2022 Mission Statement (ish) (Patreon)

Time to let you know a thing or two about a couple of things or two.

Midway through last year I spelled out a longer time list of schemes I had going on, or at least schemes that were bouncing around my head. I've written previously about focusing this year's endeavours on quality over quantity and that still holds true. I've not quite migrated to that point yet, but it's closer now. 

An emphasis on distilling material into more readily digestible formats is high on this agenda. In English? I'm going to experiment with videos that hit a maximum of 15 minutes in length that are then offered on alternative platforms in ever shorter lengths - 5 minutes down to 30 seconds. Why? To see what happens. 

I'm intending to experiment with cutting down streams into highlight reels later in the year.

Nothing changes unless behaviour changes.

I'm pretty satisfied with this fun-filled community that's come about as a result of these scatterbrained videos I make. More than anything else I want to ensure that those who already enjoy the nonsense continue to do so. I also want to poke the edges of the plateau I'm on to work out if there's a way out of the water-treading I'm currently performing that doesn't involve listicles and tutorials.

Gonzo let's play.

Yes, that was an initial objective and while I flirt with it occasionally I've never quite got there - cooking sim and mountain biking probably came closest, but even then I should have given them more work. We're in the age of high concepts and I have them aplenty but don't fully commit to their execution. I have one such video in editing at present - hoping to get 6+ hours of footage into 18 minutes or less (12 would be ideal).  It's a massive job, and whether the video is a success or not is irrelevent. Can I refine it to a point where I consider it done?

Let's now cover other schemes from the schemes list.

Red Line Fury. Yes. Good. The test season is still awaiting its finale (I have everything I need to make it work, but it's another big editing job). I'm aiming to complete editing said finale after the edit outlined above. Not least of all because I'm tempted to swing the direction wildly for the next season. Rather than a transmedia, but fundamentally website-based experience, I've got a design cooking to turn it into a 36-48 hour transmedia live event. Swanky words, I agree. Let's go with something simpler - a digital, truncated-real-time megagame. 

So what's the condition for making the switch? Basically, it's the debut season finale. If that video gets strong engagement, maybe a few shares (not from FB members - y'know from real people) I'll pursue the original model further. What the megagame option gives me is a massive jump-start on phase 4 of development. In fact, it'd be there right away.

Either way, you will all be invited to play whichever direction it goes. Expect movement by March.

So, what of that there tabletop wargame you were working on? Well, the rules are codified and tested but the balance isn't quite right. Jake and I have tried it out a few times and there's a definite strategic game in there. It just needs more testing. The next step is to turn the existing rules into a "version 0.1" written version so that anyone who wants to give it a try can do. In addition I'll try and get half a dozen people in one place to try it out in a campaign fashion to shake loose any bits and pieces that aren't quite there. No timeline for the next step yet.

You were writing a book? I was. Two, in fact. I've got the outline written for the Autobiography Of Incomplete Projects (I'm pretty happy with the title). It'll be a singular narrative strung together with autobiographical references to other projects I've worked on in the past. Amusingly, when putting the outline together I found I'd a couple of dozen notions that had reach the point of my doing some actual work on them. I think it should be a fun read but I'm going to need to curtail my language somewhat to keep it focused. Yes, the linguistic flights of fancy I tend toward can be quite good fun but they can also make simple points quite flabby. This is to be avoided. 

The second book is LitRPG in nature, but I'm hoping to play with the format a little more. I've got the story worked out and it's stewing in the back of my head. A word on process here. When I have a notion there is a quick litmus test to deploy that is the measure of whether it has legs or not: am I still thinking about it a month later? If so, have these thoughts progressed or evolved the idea? If the answer is yes, then it has legs. What I've sometimes do is immediately get to work on something - either doing some calculations, doing a bit of writing, mucking around in Photoshop... those approaches can either lead to massive progress immediately or will kill the project dead. A few hours of kicking the tyres "practically" either spurring me on or proving to be a distraction and nothing more. So, when I project has legs I should get to work on it. And in this case I will do. Before doing so however I want to turn writing into a habit, and that will involve some lifestyle changing. I've room in the day but I need to flip my day around. 

You're doing it wrong.

For the past 18 months I've taken to getting up at around 8am before turning it at around 2am. This is fine, but it's woefully impractical. I find that by midnight I've stopped doing anything that could be described as "useful" and am instead watching a video or ploughing a field, fixing a car or... whatever else. If I were to take those 2 hours and put them to better use, or even took them as sleep I'd get better benefit from my day. Yes, noodling around downtime is important but I get such variety in my day that simply switching project acts as good downtime anyway. 

Where I want to get to is a 6am start, then get some exercise, then kickoff working at 7.30-8am, turning in some time between 11pm and midnight. I always feel energised in early mornings, so this is almost certain to be a winner if I can just persuade myself to go to bed. My energy levels are odd - I think a 27 hour day would suit me best. After 6 hours sleep I can run for 20-22 hours before feeling tired, I then need 6 hours to recharge. Maybe I'll find an alternate planet at some point. Alternatively I could just stop running at full speed all the time and possibly live a little longer. Plausible. Also, I like exercise. I'm just a long way out of the habit.

As part of this lifestyle shift I'll aim to knock out 500 words before 9am, post exercise, every day. Sounds big, but it's just a habit to get into. This update already clocks in at 1,200 words and it's taken me a grand total of 30 minutes to write so far... Obviously it needs editing (and it won't be beyond a quick grammar check) but as a demonstration of getting something on paper, not bad.

On the shelf.

I'm rebuilding the bunker (again) at the moment. I really enjoy doing it. I guess it's a little procrastinatory, but I can see where improvement can occur. No it won't make me more efficient, but it gets the urge out of my system for a while. I've also got the next transmedia game lined up (I've done an evening of test coding and it works great) but I'm trying to keep my head away from it for now. It'll still be a fun idea in 6 months. 

Finally, there's the rollerball project. I'm loving the level of tinkering going on at the moment. Debating track engineering has been very productive. It should be relatively straightforward to set up, the challenge will then come in making it visually engaging. Where I'd like to get to with it is to run a tournament with 4-8 teams initially without bells and whistles, find a good co-commentator to provide play by play, record the games, edit them into something polished and see what further interest there is. That interest could come from me, a viewing audience or from the FBers who've sunk time into it so far. I do need to experiment with character models to see if skaters are viable...

That's it for now. 

No, this isn't a Reduced Replacement Service (although no idea what I'll talk about in Reduced following this). That'll be along shortly. I think I'll talk more about quality over quantity in Reduced.

As ever,

-CF