Prototyping has been showing up a lot in my reading lately. First, it formed the basis of a game design book I read. Then, right as I started wondering what prototyping looks like for writers, one of the blogs I follow linked to an article on prototyping. (I really should have saved it.) My first reaction to running into prototyping repeatedly was t0 tweet: I need to develop a modeling/prototype habit.

Then I opened my design notebook, which is full of notes on all sorts of random things, including character and setting notes for various projects, and I realized that I do prototype, at least as a writer. I lay out these people and places and then experiment with their development until I find something that works or that inspires me to build a story. When I was trying to build my first branched story, I had a map for all of the scenes and puzzles I wanted to create. Every level and its connections to other parts of the story were carefully laid out and tested and adjusted as I went. I still have that map somewhere. If I ever want to pick up that project again, I have that early work to review and build from.

When I thought more about it, I realized that I’ve always prototyped in some form or another. When I was a child, I used to play with wooden blocks and Lego. I’d rebuild the same concept on a near-daily basis, making adjustments each day to the new version in an attempt to reach my ultimate vision. Sometimes, I’d succeed in finding the actual construction I was looking for. On rare occasions, I’d find a much better way to build my design. There were even days when I had to accept my vision was impossible and give up. (That happened a lot more frequently with the wooden blocks, mainly because there just weren’t enough to accommodate some of my grander plans.)

Even when I was pinning plastic necklaces to nightgowns to adorn them for a game as a child, I was constantly experimenting with attachment methods and ways to arrange one piece onto another. When I found a style I liked, it tended to show up in a number of my creations until I discovered yet another way to do it better.

I’ve been prototyping all along. But instead of creating physical models of my prototype (which doesn’t suit my current work), I’m doing it through sketches.

Prototyping is really experimenting. You build something the way you think it should go in your mind, and then try it out. As the problems you didn’t think of show up, you re-build and re-build until the problems become so tiny that you just don’t care anymore. Without thinking about it, a lot of us did it in our play as children, and those of us who haven’t lost our love of tinkering still do it without a whole lot of thought as adults. We often get so focused on looking for the “right” solution that we forget to have fun with it, explore, and find the right solution.

I was putting away laundry, down to my last few shirts, and realized what I had.

Color Lesson

One of the few things I still remember from Tech Theater class: red + black = brown.

At least…when you’re mixing paint!

I love photos that really tighten up on a flower. They’re usually so beautiful, so full of color and energy. I’ve never really had the camera to try my own hand at it until I realized my current camera is actually a pretty powerful little camera. So, I experimented with the flowers I got for Teacher Appreciation Week and came up with this:

Gerbera Daisy Close-Up

What do you think? I actually kind of like it.

The actual point of this picture (and other pictures of this car) was to capture the electric shade of teal this poor car was painted.

Owen in the Afternoon Light

This was the closest I could get between the camera’s on-board editing tools and my computer’s image editing software, and this is still toned down!

For reasons unknown, this car came in three colors: teal green, cobalt blue, and salmon pink. (I’ve heard there was an eggshell version as well, but I’ve yet to see one.) I can’t imagine a scarier set of colors for a car!

Last summer, my roommate put a new deck on the back of the house. The old one was tiny and windowless. The new one has two windows that flood that side of the house with light during the day.

Apparently, it also allows for some interesting shadows in the house.

Shadow Play

I was walking away from the kitchen when I saw this reflected in a mirror. It made for an interesting pattern on the kitchen pantry wall.

I confess. I steal my roommate’s Better Homes and Gardens (with his permission because he can’t figure out why he’s receiving them to begin with) and steal all the interesting pages. Recipes. Room, patio, and garden designs. Color palettes.

Rustic_Stains
Color by COLOURlovers

This one came from a page showing suggestions for colorful ways to stain your deck, and I really liked how the colors played together. Because my camera doesn’t always capture colors correctly (or well), I tried to use the companies’ websites to find the right colors. It turns out that none of them have the color names given by BHG in their database, so I had to find a close color and then tweak to an approximate color.

When I got out of bed this morning, my blankets formed this odd little cave. I’d never seen them do it and it looked kind of cool, so I got a picture of it. Not before my cat discovered it, but she graciously agreed to go eat some breakfast so I could get my shot.

I took a few different shots from different angles, but when I uploaded them onto my computer, I discovered that some of the pictures that I thought would have the most depth when I was taking the pictures came out rather two-dimensional. No amount of correction seemed to fix this. I finally settled on one that I thought was a bad shot when I took it, but felt it showed the cave for what it really was. This is why you take a number of shots, I guess. You never know which one is really going to speak to you the most. (Well…you don’t when you’re still learning how to compose shots.)

Covers Cave

A few years ago, there was an improv flurry through freelance writers and writing coaches. Nearly every single one of them that I read or talked to said improvisation was the key to their continuous output and helped them fight back against writer’s block. While I have seen and enjoyed improv shows, I’d never done it myself, so I just nodded and went on my way.

A couple of years ago, I was in a voiceover workshop and the instructor told us all to go take an improv class. I wrote it down in my notes, and closed the book. I did the same thing a month later when the same woman went on the same rant. (Seriously, she was quite enthusiastic about this.)

Last summer, right as one of the local community college’s catalog hit our mailbox, nearly every copywriter and published writer whose blog I was reading posted about how improv was helping them improve their writing skills. It was freaky, but I noted that the community college offered an improv class (that conflicted with my work schedule and stated that the beginning acting class as a prerequisite).

It’s kind of like one of those cosmic signs…that’s completely wrong for a strong introvert like me. Because it hasn’t fit my schedule yet, I really haven’t worried much about it. But last week I was reading the current issue of Interactions Magazine, because I’m trying to learn about interaction design, and guess what showed up? I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this, but apparently I really have to at least look into it.

The lesson here, I think, is that regardless of the creative field you’re in, there’s a lot you can learn from improv that will help you be better at your field.

I’ve been a severe workaholic all weekend, a fact I’d kept to myself. I was about to hop in the shower and take a mini-break when I received the following text message: kyle and i are coming to invade your house and also we wanted to see if you wanted to come with on a waterfall day trip.

What she forgot to include was that if it looked like I was even considering saying no, my arm was going to be twisted. But it was a chance to get out, get some fresh air, take in some beautiful sights, and hang out with people I can actually hold intelligent conversations with. (I’m hurting for those at the moment.) I shoved my camera in my pocket and tagged along to Wallace Falls State Park.

I didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I would, but I got some great shots of some of the smaller falls including one that only got worse with touch-ups, so I left it in its original state:

Rushing Around

It might be my favorite picture that I took.

The Challenge: Eat or drink something today that brings back childhood memories.

At first, I had no idea how I was going to pull this one off. For the most part, I eat a lot of what I did when I was a kid. I was on the verge of grabbing a scoop of butter pecan when I stumbled upon the best find!

A childhood treat

I ate a lot of Boston Baked Beans as a kid. I used to put them in a box and shake the box, pretending to cook the beans. It was so weird, but I was an odd kid.

It’s probably why I’m such a weird adult.

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