Silly Rabbit, Writing is for Writers (who write everyday)

When you own two border collie/german shepherd mix dogs, you tend to visit the dog park a bit.  Quite a bit, actually.  I should probably visit more often, but that's beside the point.  What is the point you say?  Writing.  Daily writing.  It's something else I should do more often, a point made abundantly clear in a podcast I was listening to while taking the dogs out to our local free-range play land, One-Thousand Acres.  The podcast in question was Dan Benjamin and Merlin Mann's excellent 'Back to Work'.  In an older episode, entitled 'Expectational Debt', Merlin explained that the secret to productivity was.....wait for it.....just doing something every day that works towards your goal.  Wow- not brain surgery for sure, but very true.  If you want to be a writer, you have to make time everyday to write.  It's that simple and also that hard. 

Photo by the trial

Take me, for example.  I started this blog to work on my writing skills, to help hone my argumentative analysis and approach to topics I encountered in my myriad studies.  But I don't do it everyday- which is something I plan to change.  I really enjoy writing longer pieces, but I need to focus on just being succinct.  Once, while listening to another very good podcast - The Nerdist- I heard a secret to success Jerry Seinfeld imparted: get a wall calendar and for every day you work towards your goal (for Jerry it was writing jokes) you place a big 'X' on that day, the idea being that as you continually work towards your goal you will have the reinforcing image of a string of linked 'X''s that exemplify your daily work ethic.

Time to start producing those linked X's.  Today's topic- Libya and the Board Game Simulator.       

One interest I have in board games is their ability to produce for the player(s) involved a generative narrative experience, the idea being that through play a participant is involved in the active processing and assembling of game stimuli into a 'coherent' narrative that not only informs that participant of the past but actively shapes how that past is interpreted.  Today I want to look at one particular game, Hornet Leader, and its decision to release a campaign add-on for the game that covers the recent air campaign in Libya.

Hornet Leader is produced by Dan Verssen Games, a combat simulator that models modern day carrier air combat operations.  Here is a video review of the game by Marco:

   

Now take a look at the recent add-on released by DVG, depicting a 'Libya 2011' campaign.  Keep in mind, the UN voted last week to enforce a NFZ over Libya and this add-on arrived for public consumption only a few days ago.

To be honest, I must admit to never having played this game.  But it is interesting to note that DVG decided to release this add-on in the wake of current action against Libya.  Of course, DVG is not claiming that this is an attempt to 're-create' the current UN mission- how could they, given that no one knows how this campaign will turn out- but I wonder how artifacts like these impact a players interpretation of unfolding events?  It would be interesting to see if players modify this add-on to more accurately reflect the Libyan situation as it develops.

There- first 'X' accomplished.