I have spent over an hour this morning working on my third draft of HEXBLITZ II ... and have just realised that I have metaphorically painted myself into a corner. From past experience I know that when this happens I need to leave things as they are and have a serious re-think.
The problem is that I am trying to bring together features from a number of my previous wargames rules (HEXBLITZ, OPERATIONAL ART, and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT)) ... and I cannot seem to get the elements to gel together. They almost do ... but not quite.
What I now intend to do is to print off copies of the rules I want to meld together and highlight the various elements I want to use. I will then literally 'cut and paste' the highlighted passages together, and then I will have a basic draft to work from.
The problem is that I am trying to bring together features from a number of my previous wargames rules (HEXBLITZ, OPERATIONAL ART, and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOMBAT)) ... and I cannot seem to get the elements to gel together. They almost do ... but not quite.
What I now intend to do is to print off copies of the rules I want to meld together and highlight the various elements I want to use. I will then literally 'cut and paste' the highlighted passages together, and then I will have a basic draft to work from.
At least that is not as bad as 'rip it up and start again'.
ReplyDeletePerseverence Bob, perseverence.
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteThere have been times recently when it felt exactly like that.
Still I have learned from the experience ... so it was not a total waste of time.
All the best,
Bob
Usually when you reach this point it is indeed time for a serious rethink, starting back at the beginning with "What are my key objectives for writing these rules? What are the essential parameters?
ReplyDeleteNext usually find that you have become enamored of too many diverse concepts or rules mechanics, and some or all need to go in order to cut to the essentials.
Nothing you didn't know already, of course! Been there myself more than a few times with rules over the years! Good luck!
Peter
Gonsalvo (Peter),
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right!
I think that part of the problem is that I have tried to do this as a means of diverting my mind from thinking about nothing but my father's situation ... but I just don't seem to be able to concentrate enough. As a result, I ended up with some rules contradicting others, and the whole thing being over-written and far to 'wordy'. One draft was so bad that it could have won awards. The text was so obtuse in places as to be unreadable in any meaningful sense!
However trying to solve what I think is actually unsolvable has given me a much-needed mental diversion, and so in some ways the whole process has been a successful failure ... if such a thing exists.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDelete'The text was so obtuse in places as to be unreadable in any meaningful sense!'
I'm sure there are many authors who have made a good living doing as such!
Jim
PS
Fall back on your teacher training, before an exam revise, revise, revise.
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteI did have one or two wargame rules writers in mind when I wrote that comment (No names; No pack-drill). Some of their writing has been so impenetrable that whole industries seem to have sprung up to service the needs of those who have put differing meanings upon what was written.
My favourite saying with regard to revision is ... 'S*d it; if I don't know it now, I never will.'
All the best,
Bob