So you want to write/draw/design games..., A discussion about the ins and outs of the industry. Options

[Endroren]

So you want to write games? Design rules? Publish an RPG? Write fiction? How does it work? What to writers get paid?

These questions seem pretty popular and have regularly derailed other topics, so I figured I would start a dedicated topic for this. Hope this topic doesn't exist elsewhere (I couldn't find it), but if it does - I apologize to the mods in advance! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That said, I want to start by doing a plug for the Gen Con Writer's Symposium. It's everything you could ever want to learn about writing, presented in a series of 1 hour sessions - 2 sessions running every hour all 4 days of the con - great topics - writing workshops - readings - well known names in both industry fiction and gaming - very good stuff. You can sign up for sessions or just bring generic tickets. Either way is fine. VERY valuable for anyone looking to start writing or just learn about the industry. As a testimonial, I have pretty steady work writing right now and I got here in large part because I started going to the GCWS every year.

So there is my contribution to get the ball rolling - if you want to write, I'd say start by going to the Gen Con Writer's Symposiums!

And while I'm not an expert on all things writing/publishing, I do have a bit of experience now. I'll happily share what I know if anyone has questions.

[Endroren]

One thing that came up over in one of the other topics that got derailed by this discussion, was short story length. I make most of my writing money right now writing for anthologies. My experience is that lower totem pole writers get 3K-5K word assignments, while higher totem pole authors get 6K-10K word assignments. I haven't seen anything about 10K words recently. I THINK they make more money if there are more stories, so keeping them shorter rather than longer is a benefit.

[JM Hardy]

My basic advice is simple--first, get good at what you want to do (writing, drawing, etc.) by practicing it regularly; second, make sure someone who can do something with it sees it.

One good thing about the gaming industry is that since the pay and potential fame is lower, the crush of potential applicants is lower, too. So I don't get nearly as many people clamoring to write for SR as, say, a major NY publishing house gets to write the next bestseller. That allows me to be more approachable.

As Endroren points out, GenCon, and cons in general, are a great place to both learn some skills you need to know, and to put yourself in front of the people who can do something about it. Jess Hartley, a game freelancer, put together a wonderful series of blog posts about being an aspiring professional at a con. It's got lots of good advice, so if you fit the category, read it and heed it!

Jason H.

[Platinum]

I would have discussions with skilled writers like FrankTrollman and Ancient History. Find someone that is good at what you want to do, and have them mentor you.

[Catadmin]

My advice seems a little simple, but you'd be amazed at how often people miss this one important point.

You want to write? Then write.

Don't talk about it. Don't muse about it. Don't play video games until you're too tired to do it. Just sit down and write. You'll never get published if you don't put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.

And don't worry about writing for a particular property like Shadowrun or Star Trek. Write your own stuff, work on getting it published, and along the way you'll generally fall in with people who can get you your dream job or give you something far, far better.

Oh, and I'm pimping the new book by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers that covers the history, craft, and business of licensed property (like Shadowrun) writing. See my .sig for links. The disclaimer is that I did contribute a chapter.

[Wounded Ronin]

LOL at playing video games till you're too tired to write.

[Catadmin]

Here's more information on the types of fiction, lengths, and payrates.

Flash fiction 100-1000 words
Short story 1000 - 7499 words
Novelette 7500 - 17,499 words
Novella 17,500 - 40,000 words
Novel ... Depends on the genre. SF&F starts at 70,000 and goes up to 120,000 (with best selling authors getting as many words as they want).

Professional payrates, per the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, is considered to be .05 cents per word (or the equivalent of). Higher word count pieces tend to get advances and royalties rather than a per word count. Royalties are often determined on a sliding scale of sales. Up to X number of books sold, you get X percent royalty. For the next tier, you get an additional X percent royalty, etc.

Semi-pro markets pay between .01 to .049 cents a word. Many markets will offer a flat fee for X number of words. To determine pay, divide the fee by the number of expected words. That will tell you your per-word payment. Most RPG companies and many open anthology sub markets fall into the semi-pro category.

Non-Pro markets pay a token payment of less than a penny per word (I've seen it as low as a .004 cents per word and yes, you're seeing the correct # of zeroes there) or they pay nothing at all but a contributor's copy of the work.

[Catadmin]

LOL at playing video games till you're too tired to write.

I actually had someone ask me how I found the time to write because she was always so busy, she could never sit down and put her ideas on paper. I asked what her schedule was and found out that a good 60 percent of her time was spent playing video games.

Oy!

[Demonseed Elite]

I agree with all of the above, especially the part about just writing for practice. If you want to write professionally, you need to practice it like any other craft or skill. It certainly does help to know other writers who can honestly critique your work and give you valuable feedback.

The biggest obstacle for me has always been the dreaded blank page. Starting a new piece is always the toughest part for me and many writers feel the same way. So if I get stuck on one piece and can't find a way to start it, I just go off on a different tangent and start spilling words on to something else, just to get the brain working and the creative spark lit.

[MindandPen]

The biggest obstacle for me has always been the dreaded blank page. Starting a new piece is always the toughest part for me and many writers feel the same way. So if I get stuck on one piece and can't find a way to start it, I just go off on a different tangent and start spilling words on to something else, just to get the brain working and the creative spark lit.

One of the tricks we used to use when getting people to write technical sections of proposals, white papers, or other documents, was to begin their page with: "It was a dark and stormy night". That (and a rough outline) tended to get them going.

[Dumori]

LOL at playing video games till you're too tired to write.

I'm doing that alot right now though that is due to a bit of block and I really don't want to sit down and not do anything for hours. I also know quite well why I'm suffering from writer's block its the same reason I'm barely eating. Solving it is another task.

[Sixgun_Sage]

The worst for me (and I will admit to only having a small portfolio of stuff published in pulp-style magazines) is the middle, it is easy for me to start, and I can see the end clearly, it is the muddled mess in the middle that makes me want to smash my laptop with a warhammer...

[Endroren]

The very best thing for me to break through those tough starting/middle/end blocks is to just write the dang thing - no matter how terrible it feels at the time - and just come back to it later to fix it up. You can fix crappy. You can't fix "not written." Heck, I and some of the other writers I hang out with will even do something like this when we hit a tough spot:

[And a bunch of fighting goes on and for some reason the hero decides to move on to Thunderdale]

and keep writing. You can always come back and fill in the blank - and a lot of times the rest of the story will tell you what you should replace the brackets with.

[Dumori]

I tend to leave underscores with shit name or a blank if I can't come up with a name. Such as "____________ Corp" and "______ _ _______ left the bar" the underscores tend to fit the length or type of name I'm after. As for the shit description of a few paragraphs any right that dosen't do that once in a while is likely spending too long on the draft. Right now I have a prologue that is so dire it not worth show to any one yet. As its a mix of [blah] and repeated unordered drivel but the bare bones of what is needed are there it was worth writing something and it normally always is.

I'm also in the preliminary stages of a mod right now I really need a concept artiest or such as notes only go so far.

[Catadmin]

...it is easy for me to start, and I can see the end clearly, it is the muddled mess in the middle that makes me want to smash my laptop with a warhammer...

The best advice I ever got was last year at the Viable Paradise writers workshop (one of the most highly respected workshops in the U.S.). The instructors told me "When things start dragging, break something."

They didn't mean smash the laptop with a warhammer, though. @=) They meant, make something go wrong in the story. Same principal that GMs use when players are acting out or getting bored. It works too.

As far as having writer's block goes, I have found that sometimes audio books or audio plays (I've recently gotten addicted to Big Finish) trigger parts of my brain that have gone dormant, giving me not only a much needed break but also jump-starting the creative juices. Exercise works the same way for me.

If you try one thing to get out of the Block and it isn't working after a couple of days, don't repeat. Find something else because you're not exercising the correct parts of your brain.

[Catadmin]

You can fix crappy. You can't fix "not written."

Oh, yeah! You're preaching what I sing to, Sir. @=)

[Wounded Ronin]

You know what nobody seems to write anymore? Hypermasculine schlock like The Destroyer. That is always fun to read.

[Minchandre]

The best advice I ever got was last year at the Viable Paradise writers workshop (one of the most highly respected workshops in the U.S.). The instructors told me "When things start dragging, break something."

They didn't mean smash the laptop with a warhammer, though. @=) They meant, make something go wrong in the story. Same principal that GMs use when players are acting out or getting bored. It works too.

As far as having writer's block goes, I have found that sometimes audio books or audio plays (I've recently gotten addicted to Big Finish) trigger parts of my brain that have gone dormant, giving me not only a much needed break but also jump-starting the creative juices. Exercise works the same way for me.

If you try one thing to get out of the Block and it isn't working after a couple of days, don't repeat. Find something else because you're not exercising the correct parts of your brain.

National Novel Writing Month recommends killing characters when you get writer's block.

[Dumori]

What if you can't kill any as you kill them later?

[Adam]

Here's what I suggest: when you are writing for fun, and writing to train yourself to write, forget all the shit that publishers care about. Don't worry about wordcounts. Write fanfic if you like or write original fiction if you prefer that. Just get in the habit of writing; if not every day, almost every day. Build yourself a routine where you write, and when you are firmly entrenched in that routine, THEN use your other time to research and learn about the stuff publishers care about, read other books, read other books about writing, and all the other things you have to do to hone your craft.

But build yourself a writing habit first, and don't break that habit.

[Catadmin]

What if you can't kill any as you kill them later?

When you're blocked, all the plans go out the window. You can always rework a later plot point if killing a character now throws it off.

I don't know if this is a true story or not, but I heard Peter A. David ran into a problem when writing the Hulk comic once. He had everyone but the Hulk's sidekick abandon a burning plane and take all the parachutes. Right as PAD got to the end of the comic, he realized that Sidekick had no way of escaping alive.

So, the final panel of the comic has Sidekick showing up, everyone completely startled that he's alive. When they ask how he managed it, he said, "Hanging around the Hulk so long has taught me to be prepared. I carry a spare 'chute everywhere I go." Or something to that effect.

My point is, don't worry about "later." Worry about now. As has been said, writing can be fixed but only if it has been written. Letting yourself get stuck because of a future plan is just an out you're giving yourself so you don't have to finish your work.