Dealing with Writer's Block

 

For those of you who write, this writer's block is the impenetrable, merciless wall requiring vast amounts of personal energy to overcome. For a game writer, it can be the undoing of a company. Especially if you are a small company. We must create rules, creatures, and adventures. We correspond with other game creators, artists, and supply companies. Interruptions in those lines of communication can quickly undo the best of organizations.

At first, writing was a means to an end. Writing for the game required constant effort. After a while, it became just part of my day. Reflecting on it, it’s evident a routine was established.

The trick has become just that, a routine. During the construction of our 2.0 version, I also decided to start a blog to journal the effort required to complete the project. The blog quickly became my free writing time in which I simply poured out my thoughts and feelings for the world to see. As we moved from actual writing to editing (still have cold shakes for that time), I found the constant writing and expression of thought helped with clarifying complex ideas and concepts in the form of examples and creative passages.

Now that we have returned to story creation, I find the blog is also aiding in the creative process of world creation. Of course, the method isn’t rock solid. I still have hiccups and stalls in the creative process. The difference being it is far easier to transition from world creation to story building to creature development without facing the absolute loss in thought. It doesn’t hurt there is a whole jungle of creatures and stories always running in my head.

My routine is simple:

1.       1. Get up.

2.      2. Write a blog.

3.       3. Post it to social media.

4.       4. Story building till lunch.

5.       5. Creature creation till my wife gets home from work.

6.       6. Visit with her for a bit.

7.       7. Talk to my kids.

8.       8. Wrap up with the loose ends on either the story or creatures.

9.       9. End of day.

In the past, I spent a little time watching television, sometimes searching for inspiration. To be honest, there are few productions that captivate my attention more than my creatures and worlds. Every now and again, a series will draw me into someone else’s world. Fallout, on Amazon Prime, has been my most recent indulgence. Otherwise, I’m entertained by the worlds of my own creation.

My routine is not always so ironclad. COVID shutdowns and retirement have aided a lot in my establishment of a routine. The convention circuit I follow, and my aging parents, are a constant interruption to it. However, for the most part, that’s my day. When I hit a roadblock on one aspect of writing, I simply move onto the next project waiting for my attention.

Having this time daily to write and reflect does provide an unexpected focus. It gives me a chance to pull all those tangled thoughts out, reason my way through them, and get my ideas straight for writing. By the time the next jumble forms, my wife is returning from work, and I’ve got a new knot to sort through in the morning.

As always, thanks for reading!

K. B. Kidder

www.torturedearth.com for more information about our game.

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