So it begins

Hello All.

I said that I might reveal a bit about what goes into making a PDF and subsequent book in this section and so it begins right here. A statement of intent that I’ll give it a go in the hopes of enlightening people who find some bit of interest in creating PDFs for the gaming industry.

The first thing is to come up with a really great idea.

Okay. I’m just kidding. An idea is only the start of things, but you want to scope things out and see whether what you’re considering has any potential marketplace or if it’s saturated or is it really something you can do better and differently. Part of this is intuition, part creativity, part business sense, and part madness. My friends say you can probably through in a bit of ego too, for us, game writers, to think that what we’re coming up with is so far superior to what anyone else can possibly come up with. Well, it’s not the case, as you can see from some of the stuff out there. The idea part is the easy part. The hard part is focusing on the idea and expanding it and working with it until it seeps throughout your body and you reach some sort of fundamental understanding with it and you know where it’s going. Are you following me or should I translate into a more graspable, practical meme? Hmmm. Here goes. The idea is easy. Working with the idea is a fine balance of creativity, passion, and dedication. It’s essential that the work doesn’t bore you. This is not number crunching or working with sales reports. This is entertainment. This is you making something for people to enjoy. Something for people to choose to spend their time doing. We are competing with everyone and there is a bit of hubris to think we can pit our skills against video games and movies. The secret is treating our work seriously with respect and dignity. It’s something I learned in a computer class about twenty-plus years ago. My teacher called it garbage-in, garbage out, or gigo. That’s still true today. Take a good idea, be true to the idea, and you should have some passable work. That’s only the first part. We’ll call that the Conception Phase. Next time, we’ll address Execution.

Later,

Sean

P.S. Concept art is coming soon. :)