Creating an Epic: The Mindset for Unlimited Creativity

[Meta]

I've been working on 3 projects for SC2 for more than one year now, even though it's possible that only one of them will be turned to a campaign - or I might suddenly get a wholly different idea out of nowhere and archive all 3 projects, who knows. 

That said, writer's block is the main reason why I've been writing more than one project at a time. I do halt on unexpected moments - and they will be plentiful as creativity runs wild - and it may take days, weeks or months to learn how to deal with it and resume writing. It's perfectly normal and expected... have you never hit a moment in a campaign where you think "what now, how exactly do I portray that moment"? I assume, and it's a wild guess but a perfectly plausible one, that "developer's block" is the main reason behind so many campaigns being cancelled.

And indeed, it takes a lot of energy to overwhelm the block, but once you do so, you know you're closer to completing it - a big sense of achievement ensues.

I also partially agree with Mesk on the comments regarding money and getting paid. If there's money involved, chances are there'll be deadlines, and that's an absolute killer of passion and motivation. So, while getting money itself probably isn't that bad, the deadlines and external control over your work that arise from it definitely are.

---

I'm also finding some of Des... Marco's statements on development really interesting. For example, the one related to the main character, who will usually share his own beliefs. I personally spread elements of my real self to the main hero cast - and, depending on circumstances, to the villain cast as well. Alien elements to myself, as in, features and beliefs exclusive to people I know in real life or even an outstanding fictional character, are also components of these key characters. Note that this process is not exactly completely conscious, as the characters, and sometimes entire storylines, appear out of a sudden in my head.  What's important is to get the message across, anyway, although I do not believe in preaching - hey, that sounds like a pun - and would rather convey it through analogies, metaphors and such. And, on at least one of my projects, the player has the right to disagree with me entirely and opt for a completely different approach that will be, its advantages and flaws considered, as effective as mine. Or equally inefficient, as both might result in complete fail. Hah.

However, like yourself, I do put a lot of value in internal consistency, the constant asking of "why do person X do this", "how would Y deal with it" and so. More than crafting the original plotline, revising and polishing it as often as possible seems to make a difference.

I just felt like writing and adding something to the topic, anyway.

Oh, and just not to say that I've ignored another prominent discussion in this topic... sex is awesome. As long as mailmen, goats, tentacles or pineapples aren't involved. Yeah, that.

[IskatuMesk]

Virtually every character in TOA represents one of my many personalities. Half of them you wouldn't know because none of you know me, but they are. That is in part because of my split personality and that is in part because I have been building the world for my entire life and it has become a part of me.

And, for the record, I'll die a virgin and with pride.

[Marco]

Doctor Mesk:  If imitation is the highest form of flattery, I can then believe that my own limited version of creation helps connect me with the creator of everything else.  In a small way, we can begin to understand the intricacies of our own existence.  Indeed, since I have started, I have learned more about myself than I previously thought possible.  If I should happen to run into someone who would pay me to do this, I'd accept under the right circumstances.  As long as its uncompromising and doesn't distract me from purpose.  I'd also wear the title of sellout, as long as I could be honest with myself that I knew it wasn't affecting the outcome of my work.

Legion:  IMO, betrayal is simply desire thwarted.  I love some eastern spiritual philosophies regarding desire, how desire itself is the true source of suffering for humanity.  And how learning to detach from desire leads one to a peaceful life.  When people feel cheated on by a partner, the source of those feelings can always be traced back to desire.  In a perfect world, commitments would be sacred and honored, and nobody would enter into marriage without understanding the full value of their vows.  Marriage should be an extremely rare thing.  But because this world is filled by imperfect beings who are barely beginning to learn what it means to be alive and who perceive themselves as only a minuscule fraction of what they truly are, commitments are easily tossed to the wind due to our fear, desires, and ignorance.  That leads to desires being crushed, feelings of jealousy, betrayal, anger.  The ultimate result of which is a complete setback of personal growth - the ability to grow beyond desire.

I did try to write my characters to be unique.  I never thought a lot about how Lence compares to me.  To be honest, Celestial Irruption was kind of a mess, it didn't really have a lead character.  It could represent my own confusion about myself though I suppose, whereas the 'me' at the time couldn't really be represented by a single entity, especially when I couldn't even recognize myself.  In The Sweet Science, I made Issac a bit more fearful in his first year (the episode where he almost died).  The year he faced his own death he was scared, and very self centered.  He whined about how he'd never accomplish anything despite seeing so much potential in himself because of his bad luck.  I feel like I always felt like that earlier in life, so I conveyed this as best I could in the short time I had.  Issac in Celestial Reverie itself won't be whiny at all.  He's a completely enlightened fellow who understands his purpose in life.  And no matter what life throws at him, if its physically and mentally possible, he will retain his composure.  It's something I still struggle to do, but as I said earlier, he's a 'perfect' version of me.


Meta:  I too have to work hard not to be preachy.  With the things I believe in, it would be way too easy to alienate my western cultured audience to concepts that would be completely foreign to them.  Instead, the situations will reflect the struggles of our own lives, in a way the audience can relate to.  And slowly, through Issac, show the benefits of following a different path than the rest of my cast (who are mostly inspired by western and eastern fiction).  Issac won't be the perfect solution to everything, he'll definitely pay a heavy price at times for his choices.  But its all about HOW he handles adversity.  I hope it will awaken up peoples imaginations to the possibilities that reside within ourselves.

[Lavarinth]

Thanks for reminding me Whiplash.  I decided to use my real name from now on simply because I didn't feel like using a psuedo name any longer.  It's just a personal choice, you can call me whatever you'd like.

Alright, Joel.

[Marco]

Thanks for reminding me Whiplash.  I decided to use my real name from now on simply because I didn't feel like using a psuedo name any longer.  It's just a personal choice, you can call me whatever you'd like.

Alright, Joel.

Joel doesn't use a psuedoname
Joel IS psuedonamelsss
A IS B
Joel = B

Marco doesn't use a psuedoname
Marco IS psudonameless
C IS B
Marco = B

Therefore

Marco = Joel

Is that what you are saying?  Are you really implying that?  Do you have any idea of the ramifications of what you are saying?

[Legion]

Legion:  IMO, betrayal is simply desire thwarted.  I love some eastern spiritual philosophies regarding desire, how desire itself is the true source of suffering for humanity.  And how learning to detach from desire leads one to a peaceful life.  When people feel cheated on by a partner, the source of those feelings can always be traced back to desire.  In a perfect world, commitments would be sacred and honored, and nobody would enter into marriage without understanding the full value of their vows.  Marriage should be an extremely rare thing.  But because this world is filled by imperfect beings who are barely beginning to learn what it means to be alive and who perceive themselves as only a minuscule fraction of what they truly are, commitments are easily tossed to the wind due to our fear, desires, and ignorance.  That leads to desires being crushed, feelings of jealousy, betrayal, anger.  The ultimate result of which is a complete setback of personal growth - the ability to grow beyond desire.

i'd agree with that statement, if i didn't believe that in all of us (well most of us) there's this will to 'belong'. there are days i completely agree that people aren't taking life as seriously as they should, but other days i feel there's a perfect balance in everything. relationships, marriage, whatever form you want to give to it - i think or hope that they all started out at a good place. you don't have to completely understand every aspect of this life and what it means to be given a number of days on this earth to feel you want to spend a portion of your time with that person. because that may be the most powerful feeling you'll ever have and it can only exist WITHOUT full understanding.

marriage, commitment... it's all a bit overrated, imo. they're loaded terms invented in times of great fear. in my version of life, you meet someone and you find that maybe this person could become very special or important to you. you take leap of faith. always. every time. no exceptions. because if you don't go off the deep end, why go at all? it may be the worst investment you'll ever make, but you don't know that in the beginning. luckily.

betrayal is desire thwarted - amen to that. desire won't last a lifetime. monogamy is against human nature and i honestly believe that most people do the best they can. they start out with the right intentions. if our life expectancy wasn't so long, maybe things'd be different. we've got too much time to spend it all equally wisely.

i'm a romantic at heart and i think love and desire are great things. go full speed ahead with 'em while you can until you run out of gas. it's the only thing you can do, really.

I'm still stuck at the part where you're somehow correlating sex to writing.

I guess I must just think completely differently than you guys.

i have gone on a bit too long with this, but i thought desler made a very interesting point.

in a broader perspective, i'd even say that sex and writing have everything in common. words and sexuality are maybe our greatest powers. we don't have fangs or venom tails, but we damn well know how to hurt each other good with our two instruments. okay, maybe that was a little far-fetched.

[IskatuMesk]

Yes, sex is definitely used as a weapon more often than not. More of a crude, blunt weapon like a spiked cudgel, while you can wield writing as a rapier or battering ram.

I'm glad I avoided that battlefield too bad I've got several others none of you will ever have to deal with in turn.

[Marco]

There is indeed a balance in all things - it's the primary law of nature.  You should think upon that word carefully, "law".  When one tries to go against the law in our world, they are punished.  Humans are not above this, the universe as we know it works according to a set of rules that can clearly be defined by science.  It may not seem possible given our limited understanding, but we are indeed subjected to those laws just as anything and everything else.  I think the origin of a 'will to belong' is rooted in desire, an attachment that eventually leads to suffering due to the temporary nature of all things on Earth.  Even if those things are good and seemingly pure things, it's all fleeting.  This can be present even in the search for the truth.  The mindset to seek the truth therefore has to be one devoid of desire.  It usually starts there, though eventually you can learn how to pursue the truth in a balanced way.

I was once a romantic like you, and in many ways I still am.  I just believe there are better ways to face the adversity we feel when romance takes a turn we don't care for.  Some people end up cursing their beliefs, hurting their former, or even themselves when romances go south.  With a balanced and open mind, it never has to come to this however.  You begin to perceive pain and pleasure (both mental and physical) without indifference.  Once you yourself are in balance with all concepts of life, then you can open your mind to greater possibilities.  

The truth-seeking concept instilled in all of us is another example.  While it may seem a painful path, it is merely our perception of it that tells us it is this way.  I can say though that once you find your truth, it will leap at you with such amazing clarity that it will change the way you look at life, as it did with me.  It wasn't till recently that I caught a glimpse of it.  I'm sure it was immediately colored by my own perspective on life.  Maybe this is why romance is so potent, it has qualities which share remarkable similarity to this truth.  We have to be willing to seek the truth for this to happen however.  Continuing to live a 'happy lie' only prolongs and extends pain.  I realize my tone may seem deeply philosophical, but I find its a universal language.  If I told you the literal meaning of what I perceived, it would certainly be colored by perceptions you would not fully comprehend from your point of view, and it would surely only give you a distorted view of the truth.  Exactly why I believe everyone must find their own truth.

in a broader perspective, i'd even say that sex and writing have everything in common

And this is exactly why I share my thoughts with others.  We can never dismiss the beliefs of others even when theirs don't match our own or we risk falling into ignorance and delusion.  That sort of arrogance is in itself a desire.  We all have the pieces to this grand puzzle.  Thanks for your insight, it's given me much to think about.  I really look forward to sharing my epic, the perspectives on it will surely be interesting, and hopefully just as your comment, insightful as well.

[Marco]

You Sir Mesk, are an obvious example of the concept of balance and truth that I speak of.  You fight battles suited to your battlefield, just as I fight mine, just as everyone must fight theirs.

[IskatuMesk]

There ain't much balance going on here girlfriend, just a whole 'lotta fail.

[Marco]

You underestimate yourself greatly friend.  As I said before, imitation is the highest form of flattery.  Even though yours is a more solitary path than others, you still seek to create.  You create for yourself.  To liberate yourself perhaps?  Maybe... that's what my instincts tell me.  Whatever your personal reasoning however, I'm sure either consciously or unconsciously, you realize it's worth as a concept.

[Marco]

A bit off topic, but I'd rather not start a new topic.  It's related in the fact that its related to my epic.  It may give some insight into my own thought processes.  I'm no poet, but I wrote down little tidbits of information when I glimpsed my truth.  I turned those tidbits into a poem.  It's probably not technically accurate, and I'm sure it's wrack with personal perspective.  But for me, its the tale of my own journey.  I'm almost certain it'll mean something else to anyone else.  It's a summary of Celestial Reverie, so I suppose I should announce a spoiler warning.  Tee hee, a bit of spiritual humor.  (You don't get it, I know.  I guess you had to be there.)  Anyway, here you are:

CELESTIAL REVERIE

Slowly Waking, Vision Obscured
Rocking Within the Cradle
Thoughts Chaotic, Purpose Clear
Prepared to Step Upon High
Without Reservation or Preservation
The First Foothold of Death

A War of Love I Willingly Enter
With Insight into Purpose
Imperfect I Tread

Let Evaporate the Water of Doubt
Forming the Cloud of Reasoning
Raining Clarity Upon the Land

Life is The Truth Conspiracy; A Creation Better than I
Chasing Desire without Desire
Opening Imagination to Awaken at Dusk

When Fear is Gone You Will Hear
Though in Arrogant Presence It will Blind

Realize the Concept that Guides Creation
Make it Yours and Soar

I am that which you believe
I am everything you know within

With Power of Will, Go Forth
In the name of the Sacred and Perfect Goal
"I am Unity."

[IskatuMesk]

This is the introduction to TOA, which needs tidying and completion. Note some formatting will have been lost.

It is often by natural instinct that one seeks a higher meaning in his or her existence. That one pursues a dream of absolution even when such a dream cannot be defined, let alone realized. This is the nature of individuality. The nature of ignorance. For, should one find a higher meaning, it is often less than rewarding, and sometimes devastating. Often, the simpler man is a man better off.

Therefore, the pursuit of knowledge in its entirety is a selfless task. Oneself cannot pursue knowledge or wisdom and not expect oneself to be completely altered by so great a quest. Perhaps futile then is the modern creature's existence, for through ignorance, they will never understand more than their own often vastly skewed view of their world, and the only true point in existing at all is beyond the confinement of their limited minds.

Yet, knowledge and wisdom aside, even the absolute pinnacle of understanding may not be enough to know the full extent of any single subject. The everlasting mission to understand all things is an epic quest indeed, a quest that most who may be considered the most grand beings of all time undertake by default. For, the only true mission an immortal can have, is the perfection of his mind.

Perhaps the only story worthy to be told by the span of ageless time is not that with morals of philosophy, power, or prestige. Perhaps the story to be told is that of a struggle for survival. Not just a struggle of individuals, but indeed the struggle of existence as a whole. This story may best be told by both those who would approach this struggle from a philosophical standpoint, and those who would challenge the unchallengeable with but instinct and passion alone. For they are those who stood against the darkness that is the truth of existence, and those that would try to redefine it.

That I am mortal, and thus finite, I am bound by the laws of nature and time to an inescapable fate, written by powers and rules far outside my ability to understand. Unlike others of my race, I have sought to understand and comprehend the meanings of not just my own existence, but the existence of a world within worlds. A tiny universe that exists only within my thoughts that, once you enter, completely confines you from the world you and I exist within. That is the magic of the mind, of an imagination too powerful to restrain.

For all of my waking days I have engineered this universe, and the lives that dwell within it. There are many philosophies about dreams and nightmares, visions and creatures that dwell within but thoughts of an individual. I have been told that some believe once you imagine something, somewhere that something takes life. I have read that others view dreams as windows into other dimensions, as though the mind is capable of majestic and fantastic things.

But I do not entertain the concept that my universe is anything more than a world trapped within the boundaries of my own self. My consciousness, corrupted by genetic incompatibilities and years of suffering, has cowered into a corner and shunted itself into manifesting a world beyond worlds, a universe so great that I purposely lose myself in it to escape the loneliness and pain of reality. For reality is too great a burden for me to bear.

I am a philosopher. I have not taken a single step in a college or a university, nor consulted with individuals. More curious yet, my pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and the questions that I ask myself are not those that concern our world, but instead that world within my own mind. For every bit of energy that I have ever spent in the investigation of profound enquiries or questions of character and being, I have always devoted it to my world exclusively.

The physical world has no value to me save the flesh on my bones and the madness in my heart. Beyond these walls of skin and prose, I have nothing, and thus place nothing outside them. I am alone, and I am afraid. Thus I recoil to my sanctuary, my world beyond worlds, where I and I alone hold dominion over myself where otherwise I hold no power at all, not even the worth of consideration by my peers.

By opening this book and embracing its contents you, too, have become a philosopher. Because now you will enter my world, and now you will behold the same questions I have asked myself and the dreams that have breathed life into my aching heart. You will taste the raw emotion and energy of my very being. Through my writing, my life story and very deepest beliefs are expressed along with the music and flow of motion within my thoughts and indeed the very fabric of my essence is expressed through these words. Here you will see me for what I truly am, the self I have hidden from you and all others since the dawn of my time.

There is but one requirement you must accept before you begin. That is to leave behind this world, the physical world, when you enter mine. Leave behind the limitations of your own imagination and open yourself to the infinite possibilities of dreams.


Behold, the Legends of the Divine Fellowship.
Behold, the Sacred Soul of Azkazar.
Behold, the Black Sun.

[Marco]

That's amazing Mesk in many ways.  I think the part which most spoke to me was, "where otherwise I hold no power at all, not even the worth of consideration by my peers."  That and everything written here shows me so much about why you choose to create for yourself.  And you do so without desire.  Yours is truly a powerful mind indeed.  I have to admit something to you now, I never took the time to read your work before this.  Don't take it personally, I was never much of a reader until recently.  But now, I'm definitely intrigued by your perspective, and the parallels to my own 'universe'.  I can even understand why you posted this here and now.

Mesk, thank you.  I've never understood you until this moment.

[Legion]

CELESTIAL REVERIE

...

With Power of Will, Go Forth
In the name of the Sacred and Perfect Goal
"I am Unity."

what's interesting to me is that all great works or aspiring great works suggest the presence of 'higher powers' - be they deities or what you describe as a Sacred and Perfect Goal.

i'm not interested in religion, but i do acknowledge that mankind has always felt and will probably always feel it is in service of something else because of our inability to completely understand (intransitive).