D&D General Writing adventures for today's audience

[Paul Farquhar]

Generally speaking advice from successful authors tends to be "write for yourself." Writing what you want out of the story, as opposed to what you think others want, tends to work best for the authors I've seen comment on that issue.

The thing to remember about writing for Today's Audience is there is no such thing as "Today's Audience". Just a lot of different people who like a lot of different things, same as ever.

 

[Umbran]

Well, sometimes homebrew is advertised locally with people just trying to get a group together. You may not know the people playing in your game.

The statistical point still holds - running things for one table is about matching the desires of maybe a half-dozen specific people, whether I know them or not. The chances that an outside person I pick will match their preferences, specifically, is low.

 

[jgsugden]

When writing a campaign world, I start with a spark of an idea. Then I talk to players and give them a rough overview of the world that their PCs might know, and ask them what type of characters they might want to play, what type of stories they'd like to tell and what concerns they have about campaign settings in general. Then I evolve my setting to fit those conversations.

I draw lines where necessary, but I do not exclude everything offensive. I use that offense, at times, to tell a more emotionally evocative story, or to challenge beliefs the player has brought to the table. I challenge convictions. However, if those challenges go too far, I adjust as quickly as possible. It is a balancing act, and the point of balance is different for every group of players.

 

[dave2008]

Interesting, I've never heard that. I am writing for myself. I take the advice from published authors and editors to tailor my writing to appeal to a broader audience.

I will jump in and suggest "On Writing" by Stephen King (yes that Stephen King). My partner is a language / writing teacher and she highly recommends it to all writers. She even teaches in some of her classes.

 

[Mistwell]

Interesting, I've never heard that.

There are literally hundreds of articles on that topic in the writing field. For example.

 

[Mistwell]

I will jump in and suggest "On Writing" by Stephen King (yes that Stephen King). My partner is a language / writing teacher and she highly recommends it to all writers. She even teaches in some of her classes.

His FIRST rule of 20 rules is "1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.""

His 8th rule is "8. Don’t worry about making other people happy. “If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.""

 

[ParanoydStyle]

I strongly second the recommendation of On Writing, it is easily the most helpful book on the topic that I've ever read.

I don't think that I'd say that I do research--specifically market research, which is the kind of research you're talking about--as such. While I'm not tied in all that closely to the TTRPG scene, I have been playing these kinds of games for over twenty years, and I haven't been doing so blindfolded or covering my ears. I think I absorb a fair amount of information through what might best be described as osmosis about what PCs and GMs do not like in published adventures. Most of my ideas about tropes, including old tropes and how to play with or invert them, likewise just comes from a general immersion in creating and producing media.

It's worth stating I have never published an adventure for any edition of D&D, nor do I intend to if I understand the DMsGuild rates correctly (being, if I recall correctly, even more extortionate than selling products through Drive-Thru is), unless of course I can do so directly for WotC and get paid actual money to do it. I do not review the latest trends or tropes in adventure design before running homebrew adventures/campaigns for my players, and I never have. Instead I assign that mental bandwidth to catering to my players' preferences, wants, and needs, and the speciifcs of their characters' stories.

 

[aarduini]

His FIRST rule of 20 rules is "1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience. “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.""

His 8th rule is "8. Don’t worry about making other people happy. “If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway.""

I appreciate everyone's advice and helpful hints. My experience writing this ADVENTURE not novel has been that I need to cater to a demographic that I didn't know existed. I'm not referring to the plot of the adventure. I envisioned it, and it goes according to what I dreamed up when I wrote the outline; however, certain aspects of it had to be changed to be more accommodating which were mentioned in the article. I'll definitely check out the book though.

Thanks

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

But what was your reason for starting with the assumption that the Amazons had to be oppressed and Ares had to hate them?

Wasn't this the sub-plot in several episodes of the old Xena TV series?

 

[Salamandyr]

The thing to remember about writing for Today's Audience is there is no such thing as "Today's Audience". Just a lot of different people who like a lot of different things, same as ever.

This right here. The passing fancies of the moment will often lead you astray when attempting write timelessly--write what you believe to be true (yes, even in the context of writing D&D adventures), and let the idle outrages of the moment be just that--momentary.