| A
lot of people have been asking me the same question, and I'm
really getting sick of it: "Hey Nathan, how
do you come up with the high-calibre NinjaCulture
articles you write?"
You
should know right now that this is a complete lie, and nobody
asks me this at all. But I'm assuming that this is because
eveyrone's too shy to approach me. Don't be! Just because
I'm famous well-known involved with a website
doesn't mean I'm not approachable!
But
I digress. Regardless of whether or not you're afraid of meeting
me in public, you too probably wonder how I come up with articles.
Well, I may not ever have mentioned this to anyone, but the
last time I wrote an article, I took the liberty of making
a small documentary on the side about the creation process.
And by 'documentary' I of course mean 'series of webcam pictures'.
Enjoy!
1.)The
Basic Idea
The
Basic Idea can come to me at any time. I can be walking down
the street, or standing in line, or high on mescaline; ideas
care not for timing. They just arrive, and I've learned to
pay attention when they do. This time, I am playing computer
games when it hits me.
fig.1:
By jove, what a grand idea! Glad I thought of it, what what!
Normally
it is a good idea to quickly jot down ideas you have for future
reference. 95% of the time I will forgo this, telling myself
that "I'll definitely remember it later." I continue
playing video games.
2.)Incentive
Time
Days
pass. During those days I often remind myself to write the
article, and yet at the same time I will tell myself that
"I'm pretty busy" and "Andrew hasn't really
written anything either" so I'm okay for a little while
longer. The latter is often a lie; as you may have noticed,
Andrew tends put up two or three articles in the time it takes
me to write just one.
I
like to think it's my attention to quality, not quantity,
that makes up for this difference. Anyway, I'm often hard
at work on something beneficial to mankind as a whole...
fig.2:
I conclude my glasses are possessed by tiny glass-demons!
...when
Andrew will angrily message me and tell me to freaking update
the site already. This is generally done in just such a fashion;
fig.3:
You heard the man! A round of applause for matte paintings!
If
you could hear him saying that out loud, you'd know it was
in the tone he generally reserves for those times he's about
to stab me in the face.
fig.4: Don't worry
folks, he'll be fine!
3.)Article
Time!
Since
I like to avoid being stabbed in the face, I tell him that
I'll start work on the article immediately. And to tell the
truth I almost always do. Or at least, I try to. Remember
when I thought of The Idea, and didn't write it down? That
comes back now to haunt me, in a big way.
For
you see, my memory is about three hours long, tops. And so
even though I tell myself that I'll remember the Idea when
I want to write about it, I never do; on top of that, I never
seem to remember that I can't remember anything worth a damn.
It's a vicious cycle.
I
generally spend some time lollygagging about and finally give
up to go play some Super Metroid or something.
fig.5: Super
Metroid rocks.
4.)Article
Time - Part Two
Very
often it is during this time of gleeful distraction that I
will have a second Idea. This idea is generally not as good
as my first. Now technically I can't remember the first idea
but somehow it just seems like that one would have been better.
By
this time it is night and only a precious few hours remain
for me to get some actual sleep. No time for sleep, I says!
The Site Must Be Updated!
Incidentally,
since I always take a cam picture after I'm done updating
everything else, my webcam pictures are often taken at odd
times of the day.
5.)The
End Result!
I've
finished the article, uploaded everything, and updated my
webcam picture. Now it's time to sit back and bask in the
glow of yet another literary triumph.
Or,
it's time to sleepily bask in the flicker of a delirious article
about getting rid of corpses. Either way, it's done.
And
that's my creative process. I hope you found this at least
as informative as a brochure on Home Mortgages, or one of
those creepy Jack Chick tracts. |
