Well, I think you've already biased yourself against anything I'll say. I'm not one of those "people" who cooked up an idea in a week. I adapted an idea I'd been working on for almost two years. I have alot of good information about a place I created and love. I actually started dripping tears thinking about an especially sad aspect. I -love- the place I built.
But that said ... I just don't agree.
Creativity comes from within. It's the ability to take everything around you, and give it back out a little different ... a little more interesting. You may love something, but that something isn't a singular act of creativity ... "creativity" isn't a one-shot that you put down and then, poof, nothing anymore.
I'd be tempted to say not to worry about it, but y'know, I don't know. I've met Ed Greenwood. Talked to him about FR, heard him talk about FR. Sometimes, Ed seemed a little bitter ... he relinquished some control over his game world and his writing. Sometimes, it's aggravating. I don't think he's unhappy, mind you, just feels bound in places.
So, yea, y'know ... I'm not going to say it'll all be shining happy roses and you're a raving lunatic.
But it's 120K ... it's pretty obvious that writing isn't what you want to do for a living. That's a living. I can't really think of anything I'd rather do. I love the act of creating ... I love working without bounds, I love working within bounds ... I love deadlines, even. I was freaking out all week long coming to Thursday when I mailed it. But it was grand. It's energy, to me. I'm normally a reserved, aimless person ... but when I'm writing, I'm different. I'm passionate, energetic, driven. I can't think of anywhere else that boundaries give me energy and joy. Every other job weighs me down, dulls my thinking, and I spend all my time contemplating my next coffee break, watching for the weekends.
I can love things and let them go, watch them change, watch them go somewhere I wasn't prepared for them to go. I'll see it as an adventure. I'll tip my hat, take my money, play my campaign the way I want it. I'll write the novels within any constraints they have ... I'll write my own novels the way I want, though, as well. About somewhere else. Get a book deal with WotC and with another publisher. Even if I never get another deal, even if WotC totally mangles my world and cuts me off from it in some wildly dramatic moment with a black hat and waxed moustache rubbing their hands together and cackling as they kill a creative thought I loved and nurtured to life ... 120K will pay for my college loans and allow me to make a living. 20 years from now I'll look back and raise a toast to that man in the black hat and funny moustache.
Look at it this way ... some people are in a position where they'll sell their BODY for 50 or 150 dollars. Some people sell their sweat and muscles for 35K a year. Some people sell their minds and education for 60-70K a year. If I can sell a single idea for 120K, I'm making out like a bandit.
--HT
