On Writing...

Thus far, all of my personal RPG projects have been done in paper notebooks or on scrap paper. All of my professional work for Privateer Press for the Iron Kingdoms setting was done in Microsoft Word. I did a bit of bit of consulting on the side for a few game companies. I was too busy at the time to produce any products for them but I brainstormed ideas with them over email. The last thing I put out was a free PDF called "From The Imperial Library", a magic supplement for "Warrior, Rogue & Mage". I wrote that after my hard drive got fried and I didn't bother to re-install Microsoft Office. I used the very nice (and completely free) Open Office suite.

For Van Gogh, I have been adding everything to one file which has been getting longer and longer as I add more information and examples. Today I finally split that big document into many smaller files. I gave each section its own document file. Then I opened them all in one Master Document. Master documents are an interesting feature in Open Office that allows you to view many documents together as one continuous file. It gives a little popup window with the names of all the component files and makes it very easy to shuffle them around or insert new files into the order. From now on, I will use the master document feature for all my projects that are over a few pages long because it makes it very easy to arrange sections of material. I also like to jump around the document a lot as I think of a new idea for one section while working on another and this feature saves me a lot of scrolling. The master document navigator window has just extended the life of my PgUp and PgDn keys.

While I'm talking about writing, I'd like to share a helpful bit of advice that I picked up a long time ago and which has helped my productivity since. When working on a creative project that may be susceptible to writer's block, don't stop working at a good "stopping point". Always leave in the middle of something. If you're writing a story and you want to call it a day, don't say "I'll just finish this scene and go to bed". Leave it unfinished. When you come back to it, you can pick up where you left off and jump straight back into writing. The beginning is always one of the hardest parts to write. If you finish a chapter or a major scene, then you'll be starting fresh at a new beginning when you come back. It's much easier to start a day's work in the middle of a scene (or a section of game rules explanatory text/examples). When you can see the first half and remember where you were going with it, it's much easier to finish it than to start something new. When you do finish it and need to start the next chapter or scene or whatever, you'll already be on a roll and your creative juices will be flowing. You won't be starting cold. It really helps to maintain momentum if you can jump right in without delay every time you return to the manuscript.