RPG Authors: How Do You Do It?

[SpiralBound]

Now, I could be going "two plus two equals five", but....

I work full-time on the night shift, and a part-time job during the day.

I'm a night shift supervisor for a retail store, so my night is spent stocking shelves, setting ads, and doing maintenance work around the store. I get two 15 minute breaks and a half-hour lunch each night, and I use that time to work on my games on my laptop. I can crank out a statblock in 15 minutes, but that's not enough time to spend wrestling with a design issue.

My part-time job is online but involves a lot of offline development. I could step back from some of it, but since I run a number of projects by myself, that would mean one or more of those projects would have to end. (Unfortunately, I've already looked into it, and no one else is willing to pick up the slack and keep them going without me.)

Yes, it is a paying job...quite well, considering it's part time. More per hour than what my wife makes working full time as an assistant manager for a shoe store. I've come to the conclusion though, that I need to set Star Wars aside after this story arc is complete.

I don't know if this is even an option for you, but... If your part-time online job pays so well that it beats out your wife's full time job, AND your other job is a "suck-alicious" night-time job, then have you considered expanding the part-time job into a full-time one and dumping the crappy night-shift work? This might standardize/consolidate your daily schedule somewhat which could possibly expose more writing time per day. Unless you live next door to your nightshift job, you're losing at least an hour, probably closer to two, in the prep & travel time between home and work every day. Regrouping your life into a single ONLINE job would eliminate your travel time to get to work and also any of the prep time you spent for the night job (showering, shaving, putting on a uniform, etc. Please - I'm not avocating stopping showering, just the extra stuff you would do for the 2nd job! ) By doing this you instantly have at least an extra half hour to an hour or more per day that could be spent on your writing! That can add up really quickly. (15 hours minimum of solid writing time per month!)

However, you also mentioned having four(!) children and household tasks... And maybe there isn't a full-time position available at that online job... and maybe your nightshift work still pays more than the online one would even if it were full time. I obviously don't know your full circumstances and perhaps my suggestion above simply wouldn't work, but I felt it worthwhile mentioning.

Last thing: Erik Mona's "my life in a nutshell" post is kinda scary... Be careful what you wish for, you might get it!!

(no offense intended Erik!)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Basically, my advice to would-be authors is that unless you are a workaholic with a stable relationship that can help to support you financially, the "industry" isn't really worthwhile as a full-time operation. It's a tiny little thing, and very few people are making any respectable money off it.

That said, I still like my job, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

As a full-time journalist for most of the past 13 years, I'd say this goes for any writing you're going to do above the hobby level. You will turn down higher-paying jobs, you will turn down jobs that would be healthier (in theory) for your marriage, you will turn down a life that lets you have a life.

If you're meant to do it, it'll seem like the most natural decision in the world. But be aware going in that there are a lot of stretches that feel like walking barefoot across broken glass. And sometimes, those are the good days. Oh, and giving your life to writing is incredibly hard on marriages -- nearly every journalist I know couldn't make it five years in a marriage. I'm on year six and pushing my luck with the gods.

It's a great life, but there's a reason most people stay well away.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Last thing: Erik Mona's "my life in a nutshell" post is kinda scary... Be careful what you wish for, you might get it!!

(no offense intended Erik!)

Yeah, after reading his schedule I was thinking about making some kind of "slacker" joke, but I was afraid Erik would beat me up and steal my lunch money.

 

[GMSkarka]

....and, as a counterpoint to Erik's "my life in a nutshell" post, here's what the life of a full-time PDF publisher is like:

I wake up at 10-ish. Shower, walk the dog, and start working at 11-ish.

The day is filled with the following primary duties:

1) Writing the next 2 or 3 releases (when I get bored with one subject, I switch products. I'm always working on more than one for this reason).

2) Emails with freelancers working on upcoming products.

3) Editing manuscripts already delivered by freelancers.

4) Graphic design duties (layout of product, creation of digital artwork, etc.)

5) Marketing and other promotional stuff (press releases, sales coupons, product ads on RPGNow, banners, etc.).

6) Keeping abreast of postings on various fora (EN World, Atomic Think Tank, Our company forum, etc.)

(All of the above is done while also handling customer service and print-on-demand management for RPGNow, which I do as a part-time side gig, and is constant throughout the work day.)

Stop work at around 1 or 2: grab some lunch, walk the dog again.

Back to work.

Stop working around 6 or 7 ish, for dinner. Hang out with family for a bit. When they go to bed (11-ish), go back to work, continuing the work on the above-listed items until about 2 or 3 a.m.

Go to bed, get up, and do it all over again. Occasionally added into the mix is freelance work for other publishers, but Adamant is taking enough of my attention now that I'm turning down freelance work more often than not.

Weekends still involve work, but I try to trim it back to 5 hours/day or less, so I can actually take a bit of time off.

 

[Southern Oracle]

If your part-time online job pays so well that it beats out your wife's full time job, AND your other job is a "suck-alicious" night-time job, then have you considered expanding the part-time job into a full-time one and dumping the crappy night-shift work?

Thanks for the suggestions. Believe me, if I could turn my part-time job into a full-time gig, I'd do it in a hearbeat. It's in the industry, so it's what I want to do. Unfortunately, there are no full-time positions for the job.
I only live 5 minutes from my night job, and while I don't enjoy it, I don't hate it. It certainly beats working during the day and dealing with customers. It also pays a lot more per hour than either my part-time job or my wife's job.

 

[jmucchiello]

What not to do....

Don't do what I do (as it's taken me how long to release just 4 products?):

Wake up at 7. Wake up again around 7:45, shower, scramble to the train station, miss the train I intended to take, end up on the slower "local". Take out the book I'm reading and read on the train. (Sometime I take out the Palm and write on the train but that's only for new ideas. Can't write finished text on the Palm.) Remind self to buy a laptop. Work. Surf web while working (ah the life of a programmer). Post about my schedule. 8 hours later scramble out of work to the train station, take the train I intended (funny I can get out of work "on time" but not out of the house "on time".) Run a few errands. Get home. Kiss wife (an important step). Eat dinner. Surf the web. Play puzzle pirates. Pry self from puzzle pirates and open a doc in Word. Fiddle with the doc for a little bit. Exclaim "look at the time" around 1am. Go upstairs and have trouble falling asleep (for no apparent reason). Sleep. Wake up in the middle of the night. Go back to computer and fiddle for a half hour. Fall asleep at computer. Wake up at 5am. Drag self upstairs and sleep in bed.

Repeat.

So, obviously cutting out puzzle pirates seems like the simple answer but other than dinner (and get home smooch), that's the only time I get to spend with my wife so if we weren't playing puzzle pirates, we'd be doing something else during that time.

Oh, and steverooo, TDG doesn't require copyright assignment, just a healthy amount of OGC.

 

[philreed]

In July and August I tried something a little different and managed to write a little over 40,000 words each month. This isn't a lot for many writers but it was a good number for me (especially considering how many other things I accomplished).

In September I'm going to try turning off the phone for a few hours each morning -- I'd like to hit 60,000 words for September.

 

[StupidSmurf]

Well, here's what worked for me...

I got my start by writing for Dragon Magazine back in the mid-80's. Basically, I approached then-editor Roger Moore and said "What aren't people writing about that you'd like to see written for Dragon?" So...I wound up writing a few articles for Top Secret. This caught the attention of Bruce Heard, then-acquisitions editor for TSR, and I started getting bit-work in some adventure anthologies, mini-adventure sort of thing. I guess you can say I worked my way up. By the time TSR folded, I was writing modules like Four From Cormyr and such, and writing novels for West End Games.

I had an advantage, in that I stayed home and played Mister Mom while my then-wife worked full-time (she has a high-paying job: registered nurse). So, while I changed diapers and cleaned the house and fed the babies, I also had lots of time to write, and took on a lot of stuff for TSR, West End Games, and Mayfair Games.

These days, I work a "Regular" job, and since the freelance market (at least for the big companies like WotC) isn't as high-demand as it used to be, my projects tend to come less often. I'm currently working on a "splat" book for Kenzer and Company. Here's what I've learned thus far about RPG writing:

1. As many have said before, and rightly so, DISCIPLINE! You need discipline!

2. Shameless self-promotion, something which I actually "inhale air sharply" at. Keep your name in the memories of the various companies/editors, or you may end up forgotten or simply not thought of as much, and that means less work. This has always been my biggest flaw. I have a feeling that when TSR became WotC, and WotC became a subsidiary of Hasbro, I was one of the folks who sort of "fell through the cracks". I am slowly trying to undo that damage.

3. RPG writing pays CRAP compared to "real world" writing. I was getting .03 a word from Dragon. When I wrote an article for Inc.Magazine I got $1.00 a word, and it was 1,000 word article! You will not get rich writing RPGs. Heck, you'll barely hit subsistence level by writing for RPGs.

4. The amount of unique creativity you can put into a piece is inversely proportional to the size of the company/popularity of the license, you're writing for. If you write for the "big dogs", be ready to have your ideas chewed up and spit out, sometimes! Ideas that you consider brilliant (and maybe they are) can and will be shot down if it goes against the tone and/or rules of the system you're writing for.

5. Speaking of systems, know the system that you're writing for like the back of your hand. I tackled a WotC web enhancement for the Unapproachable East and got heavily spanked because my knowledge of the system wasn't completely "set in". Hey, I deserved it. I'm much much better now, but editors will be reluctant to give more work based on prior experiences, so sometimes you have to try and win your way back in, if you know what I mean.

6. Speaking of reputations, you'll get one...for good or bad, depending on what you do.

7. Get ready for people to really love what you do, to the extent of asking for your autograph or inviting you to be a guest at a convention. That rocks! Note: There are no groupies for RPG writers, unless you're writing fantasy novels. For the record, since I've remarried, that last point doesn't matter to me anymore

8. Get ready for people to say that you "inhale air sharply", and that all that you've ever written is crap. This is especially true if a lot of your work came out during a time that a lot of people thought that everything that a certain company came out with was utter crap. So, whether you deserve it or not, you can get lumped into a category like that and painted with a brushstroke of crap.

9. Never take an assignment for "Castle Greyhawk".

10. Avoid getting pigeon-holed/typecast into one game system/genre.

But through all this, remember one thing. If you can actually get paid money, even if it's only a few bucks, doing something that you love, then you're already ahead of a lot of people running around today. Heck, it's like being a professional baseball player!...only without the big bucks. Or the fame. Or the endorsement deals. Or the wild party lifestyle.

 

[eyebeams]

I write whenever I feel like it, which ends up being enough. My main impediment right now is the fact that I probably *could* freelance full time at this point, but I can't risk day job income unless I have even more certitude. Thus, I don't have time to make the leap.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

In September I'm going to try turning off the phone for a few hours each morning -- I'd like to hit 60,000 words for September.

For a frame of refernce folks, that's about half of Ed Greenwood's output when he was in his groove. Greenwood is a freaking machine. Most pro writers try to hit 1,000 useable words/day. So Phil's target is to be about twice as productive as an average professional writer.

Good luck, Phil. Hopefully you won't have to have your conciousness uploaded directly into the Matrix to achieve your target.