[MUD-Dev] Re: BUILDERS: Ferries

[Jon A. Lambert]

On 10 Dec 97 at 23:29, coder at ibm.net wrote:
> 
> I can't offer hard stats, but my rough feel is that for every successful
> author who lovingly plans his world, and pre-crafts his plot before
> setting pen to paper, there is at least one more writer, and probably two,
> who start with a blank sheet of paper and their equivalent of, "It was a
> dark and stormy night..."
> 
> Yes, there are writers who plan everything to death, who refine the entire
> world, the plot of the text, the characters, the dialogue etc all before
> writing a single sentence that will make it into the final text.  There
> are also those who never do any of that, as well as those who keep penned
> notes to the side of the current state their world has evolved to (usually
> with a sense of mild wonder).
> 
> Don't sell yourself on any of the base techniques.  They are tools.  They
> work well for some, and not for others.  
> 

FWIW I read about another unusual technique which was used by P.K. Dick in 
"The Man in the High Castle".  Apparently every plot twist and story line 
was developed using the Japanese book of 'I Ching'(?).  Basically it's not
all that different that dealing tarot cards and interpreting them.  In
this case tiles/dice? are used and a line in the book is consulted which 
gives an advice-oriented proverb.  The book revolves around the premise 
that the Axis powers won WWII and centers mainly around the Japanese 
province of California.  The main characters of the story also frequently 
use 'I Ching' within the story.
   
--
Jon A. Lambert
"Everything that deceives may be said to enchant" - Plato