Steve Cooper's Personal Blog

Hi, All. This is an invitation to join a new list for discussing LARP ideas and theories.

Here is my idea; I want to share ideas about LARPing, about what you can do with the medium, about how to write fantastic games that are very powerful experiences. I’m interested in some specific subjects, but the list is going to be open to everyone to discuss quality LARPing.

Some example topics I’d like to cover include;

* Stealing techniques from actors, screenwriters, costumiers, and effects people.
* Scandinavian-style LRP
* Creating player-led games
* Immersion in LRP
* Theories of System design
* LRP as a form of art
* Improvisation in LRP
* LRP as a creative outlet
* Systemless and freeform LRP
* Plot-seeding in large games
* LRP and storytelling
* Running high-quality small games (<50 players)

If you're interested, please give me a shout with your email address and I'll get you on to the list.

Steve

Does it take a certain kind of person to enjoy work, or is there a perfect job out there for everyone, do you think?

I see work as a way of funding the enjoyable bits of my life – It’s a bit dull, but they give me cash. Other people see their work as an incredibly satisfying endeavor – but is that only possible if you have a certain personality type? What’s the trick? Any ideas welcome.

[edit] Inspired by , some extra ideas and questions.

Fundamentally, I’d like the quality of my work to have a direct input on my income. So I don’t get paid for hours worked, but results. It’s then to my benefit to work really hard for short periods of time. You know how many days often have slack in them? If there was a point to compressing all the work down into, say, just the morning, I could have my afternoons free. Also, good ideas often lead to saving time and effort, so a job that rewarded results would encourage good ideas. Anyone suggest well-paying jobs that pay by results rather than time?

Can anyone recommend any good mailing lists or forums for writers? Ideally, people dealing with large projects like novels and screenplays, rather than short stories, and particularly groups who talk about theory and structure?

Some of you know (because I’ve been going on and on about it for the last few months) that I’m writing a piece of software for storytellers. So, I’m gonna tell you a bit more about it, and hope there are some ideas y’all can suggest…

Ariadne, the writer’s software