Content Developers: How do you keep motivated?

Absolutely nothing at all, any more. I try and I try, but I guess I'm still too burned out. People sometimes ask me to make stuff, but it's just small scale... So mostly, I don't bother any more.

Looks like it's taboo to say money! I don't know why considering everyone is concerned about sales I sell stuff to get myself spending money without having to use the lindex.

I think generally content creation is just something that most people just do, making stuff is part of SL and is usually quite rewarding just to make something.

I think it boils down to either you make stuff and sell it or you make stuff to sell.

So many good thoughts here, so many articulate posts explaining the different aspects of the creative process - Ordinal, Anisa, Flipper, Jonquille - just EVERYBODY!

And Torley! It's about time! That texture pack is DIVINE! I so look forward to more of the same from you! And I'm SOOOOO glad you are going to get to experience some of the building bugs.

(Here's one that has bugged me a lot: I'm certain that I used to be able to apply a texture to one prim after another, or one face after another. Now, though, each time I click on a new face, I have to get OUT of the texture box, then get back INTO it, then find the same texture again, THEN apply it. This is annoying as all get-out and adds a good 30% to texturing time. Seems like this has been around since 1.6.)

Just reading all these posts is inspiring in itself. I haven't yet come anywhere close to losing inspiration/motivation, mainly because I usually have 4-5 projects already in the works, and it's just a matter of time finishing them. And that doesn't even count all the ideas that haven't made it to the project stage yet. I have way more things I'd like to make than I have time to do them.

The other night I was working on the textures of a house, and complaining to an extraordinarily creative and whimsical friend about how long it takes.

"Building is so tedious," I complained.

"Yes, part of it is," she said.

"It's ALL tedious," I insisted. "What part do you mean?"

"The part after you get the idea," she replied.



coco

Sure, I really need the money I get from SL - and that provides some motivation, but in the creative process that's just an afterthought. What I really, really need is to see my ideas become reality and share them with people who will enjoy them too. I dream about SL. Whenever I get a spare moment to daydream, I'm thinking about what I can make next.

One advantage I have is that I don't have a lot of time in SL. I get 30 minutes here, an hour there... I have to plan my creative bursts around my RL schedule. That means that when I actually get to click that connect button, I know where I'm going and what I'm doing and I make the most out of every minute. I've probably made what I'm going to make in SL 5 times already in my head. I think if I had a bunch of time to go club hopping or play, I would burn out quickly and probably not complete projects. OK, I don't always complete projects now but I think I'm somewhat focused and productive for someone who's been around a year and a half. The distractions in SL are fabulous and seductive! I think if I had time to sample more of them, I would quickly decide I didn't want to build. It's the same reason I keep my avatar human. It keeps me apart from RP and any particular group that I might find more fun to socialize with rather than create.

I'm sure I could say more but I think there's a formula that would express it:
limited personal time + somewhat tedious RL
- RL funds
x a family that needs your physical & mental presence
= Second Life motivation!

I do this instead of drawing or painting or sculpting. I see so much in SL that I would consider 3D art. You all still amaze me.

Sorry for the emotional outburst. I was having a moment.

I just putter about.

Some of my more interesting ideas lately have been from lazily browsing the LSL Wiki, and reading up on some of the technical aspects that I've not yet tried out. After a while it usually hits me a 'what if I...' scenario. Then of course I have to try it, and see how oddball I can make it.

Creativity isn't one of those things a person can just turn on and off like a tap. One thing I have experienced though, is that if I actively try to 'force' myself to be creative, it generally just gets me frustrated, and actually blocks the creative flow. When that happens I just putter about. With enough mindless puttering, the creative block works itself out, and a few ideas fall into place.

- Newfie

Motivation for me comes from the ability reproduce anything I think up or anything I see in the real world. The sky is the limit. For me this is drawing in 3-d. From my very first days in the Morris sandbox to this moment in time I still have the same drive and feel the same excitement when I build. I've never had this much fun with a "game".

I heard a monkey at a typewriter given enough time will write a best seller (or something like that) and I hate being beaten by a monkey so I just keep trying - who knows maybe someday I'll make something nice.

Yar, not to get too far into biology/psychology babble, but I've read a few books about that: staying in a creative mindset. The main concept most of what I read brought forwards was the relationship between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which are the logical/creative parts of the mind respectively. The left side is all about your senses, logical thought, problem-solving and the like. The right side is about everything abstract, creative, unconventional. Typically doesn't work with language or sense of time, just pure thoughts.

What I read was that consciously thinking about something engages the left (logical) side of the brain, which is dominant, and so silences the right side (creative) of the brain, which, on a side note, is also the more active side when you are asleep and dreaming (which is why you can't read words and the like in dreams). So the more you dig into your thoughts about something, the more likely you are to shut off your creative flow, unless you're pretty experienced with tuning in to either side of your mind. It's rare the two sides cooperate, but in things like artistic building, and even scripting (especially scripting), the two are forced to work together. This only gets easier with practice, so, the more you do it, the better you get at it, which is everything I just said in a nutshell.

I know this all doesn't relate terribly directly to staying motivated, but if inspiration is what motivates you, maybe all that could help. Appologies for being a windbag!

Mew,
- Ani

I am usually motivated by random ideas that seemed cool at the time. I call these "Shiny Projects".

When i'm not distracted by something shiny, I am usually fascinated by possibility of doing something new that hasnt been done before.

I also like tuna.

I just think of how my actions will bring more joy to Phil. That usually makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. This could explain why I stopped creating around v1.4.

The pills.