RPG Authors: How Do You Do It?

[StupidSmurf]

Oh, one other word of advice:

Avoid playing computer games, for they are subtle and quick to devour your free time. As for online games, doubly so!!!!!

:::Just can't bring myself to delete Master of Magic off my hard drive:::

 

[TheGM]

See, I frequently feel as if I'm not getting enough done.

I always feel this way. But it does keep me motivated to do more.

 

[eyebeams]

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.

My experience is that, given scheduled deadlines, the expected output of a freelancer for a company with an aggressive schedule is at least 2,000 words a day. I've produced 8,000-9,000 in a single day during an emergency -- others have written more. Assignments with significant copy/paste of open material are usually expected even faster.

You can't always maintain a pace this strong, though. People often point to David Pulver as the "iron man" of game writing because he consistently hammered out 40,000 words a month. Steve Long is probably the title holder now.

 

[jgbrowning]

See, I frequently feel as if I'm not getting enough done.

Me too. And unlike Phil, my feeling has some accuracy.

joe b.

 

[Monte At Home]

Most pro writers try to hit 1,000 useable words/day.

On a day without a lot of distractions, I usually shoot for 4,000 good words/day. I've done more--a lot more, in fact--but it's difficult to keep up the pace. It's also harder to make them good words at a faster pace than that.

In fact, I'd like to slow down my output to an average of about 2,000 words/day and try to get some more free time. That's not going to happen until after Ptolus/Night of Dissolution is done for sure, though.

 

[Cam Banks]

One of my most productive periods was when my son was an infant and kept me up all night. I would sit at the computer banging away at the Bestiary of Krynn while taking breaks every 10 minutes to check on how he was doing, walking around with him, sitting and watching Blue's Clues, etc.

Now he sleeps through the night and so do I. Not as productive, oddly enough! I have a full time job and a family to take care of, but I still manage to put away between 500-1500 words a day when I'm really working on something.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[philreed]

On a day without a lot of distractions, I usually shoot for 4,000 good words/day. I've done more--a lot more, in fact--but it's difficult to keep up the pace. It's also harder to make them good words at a faster pace than that.

In fact, I'd like to slow down my output to an average of about 2,000 words/day and try to get some more free time. That's not going to happen until after Ptolus/Night of Dissolution is done for sure, though.

That's impressive. I can hit 8,000 in a day but then that's it for three or four days. I'm trying to get better at a steady output but it's proving a serious challenge for me.

 

[Jraynack]

I am a stay at home dad with my three month old and I go to school nights. I have a weekly game of a campaign we have been running for countless years.

First of all, I would cut back on two of your games. I feel DMing one is enough personally - but here is a few tricks that I have done recently.

Adventures that I write for the weekly campaign, I make sure that some of the new rules and such can be further developed into a product. This allows for playtesting (which is a number one priority for use; game balance). Second, after an adventure is done, we take two weeks off. This allows me to work on the next adventure in my leasure time while using those Fridays (we play on Fridays) to do other things - warmachine, game of thrones boardgame, etc.

But it does take its toll - just don't get distracted from your work or the other important things in your life.

Take care and good luck.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I am not capable of not writing.

So it's something I do anyway. Part of my "free time." I work, I go to class, I hang out with friends, and, when not doing that, I write.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

That's impressive. I can hit 8,000 in a day but then that's it for three or four days. I'm trying to get better at a steady output but it's proving a serious challenge for me.

I dropped 15k one day, and then drank heavily.

I won't be aiming for that ever again, thankyouverymuch.

I like a good 2 to 3 thousand a day, for the most part. Of course, that presumes having a full day to write, which is a bit of a rare luxury nowadays.

Patrick Y.