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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darrin Drader" data-source="post: 550551" data-attributes="member: 7394">Well I can certainly identify with you on this. I run into the same issues despite the fact that its beginning to become a chore listing all of the projects I've had published. I would say not to worry too much about how people will receive the work you do. Of course I'm going to back this up with an anecdote.I wrote a lengthy article for Dragon 295 called Every Home a Castle. This was an article where Jesse Decker came to me after I'd completed an article for issue 294 and asked me if I'd looked at the Stronghold Builders Guidebook. At the time I hadn't even heard of it and mistook it for the 2nd edition book with the same theme. He got me a manuscript of the project, and then I spent a few weeks researching and coming up with ideas for the article.About midway through I met with Jesse and covered my ideas. Most of them were greenlighted without a problem, even though I felt like I was reaching a bit when I came up with them. I them mapped out my castles and wrote the articles. I honestly didn't feel all that inspired while I was writing the majority of it, and I actually felt like the article was pretty lame by the time I was done with it. I handed it in then busied myself working on other things, hoping that the castle article wouldn't be the first nail in my  freelancing coffin.The the article was published and it actually received lots of praise. Most feedback I got was from people that had read it and thought it was wonderful. There were a few that thought it was just another marketting ploy by WotC, but most people stated that the material was useful even without having the Stronghold Builders Guidebook. I even found out later that Chris Perkins (former editor of Dungeon and RPG R&D manager) liked one of the castles enough to use it in one of his games.Now I'm a writer that usually feels like my own stuff is crap until a few months (or years) later when I come back to it and read it again. I think most writers feel that way. My best advice is to not let that fear of how other people will receive it get in the way of giving it your best effort. And of course, like everyone else has said, keep writing or you will lose your way and the project will be late. Unfortunately I am speaking from experience here. I'm a bit late on something I'm working on right now, but not horribly so.</blockquote>

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