Finding Motivation

[NoobHealer]

For quite a while now, I've been in quite a slump. I haven't created anything in a period of time longer than I care to admit. Occasionally, I find a little push to start something... but never get around to finishing. Between life getting involved and the work that goes into such projects, nothing ever reaches completion.

So, my question for you guys... what do you do when you can't find the motivation to work?

How do the rest of you get out of slumps and find the desire to work on your own RPGs?

[kumakami]

look backwards, move forwards, and pay I don't trip! to be honest I find looking for insperation to be what tends to kill it.. I've worked on 1000's of games, and finished only 1!

[koipond]

I tend to try to work on something else if I'm not feeling a project. I'll write a poem or a story, or even go read a book.

The hardest part to anything is the finish, and it doesn't really get any easier to more stuff you put out. You just learn to trust when you're starting to fade and either push through or wait it out.

[Rob Lang]

That's a very good question. I've had a good think and here are some things I do. I can't say these are good things but they work for me.

Have more than one project on the go
By having lots of projects going, I don't get bored of one. At the moment, I am coding the next version of my browser game , writing version 4 of my free sci fi RPG , running a weekly game of Cloudship Atlantis (although this is on pause until I recover from hospital), writing (also on pause for same reason), writing a novel based in the Icar universe (90k words and counting) and freelance web design. All on top of a 9-5.

The danger is that you don't do any of them. When I am well, I tend to go hell-for-leather on one of them, hit a milestone and then change.

I don't watch telly
I watch about 2 hours of TV a week and they are choice programs plucked from the on-demand iPlayer service.

Set yourself a task
By having a task with discrete deadlines (like the 24 hour RPG competition, or NaNoWriMo), you'll find that you are productive like at no other time.

Tell other people
When other people are taking an interest in your project, it is a lot easier to keep going. Having Doc, Randolph and Vizier commenting on Icar, keeps me motivated but I need to put some effort responding in return. Its not helping the game actually get written but it does help in keeping me going.

Schedule a break
When you've got a lot on, its important to schedule a break to do something else. I'm still in the process of moving house but last night, I scheduled a bit of Civilisation 5 for an hour before bed. Of course, while playing, I had ideas for things, I just wrote them down and carried on playing.

Do something very different
One weekend some time ago, I levered my wife and baby out on an excursion into the country. We had no plan as such, we just went for a drive at random, stopping at a pub for lunch and investigating Norman churches as we saw fit. Because it was a very different sort of activity, my brain had a chance to refresh itself and I found it much easier to get into doing Icar stuff that evening. I think this works for any activity that is outside your usual daily grind. I sometimes take a completely different (and often longer) route to work for the same reason. Mix things up, get out of the routine.

Have no-games account on your computer
More handy for when I need to do paid work rather than hobbies, but not having games accessible is really handy.

Go paper and go elsewhere
A while back I was stuck in the town centre while I waited to meet with a friend. All I had was some paper and a pen on me, so I found a cafe I'd never been to and sat and scribbled. I managed to sketch a few ideas for a new space craft for Icar. Being forced to use paper and a pen was liberating.

Get a pocket notebook
I'm sticking this one on here because I think it's the best thing I ever bought. I carry a little pocket notebook (like a moleskine) and a pen everywhere I go. When I have a thought or idea - no matter how stupid, I do a drawing or write a note. Every so often, I will return to the notebook and pick out the ideas. I think the notebook should be a nice one so that you have more impetous to look after it and use it. I tried using my smartphone as a notebook but there is greater freedom in an actual notebook because you can scribble drawings and doodles that represent the idea too.

If I think of any more motivational ideas, I'll post them up.

[thedeadone]

I struggle with procrastination/lack of motivation all the time with creative projects. This boils down to having little spare time and energy mostly due to the kids and work.

Opposite to Rob's post, I focus on one project at a time, not many. I keep a milestone in view, what do I want to achieve. Thats the goal. But really you have to find the way that works for you.

The best solution to defeating lack of motivation is "just get on with it". It can be the hardest thing to overcome, but once you've started you can keep going. A favorite writer's trick I know and I've used successfully is setting an alarm. Plan to write for 15 minutes and stop at the alarm. Once you've started writing, you may find you'll just ignore the alarm and keep going.

I find once I hit my imaginary milestone, I stop completely. But I find then is the point to start sharing it with other people and talking about it.

Keep a notebook or some sort of quick access data store and write down your ideas. I often use my blog to write up ideas (giving them slightly more structure).

and this is the key to breaking procrastination/writers block/motivation. My opinion is, forget all the best-case design approaches and get stuck in at the deep end, start with the bits you enjoy. As a coder there is an instinct to "do it right" but you end up doing all the boring stuff first and probably never finish it. Start with the stuff got you excited about the idea and work backwards.

Reduce distractions, if you can. Sometimes they are unavoidable (I have kids and my family always comes first). I'm programmer geek, I love the internet, I love TV and love books. If you can, cut it all away and it's much easier to get started.

But I also offer this counter point: for me, I kinda need my crappy TV to detune from work and other commitments. Sometimes it inspires me. A book I read on inspiring writer offered this advice, keep what inspires and encourages you to write and try to ignore which doesn't. Try to figure out what type of books, movies, friends, etc. motivate you and try to cultivate them more. For me, sometimes watching a bad movie or reading a weak book inspires me to write because I know I could do something much better. An old friend who has the completely different style of gaming and who constantly argues with me about the nature of roleplaying, turns out to inspire me to design better roleplaying games. You have to find what works for you.

And finally, do it for yourself. Enjoy the process, enjoy the learning. If you can succeed at that, all other advice is moot. You'll never need a real audience. Two of my favourite authors never found real success in their lifetimes but they were prolific (HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe). My Lost Heroes RPG project took so long, because I ended up enjoying doing the research and cataloging and working through the different mythologies. I did my own god family trees from the stories I read rather than re-use ones already created. It became a passion. It changed the way I looked at world in general.

Another reason to do it for yourself is, there are always room to improve. Sometimes I come across a book or a rpg and I'm amazed at how great it is. This ends up becomes quite demotivating. You'll never be Shakesphere, your project will never be that good (it could, but you feel that it won't). But you got remember sometimes it's luck that brought all those factors together. Strive to always better and and improve, don't do it to simply show off to others how great you are. If you can get good critical advice (not necessarily positive advice), heed it and ignore the bad advice. Rewrite. Appreciate the skill of design and writing.

I think I wrote more than I meant there (maybe I should rewrite this post a bit better... nah!)

[koipond]

I'll second Rob's comment about taking a pad of paper and a pencil out and just write. It always makes me feel better about anything I'm doing.

[NoobHealer]

The idea about a no games account on the computer is brilliant and is about to be created.

I also think that Rob's idea about multiple projects may be a good idea for me. I have a tendency to go all-out on a project until I've burned myself out. If I actually could get myself into a rotating pattern on different projects, it could probably help prevent me reaching that stage.

The idea about writing on paper is a good one that I also like to use. Sadly, my current major project is a computer game... and I have officially finished the part that I can plan in a notebook. It wasn't until I finished the handwritten plans that I realized how much bigger the project was than I expected.

And, Thedeadone, I think you are right about the distractions such as the internet. It only hits me now that I started this post while I was supposed to be working on finishing the project. I think that tells me something very important.

Thanks for the ideas.