Way back at the end of September, I wrote an introductory post to a new series where I would explore how creativity is expressed (or stiffed) in the RPG geek’s mind. Based on the ‘A Whack on the Side of the Head‘ by creativity Guru Roger von Oech, I wish to explore the common barriers to creativity and some tools to break them. All of this peppered with some of my own creative strategies that make my crazy mind tick.
And so we start with a huge barrier…
The Right Answer!
We are raised from infancy to seek the one correct answer to all questions and all problems we are given to solve. When you ask a young child what is the best way to alleviate a summer heat wave, they are as likely to say ‘Take an ice cream bath’ as ‘Open the doors of all freezers of the city” than “start the AC”.
As we grow older, we are actively discouraged from inventing creative answers by our parents (“don’t be silly”) and education system (“This essay, while very poetic, is still worth an F”).
As a pragmatist society, we are taught that each question has one right answer and that hard work is often needed to discover it. That molding of our thinking minds has a price, we developed a filter that discard initially irrelevant solutions while seeking right ones.
In creating RPGs material for your home games or for publication, this kind of thinking (“I must find the perfect idea!”) can completely drown creativity when you have to come up with ideas that are workable as is. Thus, you constantly discard sub-par ideas in search for the right one.
The thing is, there is no one RIGHT answer… there are a dozen. But we either ignore them… or we stop looking for them too soon.
I’m sure that many of you have had work meetings where the Suit/Project Manager/Head Honcho at the end of the table would present a problem and ask for solutions. People around the table would emm and ahh and then someone would hazard a solution… which would likely get shot down (especially if the people around the table are technical types, you know who you are!). This likely continues right until someone comes up with something that sounds halfway decent… then EVERYONE jumps on the solution and crowns it ‘Best idea of the year’ and the meeting is adjourned.
The 1st right answer is usually not the best one. In fact, having one right answer/idea is downright dangerous. You may consider your brainstorm over and push forward, with a possibly sub par idea.
In RPG terms, this often happens to me when I’m late in prepping my game. I desperately start to look for an adventure idea and I often pick a previously discarded idea (or published adventure). I then convince myself that it isn’t so bad… until I get to play it and realize that I should have worked a little harder.
There’s a Storm in my Brain
Many GMs and would be RPG writers think that ideas are hard to come by. I’m not really qualified to comment this as I often feel I’ve got the equivalent of an ideas nuclear reactor instead of a brain. However, I’m starting to believe that one of the challenges of RPG GMs is not coming up with ideas, but rather not discard them instantly (not good, not the right one, too lame, too unoriginal, missing cowbell, etc) before they had a chance to combine and create something great.
And therein lies the genius of the brainstorm.
Ideas like to aggregate, to mix, to steal from one another. This often leads to better, stronger ideas as your brain (or as a group’s collective one) associate previous silly/lame/irrelevant ideas into something workable, if not downright genius.
When I brainstorm for a D&D adventure or magazine article and I hit an idea that finally “feels right”, I put it down on a list, like all the other ideas so far, including lame ones. I resist the temptation of stopping there and I just push onwards without judging any ideas yet. Once I run out of steam, I look at the list and pick the 2-5 ideas I like the most. Those are my Best Ideas. If, while looking at this list of ‘best’ ideas, I get new ones, I jot them down at the bottom of the list. Those are often my ‘Second Best” ideas as my thought process combines the first ones and starts making associations with other elements.
Then I usually show the list to someone else and see what ideas make them react the most. My final picks are usually from the intersection of what my ‘testers’ and myself liked best.
It really works.
The Second Best Answer
As I write this though, I realize that I may have an idea generation process that is more structured than most. That’s likely because I have had many years of experience dealing with a brain that constantly tries to get my attention with a new idea.
Brain: Pssst. How about an adventure where an Orc Santa, based on Pratchett’s Hogsfather gets killed by elves, creating a bloody war between starved Orcish mothers and the nearby Elven settlement?
Chatty: Not now, can’t you see I’m working? I’ll jot it down and look later.
Brain: You’re no fun, I liked you better when you were made of crazy.
As I was saying, if you are struggling with the “Right Answer’ Syndrome, a great exercise Roger Van Oeck proposes in his book is to push any idea generating process (i.e. brainstorming) until you reach your second best answer. At the very least, you will get another idea against which to compare your ‘right’ one, and be in a better position to judge it properly.
So next time you look for an idea for an adventure, a monster, a setting element or even a PC… make a list of ideas, fight the reflex of self-judging them (now’s not the time, we’ll talk about that soon) and push your list passed your first right idea and find the the second best idea, you’ll thank me.
So anyone stuck with Right Answer syndrome? What are you strategies to deal with it?
Thanks for posting this. I am very interested in your brainstorming and idea generating processes, as this is an ability I’m always trying to refine in myself, both for games and for other pursuits in life. So far what I do is similiar in that I just start writing down what comes to mind, and then have arrows branching off the original idea for elaborations on that idea (some times conflicting with stuff already written down, but I can resolve that later).
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
I never discard an idea. At the time I come up with it, it may be a horrible idea that will not work with what I am working on right then. However, I have found I tend to use all of my ideas eventually even if it’s literally years later.
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 =-.
@Erik and Callin: It’s so interesting to know about other people’s creative processes work. I’m not as frugal with ideas as Callin is as I’ll throw many many on the discarded pile where they will evolve and come back later.
It’s true that playing with Ideas and ‘What ifs’ is one of the great pleasures of GMing.
I do ubiquitous capture. I use Evernote A LOT to jot down my ideas, as well as my trusty Field Notes. I tend to get little inspirations or seeds, which I jot down. Then later, usually during class, I’ll get an idea for how to extend it and make it into full-fledged awesome.
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 =-.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on creative idea its a long read but I enjoyed it, Although your topic is related to RGP game I think your theory also apply in marketing and business. Again I enjoyed reading your post.
Great article!
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 =-.
Two TED Talks worth watching on creativity:
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