a question about motivation

General Off-Topic Discussion
21

One thing that I’ve found helpful is to have an understanding of the journey you’re on and what steps it will take to complete the project. Then you can start checking things off as you go, which can give you a good sense of progress. For example, when I started my project, I identified different sub-tasks like defining the characters, figuring out the basic plot, sketching the rooms, creating cover art, getting a rough prototype of the first scene, defining the NPCs, writing dialog, creating the help system, creating hints etc, getting your first external tester, writing documentation etc. There are lots of different steps, and if you’re stuck at one stage, then you might find motivation in pursuing some of the other tasks. In general, I recommend keeping the scope modest, so that the number of tasks doesn’t seem overwhelming.

I hope that’s helpful.
–Zack
z-machine-matter.com

22

I’m mainly motivated by a selfish desire for a finished version of whatever game I’m making. So mainly what I do is: I play another game, one that isn’t the game I’m making, become frustrated that it isn’t the game I’m making, and then become determined to make the game I’m making so that the game I’m making will get made.

That’s (really!) mainly how I’m motivated. Beyond that, what I do to prevent burning out or feeling overwhelmed is just the plain-jane method of dividing every task into smaller mini-tasks and focusing on each, one by one. That way it feels like a bunch of little small, easy projects instead of one huge, terrifying one.