After twelve posts, we’ve now gone through all the four steps of the PBRG process. I explained how they worked and why I included them. Then we saw them in practice, to some extent, with the ‘General of the Pen’ project examples.
As I’ve been writing the blog posts, I’ve also been working on my projects. Using the PBRG process to assist in preparing them for writing, building the world, characters and outline of the story.
I’d like to tell you it’s a perfect process that has made the plan oh so much better. But…it’s not. It’s made the process better, yes, but I’m not rocking out my projects like Stephen King. Here are a few things I’ve noticed.
1. I need to write
In the purest iteration of the PBRG system, I would Plot out the story, then Build the world, Research the topics, and Game out any important scenarios. After all that work was done, I would write.
But that’s not my creative process. I write. That’s how I create.
PBRG helps me do some of the work ahead of time. I can establish the important characters and locations, or spaceship or rules of magic or whatever. I can research topics I know I’ll need. But so much of the details of the process come from writing. I cannot do all of one before the other.
2. The process is very intermingled.
I knew it would be, but still, I’m a bit surprised at just how intermingled. I can plot out the big plot points, but before I do the act breakdowns, I find myself building the characters and locations and even doing preparation work for the game. It is incredibly non-linear, but it’s how I work. The PBRG process streamlines my process, helps me keep track of what I’m doing, and gives me context for everything I do. But it’s not Step 1, Step 2, Step 3.
3. Not everything I build will be used.
This should not be a surprise to anybody. World building involves a lot of mapping, drawing, and writing that won’t make it to the final product. I have to create something, see if it works, and if it doesn’t try again. And a lot of times, it doesn’t work. Something just doesn’t fit.
Even if I do fit it in, so much is built that can’t be used. I created entire ship statistics for Champion Bold that never made it in. Great for referencing when I was writing battle scenes or chase sequences, but a lot of that info wasn’t needed within the story. Same thing with character histories, star maps, and so on.
4. Every little bit helps
The PBRG process, along with my suggestion schedule, keeps me working on projects every day. Every day I have three or four projects come up, and if I don’t have time to write something, I have time to look at the project and build a character, draw a map, consider the magic or science of the world. Every little bit – so long as I don’t lose it – helps move the project forward.
Conclusion
Overall, the PBRG process does what I want it to do. It helps me streamline and manage my creative process. The process improves my efficiency and gives me a good idea of how to start building the world so I can start writing a story. It doesn’t turn me into a writing factory, but it does focus my efforts. And that’s all I really wanted it to do.