The OTHER Reason to Be On Time

We've all know that no matter what, we have to have our work done on time.

Wizards makes it clear that they are "very deadline driven," Elaine's blog has lauded the virtues of being a "low maintenance author," and there is even an article on the Wizards site about how not to blow deadlines.

Okay, cool, we get it. Writing is the balance of art, craft and business. Be prompt, rock and roll.

But there is another good reason to be on time ....

Over the last two months I wrote a d20 module for Goodman Games. It wasn't literature, but it was fun, easy writing, the sort of work I dreamed about doing as a geeky kid. I beat the deadline by a month, and when the revisions came back, I beat that deadline by a month.

Any of us could have done it. If you spent your childhood doodling on blue lined paper, you know exactly what I mean. This wasn't work, it was play.

Yesterday morning I received an email from the folks at Goodman Games, offering more work. Was I free to write another module under a tighter deadline? Darn tootin'!

So yes, it is good that we get our work in on time. And yes, most companies are very deadline oriented. And yes, we should all try to lower Archer's blood pressure. But there is a flip side: get your work done on time, be a low maintenance author, and maybe they'll come back looking for more.

That's what were shooting for.

"Iron Crypt of the Heretic." Look for it soon. ;)


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Yelrah: the AntiBlog

You have to be pretty arrogant and insensitive to post about sales (let alone two in a row!). Who is this chump? Meanwhile, the rest of us slave night after night, beating on the door, filling railroad spikes with rejection letters, just trying to get a hit.

You people are too polite to say it, so let me put it out in the open: this Grimbones/Harley is a lousy writer, he can't edit to save his life, and he isn't particularly creative.

And these modules? He calls that writing? Last I checked using cut and paste to pile up stat blocks didn't count as writing. Of course it is easy. A monkey could do this, and probably write better traps. Grimbones/Harley just happened to be bumbling along when there was an opening. 999 monkeys missed the hole, the thousandth monkey fell in.

That's it. No particular skill (he still doesn't own any 3.5 rule books). No particular talent (I can count the number of errors in his blog, but then I run out of fingers AND toes). No particular dedication (he's gotten really good at Tony Hawk ProSkater). And apparently he hasn't learned to use spell check yet.

And then to presume he has something to offer the rest of us? Please.

This industry isn't fair. We all know that. You are all better writers than him. We all know that, too. Expecting us to sit by and watch this nobody give sermons about writing is asking too much.

Just my two cents. But that's 1 cent more than this guy has to offer.