Tim Brown on creativity and play
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html

Ken Robinson on how creativity is stamped out by traditional schools
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

There are two books that come to mind when reading this article. One is a book called “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. In it she has a concept similar to your thought on “The Right Answer” called “The Shitty First Draft”. She describes how important it is for someone writing to simply write and give one’s self permission to write complete crap, as long as it is written. At that point it can be revised, but we often live in such terror of failure that we never even begin to start.

The other book, “The Creative Habit”, by Twyla Tharp (of Broadway fame) is an absolutely excellent book for DMs as putting on a D&D game and putting on a Broadway show aren’t as far off as you’d think.

She describes the importance of building habits and rituals into one’s life in order to capture creativity when it shows up. I use some of her philosophies all the time when working on my own D&D game.

I highly recommend both books but the Tharp book is a lot better for D&D than the Lemott book.

* Edit: I just noticed that I recommended the same books on your previous article on the creative process. Sorry for the repost.

.-= Mike Shea´s last blog ..Monster Optimization: Shadow Dragons =-.

I try to keep my inspirations down to a line or two, without forcing it. Then I just fill in the details as they come to me. It also leaves plenty of room for improve, which means they are handy for tossing in when an adventure goes off the rails.
.-= Will´s last blog ..Trying Posterous =-.

It’s true that playing with Ideas and ‘What ifs’ is one of the great pleasures of GMing.

I have two methods for “fleshing out” an idea. By “fleshing out” I mean taking an idea that at face value looks useless and turning it into something that will work.

Work On It- And by this I mean looking at my idea sideways and upside down. I try to identify why the idea is not working, why my initial reaction is to discard it. I then decide if I can change something to make it work without losing the original concept. “What if” is said alot during this process.
In addition, understanding the original intent is important. Often an idea is a concept about how something cool can happen in a game. We need to understand what we are trying to accomplish with the cool idea, that way we can more readily change something to reach the original intent.

Mull-I tend to mull over an idea and let it percolate. I will write down the initial idea and do some preliminary work and then walk away from the idea, doing nothing but let it simmer on the edges of my thoughts for a day or two. Often I can enhance the idea and make it better by the time it comes to finalizing everything.

One more thing…don’t be afraid to let an idea morph into something else. I had a really interesting concept for a new 4E class and as I worked on it, it slowly changed into something else, something I believe is better than the original idea. In effect it took on a life of its own, because I let it go that way instead of trying to force it into my original idea.
.-= callin´s last blog ..Bonebane Skeleton- 4E Monster =-.

This is an important skill for DMs to develop, and sharing on this topic is certainly valuable to new and/or younger DMs who need a hand wrapping their heads around the near-infinite possibilites that can develop at the gaming table.

I know that I used to get paralyzed by the “right answer” syndrome when it comes to preparing for game sessions. The trick is, as you say, understanding that there is not perfect story or idea.

I would suggest that the DM should have as much fun playing with his or her ideas as the players will once the game starts. Indulging your imagination is half the fun! Just put the pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard) and put down everything that comes to mind.

Erik
http://www.erikwaddell.ca