So, my experiences with developing Stone Horizons have given me an insight into the world of the writer. I can't devote myself to it full time or it would have been finished 12 months ago, but i work away at it when i can.

I've been daunted by the amount of work it's taken (and still takes now we're in the home straight) and sometimes this has left me idle and not writing. There are weeks where i can't face the workload...Yet i keep coming back and chipping away at the project.

I'm no longer daunted - even though there's still a lot of writing to do.

I'm not daunted any longer because i've developed obsessive/compulsive behaviour in writing it. Whatever helps you through the process, i guess.

What is getting me through is doing little bits here and there on totally different subjects. I might write up a feature entry, then create a new Lurking Menace or do a paragrpah or two of advice on how to get the best out of the game followed by some attributes that critters might have. The whole gradually gets done without having to slog through whole sections 1 at a time.

I now set myself targets, which are generally word-count based. If i can do 2000 words when i sit down to work, then i feel a sense of achievement - i don't have to do those words again and the total comes down. Either that or i set myself a number of features to have completed by the end of the day. I can hear the quality over quantity arguments coming, but this really seems to work for me and i don't think that the quality of writing has suffered because of it.

So, fellow developers, how do you get it done?

Vast oceans of caffiene...

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;285413Vast oceans of caffiene...

-clash

I roast my own coffee...

Righty ho.

Quote from: HinterWelt;285474I roast my own coffee...

I grow my own coffee. I even cloned my own Jan Valdez and donkey to hand pick it for me.

-clash

I drink Dr Pepper myself, and don't sleep much; I still don't get things done quickly..

Quote from: Silverlion;285516I drink Dr Pepper myself, and don't sleep much; I still don't get things done quickly..

I'd stay away from that stuff, Tim! That Pepper fellow's not a real doctor, he just plays one on TV. Note there's no period after the "Dr"! Tricksy bugger!

-clash

Well, this was worthwhile. I'm sure folk have found it very useful.

Quote from: One Horse Town;285529Well, this was worthwhile. I'm sure folk have found it very useful.

Well, my original post was true enough. Then that squirrel-press dude had to try and one-up me!

But to your point, I'm a professional technical writer. It's what I do for a paycheck. When I get home, I write game stuff, because I love to write and I don't sleep much. Most TV bores me, and I don't want to wake the wife with riotous parties.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;285500I grow my own coffee. I even cloned my own Jan Valdez and donkey to hand pick it for me.

-clash

Seriously, i roast my own coffee. You should try it. It is really good. It would redefine what you think of as acceptable coffee. One roast, a Kona peaberry, tastes just like chocolate...hmm, coffee...

Quote from: One Horse Town;285529Well, this was worthwhile. I'm sure folk have found it very useful.

Piss and moan. Truth be told, I sleep about 4 hours (six if I am lucky) in a given night. I don't watch much TV. I write to relax. So, no quotas. No, "You must get so much done or I punish you". I like doing it. At anyone sitting I may write up to 10K words. AND I DRINK DAMNED GOOD COFFEE!

And no, before you ask, I will NOT switch to decaf.

One Horse Town, congrats on the excellent discipline!  

My writing schedule has been a mess.  I frequently burn out after work and even though I am not a TV fan, I am a movie junkie with a home theater.   And the girlfriend is a hot piece of ass, so skipping writing and just crashing is the easy choice too often.   And thus, another year passes before Goreblade gets released.

Your word count goal is a very good idea.   I am currently doing a retooling of Goreblade and taking all the best feedback from the playtesters and the contest judges and trying to weave it into a final (this time it's really final) draft.  When I sit down, I am interested in achieving XX% of a particular section.   This week my goal is to do a redefinition of the baseline for all classes - AKA, how powerful is everyone at 1st level and what does that mean for gameplay.   If that happens by Sunday, then this week is a big win.  

I do some writing for my work, but its short burst stuff which is a totally different animal from the multi-hundred pages needed for a game.   I am finding game writing MUCH harder than script writing I have done.   120 pages is nicely contained and really, the amount of white space in a script means you are really only doing about 80 pages of writing and you have the great benefit of the 3 act structure to lead you along.   Game writing is a great fun, but what a bitch!!

Quote from: HinterWelt;285536Piss and moan. Truth be told, I sleep about 4 hours (six if I am lucky) in a given night. I don't watch much TV. I write to relax. So, no quotas. No, "You must get so much done or I punish you". I like doing it. At anyone sitting I may write up to 10K words. AND I DRINK DAMNED GOOD COFFEE!

And no, before you ask, I will NOT switch to decaf.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD, SQUIRREL-MAN!!!!



-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;285568GET OUT OF MY HEAD, SQUIRREL-MAN!!!!



-clash

Why?!?!? I have a pleasant recliner set up there and big bowl of nuts...

In order to get writing done, I have to give up other fun things that I like doing.  I have a stack of PC and 360 games that I have bought, thinking "This will be fun, I should get and play this", and then end up working on the Spellchrome RPG.  

My biggest problem lately is going back and proofing what I've written.  I suppose it's still classified under writing.  

I agree with you One Horse Town, that a person has to build up habits that has them sitting down and chipping away.  My targets aren't by word count but by  page and chapter - which is basically the same thing.  Feels good to get to a certain point, even if there's a long distance still to go.