

Writing and legal pads
I don't use these as much, but they're useful as scratch pads for jotting down ideas or testing wordings before throwing them in a draft. Sort of a spare space to get dumb ideas out of the way when I get stuck on something. And they're invaluable for collecting and organizing entries while making lists.

Composition notebooks
These are the only notebooks that I keep long-term since they're my hardcopy back-ups. I love them because they're durable, easy to get, and easy to store. (Compact and uniform size is an ideal combo. There's also plenty of real estate for stickers.) I go with the classic two-color marbled cardboard cover ones for nostalgia's sake, wide-ruled so there's room to add notes, and usually fill one 200-page notebook every six months or so.

Rollerball pens
They're a little pricier than ballpoints, but it's worth it. The liquid ink makes writing easier so I can work for longer without getting a cramp or hurting my hand. Ink also keeps me from trying to edit and second-guess myself as I write. Since I can't erase I've just got to keep going and get words down. (They also come in gorgeous colors. Nice things.)

Pencils
These are the only concession I make to archival quality. Ink can fade, but graphite lasts forever. The paper it's written on could rot away and the graphite will still be there in a pile of dust. I use pencil in my composition notebooks because I intend to keep them for a while. I use wood pencils at home (because my dad gave me a 144-count box that I've almost finished) and mechanical while out.

On archival quality: It's not something I actually worry about. Finished books may be worth preserving, but my drafts are for me. If they last my lifetime that's more than enough. There's no point in trying to preserve these papers beyond me, so I don't bother.

And that's it. The materials I use, why I've selected them, and my relationship with them as tools of the trade. It all comes down to choosing what works, then actually doing the work.

Writing About Writing

I write a lot. Always have since I was little. It's not something I've thought much about, just something I do, but it occurred to me that maybe I should spend some time introspecting on this activity that I've spent a huge chunk of my life pursuing. At least a little.

So that's what I'm going to do.

The next few posts are mostly for me as I try to pin down my thoughts and habits related to writing. I hope my documenting how the sausage gets made will be useful to other folks too, or at least interesting. We'll see. My ways are high-effort and inscrutable.