Now officially released on DMs Guild, my first adventure module “Grass in the Streets” is now finally available! Written over the course of November with the guidance of the fine folks at RPG Writer Workshop, this has been nothing less than a blast to make, and I’m very happy with what I’ve made. Before reading on, if you’re at all interested in a modular adventure that can be tailored to your own group or campaign, featuring a fun skill challenges dynamic, check it out through the link below!
Growing from the Knowledge
This module has been one hell-of-a learning experience, and is a fascinating first step for myself. Having spent so much time studying interactive narrative design through academia, it’s a completely different ballpark actually designing something yourself. That being said, it has been a fantastic learning expereince, and to help me reflect over my work I thought I’d take a moment to explore some of what I learned.
First of all, my god does organisation matter. Given the recent pandemic, I had found myself slipping in terms of my day-to-day plan, falling especially to the roadside when my final university work was handed in. When the workshop started, it was a slow starting crawl, as I soon learned they like to turn the heat up slowly before you notice things were cooking. When the big bulk of work finally hit, I really noticed how much I had to do, and realised it was because I wasn’t as organised as I thought!
You see, it’s one thing to be held to a weekly deadline by an external force, whether that be a uni deadline or an employers request, but when that system runs on honouring the timeline with no consequences for missing it, deadlines become difficult. Or in simpler terms: deadlines are hard when you’re on your own, so you gotta be especially good to keep to a plan. I didn’t do that, initially, and I suffered for it. It’s a moment I will almost certainly be keeping in the forefront of my mind at all times, as time-keeping is an ever present process, but hopefully I can minimise its damage next time.
Second of the many lessons I learned was the whole process beyond planning, writing, and design: marketing. I’ve always had a default negative outlook on marketing, as I am personally not a fan of the ads on sites, or on my phone, and was scared by the tracking of marketers and their data collection. But what I realised through this workshop is something so obvious I feel dumb for saying it: marketing is celebrating your work for people to see.
If you don’t celebrate your achievements, your hard work, your endless hours of writing and practicing, trying desperately hard to make sure it all makes sense, no one else will get excited about it either. Marketing is vocally celebrating your hard work, because you deserve to celebrate. If an athlete doesn’t celebrate their win then they don’t really get that extra level of joy from it; if you don’t celebrate getting that new job then you’re not giving yourself the chance to enjoy it. If you don’t celebrate your achievements then you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Finally, most important of all, I learned that I have a lot more to learn. Not particularily shocking, especially given I don’t spend a single day certain in anything I do, but that’s all part of the process. Learning involves understanding that you don’t understand something, and that’s honestly the first step to growth (as people keep saying, and I keep seeing). This is my first published work, and I’m proud of it. There’s certainly going to be a lot I want to change, or do differently, and I’ll most definitely update it over the years, but at least I put it out there for people to enjoy and critique. I need feedback to grow, and nothing better than learning what you could do better from those perusing your work.
I consider this the first step of my TTRPG career, and it will only grow from here.
Ian D. W. 