Reflections on Writing
I have been thinking a lot about Crucible lately, the homebrew world I cut my teeth on when I was just coming into my own as a storyteller and as a Game Master. Part of the recent interest is in watching the incredible world building in some of the shows I have been keeping up with including, Castlevainia, Blood of Zeus, The Legend of Vox Machina, The Witcher, and The Wheel of Time. This has ignited some desire in me to work on a fun creative experiment to build a world that is wholly mine. It’s partially as a desire to have a fun background to run my own fleshed-out homebrew campaigns in, and partially from the desire to create something that I might leave behind as some sort of legacy–a living world that friends and family can play in and make their own.
My good friend and mentor once introduced me to Dorothy Parker’s quote on writing in which she said, “'I hate writing, I love having written.”
As someone who has run a ton of modules, carved off their own section of the Star Wars Galaxy, and run sessions mostly off-the-cuff, it is a lot easier to build upon the genius of others (running in an established universe such as Star Wars or The Forgotten Realms of D&D) than it is to come up with your own stuff and make it all fit. Coming up with new and exciting ideas for sessions or new worlds to explore has never been a problem for me, but writing it all down… that sounds a lot like work. A former counselor once told me that I lived in the world of the conceptual, of the ideal, of inspiration. But as exciting as the daydreams were, a part of the creative process was to come down from my flight of fancy and actually put pen to paper and write down my ideas. My good friend and mentor once introduced me to Dorothy Parker’s quote on writing in which she said, “'I hate writing, I love having written.”
The world of Crucible seemed to flow from my mind eagerly onto the page. My fingers could hardly keep up. I ran out of space. I wrote in the margins. It was magical.
In an attempt to really focus on putting that pen to paper, I even purchased some writing prompts to assist me (which if you are interested I found here.) The first part of the book focuses on the tenets of world building and gives the author’s background and how they became enthralled in the subject and inspired to write this book. It is a great read and filled with all kinds of inspiring thoughts. Day One I started strong and filled nearly every square inch of the page with ideas and lore and of the creation of the world. The world of Crucible seemed to flow from my mind eagerly onto the page. My fingers could hardly keep up. I ran out of space. I wrote in the margins. It was magical. Then Day Two happened: Draw a map of your world. I. Just. Froze. The perfectionist in me couldn't get past the fact that the map would be woefully inadequate. How could I possibly capture every location and civilization of my world? I am not an artist! How on Earth am I going to draw this map? Stymied, I set the book aside and focused my attention elsewhere and it wasn't until recently that I once again felt inspired to begin writing more about my world and putting the ideas I have on paper (or, in my case, digitally) so that I can better organize my ideas.
. . .if you are blessed with a world in your mind, do everything you can to come down from the realm of possibility and into the world of actualization.
I find it works best for me to really focus on one idea and branch out from there. This allows me to really hone and hyper-fixate on a topic and then as I write I am inspired and really flush it out. Honestly it is probably a terrible way to write and maybe I shouldn’t recommend it, but it seems to work for me. My biggest takeaway is that if you are blessed with a world in your mind, do everything you can to come down from the realm of possibility and into the world of actualization. Begin writing your world down today and at your own pace. You never know where you will end up next nor the stories you will create unless you try. Sometimes you have to put the pen to the paper. . .even if it feels like work . . .and savor that sense of accomplishment; it’s pretty sweet!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
