This post was inspired by a friend of mine, who gave the following advice to his children – and apparently gets it told back to him when he forgets. It’s pretty good, and so I have decided to share it here.
So I’ve suited action to word (or rather, words to action) and I’m doing it.
So what is this amazing piece of advice? It’s pretty simple. There are two approaches to starting something new – you use a shotgun, or a rifle.
When you’re just starting out and you don’t know what to do, you use the shotgun. You load it full of buckshot and let fly with a single round. Try everything. Do anything. See what sticks. Google it. Google it ten times. Go to all the forums. Ask on Reddit. Ask on Facebook. Drive your friends crazy (ok, don’t do that)
You should have some info by now, and a clearer picture. Now you know more of what you want and also what you DON’T want. Good.
Then you get a better picture of how things work. You start thinking about what you’re going to have to do, and how you’re going to do it.
Then you shift to the rifle. You focus. You aim. You consolidate your resources and you really go for it. But this only makes sense once you have a clearer picture of WHAT it is that you want to do. A rifle can hit a single target, a shotgun can hit many. One has a lot more stopping power than the other. That’s why the analogy works.
If it seems simple, that’s because often the best things often are. You spread wide at the beginning, then narrow your approach. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?
Ask yourself when a challenge comes along, – which do I use? Shotgun or rifle? Always remember too that a good hunter can shift on the fly. Like if a bunch of geese come your way you use a shotgun, and when you want to bag an elk you use a rifle. (I”m actually talking out of my ass with this analogy since I’ve never as much as gone hunting or fired a gun in my life…but that’s a writer’s prerogative.)
To extend the analogy a little more – many situations in life come down to framing. There’s an legendary article from the world of CCGs that comes to mind – Mike Flores’s “Who’s the Beatdown?” Now I understand that not many might have read it, but the essence of the article is simple whether it’s being applied to MTG or real life.
You ask yourself “What’s my role here?” If you’re a student, it’s to receive information – not dispense it. If you’re a customer, you get served – you don’t charge. Once again, it seems simple, but knowing where we stand and what we’re going to do sometimes makes a world of difference.
And there you have it, folks – shotgun or rifle. Know where you stand, and which one you’re going to use.