[arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration or Inspiration?

[Burcu Bakioglu]

Mike, yes indeed. I have. Here's the thing.. Judy, though I never figure
skated, I understand where you're coming from. When I am playing World of
Warcraft, for example, and keep dying over and over again at a quest, I
realize that I have to look at the problem differently and figure out an
easier solution. So, for example if I keep dying, either the quest is too
difficult for my level (in which case I have to call for help) or I am
approaching the problem in a way that is making the solution more difficult
for me to kill whatever it is that I need to kill. All I have to do is to
figure out another way of looking at the problem that would make the
solution easier to solve.

But in my experience in writing it oftentimes takes more work to make the
writing easy to write (like you mentioned). Sometimes I reread the articles
that I published and say, "Man, anyone could have written that, that sounds
too easy!" But in reality it took me 50 revisions to achieve that kind of
simplicity in writing. Granted, I am talking about academic writing but I
strongly believe that it requires creativity as well. For example, it took
me two years worth of rewriting to get my Second Life chapters in place. Now
if you read it, you'd ask me, "Why the hell did it take so long for you to
write two chapters as simple as these?" I guess what I am trying to say is
this: there is not much difference between the difficulty in writing and the
difficulty in figuring out how to make it easy in writing. They are both
difficult. Figuring out both is a difficult process even if you know what
you are going to say.

And like Jan says, writing under stress and with deadlines make it easier
for me to write too...


burcu

On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 8:02 PM, <libfli at aol.com> wrote:


>

>  deadlines (self imposed and imposed by others) inspire me -

>

> faced with a world of choices, deadlines force me to focus and for some

> reason give

> me clarity.? plus i work well under loads of stress.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Michael Monello <mmonello at campfirenyc.com>

> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG <arg_discuss at igda.org>

> Sent: Tue, Sep 15, 2009 4:30 pm

> Subject: Re: [arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration or

> Inspiration?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Didn't you just tweet that you are under deadline for an article?

>

> ;)

>

> Mike

> http://www.campfirenyc.com/

> Sent from a smart(-ish) phone.

>

> On Sep 15, 2009, at 6:05 PM, "Burcu Bakioglu" <bbakiogl at gmail.com>

> wrote:

>

> > Inspiration comes to me in odd occasions... like when I am hiking,

> > swimming,

> > taking a shower, shopping... But executing that inspiration is a

> > hell of a

> > lot of work and requires much hair pulling and discomfort. When I

> > get an

> > idea I am always under the false impression that it is going to be

> > easy to

> > execute/write, when I start the writing process I wonder what the

> > hell I was

> > thinking earlier. And I don't really believe in anyone who says this

> > is an

> > easy process, seriously, I've been writing for over a decade and it

> > ain't

> > getting any easier.

> >

> > burcu

> >

> > On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 5:35 PM, Judy Tyrer

> > <judy.tyrer at redstorm.com> wrote:

> >

> >> I'm a programmer.  The solution to the problem ALWAYS happens on

> >> the drive

> >> home after beating my head against the proverbial brick wall for

> >> hours at a

> >> time.  It's inevitable.

> >>

> >> As a writer (which I am only rarely paid for) the inspiration comes

> >> in the

> >> morning upon first waking up.

> >>

> >> I think it's a left brain/right brain thing.  I can't write at

> >> night.  I

> >> can't code in the morning.

> >>

> >> Judy

> >>

> >> -----Original Message-----

> >> From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [mailto:arg_discuss-

> >> bounces at igda.org]

> >> On Behalf Of Naomi Alderman

> >> Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 4:57 PM

> >> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG

> >> Subject: Re: [arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration

> >> or

> >> Inspiration?

> >>

> >> I actually had a conversation about this recently with Andrea and was

> >> *jealous as hell* when she told me that she can work on a problem and

> >> know that she can then just 'leave things to [her] subconscious' and

> >> reliably wake up the next morning with an idea. (Andrea, is this

> >> roughly what you said?)

> >>

> >> It is never like this for me :-(. If I'm not at my desk working, very

> >> little happens. The really great ideas, the ones that make all the

> >> difference to the project, those end up coming at random times (on a

> >> walk, in the pool, in the shower), but for the day-to-day 'what shall

> >> I do with this next scene?' questions it is graft all the way. Sit

> >> and

> >> type and type and hope that something comes out.

> >>

> >> Dorothea Brande, if you don't know her book 'Becoming a Writer' is

> >> very good on the topic of 'activities that engender ideas'. She

> >> recommends setting yourself a writing (or other creative) problem,

> >> musing on it for a while, and then going off to do something which is

> >> fairly mindless, body-not-brain, perhaps something rhythmic and

> >> peaceful like walking, rocking in a rocking chair, knitting, washing

> >> up or whittling. Sometimes it's worked for me, but more often it's

> >> just banging my forehead with my fist until something falls out.

> >>

> >> - Naomi

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 8:02 PM, David Flor <dflor71 at gmail.com>

> >> wrote:

> >>> I'm a programmer by trade: I do things first, then think about them

> >> later.

> >>> If it takes six complete rewrites to get it right (even if some of

> >>> those

> >>> rewrites are done for no reason), so be it.

> >>>

> >>> I have a hard time sitting down and coming up with ideas on the

> >>> spot.

> >> Most

> >>> of my ideas come out of the blue at inconvenient times: on the

> >>> bus, at

> >> 3am

> >>> while asleep, watching a movie in the theater, in the shower... I

> >>> pretty

> >>> much go everywhere with a pen and paper at this point, and also

> >>> have a

> >> set

> >>> on my nightstand (drives the wife crazy).

> >>>

> >>> Judy Tyrer wrote:

> >>>>

> >>>> I don't know about "waiting for an idea to come" as I think you

> >>>> have to

> >> be

> >>>> actively involved in DOING and then the idea comes.  It is in the

> >>>> doing

> >> of

> >>>> the project that one opens oneself up for ideas to flow.  You

> >>>> can't just

> >>>> watch TV all day waiting for inspiration.  You have to be actively

> >> involved

> >>>> in what you are wanting to achieve, regardless of the media in

> >>>> which you

> >> are

> >>>> working.  Inspiration comes through perspiration, I guess.  At

> >>>> least,

> >> that's

> >>>> been my experience.

> >>>> Judy

> >>>> -----Original Message-----

> >>>> From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [mailto:arg_discuss-

> >>>> bounces at igda.org

> >> ]

> >>>> On Behalf Of Andrea Phillips

> >>>> Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 1:50 PM

> >>>> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG

> >>>> Subject: [arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration or

> >>>> Inspiration?

> >>>>

> >>>> This is a question that came up on IRC a few weeks ago. There are a

> >>>> few ways that creative work happens. On the one hand, there's the

> >>>> Stevie Wonder model, perspiration: You work and work and work

> >>>> (writing

> >>>> dozens of songs a fay, and then, by the numbers, some of the work

> >>>> will

> >>>> be chart-toppers. Then there's the inspiration model, the

> >>>> apocryphal

> >>>> Voltaire writing Candide in three days: You wait until an idea

> >>>> comes

> >>>> to you, and then you execute it in one dizzying whirlwind until

> >>>> it's

> >>>> done.

> >>>>

> >>>> So you: Where do you fall? Skew hard one way or the other?

> >>>> Someplace

> >>>> in the middle? On one end and wish you were on the other?

> >>>>

> >>>>

> >>>

> >>> _______________________________________________

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> >>>

> >> _______________________________________________

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> >>

> >

> >

> >

> > --

> > Thanks,</burcu>

> >

> > Burcu S. Bakioglu, Ph.D.

> >

> > http://www.palefirer.com

> > http://palefirer.com/blog/

> > Skype: PaleFireR

> > AIM: PaleFireR

> >

> > --

> > "Congratulations! You're the first human to fail the Turing test."

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-- 
Thanks,</burcu>

Burcu S. Bakioglu, Ph.D.

http://www.palefirer.com
http://palefirer.com/blog/
Skype: PaleFireR
AIM: PaleFireR

--
"Congratulations! You're the first human to fail the Turing test."