Operators are Standing By

Another month of blogging is behind me, and now I’m one-third of the way to my goal of posting every day in 2011. In May, I want to mix it up a bit.

Last October, I was invited to speak at the GM’s Conference at RinCon. I was given a thirty-minute slot. Instead of talking for the whole time, I prepared seven minutes of remarks and answered questions for twenty. And as good as the presentation was, the Q&A was better.

I’ve noticed a similar thing with this blog recently. I’ve gotten a bit monotonous with my posts, as my inspiration tends to be whatever I’m doing at the moment, and I do the same things a lot. My favorite posts to write — and many people’s favorite posts to read — are often those on topics that I don’t come up with myself but that respond to something someone has asked me about.

So May is reader request month. As much as possible, I want my writing to be in response to questions you ask me. Obviously, depending on the volume and quality of the questions, I might not be doing it every day. We’ll just have to see.

You can ask me questions either in the comments to this post or by using the contact form. Ask away!

Update

Fitness: Biked 17 miles
Writing: 538 words, 267 average

Comments

[Peter Rogers]

I'd like to hear a story about Rice Theater!

[Valerie]

How about a piece on bombing -- on stage, at a party, as a presenter, whatever.

Clever fellow that you are, your jokes are mostly met with appreciation, but we've all been there.

[Ryan Macklin]

Paul,

Here are some ideas, based on personal conversations.

* You have talked a bit about your shoes. Speak to me of your shoes. (Perhaps that seems to mundane a topic, but I still ask.)

* Tell me of three or five books that have had an impact on your writing. Tell me what impact that was, in concrete terms if you can. (Could be any books -- novels, books on writing, RPGs, tech books, etc.)

* This one's self-indulgent, but maybe there's something to it. We've spoken a little bit about working together, but we haven't written much about. What was our years of partnership in various endeavors like? (I have a similar post queued mentally, which is why it comes to mind.)

- Ryan

[KarlM]

More refactoring please! What techniques do you find yourself using? What do you love about it? Aesthetics? Patterns? 'Craftsmanship'?

What similarities are there amongst improvising, gaming (playing or design), and refactoring?

[Christina]

Here's what I'm interested in seeing!

This is a question inspired by a wedding we were at last weekend: You and Gwen have been married almost 11 years now, and you've performed enough weddings that I suspect you've thought occasionally about how to articulate your views on love. How has your philosophy of marriage and / or your relationship developed in the time since you got married? Bonus points if it's romantic.

Or, if you prefer: You've written a fair amount about short- to medium-term goals, but I'm curious about things that are more than a year or two away. Do you have any long-term goals or dreams? Choose one to write about.

[Fred Hicks]

What's your take on the balance between the single cohesive vision of a sole creator vs. the alchemical value of collaboration? Where does each approach break down for you, and how do you think it should be addressed?

Are comic books on your radar at all? If so, which ones?

What qualifies as Big Dumb Entertainment in the Tevis household?

What's your favorite gadget?

[Will Hindmarch]

Whatever you're doing, you seem to be able to relate it to something else you've done or read about, quickly and with confidence, and use that like a stepping stone to get on top of new experiences. How do you do that? How did you learn to draw connections between things as you do? Does it come naturally or did you train for it?

[Jeff Tidball]

From the outside, you don't appear to be scared—of creative failure, that people won't like you, that things won't turn out well, and of all the other things that the rest of us are secretly terrified of. Are you genuinely fearless, or do you hide it better than most?

[Wayne]

How about comparing the comedy that you do with what we see on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

[Will Hindmarch]

What is something you've done that you will not, by choice, do again?