awesomepossum

2 comments by awesomepossum on Aug 30th, 2009 digg this super bookmark

Working alone on The Nightmare Chronicles, I've begun to feel overwhelmed with the size of the project so I've decided to post some tips to help me and you keep motivated and working happily on your project no matter what the size.

One: break tasks down into smaller sub tasks, Making a level or an enemy or can be a huge task and when you start thinking of all the other things you need to do it can easily seem overwhelming.  You may start saying, there is no way I will ever finish this.  You may sit there for hours indecisively switching between what to work on, not making any progress at all on anything.  So instead, focus on getting something small done. It may be a drop in the bucket in the whole scheme of things but once you're focused on one small thing you can devote your full creative drive to completing that task. 

Two: Take a break. Sometimes you just become to involved in a project and you aren't letting your brain relax or giving yourself time to just let your mind meander on its own.  I recommend grabbing some of your favorite music and taking a drive or going for a run.  Going without the music is not an option! Make sure you bring songs that you like to sing along with.  This helps because while you drive you sing along and your brain has to focus on getting the words out of your mouth and doesn't have time to keep running into walls with design problems that you are stuck on.  Get out into nature if you can, somewhere scenic and different from your normal work commute and dormitory living situation.  Also, whether or not you can find a nice secluded place to go to, stop and take time to really observe your surroundings.  You might just see something new in a place you've been to before which can spark an idea for what you are working on. 

Three: Talk to other people.  You may think you are thinking of everything, but sometimes you can only see one side of a situation and its useful to get some input from someone else. Your siblings, roommates, parents, even your dog can help even if they don't know anything about what you are doing. You could be stuck thinking to high concept and somebody around you can think of a more practical simplistic solution  that you are overlooking.  Another great use for "muggles" is they can help weed out bad ideas. You have many fantastic ideas, but some of them suck and you need to learn that.  Other people can help you weed out ones that are completely impractical or boring, or too esoteric to make sense to the general populous.  If you tried to make all of your ideas into reality it would take an eternity so cutting down the list by asking what other people like will save you time and help create a more focused and awesome final product.