Leaf by Niggle is a short story by J. R. R. Tolkein and is interesting because part of it is about a painter that can never finish his work because he wants the painting to be perfect while at the same time, life distracts him with events mundane and sublime. It fits in with why some people can never finish their creative project.

In Dan’s set up he talked about mechanics and doctors etc and compared them to a GM. Most people don’t have the medical knowledge to treat themselves or the mechanical knowledge to fix their own car so they turn to a trusted expert. However, most gamers considers themselves an ‘expert’ in gaming so they feel more comfortable disregarding the advice of a GM – why listen to the GM when he’s no bigger an expert than me?

I agree with the larger point – players (and GMs) should be more open to trying out new and different games.

The same applies to government. Read the Federalist Papers for more thoughts along those lines. The same applies to Academia. Read about the theory of General Relativity for a specific example.

Actually, dont read all that. Just read “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn for a detailed explanation of paradigms.

Now I am looking at a nearly 200 page draft. Do I think it is the best work ever? No. Am I proud of it, glad I did it… hell yes. My friends and family are amazed that I have assembled it in just a matter of 3 months. I tell them, it only takes a few hours a day. Creativity is WORK. You have to struggle for it. You have to sacrifice for it. I cut out all the fluff from my life that was just wasting time. TV, video games, etc. Gone. My entertainment is my writing.

Now when it is done I will take a little break, then start right back into the mix again. It is fun and it is worth it. I am not going to look back in 20 years and say, “man, I wish I had played The Force Unleashed.”.

It’s funny, because I can see how I went through that exact process with podcasting. That feedback loop I mentioned in the episode kept me going, but the same self-doubt was there, and I stuck with it until I figured out the artform. Yet I never was objective enough to realize what was occurring or to apply the same solution to any other creative endeavor.

@Nohwear – What you’re saying is 100% correct. I think the part I struggle with is that recurring, positive experience doesn’t seem to engender a sense of trust or, by extension, authority. Even if I don’t have a degree in GMing, I’d hope that years and years of doing it for the same group of people would build some sort of results-oriented trust. But apparently it doesn’t. I guess that’s where the cynical part comes in.

This is what inspired me to finally start writing my game.