Subject:
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Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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lugnet.castle
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Date:
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Mon, 15 Jan 2001 06:28:26 GMT
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I'm sure I'm not the only one that has been in one of those. They tend to
last anywhere from a day to six months to maybe even longer. The questions
is: What can you do about them once they are there? I have been through
enough of them to accumulate a few ideas from personal experience. These
are some of the things that worked as a pick-me-up for me:
1) Get Detail Oriented. What I mean here is build something simple. Like
a normal house. Or an Inn. Or a ... forest meadow. Now - start thinking
about details ... does the house have
a creek running right by it? Should there be flowers? Different
elevations? Who lives there? Why does he or she live there? Does the house
have everything it needs - a bed, a table, a kitchen? Where is the house?
In a village? A part of a castle? If it's a village, what else does it need?
A well? A barn? If it's a castle, what part of the castle is it in?
2) Take It Easy. If you are building something huge, like a castle, it's
easy to get burned out. Do something simple at first - like barracks. From
there, do a section of the wall and maybe a tower. Draw everything out
first on a sheet of paper - you will know what you need to work with. What
works for me is using graph paper and letting every square be a small 16 x
16 baseplate. I can design my castle and then follow the draft. This way
you have an idea of what you are planning to do and if it works. Of course
a HUGE singular castle is infitely more complicated, but if you are
planning on doing of of those and haven't done one on baseplates yet, the
baseplates might be a better place to start.
3) Let Things Come Together. Dave Eaton didn't just sit down one day and
decide to build his village. It all started with a house, which lead to a few
houses, then he built a mill. He just thought about what might be good and
built this and that. Same with my big castle (Strombrachter). The
church was done for a different project as was the Inn. When I wanted to
build my castle, I already had two things to plug in, and I could work
around them instead of staring at a blank page.
4) Listen To Music. And think of a story that goes with the music. Write
some of the stuff down - this is mostly brainstorming. What movie scenes
would you make with this music? Listen to a variety too ... here are some
good ones to start with, but this is obviously your own area. If you have
Napster, get these and gro from there:
a) Standing Outside The Fire - Garth Brooks.
b) Higher - Creed
c) Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
d) Four Seasons - Vivaldi
e) Paint It Black - Rolling Stones
f) Crazy Train - Ozzy Osborne
5) Watch Movies. Same idea as above - just watch and pick out what you
like :) Here are a few good starters:
a) Willow - possibly the best movie for getting you out of your rut.
b) Gladiator
c) Ninja Scroll. Not for kids, but very, very good.
d) The Princess Bride.
6) Think Small. Start with a character and then think of what crazy stuff
happens to them. Before you know it, they need an enemy, a friend, a
setting (forest, castle, etc), and you are on your way.
7) Write A Story. This will help you get detail oriented too ... you can
pack in a lot of action into a small setting (like an inn or tavern).
8) Browse Old Creations. Some ideas here that are often overlooked are
Eric Brok's stuff:
http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
And Frank's page:
http://www.mindspring.com/~ffilz/Lego/castle.html
I'm sure there are many other ways to get of a slump, but this should give
you good start.
-- Pawel
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Message has 7 Replies:
 | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| Thanks for the suggestions, Pawel! Even though your post was geared toward Castle folk, I think there are enough good pointers in here, to crosspost to .build. These suggestions can benefit anyone, IMHO. (...) Yeah, many of my MOCs have gone from (...) (24 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.build)
| | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| (I agree with Mark, so XP to .build) (...) <snip> (...) <snip> (...) To Pawel's defense (not that he needs any, his ideas are all great ;-), his few ideas got me out of my own builder's block back around November-December of last year. Felix, Scar (...) (24 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.build)
| | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| (...) I like this idea. Sometimes I try to get detailed early on in a project and end up with something I didn't plan to have. Usually it'll look cool but I won't be pleased with it. (...) This has been a real problem for me. I tend to think really (...) (24 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle)
| | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| Wise words Pawel, and techniques I've been using lately. One other rut-losing method I've found that works for me is switching genre's. I know, I know, how could a dedicated Pirate-head like myself, one who only started buying legos after (...) (24 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.build)
| | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| Wise words Pawel, and techniques I've been using lately. One other rut-losing method I've found that works for me is switching genre's. I know, I know, how could a dedicated Pirate-head like myself, one who only started buying legos after (...) (24 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.build)
| | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| (...) Ill have to try the planning out on paper thing. especially with my castle at chyste and forestmen's underground hideout. (...) great movie and I know this is off topic but the sequal ninja resurection is pretty bad. (...) think small: I've (...) (24 years ago, 16-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.build)
| | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| (...) I myself am a Trainiac, but after coming across this thread, I have some input also. I like to listen to old (pre-1980) AC/DC for inspirational music, and the History Channel can't be beat for watching either. Books, magazines, and video (...) (24 years ago, 16-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle)
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