{"id":324,"date":"2015-09-03T11:41:16","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T15:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/?p=324"},"modified":"2015-09-03T11:41:16","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T15:41:16","slug":"be-your-own-audience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/2015\/09\/03\/be-your-own-audience\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Your Own Audience"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember visiting my\u00a0sister the\u00a0year after StoryTellers<\/a> had just come out. I had given my nephew David a copy, and he really wanted to play it with me. It’s a great game, and he’s a lot of fun to play with, but I’d spent so much time testing, playing, demo-ing, and selling it,\u00a0that I just didn’t have the enthusiasm to give it another go.<\/p>\n

That night, as I looked back on the day, I realized that\u00a0I’d let him down, and I felt terrible. What kind of a game designer doesn’t want to play his own game?<\/p>\n

That was back in 2008. The moment, and the lesson it taught, has stuck with me.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re designing a game or writing a book, you spend a lot of time on your project. The cycle of creation, testing, and revision can be a long hard grind, and during that cycle, it’s vital that you’re\u00a0detached enough\u00a0to be able to hear\u00a0and accept criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How many times have you heard yourself (or another writer or designer) say “I’m just so sick of this thing!”<\/p>\n

I know I’ve said it.\u00a0All creators go through those\u00a0lows, even the professionals.<\/p>\n

Don’t believe me? Go to a writer’s conference and hang out in the bar for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

In order to\u00a0keep creating, though, you have to like what you’re doing<\/a>. Just as important, you need passion to create things other people will be passionate about.<\/p>\n

So… how do you deal with a project that you’ve burnt-out on? For me, the key is being my own audience.\u00a0Here’s how:<\/p>\n

Step 1: Know your audience.<\/strong>
\nI’m not a person who writes or designs for himself. I\u00a0want people to read what I write, and I want them to\u00a0play the games that I design. My goal is a product for\u00a0other people to\u00a0enjoy. This means that I always have my audience in mind, whether that audience is kids aged 8-12 years old, or families sitting down to play a game together.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Take a break.<\/strong>
\nWhen\u00a0you find yourself getting too negative about a project, take a break from it. Work on other things. Start a new book or a new game, or just go\u00a0out and enjoy the world. Cleanse your mind of all the negativity you’ve built up about\u00a0the project.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Don’t be too long with your break!<\/strong>
\nThe point of this process is not for us to run away from our tough projects. Take your break and\u00a0move on to step 4.<\/p>\n

Step 4: Be your audience.<\/strong>
\nRemember step 1? It’s time to be that audience. Writing for a 12-year old? Go climb a tree and open your book. Making a game for the hobby market? Call some friends\u00a0and tell them you’re sick of\u00a0testing, that\u00a0you\u00a0just want to play. Do whatever you can to take on the mindset of your intended audience.<\/p>\n

It’s also important to think about what works for your audience,\u00a0how they’ll experience your project. Making a game for people to play in a bar? Go to a bar. Writing a book you’re hoping kids will sneak at night\u00a0after their parents have put them to bed? Climb under the covers\u00a0with a flashlight.<\/p>\n

Step 5: Find what works.<\/strong>
\nIf you’re like me, it’s going to be hard turning off your critical brain. If you find you can’t ignore all those negative feelings, make a conscious effort to\u00a0focus on the positives. Look for what works. In particular, find what works for your audience.<\/p>\n

Step 6: Time for the Moment of Truth.
\n<\/strong>This is where the rubber\u00a0hits the\u00a0road. Does the project work? Did you get excited in step 5? Revved up to get creating again? If so, then get back to it! Use your new momentum to create something amazing. If not, if you can’t just can’t find any enthusiasm,\u00a0it might be time to shelve the project.<\/p>\n

One of the dangers of this step is listening to other people. Yes, it’s important to get feedback. Encouragement is wonderful, and discouragement should be considered. However, step 6 is all about you. Filter out all your advisors. Do you love the project?<\/p>\n

Step 6 is the dreaded moment that nobody talks about, but remember that it’s not permanent. You can always come back to a project.<\/p>\n

For my part, I have dozens of unpublished games, three unpublished\u00a0novels, and\u00a0a handful of unpublished picture books. Will I come back to them at some point?<\/p>\n

Absolutely, but not until I\u00a0find the fire and passion to make them amazing.<\/p>\n

…and for the record, I still love playing StoryTellers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have a project that you’re feeling burnt out on? This may just help. It does for me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games","category-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DpYi-5e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pat-matthews.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}