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I may or may not find you sexy, depending on what day it is.

Isaak Kraft van Ermel @RNNR

Age 34, Male

Greeting strangers.

NHL @ Leeuwarden, NL

Harlingen, Netherlands

Joined on 11/16/08

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Insight: Storybook Dev Blog 1

Posted by RNNR - May 16th, 2009


Hey there, I've been thinking about doing a series of dev blogs covering the chronicle of our Storybook submission. Mind as well do something useful while it's on a short break =D.
If you didn't know already, I'm the project lead and writer of 'Balance', closely working with an exceptionally talented crew to make the most awesome thing ever.

Here I'll tell you about the workings of the project and answer why and how I did things the way I did things. Note: I'm not telling you how you should do it, as every team is different and has a different workflow, you yourself need to find a form that works ;)
This is more of a look at the inner machinations, providing a more in-depth (and fairly unique) look at a creative process which you can hopefully learn something of.

Now we have that out of the way, let's get cracking!

'Beginnings'

I've been writing for 7 years, starting out with truly the crappiest stories known to man, through the years I picked up things from everywhere and grew as an artist. Only recently have I really begun branching out and exploring new ways to bring my writings to life, so when our dear sweet and fair maiden ReNaeNae announced the Storybook Project, 2+2 became 4 and I saw an opportunity to further develop myself.
As a writer I usually find it harder to find an audience who appreciates my work. The advantage an image has for instance is that it becomes clear what it is the very first moment you lay eyes on it.
I'm a very visual person and I actually always wanted to make something more of my stories; combine it with something else to make it infinitely more powerful.

That's exactly the aim of this project: to bring together artists from the fields of fiction, art, music, sound to create something truly extraordinary. Synergy is what comes to mind and is synergy is what I got.
A short explanation: synergy is what you get when you get a couple of people who all share the same goal in a group ... and magic happens.
It's what separates a bunch of people just doing stuff from an awesome team with a plan and it's usually the driving force in a project such as this one.

Early on I knew I had to accomplish that, though as this was the very first time ever I would undertake something like this, I was still very green and unknowing.
Fortunately I had experience working in an autonomous group, but never with the responsibility that comes with being a leader.
But I had a vision, a goal, a place to put it and faith, lots of faith. This would be a huge challenge and would be very demanding, but I had faith I could do this and the knowledge I would learn a whole damn lot of this. That was the starting point: learn and improve. Learn how to manage a team, improve on my writing, get in touch with new and interesting people.

But, in order to do that, you need tools and services that aid you in accomplishing your goals.
There was the forum thread (which I've been whoring with updates), the PM system (which was used for initial contact), email, and for direct communication MSN. A central point for all this would be a newspost with all the relevant info and news.

I had used Dropbox prior to this in a school project and it proved to be an invaluable tool keeping everyone's work organized and in synch.
It was a bit of a no-brainer for using it and it has proven its worth once again, keeping the show on the road and providing an excellent place to store everything.

The stage had been set, using everything at my disposal to make communication as fluid as possible.
Now a tale had to be written and likeminded people had to be found.
Stay tuned for the next installment where I'll be covering the story itself and the early pre-production stage.

Cheers!


Comments

I can sort of relate the daunting feeling of being a team leader, its not as easy as it seems! Indeed, the pressure can be quite haunting, not to mention that the ultimate responsibility is yours. Even more when the the basis for everything stems from your hands too (the writing). But, so far, its been a pleasure working with you and, as far as I can tell, you've done everything right.

=]

Thanks, that means a lot =)
I'll drop you a message when duty calls once again...