Avatar photoSteven Savage

Sharing Interesting Things

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

One thing I did this Christmas was to gift some people various games that deserved their attention as they were:

  • Indie games that were original or interesting.
  • Early access games that deserved support – and were usually Indie games as well.
  • Games that broke the mold or redid things in smart ways.

The reasons for this may seem obvious, but to be obvious:

  • I want to support Indie games so that the games industry continues to innovate. There’s fantastic stuff out there.
  • I want to support Early Access so games can evolve with proper feedback. I know what good feedback can do.
  • It’s fun to blow people’s minds, so they think outside of the box and experience new things.

I want to strongly encourage this behavior because there’s enough sameness out there, enough watered-down media. If you’ve got something good, share it – and a gift is a great way to share it. Hey, if nothing else, people feel obligated to try it.

Besides the obvious benefits of sharing and so on, remember this includes giving people cold, hard cash. That dev probably needs every cent spent, and you can pay a few extra cents to help out.

Steven Savage

Always In Touch

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

As noted before, I replotted and restarted some of my sequel to A Bridge To The Quiet Planet. There were many reasons from stress to the fact I’m frankly playing above my game – it’s less romp more messed up magical mystery with twists and turns. But these moments teach us plenty of lessons – and here’s another to share.

Lately, life has been chaotic (this has fortunately calmed). This chaos has meant that some days I haven’t been able to write, or I had to take breaks. As I was working on writing and plotting, I observed something interesting.

While working on the novel, starting on anything – from plotting to writing – would be hard to start. In time, though, I would get into it – and I decided to analyze why. I found that taking time meant I “got into” and connected with the work. It wasn’t just unblocking things or getting up to speed – I re-connected intimately with the work.

I also noticed something else. If I were to do these things day after day, it felt more normal – as long as I didn’t pressure myself. “Write X a day” or “you must do this by Monday” didn’t help. I just needed some form of contact with the work.

Finally, I found that there are times one gets deep into a work, be it writing or plotting, that its best to continue. You get into the zone, which means when you start a creative work, it may be best to have buffer time so you can keep going.

I realized when I looked at some of my best works, I keep in touch with them almost every day during their creations. It may be only a few minutes or taking notes, but it works and keeps me in the zone. It kept me in touch.

So ask yourself how you can “keep in touch” with your work. Not something stressful or burdensome, but something that helps you “feel” your work. Maybe you can do something every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

Steven Savage

Steve’s Update 12/23/2019

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

A few big announcements!

We’re heading for Christmas, so let’s round up.

Fair warning, not gonna do much blogging this week for obvious reasons! Also I know I’ve not spread my posts across all my sites – I do hope to correct that. Life has been hectic.

Now, where are we?

So what have I done since last time?

  • Way With Worlds: The Gods and Deities Book’s draft is done!
  • Chance’s Muse: Is out! You can get it at at this link! I also need reviewers!
  • A School Of Many Futures: Chapter 4 is nearly done (plus I have stuff written past that).
  • Seventh Sanctum: Taking it easy right now, but am setting up new update plans for next year – I want to streamline it, use some new code, etc.
  • General: Holiday preparation.

What’s next?

  • Way With Worlds: I’m going to edit it and get it off to my editor. Now if all goes well it’ll be out early in the new year!\
  • A School Of Many Futures: Finish Chapter 4 and do more replotting, as well as get some editing in. Let’s see if the holiday is kind to me . . . or if I just play videogames.
  • Seventh Sanctum: Nothing right now!

Steven Savage