Observations Regarding Work, Play & Builder’s Block

My girlfriend takes a live-and-let-live toward my exploits in this virtual world, but she still cares enough to humor me and ask what I’ve been up to. Invariably, I end up talking about all the “work” I got done on various projects. This usually throws her for a loop, resulting in a response like, “But you had fun, right?”

A few times it has resulted in a short conversation about how I so often see my relaxation time in SL as actual work. Those of us that are build-a-holics know exactly what I’m talking about. In my more cynical moments, I wonder why *I* didn’t think of this great scam – paying a monthly charge to create and have hosted content for a virtual world.

I know that there have been many posts (and outside articles) written about the intersection of work and play in SL… (those of you who get your kicks mainly socializing can observe this thread with wry non-interest if you like), but I’m curious to know what some others of you think about the spending your time in this way.


A morning conversation with a resident bud of mine also caused me to think: How do you all deal with Builder’s Block? I have a few ideas which I’m happy to pass along; they are by no means new, but they may be helpful.

Make Lists
As you think of cool ideas for your property/exhibit/whatever, just jot it down: from your mind to the paper. By doing this as-you-work you’ll be surprised at the looong list you might come up with.

Blocked? Move on…
Once you have a list of items/ideas that you might work on, simply move on – if one idea is causing you to hit a wall, then go to the next one. The idea is to build momentum, not get bogged down on one cool idea.


What do the rest of you recommend for a case of builder’s block? I’d love to hear the other tools you employ. The way I see it, there’s always another tool to help us out. I’m hoping that a little communication might enlighten me some.

Thanks for your attention,

I think the explanation is that for us - for lack of a better and less pejorative term for it - workaholic types - "work" IS fun. I.E., I have "fun" cleaning out my closets, and "fun" scrapbooking, and endless other projects that might look like a heck of a lot of work to other people.

Builder's block is a lot like writer's block, with which I've had years of experience. My observations:

1. Lists are good. My lists are mental, though, rather than on paper. So that when I finish a Tiny house, or come to an impass on a regular cottage, I can drag out and finish the cannister set I started. So - like you said - not only have the lists - but have several things in varying stages of completion, so that when you get bogged down on one, you can turn to one you haven't worked on in a while and it will be fresh and new.

2. And it will remind you how terrific you really are. My husband - an art teacher - has the same problem all creators do. His first couple of courses in graduate school, he was going great guns and pleased with all his projects. Then, this summer, he hit that bump we all hit with regularity, though, thankfully, not all that often - the point where we think everything we do sucks. That's what block really is. Pulling out something else to work on helps you realize you don't really suck.

3. Quit. Get off SL. Go do something else entirely. Sometimes we just spend too long at one task, and get tired. And it's easy to get sucked into that on SL, especially when so many little things go wrong with bugs and stuff, easily adding an hour of unnecessary tedium fixing it to what was supposed to be your creative session. So learn to recognize that, and just stop, whether or not you feel like stopping. You'll make fewer mistakes that way, too.

4. If all that fails (and it hasn't failed me yet), try something brand new. For me, I'm saving modern builds for when I really, really get sick of what I'm doing. And that's just one thing I can turn to. After I turn to that - if and when I ever get around to it - and use that up, I can turn to something else entirely.

That's the good thing about SL. You never really run out of things to create.

coco

Oh yes, I forgot the most important:

5. Keep on keeping on. Understand that this happens and will always happen, and some days it will all just suck. Give it a shot anyway, if that's what you got on to do, and you will get that sucky stage over with. If you quit immediately, you'll just face the same sucky stage the next time you get on. In other words, don't always quit just because you ran into that place again. That place will always come back, and you'll always just have to get through it, cause generally it doesn't go away by ignoring it; you have to face it and get through it.

So if you aren't tired or anything, and haven't spent too much time at the activity, just trudge on through it, and your next session will be better. In fact, you'll probably discover that you did accomplish some pretty good stuff during your sucky session. This ability to keep on despite occasional block is what makes a person professional.

oh and

6. Finish your projects. Rarely if ever do I not finish a project. Now the project may not be terrific, but it WILL achieve at least the base level of your ability. It may not be your favorite. It may not sell well. But it will be DONE. If you don't finish your projects, you won't get anywhere. And the more projects you finish, the higher your base level of ability will rise. And sometimes the project you think is sucky and better off abandoned will surprise you, by being very well-received.

I'm useless with lists (once written, they get forgotten until the end of time), but my method is similar to yours: move on to something different, preferably a small, instant-gratification build. Something easy, something fun, where I won't have to tinker with the details for hours and can get result quickly. Or I just try something totally different: do a few textures, play with scripting, log out And of course avoiding to stress over the bigger things. As long as it's just my personal projects for personal enjoyement, who cares when (or if) it gets finished?

When I am really stressed or really angry, I end up ripping my place apart (satisfying destruction) and then building something new (satisfying creation).


For builders block, sometimes I get out a prim and try stretching and bending it in ways I haven't tried before and see what I can make with that. that's been the cause of a few break throughs for me.

I too have a terrible time with lists .... I also have a terrible time with finishing stuff. Drop by my work lot sometimes .. its a shocking mess of half-completed projects. (BTW, I also have to leave stuff out or I forget it entirely ... so any incomplete project that I put away in inventory ... well, no doubt it will show up /some day/!! )

I find I like to build so much, I build quite a lot. But Im easily sidetracked. Right now, I stuck on a house that is 90% complete ... its the small final details holding me up. But I got sidetracked by a question someone asked me ... and while doing some research got an idea, and made 3 new things, one of which is actually complete (i.e. up for sale) and while that was percolating, finally got an idea for a texture I have been wanting to work with ... but now Im stuck again on that one.

In at least 3 projects, Im stuck at the part where I have to balance what is being done with custom textures, what is being done with prims ... and meshing those so that the finished product just reads "complete" ... and it isn't obvious what bits are what. And like as not remaking the textures ... the textures for that house I mentioned? Im on my third set, ROFL.

Anyway ... what I find remarkable that while this all resembles work .. it doesn't /feel/ like work. It just feels /right/. And there is no reward quite like standing back looking at something and going "Wow!"

Well, maybe ... having someone else stand there looking at it and going "OMG, WOW!!" Followed closely by "I'll take 2!" ROFL.

I'm finding it difficult to cope with builders block. I always try to find something unique and creative to do. But the reason behind my builders block: limitations. There's only so much you can do with textures.

I get frustrated with there not being enough rounded prims to make accurrate models. The only prims I've used for such things are the tube, ring and torus, the rest are quite blocky. I'm tired of seeing blocky things, but in order to do that you need to have 1000 prims or so to make a detailed object rounded enough.

Its just not cutting it right now.

Yeah, I'm still new enough so I don't get as frustrated by the limitations. I imagine after a year or two, though, a person could get pretty sick and tired of them.

coco

I got attacked with a case of builder's block last week while I worked on yet another arm attachment for a client. In that case, the block came from the staggering shittiness of SL's camera, which loves to move whenever the user is zoomed in a smaller prim and begins moving that prim around. I got so frustrated that all of my creative zeal dried off, a muttered several obscenities and took the abortive effort into my inventory and went to "test" one of my new products in Rausch.

In most cases, when I have a bad case of builder's block, I can get around it with prim doodling. That is, taking a bunch of different, simple approaches to the overall look I'm trying to accomplish, putting them down after they take on a reasonable form, and trying something new again. Eventually I'll hit on something that's working so well, I forget to try something else, an hour passes, and I have a first draft done on something I like pretty well.

Also, I've found that coming up with textures in Photoshop beforehand really helps me see and feel the sort of object I'm creating, understanding its lines, texture, perceived weight, that kind of thing. Taking a quick break in the middle of a block to go and come up with some base textures is pretty helpful for me, too.

edit: btw, staring at the plywood texture for more than five minutes will fuck any creative groove you might have going for you. Retexture to something else asap if you want to get anything done.

There are lots of great comments. Thanks, all.

I'm very fortunate to have learned lots of organization in my job which transitions to SL quite nicely. It sounds like we all have a problem with that last ten percent... I know that I do.

For instance, in time for my property's grand reopening I have a short list of things that must be done, versus those things which might be nice to have done. Within the short list are items that I can get away with not completing, as well.

A trick that I've learned is to "let go" of those things which give me too much problems, and then just poll for others who can do the work... basically, I've resigned myself to not scripting in anything more than the barest-existing-script-edits. While I can sometimes figure out what I need to do, it's a better application of my time to do what comes naturally and farm out the rest.

In these ways, SL is quite like "work", but I agree with Jim's comments: It doesn't feel like work (most of the time). That's one of the core elements of SL that continues to pique my interest. When I quit earlier this year, convinced that I would be done with SL, I didn't imagine it would suck me right back in. I think it's the "completion" element that keeps me going.


At any rate, thanks all for the great comments (feel free to keep 'em coming). As an addendum to the subject: I've focused a great deal on providing content - in the form of weblinks, ambient sound, things to discover, etc. I feel like this is a greatly underappreciated aspect of SL. While we can't yet display webpages on the sides of prims, we can finally link to pages, which is a step in the right direction toward displaying content. How are the rest of you at interjecting the webworld into our surreal-world? I know I have much more to learn and develop on this line of thinking.

thank you for this one...

I tend to put off projects so they aren't completed which adds to stress.

Your #6 is a good reminder for me.

I agree, Camille. Cocoanut is dead on the money with this comment. I have been pleasantly surprised that some of the results that I think are unimpressive are, at the very least, inquisitively examined. This meshes perfectly with the desire for content. We all know that there are far too many "empty boxes" out there in SL. Having things to put into those boxes are what keep visitors interested.

I think what sucked you back in was your AVATAR, Goodwrench! Obviously it's too cute to go without for too long!

coco