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Message: <blockquote data-quote="StupidSmurf" data-source="post: 2525846" data-attributes="member: 35893">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  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> 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".  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> 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.</blockquote>

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