As a break to my writing of my current writing I drew a map of it.
A Break from the Pattern
I've recently settled into a regular pattern, starting my days with an hour of writing on my current gamebook project. This is an iterative process, taking an list of ideas, upgrades, rules changes and other updates from a backlog. And then grinding through them, a few each day.
While it might not sound glamorous, this is the truth of many creative endeavours. That there's lot's of things that need doing, and part of the skill is doing them. Sometimes you enjoy the process and sometimes you might not, but the words still need to go on the page, be edited, rewritten and deleted!
Sometimes you want a change of pace or a new perspective. So when I noticed an item to "draw a new map of the Island", I chose that one to give a change and a chance to look at the project from a different perspective!
Changes Since My Last Map
Don't worry about spoilers for when you play the book. This one is likely to be changed a few times, with locations moving, being renamed or disappearing altogether.
The map is basic, connecting up the various locations of the Isle of Sorcery and the waters around it. I added a rough idea of the opportunities and events that could happen when travelling between locations. There are also encounter tables for most transitions, but these aren't shown.
This gave me a chance to see what I've got, see notice a few broken things and give a few ideas for some changes to locations and routes.
I drew a map of the island several months ago, detailed in Gamebook Diaries: On Gamebook Maps. Comparing that with my new one I can also see the main progress since that one. These include...
- Adding of ways to interact with the gameworld on each transition between locations. These can be triggered encounters, chances to forage, dangerous terrain and junk items (not junk food as it says on the map). Important things for keeping the world alive in an open-world setting
- Boat routes. Places to launch a boat, move around the island and then land again. Not initially part of the gamebook idea, but as the planned series becomes sketched out, an important part of going between them.
- The numbers for the locations have mostly been updated, with all now ending in a 0 (30 for Morna, 190 for Long Shore, 510 for the water area off Lower Retrubution). I like the idea of being able to find a location more easily if I lose it, and the meta-game knowledge this can give to players who notice the organisation.
- I've broken a few of the transitions between locations and possibly mislaid a location. Easy to solve once I've seen it.
- A few new locations have been added, such as Crab Isle, Far Shore and the Gyre.
- There's a few locations not on the map, such as a dungeon to explore, some of the Dream Chasm and places you can travel in your dreams. I'm now wandering how to signify these in a map in the final published book
Other Breaks or Shifts from Writing
Sometimes you can feel stuck or uninspired on a solo project such as a gamebook. You might want a change in pace or perspective.
Some of these for gamebook writing (or similar projects such as writing random tables in my case) include...
- Reading your own book. Stop and either read through it or play through it as it currently is. You'll notice bits to change, bits you love and bits you'd forgotten about.
- Switching Projects. For twenty minutes, a day or a month, try switching to another project, related or unrelated. When you come back to the original project, you'll have new ideas on how to progress
- Playtest it with Someone. Try playtesting it face to face or over video/audible with someone else. This is different to giving it to others to playtest. You might be reading things out or summarising. But it's more immediate, and you get to see reactions in real time. It really helped me get to a fully done draft of the Briar.
- Change What You're Working On. Try working on the project, but in a different area. Rules, overall structure, prose, difficult bits to flow. Maybe a map.
- Talk About Your Project. Discuss your project with someone. A colleague, gamer, peer, pet, yourself. A blog post. Talk about where it's at, what it should be, what the current problems are, what you're really happy with, what you're excited for readers to encounter...
Finishing Up
For me drawing a map has shown me I might be at my halfway mark, as ideas and passages and rules start to coalesce into a greater whole!
What's your favourite way to shift perspective on a creative project?
