CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

“Don’t just put your nose against the grindstone: rub your entire naked body against the grindstone . And then film it. And put it on Youtube.” (17 January 2012; Terrible Minds Blog; Chuck Wendig, novelist, screenwriter, freelance pen monkey) I laughed out loud. Yes, it has context for writers and in that context, this says it all. If you don’t like swearing, don’t read this post… or the blog, for that matter, but, if you can cope with a little cussing out for some good writerly advice, go read this blog. It’s a timely kick in the pants.

For a long time now, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a novel for a couple of roleplaying companies. I’ve completed a couple of overviews and started chapter outlines and drafts, but I hesitated. Why? It wasn’t because cracking those markets is hard—which it is, by the way. Cracking the traditional market for any kind of fiction is hard, with the chance of rejection high even if you are ‘good enough’. This rejection is something everyone has to face, no matter how well established they are in the industry, so, if rejection wasn’t it, why hesitate? I had to think about that, but I guess it’s because anything I write for a specific already-published setting isn’t really mine. Yes, it’s a market with prestige; yes, it might draw readers to my other fantasy work; and, yes, there’s already a market out there so I wouldn’t have to work as hard to build the initial readership (maintaining and developing it, is another question entirely)… BUT, on the flip-side, the work would ...

“It’s working!” “I know it’s working. Run!” Merry and Pippin (played by Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2002 There is something about this scene that always grabs at my heart. Even having watched it more times than I care to admit, I still feel that familiar constriction as these two hobbits draw harm away from their friend. As reckless as they are, if it had been anyone other than Frodo, or perhaps, Sam, would have they made this sacrifice? It’s hard to say, but watching them forgo their chance to accompany their friend, or even bid him goodbye, pulls at my emotions. It’s a memorable scene, and one that makes me laugh, even as I gasp at the risk they take to enable Frodo’s escape. It’s also balanced by the high tension and drama of the scenes that follow. Boromir’s sacrifice and redemption, and the sadness of his passing, the poignancy of his oath to Strider and Strider’s oath in return. This i...

I have three writer names. This is the only one I share, and I’m even uncertain about that. As you know, I’ve been looking at the changes in publishing and weighing up how I’m going to approach my writing career. It’s not an easy set of choices, for all the reasons in my previous post ( Changes, Changes, Changes ), and even now it’s not set in stone. I’ve decided to keep my currently published writing name with the publisher it’s with now. I like them as a publisher, and I’m happy to keep that writing name with them. I hope they feel the same way about me as I’ve been on hiatus until now. No doubt my other writing name will blog about it. My other writing name has placed in a writing competition run by the publisher for which her work was originally pitched, and she was asked to submit it to the editor of that line. I’m still working on my decision with that. On the up-side, if they publish that writer name, I garner ‘respect’ from writers who value such things, and gain th...

So here I am, watching the changes going on in the publishing industry by reading upwards of a hundred blog entries a day. I just know I’m going to have to dip my toe in. It’s not logical to do otherwise. Judging from what I’ve been reading over the last six months, it’s not logical for a number of reasons: All signs are that independent e-publishing is the slush-pile of the future. Publishers and agents appear to be watching the e-lists of Kindle and Nook and offering contracts based on an author’s success on those lists. The next few months will confirm if this is the case. Traditional publishing is in the midst of re-form. Until it decides on how it’s going to cope with the changes brought about by the new technologies, it will remain in this state of upheaval and instability. It’s not fun to be contracted with a publisher or agent, only to have your contract nullified when their business closes or they have to make cut-backs. It might be better to wait until the market re-sta...

When I started this chapter, I thought equipment would be an easy run. Since Project1 is a rules conversion and the equipment pre-existing, I didn’t think I’d add anything new or have to alter the descriptions too much. Well, how wrong I was. Firstly, the tables needed rejinking to bring them into line with the new rules set. That wasn’t too hard, and then the weapon descriptions needed a little tweaking—also not hard. But then I actually started to have ideas, and thoughts of ‘wouldn’t it be cool if…’ and, well, the weapons section took a lot longer to write than planned. Four new weapon descriptions and their resulting additions to the ‘Equipment’ table and descriptions weren’t enough. Noooo. I had to add crunchy bits to some of the existing weapons as well. New ammunition followed and tables for the new ammunition, and Project1 has grown by 10,423 words to 37,921 words and my timeframe for completing it this week is blown. Now, I know this all sounds like I’m complaini...

Project1 progresses, but I have cut it from 30,000 words to 24,000. It hurt, I’ll admit, but now it’s much more focussed and a better introduction to the setting because of it. On the upside, the cut material hasn’t been wasted. I now have a good start on two supplements that expand on important aspects of the setting, and I have more space for expanding on the other material that’s needed in the basic book. All of which is very exciting. So… Chapter 1: Background, Chapter 2: Classes, and Chapter 3: Skills are all complete. Next I have Chapter 4: Equipment, which is partially complete, and Chapter 5: Monsters. I’m also thinking of adding Chapter 6: NPCs, and Chapter 7: Introductory Adventure. With a week off from work, I may even get this done by the end of the year, but I’ve said that before, so I guess I’ll just wait and see and update you again at the end of the week. Merry Christmas, everyone J .