When I used the following link,
http://paizo.com/writersguidelines/DungeonStyles.doc
this is all the document contained: "This document contains the Microsoft Word style sheets for properly formatting your submissions."
Yes. That's why I downloaded it. Unfortunately, that document contained no such sheets. Did anybody else have this problem or is it my own foolishness?
When I used the following link,
http://paizo.com/writersguidelines/DungeonStyles.doc
this is all the document contained: "This document contains the Microsoft Word style sheets for properly formatting your submissions."Yes. That's why I downloaded it. Unfortunately, that document contained no such sheets. Did anybody else have this problem or is it my own foolishness?
The "style sheet" just has the various text styles we use in formatting manuscripts - check out the drop-down menu in the upper left-hand corner. For any actual information, see the Submission Guidelines link right next to it on the Dungeon homepage. Thanks!
One thing I hoped for with this stylesheet was an explanation of what the different styles meant. Is 1.0 Core Body the header for my article sections, or is H1 Body, or... some other one?
What would really be awesome would be an document not only with the styles, but an outline of an article done up in the appropriate styles. Something like:
Your Adventure Title Goes here
by: your name
Word Count: we cut this part out
Your current street address
Your email address
Introductory text
Adventure Background
Your adventure background text goes here.
Adventure Synopsis
Your adventure synopsis text goes here
...and so on, with all the headers in the appropriate header styles, and examples of each style we might want to use in its appropriate role somewhere in the document.
I know this is work, and you guys are stretched thin, but I'll wager you it pays back within a season by not having to correct some writer's misformatted document. Heck, I bet it saves you time internally as writers, too. Having a ready template always makes the process go faster.
I know this is work, and you guys are stretched thin, but I'll wager you it pays back within a season by not having to correct some writer's misformatted document. Heck, I bet it saves you time internally as writers, too. Having a ready template always makes the process go faster.
You know, I'm working on submitting my first round of queries and I've found this is accurate. I feel a hesitation whenever I try to write up the actual queries, because I am never quite sure of what tone to take - simple layout (i.e. TITLE, PLOT SUMMARY, MONSTERS, TREASURE) or more conversational.
I'm probably making it too hard on myself, but any failed (or attempting not-to-fail) writer knows how quickly uncertainty can destroy a topic.
As James said, unless you're kind of familiar with MS Word and what the term style sheet means, I can understand that you were taken aback by the lack of anything in the document.
I blissfully and ignorantly used MS Word for almost a decade before I realized what the hell the style sheets were. I'm still not 100% comfortable with using them.
More guidance from Paizo as to what the various styles are that they want would be welcomed.
One thing I hoped for with this stylesheet was an explanation of what the different styles meant. Is 1.0 Core Body the header for my article sections, or is H1 Body, or... some other one?
What would really be awesome would be an document not only with the styles, but an outline of an article done up in the appropriate styles. Something like:
Your Adventure Title Goes here
by: your nameWord Count: we cut this part out
Your current street address
Your email addressIntroductory text
Adventure Background
Your adventure background text goes here.
Adventure Synopsis
Your adventure synopsis text goes here
...and so on, with all the headers in the appropriate header styles, and examples of each style we might want to use in its appropriate role somewhere in the document.
I know this is work, and you guys are stretched thin, but I'll wager you it pays back within a season by not having to correct some writer's misformatted document. Heck, I bet it saves you time internally as writers, too. Having a ready template always makes the process go faster.
I totally agree. This kind of template doc would be wonderful!
Okay, that WOULD be pretty darn useful. It'll take at least a month before I'll be able to get around to it (and if anybody's going to end up making one, I'm betting it's me) but I'll see what I can do.
-James
I know this is work, and you guys are stretched thin, but I'll wager you it pays back within a season by not having to correct some writer's misformatted document. Heck, I bet it saves you time internally as writers, too. Having a ready template always makes the process go faster.You know, I'm working on submitting my first round of queries and I've found this is accurate. I feel a hesitation whenever I try to write up the actual queries, because I am never quite sure of what tone to take - simple layout (i.e. TITLE, PLOT SUMMARY, MONSTERS, TREASURE) or more conversational.
I'm probably making it too hard on myself, but any failed (or attempting not-to-fail) writer knows how quickly uncertainty can destroy a topic.
Remember that the query processes is more than just submitting cool ideas. It's a test to see if you can write concisely and organize your thoughts well. If you can't do that (mostly) on your own, then chances are you can't write a full-length article or adventure. I still don't know for sure if I can write a "good" adventure and I've done it a couple of times already.
For what it's worth I suggest writing boldly (active voice). Pretend you're describing the coolest damn campaign/adventure/game mechanic/critical threat ever to a friend with the hopes he'll get excited enough to want to use it or play in it. Also hang out with other imaginative folks, in particular in the two "Black Hole" threads on this messageboard, it's done wonders for me.*
*Results may vary depending on magazine, article and editor's mood. Void were prohibited.
GGG
Okay, that WOULD be pretty darn useful. It'll take at least a month before I'll be able to get around to it (and if anybody's going to end up making one, I'm betting it's me) but I'll see what I can do.
-James
Consider that clarifying the style sheets would probably result in cleaner submissions that may be less troublesome for the editors.
Is there a stylesheet or will there be a stylesheet for Open Office? Why should I be limited to a lesser word processor? <snicker> :) Well, other than I don't own that lesser word processor.
--Ray.
The word style sheet doesn't work in Open Office? I've never tried it, actually. First, Word is on the PC where I do the grand majority of my writing; second, I'm not quite sure how to use the style sheets. :blushes:
Creative Director
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We use Word at the office, so that's the simple reason why the style sheets are in that format.
HOWEVER: the most IMPORTANT thing for you to do in your manuscripts is to organize your information in the same way we do so in the magazine. It's a relatively simple thing to strip out the formating from a document and format the correct styles as we develop the adventure, but all too often I have to cut and paste, rewrite, or even write whole sections of adventures because the author didn't bother to put in a set of adventure hooks, neglected read-aloud text for encounters, or organized his encounters in a strange manner.
The closer you are at organizing and presenting your adventure in the same order of information as in the magazine, the better. Everything else is secondary. Except, perhaps, the adventure's originality itself. And the passive voice. We hates the passive voice, don't we! YESS! WE HATES IT FOREVER!
Is it alright to use Passive Voice in Queries, however?
Is it alright to use Passive Voice in Queries, however?
My personal rule of thumb is no, it's not. Part of the reason you're sending a query, certainly, is to demonstrate that you have a really, super-cool idea. But another part of the query is to demonstrate, however briefly, your writing skills. My thinking is this: if my query is full of passive voice, how do the editors know my article won't be the same way? Simply, they don't; so I avoid it.
Thats totally understandable. As an aside, what exactly is the problem with Passive Voice?
Basically, it's whimpy. :) You can make your thoughts much stronger by avoiding passive.
I know when I first started doing this writing thing seriously a little over a year ago, passive voice killed me. I could barely recognize it, and I'd agonize over how to fix it. It's getting easier, but it's still not quite second nature.
As a more generic piece of advice, avoid the whole "to be" verb, even if it's not passive. It's hard to do, but if you get rid of as many forms of the to-be verb as you can, your stuff will sound much stronger.
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Creative Director
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Yeah; passive voice just makes your writing sound unsure and tentative and nervous. Passive voice works great if you're issuing a public anouncement in which you don't want to take any blame for something you did, though. The classic example of passive voice is, "Mistakes were made." The active voice version of this might be "We made mistakes."
Most, if not all, 1st and 2nd edition products and adventures are OOZING with passive voice, which is where the problem stems from, I think. We all grew up reading D&D information this way, and it's tough to break away from it.
For those of you seeking to break away from the shackles of passive voice, check out this website.
I don't think it's just previous gaming products that cause it, James. For example, I didn't even really know what passive voice was until about 16 months ago when I started writing. We never learned about it in High School or college writing classes. We certainly didn't learn it was something to be avoided.
I think I've been aware of it before, however not to the extent I am now. Thanks for the link. It certainly clarifies the matter.
I've found that when I write novels, I have to seek a balance of passive and active voice. An entire book written entirely in active voice dizzies me. Shortly after I started writing for Dragon I edited one of my older novels. Out of (new) habit I tried changing everything to active voice, and it was like trying to read a Mexican jumping bean.
However, in a magazine article, you only have a few pages to express your ideas. Active voice (usually) takes fewer words and serves to hold the reader's interest for the length of the entire article. Unlike novels, where you have a lot of room to draw the reader in and capture his or her attention with varied methods, articles and short stories are constrained by length and time. Active voice suits them much better.
My two copper. :-)
-Amber S.
Incidentally, my husband is making a character to play over the Christmas holidays, and was looking for a few good personality tags. After reading this thread, he came up with the idea of having his wizard speak in passive voice as much as possible.
It's hard! Passive voice is easy to write in but really hard to speak in. Try going even a few sentences in nothing but passive voice.
I'm not sure what the point of this is, just thought I'd share. :-)
Just a 2 cents more of "Medesha is right." No doubt passive voice has its place, but active voice, among its other virtues, saves you word count, allowing you to squeeze more of your precious ideas into the same space.
For a good example of speaking in the passive voice to an impressive degree, look no further than Sandman's Morpheus. Not that he speaks entirely in the passive, but he does so to the degree that it gives him the tone of "observer" more than "actor" in many important scenes.
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The word style sheet doesn't work in Open Office? I've never tried it, actually. First, Word is on the PC where I do the grand majority of my writing; second, I'm not quite sure how to use the style sheets. :blushes:
I use the style sheets in Open Office, but to do it I created a document in Word with the style sheet, then saved that. I use that document as a template for all my documents in Open Office and it has all the styles.
BTW, I do all my Dungeon submissions in Open Office on Linux (saving everything in Word format), and the editors haven't complained yet. Hopefully they haven't noticed the difference.
One thing I hoped for with this stylesheet was an explanation of what the different styles meant. Is 1.0 Core Body the header for my article sections, or is H1 Body, or... some other one?
What would really be awesome would be an document not only with the styles, but an outline of an article done up in the appropriate styles. Something like:
Your Adventure Title Goes here
by: your nameWord Count: we cut this part out
Your current street address
Your email addressIntroductory text
Adventure Background
Your adventure background text goes here.
Adventure Synopsis
Your adventure synopsis text goes here
...and so on, with all the headers in the appropriate header styles, and examples of each style we might want to use in its appropriate role somewhere in the document.
I know this is work, and you guys are stretched thin, but I'll wager you it pays back within a season by not having to correct some writer's misformatted document. Heck, I bet it saves you time internally as writers, too. Having a ready template always makes the process go faster.
Is there any news on this? This would be a great thing to have.
This recent thread has some info.
I've created a new Dungeon styles sheet, and it's up under the normal link at www.paizo.com/dungeon - check it out and hit me up on this thread if you have any questions. It should be fairly self-explanatory this time.
-James
Yay - instructions!
You rock, James. Well, except when you're sending me rejection letters. But besides those few times, you rock. :P
cool, thanks James!
- Ashavan
You rock, James. Well, except when you're sending me rejection letters. But besides those few times, you rock. :P
Exactly! Very, very helpful James. Thanks.
Woohoo! Thanks, James!
Hey guys-
There have actually been a few last-minute touch-ups on the style guide, so the definitive version should hit tomorrow in all its glory. Thanks!
-James
Hey guys-
There have actually been a few last-minute touch-ups on the style guide, so the definitive version should hit tomorrow in all its glory. Thanks!
-James
cool, I'll look for that definitive version tomorrow then. :)
- Ashavan
Hey guys-
There have actually been a few last-minute touch-ups on the style guide, so the definitive version should hit tomorrow in all its glory. Thanks!
-James
A v2.5 already? Man, I just got the 2.0! :PpPpP
You rock!
I just have to say that I have read the new style guide and it is very simple and easy to read. I must now apologize, and admit that my last two adventure submissions have not had my bio at the end. If you would like to think of a suitable punishment (that doesn't involve rejecting my two adventures, or any good queries I might have) I'm all eyes (you know what I mean).
James -
Previous notes from editors have indicated that we should avoid the lines in the stat block, but they are included in the new style guide.
So, just checking.... should we include them or not?
- Ashavan
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Creative Director
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James -
Previous notes from editors have indicated that we should avoid the lines in the stat block, but they are included in the new style guide.
So, just checking.... should we include them or not?
- Ashavan
The lines are actually part of the styles, so if you use the styles, the lines will be there as they should be. Just use the "Stat Block Line Above" style for any line you need a line to appear above.
Do not manually put lines in. That causes crazyness.
James -
Previous notes from editors have indicated that we should avoid the lines in the stat block, but they are included in the new style guide.
So, just checking.... should we include them or not?
- Ashavan
The lines are actually part of the styles, so if you use the styles, the lines will be there as they should be. Just use the "Stat Block Line Above" style for any line you need a line to appear above.
Do not manually put lines in. That causes crazyness.
That's exactly what I needed to know, thanks James!
- Ashavan
Question on the style sheet -- why shouldn't we put two spaces after a period? Isn't that correct practice?
Jack
Question on the style sheet -- why shouldn't we put two spaces after a period? Isn't that correct practice?
Jack
No. That is an archaic practice dating back to typing on typewriters (at least, that is my understanding). In any case, no, only one space after a period please.
Oh man, yeah. Otherwise we have to go through and remove every extra space by hand.
Think about how many sentences that is in an average adventure manuscript.
-James
Oh man, yeah. Otherwise we have to go through and remove every extra space by hand.
Think about how many sentences that is in an average adventure manuscript.
-James
Just an FYI, in Word you can replace (Ctrl+H) "two spaces" with "one space" for the entire document in one go. How do you think I format all my submissions? ;)
Oh man, yeah. Otherwise we have to go through and remove every extra space by hand.
Think about how many sentences that is in an average adventure manuscript.
-James
By hand? There's this neato feature in word processors called "search and replace." :D You should give it a try sometime... :P :P :P
There's this neato feature in word processors called "search and replace." :D You should give it a try sometime... :P :P :P
Oh, well, see, I meant.. um...
Shut up! : P
-James "the Appropriately Chastened" Sutter
You mean some people didn't learn to type on an IBM Selectric?
For some humor--I started my current career in 1989--had to write my reports on an Underwood manual typewriter made in the 1930's....then in 1991 we went straight to an integrated, centralized computer records management system with terminals and spell check and everything......
It was like switching from a spear to an AK-47.....overnight.
Maybe that's why I don't have a problem with instant levelling up and the sudden availability of a new feat.
Just an FYI, in Word you can replace (Ctrl+H) "two spaces" with "one space" for the entire document in one go. How do you think I format all my submissions? ;)Oh man, yeah. Otherwise we have to go through and remove every extra space by hand.
Think about how many sentences that is in an average adventure manuscript.
-James
Great tip. Thanks. I love any cheater way of saving work. Any more time saving tips, deClench?
The two-spaces after a period kills me. I must have been one of the last classes to learn typing on a typewriter, and I automatically put two spaces after a period or a colon.
I've tried to kick myself of the habit, but I haven't managed yet.
- Ashavan
The two-spaces after a period kills me. I must have been one of the last classes to learn typing on a typewriter, and I automatically put two spaces after a period or a colon.
I've tried to kick myself of the habit, but I haven't managed yet.
- Ashavan
I haven't either, which is why I resort to search/replace instead. ;)
Okay, so I learned to type on a Selectric in 1982...had to go back to a manual typewriter to do the smash, smash, smash, carriage return....then go to a computer keyboard overnight.
Through it all, the only constant was the two spaces after a period. Now even that is going away...sniff!