Writing as an art and a craft

It's often referred to as an art. I like to refer to it as both an art and a craft. While that art part may be drawn from pain or memories or some other well of artistic inspiration... another part is patience, a critical eye, a willingness to accept insights on how one might improve, and practice.

Now that demands on my time are starting to recede (may it stay that way for now), I can finally go back to developing habits to ensure that I continue to improve my writing as an art and a craft like:

1) Making time to write - short stories, scripts for 8-page comic books, and RPG material... passing them out for constructive criticism. Lots of drills and exercises too. Emphasis on completion here, rather than on "stuff that I'm working on".
2) Reading the good and the bad - gen-u-wyne good writing and the occasional shit-lit book. The former to illustrate the summit of achievement, the latter to suggest the pit of published mediocrity.
3) Talking the talk - finding friends and communities that approach writing in a similar manner.

While I've been told I'm a "good" writer by teachers and other folk, the fact is I've always being the talented individual whose works don't compare with those who've poured honest sweat and focused inspiration into their writings. The past work I've churned out are like uncut diamonds at best, lacking the skill to bring writings to full luster.

Criticizing RPGs
I've always looked at RPG rulebooks and sourcebooks and noted that they were "good" or "bad", but only recently began defining what made them good or bad. The aspects of an RPG book I look at are:

1) Basics: grammar and spelling, writing and editing
2) Rules: mechanics, explanation, and examples, tables and charts
3) Setting: imagination, usefulness in gaming sessions, potential for storylines and adventures
4) Flavor: stories that illustrate the setting and gameplay, art that fleshes out the imagery of the setting
5) Publishing: quality of printing and material, durability

Now that Hinirang the RPG has time again, I hope that my work on it will do well along these lines...

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