What do you do when you don’t know?

When you’re not sure what to do, what do you do? I only have a couple viewpoints on something like this. The most obvious would be GMing. The party heads down a corridor that you just mention casually. Adventure – out the window. Here we go.

In some ways, this is the easiest scenario. At least for me. First thought is what’s the goal? Do I have an end point in mind for tonights adventure? Can it fit into what has now become the focus for the group?
What if the answer is no? Goal number two is fun. Can I at least make it fun.

GMing is easy (no, really) compared to real life. So lets not go there yet (or at all). What do you do if no product comes to mind. OK, this one is more for me – but you can help. I have ideas. Ideas are easy. It is the movement from idea to product that gets me. There is a lot of I don’t know that happens there.

So here is solution number one – write it down. A wise woman (my wife – don’t act surprised) once said that you can’t edit what you haven’t written. True. So write down something awful and fix it in editing. Everyone will tell you to try this. Writers write they say. It’s true, but it still sucks to hear it. You have my permission to give them the bird. Start with me and work your way out.
Solution number two. Read something like what you want to write and get inspired. I work in a tech/software world as my day job. A common saying there (at least I use it a lot) is that theft is the most sincere form of flattery. Maybe not so true in the publishing world. I think it may be a legal thing. Consult your own attorney, I don’t even play one on TV. Write it own, and then consult solution number one above.

I don’t have too many more solutions than this. Sorry, new at this myself. Still trying to take my own advice.

Real life. Didn’t think I’d make it here. Best advice I have is to ask for help. You can use the two solutions I have above. Look for similar issues, steal their advice, and then edit down to what you need.

Speaking of editing down, look for another adventure front in about a week. I’ve been working on adapting this years GenCon adventure into a front. Good practice for next year.

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