Last podcast episode (5) of D20FutureShow plays Solar Echoes!

This last weekend, the D20FutureShow podcast posted the last episode of our Solar Echoes game together! Find out what happens with the team and enjoy some very close calls, dynamic shifts, and interrogation efforts!

D20FutureShow podcast of Solar Echoes game, episode 5

Shattering Expectations while Innovating (part 5)

In my opinion, huge twists have a lot of potential for losing your audience. Once in a while, someone can manage to pull off a mind-shattering twist and have it work. The movie, “The Sixth Sense” is a great example of something unexpected, but in my opinion, the director's work after that movie never recaptured the same effect—it felt like he kept trying too hard to have a big twist in all of his subsequent movies. My point is that we can try too hard to be original. As you write and develop your ideas, don't abandon your work too quickly because you feel it lacks originality or that amazing shocking moment that some stories have. Go back over it and cut away what doesn't belong, rewrite things with variations, and be ready to develop your work over and over again until you feel like you have something that flows together—something where all the pieces fit. Seek feedback from friends, family, and people who don't know you well, and learn from all of them. Being innovative in creative design isn't easy, but there's no reason to make it even harder by expecting a groundbreaking, totally original concept to fall into your lap. If you're waiting for that to happen, beware: writer's block will have you.

Shattering Expectations while Innovating (part 4)

Don't try too hard to be creative or original. If you feel you have a lack of ideas and your attempt to be creative is to do something extreme, keep in mind that extreme or weird doesn't necessarily equal creative. I have seen children do this before in art projects, where they can't come up with anything but desperately don't want to do what everyone else is doing, so they do something that is so odd it ends up being worse than if they had just stuck with the mundane. Creativity can't be forced, and often, it emerges from the ordinary. As an exercise, imagine a scene from a movie or a story you've read, and imagine things playing out differently because of a small variation or problem that occurs. You can try writing your own straightforward situation and then think of an “alternate history” butterfly-effect event that could send things into a totally different direction. Start with small variations, and work from there, instead of throwing a sudden, huge twist into the mix.

Shattering Expectations while Innovating (part 3)

Don't fall into the trap of trying to shock or stand out just because you think that itself will break expectations. What I mean is that sometimes we realize that something we're writing might be predictable, so we throw in an outlandish twist to try and prevent that. This is probably the greatest way to lose your audience. It's called breaking the suspension of disbelief—your audience will go into your story accepting only so much until you've “Jumped the Shark,” which is a reference to the finale of the “Happy Days” TV series. In that last episode, the “cool” character of Fonzie was water skiing in the ocean and when a dangerous shark was spotted, he jumped over the shark on his water skis. This was so preposterous that the event itself has become a phrase assigned to situations where the audience loses their suspension of disbelief—when an audience can no longer remain immersed in the fictional material because it has become too far removed from believability.

Shattering Expectations while Innovating (part 2)

One of the challenges of creating an innovative story is knowing what to keep and what to discard. Sometimes we get very attached to our ideas and lose perspective on what really belongs to the theme and what detracts from it. Make it a regular practice, while writing, to ask yourself if anything feels like it is tacked on or doesn't fit. We often try to make something fit when it doesn't. I remember, when working with another author, a spot where something he had put together bothered me because it felt extraneous. I talked to him about it, and he was resistant at first. After we talked about it a while, he finally decided it didn't fit and wasn't necessary. I distinctly remember him saying, “but I liked that part!” I've gone through the same thing with my own writing (and music composing) many times, and it really is hard to let go of something you've created. I always tell myself, though, that even if it doesn't fit and I have to put it aside, I can always go back to it later and develop it as something entirely separate. If it's good enough, it will flourish and grow on its own into something cohesive. And sometimes, over time, I'll admit to myself it wasn't as great as I initially thought it was.

Shattering Expectations while Innovating (part 1)

It is very difficult to create something original, yet those of us in creative industries need to keep producing something unusual and innovative. Whether it's designing a video game, a tabletop game, a movie, writing a novel or a music composition, originality is often the hallmark of value. Yet it is inevitable that someone will be able to draw a comparison between your work and the work of someone else, whether you were aware of their work during your creative process or not. Don't let that paralyze you while creating, because setting the expectation that your idea has to be totally original will create writer's block. Instead, start writing your ideas down as you have them—there's nothing that says you have to keep them, but you need to get things flowing first. Often, true innovation is discovered along the way, during the journey of creation. You can always go back to your beginning material and rework it once you've found your way.

Solar Echoes VideoGame? (part 2)

I'm not just thinking about another RPG videogame, either—I'd like a Solar Echoes video game to involve single-player and online multiplayer of course, where gamers would get together like a traditional tabletop group and one person would play as the GM while the others would play their characters. Or, all players could jump into pre-designed missions and go through them together. For single-player, you could jump in and design your own team, then jump around between each character and try to manage the entire group. I'd also love to see this game have a VR component, where players could choose 1st-person view and actually see through the eyes of their characters. It would be incredible to play as a mighty Archaeloid or a gelatinous Omul, seeing through their eyes. Playing the game online with friends from a 1st-person view would be hilarious fun, and they'd be right down there in the action. I have many more ideas for this, and am hoping someday to find the right people to move forward with it all!