Quickleaf
Legend
I appreciate your sharing. That's a very vulnerable thing to discuss on internet forums.
For whatever reason, I tend to compartmentalize the fun of preparing a game from the fun of writing a story. So when I'm in "campaign design" mode, I'm constantly pausing and asking "what might a player do here?" or "what would totally breaking this scene look like?" or "why do the players care?" And that process of self-interrogation IS part of my fun when I'm in that mode.
So while we all know that separating those two processes is important and healthy for gameplay, I DO sometimes try switching gears, typically once I've done some heavy design lifting / writing already. For example, if I'm writing a 4 hour adventure and I'm 4,000-5,000 words into it, very much in that "campaign design" mode, I might pause and give it the day, then return to it in the evening or next day looking at it from a "story" mode of thinking. Often that will make a difference in pacing, scene sequencing, and how I organize emotional beats. Then once I incorporate those revisions, I'll take another break, and dive back into the "campaign design" mode.
For whatever reason, I tend to compartmentalize the fun of preparing a game from the fun of writing a story. So when I'm in "campaign design" mode, I'm constantly pausing and asking "what might a player do here?" or "what would totally breaking this scene look like?" or "why do the players care?" And that process of self-interrogation IS part of my fun when I'm in that mode.
So while we all know that separating those two processes is important and healthy for gameplay, I DO sometimes try switching gears, typically once I've done some heavy design lifting / writing already. For example, if I'm writing a 4 hour adventure and I'm 4,000-5,000 words into it, very much in that "campaign design" mode, I might pause and give it the day, then return to it in the evening or next day looking at it from a "story" mode of thinking. Often that will make a difference in pacing, scene sequencing, and how I organize emotional beats. Then once I incorporate those revisions, I'll take another break, and dive back into the "campaign design" mode.