How long to write an adventure for publication?

[saskganesh]

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in three days.

Sure. IRC, Moorcock wrote the Elric books in about two weeks each. PK Dick wrote a lot of his stuff very quickly as well, but he had to use amphetamines and eat horsemeat.

When you're desperate, one can write very quickly. It's usually not enjoyable to write like that.

 

[RangerWickett]

To write or from start to final layout?

I started writing adventure 2 some time around early July, when the 1st adventure had just come out. I finished the text in early October. So actually 3 months. But it's a 100-page investigative urban adventure where we're trying to set up a lot of plot, setting, and character elements for later adventures.

And I'm an 'edit as I go' writer. I outline a lot, then get each piece complete before I move on to the next one.

 

[Morrus]

Exactly what I was wondering.

Also, what kind of "adventure" are we talking about here? 8 pages? 16? 32?

100. Just the writing. Editing, art, layout, cartography, etc. all take longer.

 

[Gryph]

Worth bearing in mind, if I recall from some of Tim Kask's thread's on Dragonsfoot, by the time EGG was writing B2 and the Giant series he had artists on staff to do the cartography for him.

I'm fairly sure that when Gary posted about how long it took to write the modules he was not delivering print ready manuscripts (they still did manual layout, no computers could handle that work yet.)

 

[steeldragons]

100. Just the writing. Editing, art, layout, cartography, etc. all take longer.

Hmmm...100 pages?

Well...assuming it is not a "full-time" 40 hour week...but a couple of hours work a day, average 2-3 hours of writing, 5 days a week...I'd give it two weeks.

For a first draft.

As RW mentions, if one "edits as you go" (a great habit to have though not one I, personally, keep too as much as I probably should) that might take a bit longer than 2 weeks for the first draft...and even then, I would run it passed at least one other pair of eyes (not the writer's) which probably should take more than a day or two.

But for a first, on paper, completely written though not carefully edited, I'm gonna say 25-35 hours of actual writing (hours spent sitting in from of the laptop staring at the screen not typing do not count toward that total

--SD

 

[Stormonu]

From start to finish for the first draft, it took me 32 hours to write the "Winter Tapestry" for Dungeon #78. Of course, that was broken over a couple of days (and sadly, because of a day job, I probably only got about 4 hours per day). The isometric maps & tapestry handout took another 4-6 hours.

I can't say how long it took Chris Perkins to do the editing & such.

 

[BluSponge]

A week to write a module? I wonder if this was a 40-hour week, or an hour or two when I can over a week.

Well let's not forget, each of the G and D series averaged maybe 12 pages. There was no boxed text. Stat blocks consisted only of HPs. The maps were no doubt fleshed out by the art department. And the story arch fit in a short paragraph. I suspect Snurre's treasure horde was created with the help of random tables aplenty.

If you compare those modules to, say, Necropolis or Hall of Many Panes, I think it becomes clear why Gygax was far less interested in writing adventures later in his career. As the format matured, they became more complicated to write.

However, I think there is still an audience for short, bare bones site-based adventures like the G and D series. And if it only takes you a week to kick one out, the profit margin goes up accordingly.

Tom