I'm thinking a lot about the principles of design behind files that I like best, and about how to incorporate the best aspects of my favorite files into my work. I thought this might be a nice place to share those thoughts and get some feedback.
I'm not criticizing anyone else's work here. I'm more focused on using this design ethic as a guide for myself, not for telling others how they ought to do their work. I will say that if your files don't match the list then I probably don't listen to them much, but that is only because there are so many good files here that do.
1) Short and sweet. Write the script and then cut it down by at least 30%, editing to keep flow natural with only the best parts. 10 minutes is a great file length. Attention deficit disorder is a terrible... oooh! Shiny!
2) Inductions and awakeners must be short if they are present at all. Most listeners have some experience with trance and will know how to enter the right state of mind quickly, without 20 minutes of foreplay. And I like files that can run on loop for hours. I've enjoyed being trapped that way, and I want to do it to others. Beginners have plenty of files to practice on, and there are lots of inductions that could be put first in a playlist, if the subject desired.
3) Leave something unsaid, and make the listener have to work their brain a little, to finish connecting all the dots. You still have to sketch out enough of the idea that the subject cannot get lost when they take the last final leap to the thought that you want them to have. But the effect will be greater if their mind has to do some of the work for you.
4) Don't be too explicit. If you are designing for a wide audience, leave lots of room for them to each craft their own version of the ideas that you are implanting in them. If you try to keep too tight a control over their internal experience, you will turn them off. Rapport is particularly hard to build in this medium, so you're going to have to aim carefully. Certain words are more likely to disrupt rapport than others. Avoid those.
5) Either keep suggestions nonspecific enough that the subject can supply their own images, or be prepared to do a longer file with a lot more verbage needed to get the ideas across. Just telling someone "You imagine yourself whisked off to Disneyland for a day and when you wake up you will remember it vividly" doesn't fly, unless you takes the time to present enough vivid description to make it happen. Since I don't like making or listening to files that long, I have to design files that don't need that kind of detail.
6) Be creative. Don't follow the same pattern as everyone else, or even what you were doing last week. Innovate. It will either be better or worse, but at least you will gain more insight on what works and what doesn't.
7) Be realistic about what you set out to accomplish. Yes, I can probably get a certain small portion of the audience to believe that they have experienced a day long trip to disneyworld in a 10 minute file. And there are lots of files for people who are experts at having those kinds of experiences in trance. They've never worked for me, though.
8) It is about pleasure. Theirs and yours. Make sure that both sides of that equation are well addressed. Quit if it stops being fun, and don't be miserly with the pleasures you offer as bait to your victims... erm, subjects. If it isn't fun for them, change them so that it is.
9) Be very honest about your intentions. I'm here to play some potentially dangerous games with my minds and the minds of others. I am deliberately manipulative in my files and seek to enslave my subjects, because that is what gets me off. I may accept gifts, especially if I do custom work, but I'm not doing this to make money. I'm not interested in causing real harm or disrupting the real lives of any of my listeners. I do intend to change them in real and lasting ways simply because doing so pleases me.
That seems a good place to stop. I hate top 10 lists.