TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax

This is the multi-year Q&A sessions held by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax here at EN World, beginning in 2002 and running up until his sad pasing in 2008. Gary's username in the thread below is Col_Pladoh, and his first post in this long thread is Post #39.

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Re: Hello All

Hello all,

...

Davis has the full thing on his desk so I don't know the final page count, but the ms is something like 390 pages I think.

...

Esteemed Publisher!

The ms. I sent was over 500 pages in length--around 530 IIRR--not counting maps. Davis is a nice guy, and you can talk to him, honest. After all, he is your bro, right?

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Excuse me Gary ,hate to bother you about something you have obviously answered many times over,but I am in a bit of a bind.

That's part of the reason why I am here, so no problem

I love to write.....about anything really,but sometimes it becomes very hard for me.I feel overwhelmed by my ideas and don't quite know where to start or how to structure the grand ideas I evision into a proper manuscript. This very well may have to do with the fact that I have no professional writing experience,and also never having taken a class or been taught per say could be a big part.

I humbly ask for ideas on how to go about this.How do you lay everything out?What do you do when you get bogged down or overwhelmed by the sheer flood of ideas that come faster than you can articulate them onto paper?Is there a certain way you have found easier to structure your outlines?

When i get an idea a write it down on scratch paper if I am not at the computer. Then I give it a title as close as possiible to what the idea pertains to--a name if it's a book or module concept, and put it into a file.

When i heve time I read the notes, expand them usually, and create an outline of the work to be done. Using that outline I develop separate files for the parts indicated, and write material for them as the ideas come.

When the body of the material is completed I go back and write the introductory portion based on what has developed. that introductory work might well necessitate the revision of some of the following work--it's a good way to check that you've done what you aimed at and said was done.

Just finding the time and energy to get the material into form can be a problem. As for lack of inspiration/ideas, if the work is divided into sections, skip to the section that appeals to you the most at the time. If that doesn't work, watch or read something that pertains to the subject, and that might trigger your creative muse

I have begun toying with a microrecorder to preserve my ideas before they flit out of my head and it has improved things considerably.However I still get overwhelmed pretty frequently and am at my wits end on how to get around this.

Thanks for your help.
Good day to you swammy.

The recorder is a great idea, and it will prove very useful, I am sure., Ideas come swiftly at times, and they leave just as rapidly, forgotten in the flood of others surfacing.

Hope what i noted above will be of some help to you.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[diaglo]

Health Police are certainly Nazi-like. Of course the Nazis wanted to regulate all aspects of life, and disarmed the civilian population of Germany.

now wait a second. i never said stop. i said cut back.

speaking of Nazis and fiction, something tells me you have been reading too much

Philip K. Dick.

 

[Melan]

This Hall of Many Panes looks like a campaign in itself... What is the level range and... Oh yes, when does it come out? (Must preorder ASAP - Gaxmoor took lots of months, much more than it should have...)

 

[Geoffrey]

Friend diaglo, I certainly wasn't and I'm sure Gary wasn't referring to you as a health Nazi. It's the governmental agents who seek to make smoking illegal in certain venues who are the health Nazis. You were just giving advice. The health Nazis issue orders.

Regarding HALL OF MANY PANES: I vote for a box. This sounds like a great excuse for diving deep into a Lejendary Adventures campaign!

 

[mystraschosen]

Friend diaglo, I certainly wasn't and I'm sure Gary wasn't referring to you as a health Nazi. It's the governmental agents who seek to make smoking illegal in certain venues who are the health Nazis. You were just giving advice. The health Nazis issue orders.

Regarding HALL OF MANY PANES: I vote for a box. This sounds like a great excuse for diving deep into a Lejendary Adventures campaign!

Now that sounds like a excellent idea my friend,you have just got my creative juices flowing. Away with me to work on a project.
Thanks

 

[Troll Lord]

DOH!

Ahem! Okay, I just called Davis to clear up the page count of the ms.

The 391 pages I quoted earlier was only the body of the book. Apparently I failed to send Davis all the appendixes and what nots. LOL And, apparently, he's emailed me several times about not getting all of HOMP (he had some rather choice words to describe me as well... ).

Oh well hell.

So, it looks like Gary's right on. The submitted ms is actually closer to 500 pages.

Boxed set it is!

My apologies to all. Ahem (bowing out slowly, watching all eyes...)

Steve

 

[Col_Pladoh]

Dialgo,

Geoffrey is quite right, and sorry if I somehow made it seem as if I were referring to you as a Health Nazi. I was not and do appreciate words of advice...even if I fail to heed them

Melan,

As i recall, the level range for beginning PCs for the HALL' module has been suggested as six of 8th level. I believe that three or four good players of that level could manage the encounters quite well. The Trolls alone know the release date, but my progonstication is late July...

Mystraschosen,

That's what I've been doing, working on a creative project, and my head is aching from the concentration, so this post is a "break" from that....

Geoffrey,

While I have played it using the LA game system, the HALL OF MANY PANES is set for d20 play also, so however you prefer will work.

Steve,

Right on! My page count for the main body of text in 12 point Times New Roman is 515. If that is put into 10 point Ariel, it will come down to about 400 pp, likely, so your 300 and something count makes sense. But as you note, all those sidebard and other separate bits add to the main text, as do the maps, so two volumes are a certainty for this work.

It is a long one, a campaign module that the GM can hasten through in under a year or spin out to a two year length if that's the desire. Plenty of room was left in the material for GM addition so as to draw out events. I used the shortest form as the base

Cheers,
Gary

 

[mythusmage]

Aint I Horrible?

My, my, Alan!

Aren't we precious?!

Perhaps your assessement is not as astute as you might think

Cheers,
Gary

Here, good reader, you can see an old saying in action, "Familiarity breeds amusement."

BTW, I now take this opportunity to welcome Davis Chennault to the rarified world of those who've edited the good Col. Counseling is available from your local mental health clinic.

And, Gary, I was going to use H.P. Lovecraft instead, but at least he had a talent for overwriting.

 

[Napftor]

General Appreciation

I don't really have any pressing questions, but just wanted to pop in and say THANK YOU GARY for doing what you've done, what you are doing, and what you will do. D&D is a vital part of my life and brings forth nothing but good memories and feelings. You are the man, as far as I'm concerned. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Game on!