Javed Sterritt of Good Blood was on The Max Frequency Podcast not too long ago and he talked about bathing in the material of a project.

"I need to simmer and just bathe in the material until I find what the thesis is—until I find the core." — Javed Sterritt

This sounds glorious to me. I love getting neck deep in research with so many tabs open and ideas scattered that I look like Uncle Iroh soaking in a hot spring. There is a danger that lurks beneath the bubbling material though. You get too comfortable. Always looking for one more tidbit or connection. The thing will never get done and you end up stuck in a perpetual state of research. You might end up like the frog in the kettle as it warms up, or–back to Iroh–captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers.

We need a counter to the simmering and bathing. Something that urges us to take that core we discover and shape it into something new.[^1] The counter is the cold, hard reality of a deadline.

"(Deadlines) are the chain saw that prunes decision trees. They create limits, refine intention, and focus effort. They are perhaps the greatest productivity tool we have…" — Adam Savage, Every Tool's a Hammer

Deadlines are a (supposed to be) a force. The catch is you have to honor them, respect them. Sometimes they are immoveable, like a client gives you one for an event. Maybe it's a once-in-a-century comet that will give your evil brother ultimate power. Sometimes a deadline is looser; a can to be kicked down the proverbial road of creativity: Those deadlines lack any punch. After all, they are being kicked.

"…at a certain point more time does not equal better output. In fact, I think not having enough time is critical to making and, most importantly, finishing things." — Adam Savage, Every Tool's a Hammer

There are so many deadlines I have failed to hit. Plenty that I stayed up all night to meet. Occasionally, I hit one in advance and have felt oh so good about it. There is a sea of deadlines in the wake of the ship that is my creativity, my profession, my family—my life.

I think the key to finding the mythical balance between bathing in material and making The Thing™ is what Javed said at the very end—"find the core."

When you find the core, you have what you need. It may not be everything, but it is enough to map out. There is enough in the core to start the process of creation. Grab ahold of that core and use a deadline to keep you focused on making. Respect it.

"We should be asking ourselves repeatedly, 'What is the essence of this project?’ as we move down the path toward completion. And as the delivery deadline nears, we should ask that question more frequently, because it helps us remember why we’re there, and what the point of the whole project is." — Adam Savage, Every Tool's a Hammer

My deadline for "The Spirit of a Galaxy Game" is January 7, 2025. That's the five year anniversary of Max Frequency. People like deadlines and dates that mean something to them.

With Galaxy 2 behind me and the flow found, I feel confident in hitting this mark. Remind me of this in two months.

And speaking of research and deadlines, here's a related excerpt from Iwata Asks: Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Playing a 3D Game Like It's 2D.

Miyamoto: We had put a lot of effort and time into building an engine that would allow players to feel comfortable controlling the player's character in the game, so we thought it would be a waste to just build the courses and then call it done. So for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, we tried packing a high concentration of elements into an extremely compact world.

Iwata: So you set a deadline.

Miyamoto: That's right. I wanted the game to be made in one year. I thought if I set a deadline like that we wouldn't run loose making a bunch of unnecessary new fields. (laughs) And that led to the three-day system.

Until next time...