Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Encounter writers block
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4934554" data-attributes="member: 54707"><p>I'm a professional writer BK, so I reckon I have the opposite problem (than what is usually considered writer's block) to a greater or lesser degree. I have far too many ideas than I will ever have the time in which to create decent articles, essays, stories, papers, etc.</p><p></p><p>So I almost never have the particular problem of not having anything to write about, and that includes even down to things like game scenarios. I face the problem of lack of time for everything I want to write, invent, compose, design, or draw. I, also because of that, face the problem of whittling down exactly what it is I want to do against what is really most important to do. (Deciding what is the best and most productive use of my time - this thing or that thing.) I also occasionally face the problem of not knowing exactly how to proceed with my ideas or projects. </p><p></p><p>(And truth be told I think this is really what most people mean by saying they have "writer's block." Not that they don't know what to write about, but don't know how to go about it - in what way exactly. And that's a lot different problem from being blocked, from having an obstacle in your way. It's more like being lost, or not knowing the proper or best direction in which to proceed.)</p><p></p><p>And since you said you don't lack for inspiration, then I'm assuming your problem is more like being lost. And if that is indeed the case then I'm gonna suggest some more abstract ideas than what has already been suggested. Ideas that can be applied not just to gaming, but to a wide range of writing type endeavors.</p><p></p><p></p><p>1. Go to the mall, or market place, or public square, a pub, etc. Someplace where a lot of people congregate and you can find a lot of different kinds of people clustered up in crowds. Listen to what other people are talking about and write down anything that gives you a decent idea into your notebook or record it on your tape-recorder. You'd be surprised the ideas that are just floating about in public that you can apply to a very wide range of enterprises and efforts. </p><p></p><p>2. Read widely and well. For instance if your game is fantasy based you might want to read myth, religion, history, and on specific subjects related to whatever you are trying to construct or create. It's all been pretty much done before in one way or another, so the past is a good indication of future possibilities and capabilities. For sentence today I was listening to a lecture on Greek Mythology and the death of Sarpedon. It gave me a great idea for a play. But stuff like that can be easily adapted for game play as well. With very little effort.</p><p></p><p>3. I like to try and imagine specific problems or to analyze specific factors involved in whatever I am doing (or imagining) and then work backwards from the problem to potential solutions. I usually try and develop multiple possible scenarios and then this gives me a range of different avenues to pursue.</p><p></p><p>4. Biographies and autobiographies. As I said in No. 2 it's all been done before. And truth is often far stranger and a lot more interesting than fiction. I read at least one biography every new reading cycle. I usually learn far more about far more bizarre and interetsing things through good biogrhaies (and I don't mean mdoenr "pop biogrhaies" that are just cheerleading scribbles, but really good, objective biogrhaies, prsneting both the real faults and the great achievements of their subject) than I will ever gain by reading fiction. As a matter of fact the great majority of most really good fiction is simply the taking or real life events in the lives of famous people and changing those things around slightly to create a new fictional story or novel or piece of literature based upon a real life model. So I highly recommend biographies. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I got some other tricks and techniques but I reckon they aren't really important in your case. But the general idea is to employ techniques that sorta help you scout or cut a path in the direction you wanna be heading. So you use things that don't really unblock you so much as help you navigate or pilot a decent course setting. Cause it's rarely what you don't know about what ya do that's the problem in writing what ya want, as it is not knowing what ya don't. So you fix that by learning what ya can from others who already have. If that helped ya then good, I hope it does. If not, sorry.</p><p></p><p>But good luck to ya either way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack7, post: 4934554, member: 54707"] I'm a professional writer BK, so I reckon I have the opposite problem (than what is usually considered writer's block) to a greater or lesser degree. I have far too many ideas than I will ever have the time in which to create decent articles, essays, stories, papers, etc. So I almost never have the particular problem of not having anything to write about, and that includes even down to things like game scenarios. I face the problem of lack of time for everything I want to write, invent, compose, design, or draw. I, also because of that, face the problem of whittling down exactly what it is I want to do against what is really most important to do. (Deciding what is the best and most productive use of my time - this thing or that thing.) I also occasionally face the problem of not knowing exactly how to proceed with my ideas or projects. (And truth be told I think this is really what most people mean by saying they have "writer's block." Not that they don't know what to write about, but don't know how to go about it - in what way exactly. And that's a lot different problem from being blocked, from having an obstacle in your way. It's more like being lost, or not knowing the proper or best direction in which to proceed.) And since you said you don't lack for inspiration, then I'm assuming your problem is more like being lost. And if that is indeed the case then I'm gonna suggest some more abstract ideas than what has already been suggested. Ideas that can be applied not just to gaming, but to a wide range of writing type endeavors. 1. Go to the mall, or market place, or public square, a pub, etc. Someplace where a lot of people congregate and you can find a lot of different kinds of people clustered up in crowds. Listen to what other people are talking about and write down anything that gives you a decent idea into your notebook or record it on your tape-recorder. You'd be surprised the ideas that are just floating about in public that you can apply to a very wide range of enterprises and efforts. 2. Read widely and well. For instance if your game is fantasy based you might want to read myth, religion, history, and on specific subjects related to whatever you are trying to construct or create. It's all been pretty much done before in one way or another, so the past is a good indication of future possibilities and capabilities. For sentence today I was listening to a lecture on Greek Mythology and the death of Sarpedon. It gave me a great idea for a play. But stuff like that can be easily adapted for game play as well. With very little effort. 3. I like to try and imagine specific problems or to analyze specific factors involved in whatever I am doing (or imagining) and then work backwards from the problem to potential solutions. I usually try and develop multiple possible scenarios and then this gives me a range of different avenues to pursue. 4. Biographies and autobiographies. As I said in No. 2 it's all been done before. And truth is often far stranger and a lot more interesting than fiction. I read at least one biography every new reading cycle. I usually learn far more about far more bizarre and interetsing things through good biogrhaies (and I don't mean mdoenr "pop biogrhaies" that are just cheerleading scribbles, but really good, objective biogrhaies, prsneting both the real faults and the great achievements of their subject) than I will ever gain by reading fiction. As a matter of fact the great majority of most really good fiction is simply the taking or real life events in the lives of famous people and changing those things around slightly to create a new fictional story or novel or piece of literature based upon a real life model. So I highly recommend biographies. I got some other tricks and techniques but I reckon they aren't really important in your case. But the general idea is to employ techniques that sorta help you scout or cut a path in the direction you wanna be heading. So you use things that don't really unblock you so much as help you navigate or pilot a decent course setting. Cause it's rarely what you don't know about what ya do that's the problem in writing what ya want, as it is not knowing what ya don't. So you fix that by learning what ya can from others who already have. If that helped ya then good, I hope it does. If not, sorry. But good luck to ya either way. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Encounter writers block
Top