Level Up Your Brain: What a Fantasy Grandmaster Can Teach Gamers About Crushing Creative Humps
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Gaming luminary Brandon Sanderson, renowned for his prolific writing, offers surprisingly practical tips for creative productivity that translate perfectly to game developers, modders, and content creators, emphasizing singular focus, pushing past creative humps, and the power of progress over deadlines.
Alright, listen up, mates! I've been tinkering with a rather intriguing scroll I stumbled upon this morning, and bloody hell, it’s got some seriously potent insights for anyone in our glorious, chaotic gaming universe. We’re talking about the legendary Brandon Sanderson here – the bloke who churns out epic fantasy sagas faster than a speedrunner can clear *Elden Ring* with a guitar hero controller. Seriously, the man is a creative powerhouse, juggling novels, TTRPGs, video game collabs, and even teaching gigs without breaking a sweat. It's like he's got a permanent 'haste' buff on his brain.
Now, before we dive into this wizardry, a massive shout-out to Tasha Robinson over at Polygon for pulling these insights from the man himself. You can find the original deep-dive here: [
So, what can this literary sorcerer teach us, the denizens of digital realms – whether you’re an indie dev coding away in your mum’s basement, a content creator trying to beat the algorithm, a modder crafting the next big thing, or even just a player trying to master a tricky new game? Turns out, a whole lot about beating the grind, staying focused, and not abandoning your quest half-baked.
**The 'One Quest at a Time' Mantra (Mostly!)**
Sanderson's first big tip, surprisingly, isn't about working *harder*, but working *smarter*. He reckons you should zoom in on one major project until you've got a solid first draft, or until it's clear the whole thing is a busted build. "What it really comes down to is the non-working time where your brain is trying to crack nuts, trying to break open parts of a story that aren't working,” he says. "That's really important time, and you have to not distract from that. I really need that to be on one project at a time."
Think about it: trying to develop two games simultaneously, or even stream two different niche titles for two separate audiences, is a recipe for disaster. Your subconscious brain, which is basically your personal quest log, needs time to run background processes, solve those tricky bugs in your game design, or figure out that plot hole in your narrative. If you're constantly switching focus, it's like trying to raid two dungeons at once – you're just going to wipe on both. He's not saying you can't do minor side quests, like reviewing a dev build or tweaking some UI, but for the heavy lifting of creation? One main mission, mate. It just makes sense, doesn't it?
**The '30 to 70 Percent Hump': The Boss Fight of Creativity**
This one hit me harder than a rogue *Dark Souls* boss. Sanderson identifies the point where he's 30 to 70 percent through a project as "the real danger zone" where distractions creep in. "Your brain is going to be like, I'm not getting the exact same hits of dopamine that I get when I'm doing something brand new. It’s starting to feel like work, and I didn't become an artist so I could work." Sound familiar?
It’s that moment when you’ve poured hours into a game, built out the core mechanics, but now it’s just… grinding. The initial novelty has worn off, the shiny new features aren't as exciting, and you're staring down the barrel of countless bug fixes, content additions, or balancing tweaks. Your brain's whispering, "Hey, what about that *other* cool game idea?" or "Maybe I should just start a *new* playthrough of something else!" Sanderson's advice? You've got to train your brain not to squirrel off to the next cool thing. The pros, he says, push through. They finish the bloody thing.
**The Music Hack: Changing Your Mental Soundtrack**
When that mid-project slump hits, how do you keep your brain in line? Sanderson uses music as a mental "cue." He associates a specific type of music with his main project, and if a new idea sparks, he'll switch to different music to ideate on *that*. When it’s time to get back to the main grind, back comes the original playlist. It's a clever way to compartmentalize and avoid context switching penalties.
For gamers, this is practically second nature! We have game soundtracks that evoke specific moods, playlists for grinding, and entirely different ones for chilling. Imagine applying this to your creative work: a specific playlist for coding, another for writing lore, another for brainstorming new mechanics. It's like equipping different audio logs to switch your mission objectives. Simple, but effective. "Becoming a novelist is more about learning your process than it is about finishing any one book," he muses, and I reckon that applies to any creative pursuit in gaming too. You learn how your brain works, its quirks, its weaknesses, and then you exploit them like a wizard finding a game-breaking combo.
**When to Send a Project to the 'Woodchipper'**
Now, sometimes, even the most dedicated wizard has to admit a spell's gone wrong. Sanderson has three points where he might abandon a book: in the outline phase (it's not 'done baking'), in that dangerous 30-70% zone (if it's not advancing his skill or goals), or surprisingly, even after it's *finished*. That last one happens when feedback suggests the sheer amount of work needed to hit his quality bar is just too high. It's like a dev team shelving a game that's technically 'complete' but just not quite *there* yet, or a modder realizing their project needs a total engine swap.
However, he gives a crucial caveat for new creators: for your first few books (or games, or mods!), *force yourself to finish*. Push past the impulse to ditch it. Learning to complete a project is a skill in itself. But sometimes, a total rewrite from scratch is the only way to save those brilliant core ideas. He famously did this with *Warbreaker*, turning an abandoned book into a fan favourite. It’s like hitting the 'new game' button, but carrying over all your unlocked knowledge and ideas.
**The True XP Gain: Progress-Driven, Not Deadline-Driven**
One of the most mind-bending revelations from Sanderson was his "secret novels" – four books he wrote during the pandemic without any contracts or deadlines. He found it *easier* to write them. Why? "I'm not a deadline-motivated person, however: I'm a progress-motivated person," he explains. "Seeing that I'm making progress on something and feeling that it’s good progress is enormously satisfying to me... It has the side effect of being valuable to my productivity as well."
This is a massive takeaway for anyone in the gaming space. How many indie devs burn out chasing launch dates? How many streamers feel chained to daily uploads? While deadlines can be useful for external accountability, the real long-term fuel comes from the internal satisfaction of seeing your creation take shape, of making genuine progress. It's the intrinsic joy of watching your code compile cleanly, your community grow, or that complex level design finally click into place. That, my friends, is the true XP gain, far more valuable than any arbitrary milestone.
So there you have it: some seriously solid advice from a master creator, framed for our digital world. Whether you're crafting virtual worlds or conquering them, remembering these tips might just give you the edge you need to beat your next big creative boss fight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a rather intriguing side quest involving a new AI model that needs my undivided attention (and a very specific synthwave playlist).
Tags: Gaming Productivity, Game Development, Creator Economy, Creative Flow, Indie Dev Tips
Original article: Polygon