I love this analogy. It's very freeing in some way -- my main issues with writing have always been getting stuck on how big something is, how do I make a Good Game from start to finish. Zooming into the sequence of individual decisions feels a breath of fresh air, a fun game indeed to take away the seriousness of The Project. And you're absolutely right, I can always step back, zoom out, admire and/or edit.
For a while, I had this subconscious fear that I wouldn't write a compelling enough plot if I didn't first get gud at chess. There's a lot of personal issues bound up in that hang-up, but it feels validating to realize there is something to it: that in some ways, I want to get to a certain level of elegance and comfort dealing with play by play dynamics to write a story that makes for that satisfying what's going on to aha! journey for the player (engaging!). As I did get better at chess, I did find that the last chapter I wrote had a certain tightness to it, a feeling of possibility and wonder that flows smoothly into a coherent story as the player chooses. It's very validating to see you experience something similar with writing and gaming:)
I love this analogy. It's very freeing in some way -- my main issues with writing have always been getting stuck on how big something is, how do I make a Good Game from start to finish. Zooming into the sequence of individual decisions feels a breath of fresh air, a fun game indeed to take away the seriousness of The Project. And you're absolutely right, I can always step back, zoom out, admire and/or edit.
For a while, I had this subconscious fear that I wouldn't write a compelling enough plot if I didn't first get gud at chess. There's a lot of personal issues bound up in that hang-up, but it feels validating to realize there is something to it: that in some ways, I want to get to a certain level of elegance and comfort dealing with play by play dynamics to write a story that makes for that satisfying what's going on to aha! journey for the player (engaging!). As I did get better at chess, I did find that the last chapter I wrote had a certain tightness to it, a feeling of possibility and wonder that flows smoothly into a coherent story as the player chooses. It's very validating to see you experience something similar with writing and gaming:)