Your World View

Despite your earnest Exploration of project possibilities, you may come to find that the very process of generating new ideas is itself a challenge. Or worse, you may feel that the ideas you generate are uninteresting, unoriginal, or dull.

Most often what prevents people from discovering truly creative and interesting ideas are their limited perspectives and views on what the possibilities are. To expand your sense of the possibilities, you must get outside of yourself and your personal thinking process and push beyond your default interpretations of the world.

Gaining Perspective

There are many ways to maintain a broad perspective during the idea exploration process. Two very effective ways are: Themed Ideation and Collaborative Ideation

Themed Ideation

Themed Ideation is the process of generating ideas by using randomly selected “themes”, “words” or “anchoring” concepts to force yourself into a different frame of mind where you think about things differently and from a greater variety of perspectives.

For example, think about the word “Cat”. Right now an image is in your head of some kind of Cat, perhaps one you own or have seen around. Now, think about the word “Diamond”.  Take a minute and really think about what a diamond is. Again, an image appears in your mind; Sparkles, its unique shape, sharp glimmering rainbow edges, or perhaps you think of coal and sappy jewelry commercials instead.

Finally, combine the concepts of “Diamond” and  “Cat” and think about them together. Mix them up. Attribute the properties of one to the other. Perhaps now you see a Cat with Diamond teeth and claws or a cat made of black coal that has pieces of itself falling apart as it jumps around.

Notice how just thinking about these two words can pull you out of your limited views and perspectives on what the possibilities are. Had you ever thought about the possibilities of a Coal Cat before this exercise? I doubt it.

I’ve written extensively about Themed Ideation and have even created Resources and Tools to allow others to quickly and easily generate ideas using this method, so I won’t spend much more time talking about it here. If you’re interested in learning more visit the following links:

• Ideation Theory
  
• Random Ideation Program
  

Collaborative Ideation

Another effective way of widening your perspective during brainstorming is to collaborate with a friend or partner as they will see things differently than you and have a varied take on the same ideas. The key to this process is to first generate ideas separately and then share and talk about each others’ ideas, looking for ways to take them further or different ways in which they can be interpreted.

I will go into more detail about collaborative ideation and how to guide and manage the ideation process in general in my next post.

Applied Ideation

Right now take the time to think of a story, character, game, or world idea based on the following themes:

• Bamboo
• Tornado
• Afterlife

Come up with at least 10 ideas and send me  your favorites. I will showcase some of the most interesting ideas sent to me in future posts:

-Kaz

Finding a project idea you are passionate about is important, but how do you do it? What is the process of creative exploration that can ultimately lead you to that wonderful idea that inspires you to no end?

Explore the Possibilities

The key to generating great ideas is to:

• Determine the general direction you want to take overall,

• Brainstorm to explore the possibility space within that general direction from as many perspectives as you can,

• Pick out the top ideas from your brainstorming and explore the possibility space within each of them further.

Let’s say that your general inclination is to make a Shooting Game. Start exploring the possibilities by brainstorming and come up with at least 10-20 different ideas based on that general direction.

Even if there is an idea that you are excited about in your first brainstorming pass you shouldn’t settle on it. Instead pick out your top 5- to-8 ideas from the list of 20 you generated and do another brainstorming pass on them to generate potential “Variations” on each idea.

Explore the Variations

For instance, assume one of the ideas you came up with in the first round of brainstorming was the concept of an Assassination Game. What you would then do is  brainstorm another 10-20 ideas for different takes on that Assassination Game, like so:

• Idea Variation #1: An Assassination Game where the player’s bullets can alter the personality of the people shot, affecting the larger gameworld, choices, and challenges players face.  Players must continually change the political climate of the world in ways that meet their organization’s goals by altering the personalities of key people.

• Idea Variation #2: An Assassination Game where the player is blind and can only hear and sense objects they are touching. Their goal is to discern who their target is within a room of people based on clues and information they have and to assassinate them (perhaps by poison or some other indirect method ).

• etc.

And you continue on and on like that until you find something that inspires you or that you feel genuinely excited to work on. If at any point you feel like you’ve loss interest in an idea or it’s variation, then go back up a level or two and see if there were other variations with more exciting possibilities.

In the end, the goal is to end up with an idea that you are enthralled with. Don’t give up and settle until you’ve found it.

Keep Exploring.

-Kaz

Off We Go

After uncovering your personal motives for creating—and burning that Intent into the core of your very being—, the next step is to determine exactly how you will reach your creative goals. Out of the limitless possibilities, which direction will you take?

Choosing a Direction

Of all the creative direction choices you will make, choosing the project you wish to develop is the most important.  This is a choice not to be taken lightly as it will have the largest bearing on the final creation; impacting all subsequent choices made from this point on.

There are no rules to this selection process, but a common trap to avoid is settling for anything less than that which completely compels you and aligns with your personal creative goals.

While it’s possible to succeed at making anything, there is nothing that can compare with the craftsmanship and love that goes into a project you are personally invested in and truly passionate about.

Before you start a project (or even if you are currently working on one) ask yourself:

“Are You Truly Passionate About This Project?“

If the answer is not a resounding “YES!!!” then you need to move on.

Find the project that is right for you. In the end, it will make all the difference.

-Kaz

Where do you want to go?

Why are you here?  What’s your underlying intent or goal in your life? What is it you hope to accomplish by reading this and hearing what I have to say?

Stop for a minute and answer these questions for me. Try not to simply give answers, really take a moment and unpack your reasoning and dig down deep. For instance, if you are here because you wish to learn, go further and ask “why” do you wish to learn and so on until you reach a conclusion and can break your answer down no further.

Try it now:

If you’ve considered my inquiry, I thank you. My aim was not to interrogate you or cajole personal information, but to put you into the mindset of a director.

Capturing Intent

Unearthing and understanding your personal creative intention, your very reason for creating anything at all, is an important first step towards the development of your work. This often manifests outwardly in the form of “Project Goals”, but is something that really must remain within you as a motive, a burning desire, or an intent.

Stale and lifeless bullet points outlining your goals are not enough. You must feel it. Mediate on it. Experience it. Only then can you capture the rich emotion and superlative scope of raw intent such that it remains with you and flows into all you do.

From here on, before you create anything, ask yourself:

“What is it that you are ultimately trying to achieve? What is your personal creative goal or intent? Why are you creating?“

Find the answer, then live it.

-Kaz

The Path Ahead

Welcome to a journey. One that has no particular destination, but lots of stops along the way towards its end. As we travel together I hope to share with you my thoughts, working philosophies, and experiences on the creation of  games, manga, and other media properties.

As your guide I wish to show you things that you’ve never seen and ask you questions you’ve never considered in the hopes of inspiring you to create and to do so to your fullest capabilities, with complete knowledge and without limitations.

Exploring IP Development

In common terms, IP (short for Intellectual Property) can be defined as any creation of the mind, but for me I use it to refer specifically to:

“The creation of characters, stories, worlds, and mechanics for games, film, manga comics, and so on”.

It’s the term I use to describe the complete universe of “something”, encompassing all facets of the design from the color choices and musical tone to story themes and even the distinct “emotional experience” it creates as a whole. This, to me, is IP and this is what I will rejoice in exploring with you, should you be so inclined.

Come now. Walk with me.

-Kaz