Comments on: Interview with Robin D. Laws

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 03:06:06 +0000

I’m glad you liked it, S1lence! I’m working on getting more interviews right now.

By: S1lence

S1lence — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 13:25:24 +0000

ScottM: Every person is different.

Martin, this one was also really appealing and useful, thank you for taking the time.

By: mcv

mcv — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 10:47:02 +0000

I haven’t read the other interviews yet, but I thought this one was pretty good.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 01:03:59 +0000

mcv: I agree — Robin gave some very, very good advice in this interview. Not too surprising from the man that wrote the book on GMing, but some of it — like using DVD commentary tracks — took some unexpected forms, which was neat.

Scott: There were 4 emails used to make up this interview: my initial questions, Robin’s answers, my follow-up questions and Robin’s follow-up answers. I hoped that a follow-up email would capture some of the organic feel that was there in my IM interview with Luke.

Time wasn’t a factor, and I’m not sure why it felt less conversational than my other email interview (Clinton). Perhaps I asked the wrong sorts of questions? Or Robin and I didn’t click as well as Clinton or Luke and I did?

By: ScottM

ScottM — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 23:31:21 +0000

Your interview seems much more focussed this time… it doesn’t have the rambling feel of earlier interviews. Is that because the answers were straight, you had less time, or some other option that kept it shallower? (I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong… it’s just not as good, to me, as your previous interviews).

By: mcv

mcv — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 18:45:25 +0000

I think you’re both partially right about the benefits and dangers of identifying general faults in your GMing style. Knowing yourself, both in strengths and weaknesses, is obviously a good thing, and can help you to improve yourself. But too much focus on your weaknesses may also lead to reduced confidence, and that’s not good. So for confident GMs, assessing your faults is probably very healthy, but for less confident GMs, it may be better to focus on your strengths first.

In any case, I think Robin’s advice to identify specific things that went wrong and try to do those better next time, is very good advice. I think plans to fix specific problems are more valuable than a general awareness of faults or weaknesses. At least on the short term.

By: Treasure Tables » Gifts for GMs, 2005 Edition

Treasure Tables » Gifts for GMs, 2005 Edition — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 17:15:17 +0000

[...] In my interview with Robin Laws, Robin shared this nifty tip for GMs: Story-oriented GMs can derive a ton of good tips about narrative construction from well-done DVD commentary tracks, particularly those from directors, writers and (especially) editors. [...]