Pyramid Mentoring Google Group

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Peter V. Dell'Orto

I'd urge people to take advantage of this. Chris knows what he's doing, and having someone help you get "your cool idea" into "publishable cool idea" shape is invaluable.

Thanks, Peter. This means a lot. You know, if you helped my little cause by joining as a mentor that would be even better... ;-)

Originally Posted by Jerander

I only have 10,000 words left and thought I was doing good! I better get cracking! In fact, I may have to have one of my characters work on a GURPS manuscript...

So I shouldn't tell you that I've been working on four other simultaneous projects and have written at least 2 new Pyramid articles while doing NaNoWriMo then?

Originally Posted by Jerander

I'll be sending something in as soon as I can...How complete does this manuscript have to be? Does it have to be already formatted to SJG's guidelines? (Maybe these and related questions are answered up-thread...)

Originally Posted by Humabout

I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I can say mine was only half-donkeyed formatted. C.R. and DouglasCole are a huge help. Totally take advantage of this as soon as possible!

Originally Posted by Refplace

I sent mine in using the format. The format and style guide is the hardest part to write to and my first draft had a lot of loose boards because the style good was what I was most worried about. After cleaning that up a bit I put in more content using those (and other suggestions) until I break it again.

All I can ask is that you try. Try to follow the style guide, but don't stress over it. Building good formatting habits is better than ridding you of bad ones AND building good habits. That said, being able to write is key here. If you can't write at least moderately well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to help you. I just don't have time for that. That doesn't mean you should send me whatever though! Some people have great ideas that just need a little prodding on their writing style. I (and others) can help with that. But send it. If I don't think I can help you, I'll tell you as much.

Originally Posted by Refplace

Writing to SJG is a lot different then writing for a print newspaper or a tech manual.

Yes and no. Writing for a game system is technical writing at its heart. But SJ let's you get a little "loose" with some things. For instance, you can use exclamation points a lot more than normal technical writing (which I've done before).

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Yes and no. Writing for a game system is technical writing at its heart. But SJ let's you get a little "loose" with some things. For instance, you can use exclamation points a lot more than normal technical writing (which I've done before).

Well just have to disagree here :)
I wrote for technical manuals, help files and articles for two companies and it was a lot easier.
This is more fun and you get to be more creative but the style guide is more restrictive. Both had specific things you had to watch for and could not write. Words and phrases that were forbidden, policies to follow and fonts and some styles you had to use. However it felt more intuitive. Also feedback and deadlines were a lot more immediate.
I am not knocking it and I certainly do not feel SJG needs to make it easier just to get more writers. I appreciate the high quality of the finished product the current method produces.

Part of the problem is also I have written a lot less here and have a lot more lead time between submissions and when and if the editor ever sees or comments on them. This group helps a lot there as it gives us more prompt feedback.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Jerander

How complete does this manuscript have to be? Does it have to be already formatted to SJG's guidelines? (Maybe these and related questions are answered up-thread...)

My personal preference is to either go whole-hog on the style guide and try and get it all [Edit: not HAVE to get it all; TRY and get it all. I STILL don't get it all], or just have a good sense of organization with your work divided into chapters or themes (those will turn into B-HEADS), sections (C-HEAD), and sub-sections (D-HEAD). Yes, there are also E-HEAD and Run-in titles, as well as bullet points if you go that far.

The one exception I'd make is anything template-ish. If you're doing a character template or similar, it makes sense to copy the bit out of the GURPS Format guide, paste it into the WYSIWYG template, and then change the text.

For how done does it have to be? I'd say as done as you can make it to get your idea across.

That's me, though. Chris is the gatekeeper. :-)

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Well just have to disagree here :)
I wrote for technical manuals, help files and articles for two companies and it was a lot easier.
This is more fun and you get to be more creative but the style guide is more restrictive. Both had specific things you had to watch for and could not write. Words and phrases that were forbidden, policies to follow and fonts and some styles you had to use. However it felt more intuitive. Also feedback and deadlines were a lot more immediate.
I am not knocking it and I certainly do not feel SJG needs to make it easier just to get more writers. I appreciate the high quality of the finished product the current method produces.

See, I've done some similar stuff, and I found that harder than SJ Games. :-)

Originally Posted by Refplace

Part of the problem is also I have written a lot less here and have a lot more lead time between submissions and when and if the editor ever sees or comments on them. This group helps a lot there as it gives us more prompt feedback.

That's the idea.

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

My personal preference is to either go whole-hog on the style guide and try and get it all [Edit: not HAVE to get it all; TRY and get it all. I STILL don't get it all], or just have a good sense of organization with your work divided into chapters or themes (those will turn into B-HEADS), sections (C-HEAD), and sub-sections (D-HEAD). Yes, there are also E-HEAD and Run-in titles, as well as bullet points if you go that far.

The one exception I'd make is anything template-ish. If you're doing a character template or similar, it makes sense to copy the bit out of the GURPS Format guide, paste it into the WYSIWYG template, and then change the text.

Exactly!

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

For how done does it have to be? I'd say as done as you can make it to get your idea across.

Ditto.

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

That's me, though. Chris is the gatekeeper. :-)

Your words should carry as much weight as my own in this thread, therefore, they do.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Recently, Douglas Cole did a (short) Firing Squad podcast about our little group.

You can see it here. As I state there, I've got room for about 5 more proteges and unlimited space for mentors. Two of the people we've been helping having already submitted articles to Steven Marsh and I feel very strongly that he'll take them (they are quite good). So if you've ever thought about writing for Pyramid or Steve Jackson Games, but have been hesitate or intimidated by the requirements, come on by, we'll help you as much as we can.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Thanks to Celti, I've been able to set up a live chat on his IRC network (on the #Pyramid channel) for this coming Friday (01-04-2014 at 1900 hours EST). I'll be there to answer any questions anyone has about the Pyramid Mentoring Group and any questions that I (as an author) might be able to answer. I'd like to stick to mostly writing for Pyramid/GURPS, but we can talk about whatever you want really, as long as it's related to those two subjects however tangential. Of course, I'm not affiliated with Steve Jackson Games. I'm just doing this on my own time and my own dime. So come on by!

[Celti]

Just FYI folks, the meeting is two hours from now! Details on how to connect are available here!

[Christopher R. Rice]

We've got two slots left for proteges. And as always, I ask anyone with experience in writing for Steve Jackson Games to contact me about helping out the next generation. In exchange for your knowledge, you get access to a group of folks that know the rules pretty well and multiple sets of eyes to look at your own material (and even playtest it!).

You can see who is in our group here.

[Rocket Man]

I just now saw this thread. I lack a Pyramid-type manuscript for critique at the moment but plan to correct that ASAP; opportunities for veteran coaching are too good to pass up.

If the slots fill before I get there (entirely possible, since I have a couple of longer projects I'm working on), please keep us posted on when new openings appear!

By the way, out of curiosity, is it necessary that Pyramid articles be GURPS-oriented? I do play a lot of GURPS, but as you might guess from my forum title, In Nomine ideas tend to slip into my thinking in an (ahem) unholy way.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

I just now saw this thread. I lack a Pyramid-type manuscript for critique at the moment but plan to correct that ASAP; opportunities for veteran coaching are too good to pass up.

If the slots fill before I get there (entirely possible, since I have a couple of longer projects I'm working on), please keep us posted on when new openings appear!

Of course! :-)