Prototype Ugly, Cut Ruthlessly, Pitch Relentlessly

I’m always looking for tips, tricks, and wisdom from other disciplines that apply to my creative craft. Justin Gary is a brilliant game designer. You should subscribe to his Substack for insights, anecdotes, and interviews. In a post, he shared five lessons learned over the last 15 years of making his game, Ascension. I remixed his wisdom for addition to my own Scribblers Toolbox:

1. Prototype and Iterate Fast

In screen scribbling terms, this means get your ideas onto the page as quickly as possible, no polishing, no obsessing. Ugly drafts are a feature, not a flaw. Like an early board game with cardboard scraps and marker scribbles, the value is in testing the idea, not presenting it perfectly. Every rough draft is just a disposable prototype helping you discover the real story.

2. When in Doubt, Cut it Out

Scribblers often think the answer is more. More subplots, more backstory, more clever turns of phrase. But most story problems are solved by cutting. If a scene, beat, or even a beloved line isn’t serving your story’s tension, tone, or momentum, trimming it usually strengthens the whole. Editing delivers impact via subtraction.

3. Perfect Your Pitch Through Repetition

Game designers pitch to playtesters, publishers, and players. We screen scribblers pitch to execs, audiences, and sometimes ourselves in the mirror. I’m always recording mine via video. The trick is practice and variation. You need a 30-second hook for a stranger at a party, a 2-minute version for a producer, and a long-form spiel when you go to buyers. The more you test-drive your presentation, the more you find its rhythm and get confident in your delivery.

4. Know Your Core Tension and Protect It

Every story has a central engine. In games, it’s the dynamic tension that makes choices interesting. In stories, it’s the driving conflict or question that keeps us reading or watching. Is it survival vs humanity (The Walking Dead)? Curiosity vs danger (Lost)? Protect that core. Don’t dilute it with clever side mechanics or tonal detours that weaken your narrative drive.

5. Create Space for Community and Connection

Stories, like games, are meant to be shared with audiences. That doesn’t always mean interactive or transmedia. It can be as simple as creating work that invites conversation. A cliffhanger that keeps friends texting. A character that sparks cosplay and fan art. A mystery that inspires fan fic and theory crafting. The goal of makers isn’t just to entertain, it’s to create connection.