The ninth quarter of our series ends with this article; as such, we keep with our tradition of looking back over the past dozen articles and talking about a game idea built on them.  We most recently did this with Arbitrary, when we finished two years, celebrating that milestone while suggesting it lacked real meaning.

  Some time back, one of the most prolific D20 freelancers was asked how he manages to work on so many projects at once.  His answer was the same as I have often given.  He takes projects that are very different from each other.  When he is tired of one, he takes a break by working on another.

  My experience is much the same.  In the early part of the 1990’s, I was working on Multiverser, and doing so pretty much straight through.  When I tired of it, I did nothing for a while, and then I got back to it.  Today, it’s different.  I’ve got several projects in development, at different stages.  Further, I’ve learned that each of these projects has several varied tasks, and switching between tasks can help keep things going.

  This approach, this diversification of effort, may be one of the explanations for why this column has lasted so long as it has.  Each week ends with the promise that next week will bring something different, and in the main that has held true.  Just looking back over the past three months, we can see the variety presented.

105. Variations considered brushing off the old ideas to come up with new approaches.
106. Wait reminded us that you don’t always have to do something; sometimes the best choice is to see what happens next.
107. Togetherness talked about the fact that games are at their core social occasions, and should be treated as such.
108. Contingencies noted that there are no good Plan B’s, but that it’s good to have them in place whether you’re the referee or the player.
109. Levels addressed logic, and the importance of thinking a bit more deeply about things.
110. Silence considered one of the primary features of modern jurisprudence, and talked about how the right against self-incrimination might be interpreted, or what the world would be like without it.
111. Math wasn’t about math, but about the limitations we sometimes impose on ourselves, not doing what we can do because we believe we cannot.
112. Bad Ideas recalled a promise made long before, considering how to recognize whether an idea is worth investing time in it.  In the end, the question remains unanswered, but there were some valuable bits along the way.
113. Stalling was presented as a referee technique to get time to think, by throwing something at the players that will take them a bit of time before they continue.
114. Orthography considered ways to use spelling and the vagaries of written language as a game device.
115. We considered whether the changes in video games and role playing games over the past decades reflect a deeper change in our culture, a move from challenge to Entertainment in people’s preferences.
116. Last week we kicked back and relaxed with a list of Gamer Movies, and why I recommend each of them.

  It should be apparent that there is a great deal of variety in the subjects we’ve covered.  At the outset, this series took a theme that opened many possibilities, and so it’s rare that it runs short of new ideas.

  Even so, I keep the creative juices flowing by working on ideas beyond these articles.  At present, Multiverser:  The Third Book of Worlds is advancing furiously toward completion, and much of that is my writing and editing.  Even as I work on that, there are maps (more maps in this volume than ever before, but that’s because these worlds require them), so I’m shifting between writing, editing, and mapping.  The novels also require some attention; although I have not worked on them this week, I eagerly await comments from an independent editor on the second, and have started work on the fourth and fifth in the series.

  In addition to these, we have a collectible card game in development.  Much of this falls to me, and I’m working with a few people to develop the values for the cards and test the mechanics.  There are several other games in development–a couple of role playing games, three board games, and rules for a traditional card game.  So there is much to occupy my attention.

  This doesn’t mention the bulk of my online work.  Apart from the e-mail and forums that keep me rather busy, I maintain my own web site, with a couple hundred pages accumulated over several years, on everything from fantasy gaming to time travel to modern legal issues to Bible teaching, sometimes with the lines blurred between them.  I’ve got a monthly column at the Christian Gamers Guild site, Faith and Gaming, which addresses game-related subjects that are intended for a specifically Christian gaming audience.  Periodically I produce a page for another site.  The most recent, I’m Not a Lawyer, but I Play One in a Game at RPGnet, is too long for this series as it gives a framework for producing the experience of legal drama in a role playing game environment.  Before that, Applied Theory was an effort to show how an understanding of the concepts of gamism, narrativism, and simulationism as expounded by Ron Edwards could be used in practical ways to help make game design decisions.  On top of this, I try to keep up Valdron’s Game Tip of the Week site, which means every week having a new one-line game tip to post on sites around the web.

  There are times when I worry that one or another of these is falling behind; at the moment, I’m trying to catch up on these articles (I like to be a couple months ahead on drafts, and I’m not) and looking for a chance to generate a new batch of tips (which if I haven’t done so by the time you read this, I’ll have run out).  But never does it come to the point at which I can’t think of anything.  With so many different ideas to explore, there’s always something on which I can get more done.

  In fact, perhaps the biggest problem is knowing when I’ve done enough; when I’ve written enough for the night, finished enough of what lies before me that I can relax, go to bed, maybe even watch a movie or something.

  So my advice to those of you who hope to be creative is to diversify.  Start several projects.  Focus on one, but when you tire of it or run short of ideas shift to another.  You’ll find that in the time you’re working on the other project, the back burner will continue to simmer and eventually will produce answers, ways to get around your snags, fresh ideas for your story, your world, your game.  As long as there’s always something different you can do for a while, you’ll always have something you can do.

  Next week, something different.

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M. Joseph Young is co-author of Multiverser and Vice President for Development at Valdron Inc.  His many contributions to online literature are indexed for convenience, and he looks forward to discussing these things by e-mail or on our Gaming Outpost forums.