Hard on the heals of my previous catch-up post, another catch-up post! Folks, I’m really good at this whole blogging thing, let me tell ya!

8 – Describe Your Routine

When I freelanced full-time, I kept a pretty tight routine. I’m an early riser, so I would get up at 5:30am, have breakfast and clean up, and be sitting at my desk ready to work at 6:30am. I’d work through to the afternoon, taking breaks as needed, and finish up around 3-4pm. Now that I have a day job and my freelancing is my second job, I don’t have a rigid routine. I usually plan for about 2-3 hours after I get home from work, with additional time if needed during weekend days. I try to make Sunday a day off, but I have used that time if I needed it.

I find routine useful but I’m not a slave to it. I’ve found that if I try to adhere to a routine too closely, it can sometimes be restrictive. What I tend to do instead is set things up to facilitate slipping into work as easily as possible, which then allows me to work as I’m able around other responsibilities. That doesn’t work for everyone, but it has served me well.

9 – Describe Your Process

I usually start by jotting down some notes about the thing I’m trying to right, in a very free-form manner. If it’s a longer piece I may pull those notes together into an outline before I start writing, but for shorter projects I’ll often just work from my notes. If it’s something I’m going to use in game, I’ll GM whatever it is from just my notes, and add or edit those notes as the player’s interact with it. Then I’ll move to the writing phase, with that player feedback in mind.

If I’m editing for someone, I’ll read through the document a couple of times, just getting a feel for it and seeing if anything jumps out at me. Then I start taking more critical reads. Depending on the length, and what the client has asked me to focus on, each of these reads will focus on a different aspect of the document. Once I’ve done all that, I make a copy of the document, accept my edit suggestions, and read the document with my edits to see if there is anything I missed or want to change.

10 – Favourite Game to Relax With?

For TTRPGs, any game I can play with my friends is my favourite game to relax with. The social aspects of gaming are key for me, so I’m less fussed about what I’m playing than who I’m playing it with. If I am relaxing on my own, I usually load up either Star Trek Online, World of Warcraft, or World of Warships, depending on what I’m in the mood for at the time. Honestly, though, if I truly want to relax I read. I usually go through 3-4 books a week, not including game books and comics. I’m currently doing a sequential re-read of John D. MacDonald’s Travis Magee books, as well as the Pathfinder books by Dave Gross (which I highly recommend if you want stellar fantasy action).

11 – What’s yer Brand?

Probably something I should give a hard think about, as I transition from writing for myself/my games into writing for public consumption. I think if my brand is anything, it’s based around the question of what I really need as a game master or player. When I started writing my own material for the gaming table, lo those many decades ago, I emulated the style of modules at the time. So I found myself writing out a lot of details and information I never really used at the table in later years. These days I look really hard at the bare minimum I can get away with writing down and still have it be useful. That said, I obviously can’t just publish a prettied up list of point form notes and expect people to buy that. But I want to focus on giving game masters and players either what they absolutely need, or discovering some need they didn’t know they had yet, and filling it. And then filling it better than anyone else once other publishers start jumping on board the idea.

12 – How do you get your work out there?

Well, you’re looking at it. I’ve put a bunch of campaign and gaming useful material up for free on my blog, and you can search back through to find that. When I have a few pieces ready, I’ll post them for sale over at DriveThru RPG, because I think that’s a great marketplace. And I’ll likely update my website to do my own sales. As for getting the word out, social media is my friend! I’ve been lucky enough to make gaming friends all over the world, and I make a habit of spreading the word when they have something they want promoted. Hopefully they’ll return the favour when I’m ready.

Okay, I promise I’ll make daily updates from here on out. Pinky swear.