Schedule Tetris [Monday Not-Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting

Rich is out in Italy signing cards in exchange for coffee or something, so he asked me to take over the blog again this week in lieu of having a meeting. So I added it to my to-do list, and immediately moved pieces of my plan around to make room for it.

For those that don’t know, I am self-employed as a contractor to a number of clients in the RPG and video game industries (of which Onyx Path is only one, albeit a favorite one). Working for myself has lots of benefits, such as being able to work from home and hang out with my dog in my office. It also has downsides, such as sometimes losing track of what day it is and not having anyone to hand work off to when projects start backing up. Which is what has happened to me.

Generally, I look at my schedule as a giant game of Tetris. Whenever I work on a project, I estimate how many hours it’ll take. I then look at how many hours I have in a month, along with various deadlines in that month, and plan accordingly. Most of the time, it works reasonably well — maybe a project sticks out a bit, but most of it fits into that nice gap in my schedule, and I can clear a row of projects.

Right now, my schedule is that part of the game where I have five rows of nearly-finished blocks, and I just cannot get a straight piece no matter what.

I understand a lot of the factors that led to this — some bad estimates, combined with unanticipated delays, and exacerbated by a computer hard drive that was going bad for over a month before I noticed it and could get Tech Support to send me a new one. (I’m on my reserve Macbook at the moment, while I wait for that to come in.) Whatever the reasons, though, it really just means a ton of stuff on my plate is behind. I’m doing what I can to use smaller pieces to get a couple rows cleared here and there, until those negative factors get out of the way and I can finally clear a bunch of rows all at once, but it also means I’m so focused on getting this cleared that I sometimes lose track of the larger game.

I’ve had a number of people ask what it takes to be a professional writer (or artist or designer or whatever). There’s tons of great advice all over the Internet, as well as at trade shows and convention panels. However, the biggest thing I’ve learned since I’ve started working for myself is to look at a problem and find ways to fix it beyond spending more hours on it (although sometimes the answer really is “just spend more hours on it”). Being able to look at the whole Tetris board, the piece that is falling into place now along with the one coming up, anticipating what pieces might be coming next — that is just as much a part of being a professional as writing clean copy and making sure your invoices are correct. Sometimes you screw that up, but all you can do it is focus on the problem areas and get things done.

Now if I could just get that one piece….

BLURBS!

We’ve started doing special blogs every day this month to celebrate October as the Month of Darkness. Look for more snippets from various projects and notes from the developers on why they bits are their favorites and what went into them, as well as special sales. These will happen all October leading up to Halloween – because you know that’s our favorite holiday!

Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition PDF & Standard and Premium PoD physical book editions are NOW AVAILABLE on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149562/Mage-the-Ascension-20th-Anniversary-Edition

Vampire 20th Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages is NOW available in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com! This massive full color tome is part of the V20 line but does not require V20 to play and enjoy.

The Pugmire Pamphlet we had available at Gen Con is now ready for PDF download. Read about the world of Pugmire from the enthusiastic and optimistic pen of Princess Yosha Pug, as well as notes from the gruff and worldly hunter Pan Daschund: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153518/Pugmire-Gen-Con-Brochure

There are also six Pugmire posters available as free PDFs or $.99 physical posters, suitable for framing:

Spike Mutt: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150845/Spike-Mutt-Pugmire-Poster-6

Pan Dachshund: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150844/Pan-Dachshund-Pugmire-Poster-5

Jack Rat-Terrier: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150944/Jack-RatTerrier-Pugmire-Poster-4

Sgt. Leo Bulldog: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150843/Sgt-Leo-Bulldog-Pugmire-Poster-3

Princess Yosha Pug: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149750/Princess-Yosha-Pug-Pugmire-Poster-2

Sister Picassa Collie: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148516/Sister-Picassa-Collie-Pugmire-Poster-1

Start spreading the Code of Man!

Dread Names, Red List for V20 is available! This collection of the most dangerous Kindred ever called Anathema is available in both PDF and hardcover PoD versions: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150381/V20-Dread-Names-Red-List

CONVENTIONS!

We’re finalizing plans for a big Onyx Path presence at Midwinter Con again this year this January in Milwaukee. Big blurb when that is all worked out. In the meantime, check out the show here: http://www.midwintergamingconvention.com/

Rich just wrapped up Ovino in Milan, Italy signing Magic the Gathering cards. I’m sure if people still want to track him down and buy him a drink, he’d be happy to chat! http://www.ovinotournament.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Book of Secrets (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

CtL anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition

Cavaliers of Mars

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)