Game Designer ADHD

Its a little known fact that creativity breeds creativity. That is, if you're making something creative, but

then brake off for a while, getting back into the creative groove can be extra hard. On the other hand staying in the creative groove means you can keep producing more stuff. But staying in the mental-creative-mode has its own problem.

There are different types of creative and in this case I'm talking in terms of RPG product creation. This process relies on the bright-idea-spark-plug, the free association of originality with well understood tropes, and for me at least, my mind can get thrown into ideas-only mode. I'll be making notes on my computer and on the pad beside my bed, or voice recording the ideas on my phone, it becomes utter chaos. But at teh same time its the very core of the RPG product production process.

The not so fun part of writing for RPGs (and board games too) is the hard grind of actual work. Translating those bright sparking ideas into human comprehensible text. Making clear rules, Play-testing. Researching. Drawing art or commissioning it. Editing text. Finagling layout issues,. Publishing process. 

All that effortful drudgery is the the exact opposite of the idea-engine. So much so in fact that it can stall the idea-engine you need to start the next product.

So here's what I do to cope with the famine and feast of ideas and drudgery. ...

Work on five different things at once. Have the projects overlap each other, so that you are in effect doing all the parts of the process at once (or at least every couple of days). It also means you don't get "stuck" in one les interesting process for weeks on end. You can keep switching up the "mode" you've got your brain working in, and that keeps the creativity running.

Now, go by my gamebook Dwarven Vengeance :)