Subject:
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Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.castle, lugnet.build
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Date:
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Mon, 15 Jan 2001 06:57:43 GMT
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Viewed:
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1691 times
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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.
in article G76xzE.ELB@lugnet.com, Pawel Nazarewicz wrote:
> 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?
Yeah, many of my MOCs have gone from mediocre to good simply because I added
small details.
>
> 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.
Also, what might be a good thing is to recognize inspiration immediately. If
I see something at work, I get a photocopy or I sketch it on a Post It note
immediately. Don't wait until you get home... you might forget some details
and be kicking yourself later.
>
> 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
Music is good. Might I also suggest several CDs by the Cincinatti Pops
orchestra:
Star Tracks
Star Tracks II
Time Warp
Fantastic Journey
These are CDs with lots of different music from fantasy and Sci-Fi movies.
Good stuff for inspiration.
>
> 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
Thanks again for the pointers! Again, I think these suggestions are great
for people building in any theme.
~Mark "Muffin Head" Sandlin
--
Mark's Lego(R) Creations
http://www.nwlink.com/~sandlin/lego
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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| (...) Thanks for the ideas! I have two suggestions, though. #1, Carry a small sketchbook with you whenever possible. Put a mechanical pencil into it, and sketch ideas when you think of them (a B2 pod attacked by a swinging arm to a rocket booster). (...) (26 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.build)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Top 8 ways to get out of a slump ...
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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 (...) (26 years ago, 15-Jan-01, to lugnet.castle) !
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