Dream Pod 9 Writing Style Guide

To many of you, most of what is in here will seem useless, redundant and totally uncalled for. Unfortunately, it is not so. We have received many manuscripts over the last few years which displayed the blatant (and not-so-blatant) mistakes and misconceptions we describe below. As an aspiring Dream Pod 9 freelance writer, we ask that you thoroughly read what follows and apply it. Then read this again. There are many reasons for this, most importantly these two:

1. These are mistakes you can correct yourself and which will save Dream Pod 9 a lot of time and money. Also, it will speed up the process of editing, rewriting and approval, making sure that your book can be out and on the shelves as soon as possible.

2. If you don't do it, and if too many of these mistakes are found within the first few pages of your manuscript, the latter will be immediately returned to you with the mention "REWRITE ACCORDING TO WRITER'S GUIDELINES." Unfortunately, because we aim at producing a massive quantity of pages each month, we cannot afford the time to correct tedious mistakes which you can write correctly the first time around. We have only a limited proofreading staff, and when they get bogged down by repetitive mistakes, it slows everybody down (and diminishes the potential profit the company can make during a year). In short, everybody loses.

Now, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the few basic rules which you should remember when you write...

1.0 Grammatical Requirements

This particular section covers all of the grammatical mistakes most often made in the manuscripts we receive, and a few of the references we recommend in order to solve such problems. These are among the most frequent mistakes and they are the ones that are the most tedious to correct. A grammatical mistake, after appearing for the fifth time on a page, will discourage most proofreaders.

• 1.1 Spelling

  Of all the mistakes that can be made, this is the most unforgivable. Though most writers nowadays use word processors and spell checkers, we firmly disapprove of the blind use of such devices. Though they can pick up a few typos, they often give the author a false sense of confidence and result in a very irritating manuscript. We recommend that you reread your manuscript at least twice (and not in the same day) with a very critical eye and keeping in mind that you HAVE left mistakes. We have yet to receive (or publish) a flawless manuscript in this respect.

  We stress the use of a good dictionary and a bit of common sense. Because we are a Canadian company, we prefer using first the Gages dictionary and the Canadian Style (see below). However, for American or European contributors, we will accept the use of American references. Under NO circumstances do we follow the UK spelling and style (we apologize to our British friends; this is not done to discriminate, but because we are North American and wish to follow a consistent style).

  References: Gages Canadian Dictionary, Random House English Dictionary, American Heritage English Dictionary, The Canadian Style (Secretary of State of Canada), Thompson & Martinet's A Practical English Grammar, Vincent Hopper's English Verb Conjugations.

• 1.2 Punctuation

  Chapter 7 of the Canadian Style is dedicated to the specifics of punctuation. We recommend you read it thoroughly before you write any further. It clarifies many of the finer points which schools seldom teach their students. We've resumed the major points below.

  Apostrophe ' This mark is fairly well understood, except in the case of the possessive it. In most cases, to form the possessive singular of nouns, add an apostrophe and s ('s). If the noun is plural, then it should be s'. Finally, with "it," the apostrophe is only used in "it's" to contract "it is." The possessive linked to "it" is "its" without an apostrophe. We see this mistake very often -- MUCH too often.

  Braces { } They are only very rarely used in gaming texts and they should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

  Brackets [ ] They should be avoided. Double brackets are used to indicate BOLD type and are placed on either side of the word or section to be bolded. They do not otherwise belong in the book.

  Colon : It introduces an explanation or a description. No space before and one after (like the period).

  Comma , Many grammarians say, "when in doubt, leave it out." However, the comma is the punctuation mark most often omitted. Pages 119 to 128 (Canadian Style) are a must read. Omit the last comma (before "and") in a simple series. There should be one space (no more, no less) after the comma, and no space before. It should appear INSIDE quotation marks.

  Ellipsis ... This is as often misused as the exclamation mark. Let's not overuse it. There's no space before and two after. A capital may or may not be used after, depending on whether the text is part of the same sentence or not. Common sense applies.

  Em-Dashes -- This isn't the same thing as a hyphen or an en-dash. It is used to emphasize parenthetic sentences (a sentence within a sentence) and requires a space before AND after the dash. Parentheses are often used instead of the em-dash, which is fine by us. Obviously, there can NEVER be an em-dash sentence within an em-dash sentence.

  En-Dash - Use the en-dash for negative values. There should be a space before, but not after. We tolerate the use of the hyphen for negative values as well, but the en-dash is preferable for clarity.

  Exclamation ! The use of the exclamation mark is perfectly legitimate!! However, too much of it can make the reader sick!! It sounds excited!! It gets their attention!! But only for a short while!! In this case, not anymore!!!!

  Fnords <> They're never required in gaming texts, but we (at Dream Pod 9) use them for layout marks and comments (<<A>>, <<B>>, etc.) You can also use them to ask questions, make comments and clarify details to the editors in the manuscript.

  Hyphen - Use hyphens for number ranges. Do not put spaces before or after the hyphen. In general, do NOT hyphenate your bulk text in your submission. Let the layout guys take care of that.

  Parentheses ( ) One space before and one after, except if there is a punctuation mark after the closing parenthesis. In that case, the punctuation mark comes right after the parenthesis. One big no-no: NEVER put a parenthesis within a set of parentheses! While it works in mathematics, we respectfully remind you that this is game writing, not science.

  Period . It ends a sentence. There is no space before and always ONE after. The same rule applies for most punctuation used to end a sentence (question or exclamation marks). The period should be OUTSIDE of parentheses if it ends a sentence which was begun outside of parentheses, and INSIDE if the sentence started inside the parentheses. This is a very frequent mistake. It should be INSIDE the quotation marks if they are present, not outside.

  Semi-colon ; It is used to separate two independent sentences which are strongly linked with one another, or to separate the elements of a description which is made of long clauses. There is no space before and one after.

  Slash / We use it to mark ITALIC type, much like we do with brackets for bold. Double slashes are placed on either side of the word or section to be italicized.

• 1.3 Miscellaneous

  Use 10 point Arial or Helvetica fonts and double-space your text. Yes, we are aware that this takes up a lot of space. However, it makes your document more attractive to read and easier to proofread.

  Whenever referring to a section within the book, use //italics//. If you mention the name of a movie or book, use [[bold]] typeface. Please do not get these rules confused!

  If you mention a page within the book, write the reference between parentheses as (p. XX) and describe between fnords <<>> where it is located in terms of sections, sub-sections and such.

  Gamemasters (GMs), player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs) are written this way, except in the case of possessives, in which case you use GM's, GMs', PC's, PCs', NPC's and NPCs' (see //Apostrophe// above).

  Write roleplaying in one word, not "role playing" or "role-playing." Same thing for Gamemaster (not "Game Master").

  Specific game terms, such as Attribute, Skill or Threshold, should be capitalized to distinguish them.

  Numbers are written with a comma to separate the millions from the thousands from the units. However, in the case of a number with four digits before the decimal, the comma is omitted (1000, 50,000, etc.) The decimals are indicated by a period (4.02). The Canadian Style, p.90, gives more details.

  Do NOT justify your manuscript. This prevents the proofreaders from tracking down spacing errors.

  Number your pages for the whole manuscript. If your manuscript is submitted in chapters, include the chapter number and name in the header to facilitate our work. Remember that most manuscripts are kept loose and are easily shuffled around during the proofreading and layout processes. It should be easy to put back together if the wind catches it or if it is dropped on the floor.

  Start a paragraph by a single return and NO tabs. Most word processors allow you to modify the spacing before and after your paragraphs. A 12 point spacing is preferable.

  Do not type titles in capital letters. Whether it will appear as such or not is the work of the layout artist, who will make a decision based on the <<x>> header type he has defined for this book. Simply capitalize all first letters of the words in the title, except prepositions and articles.

  Fractions should be represented "x/y" as much as possible. Do NOT use a specific special character (such as those for 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 on WordPerfect). They may get lost in the transfer and make it difficult for the proofreader to identify what the symbol is.

  We use the International System (meters, kilograms, etc.), not the imperial system. Forget about feet, pounds and so forth. We occasionally use inches as part of the tactical miniature game, but all game universe references should use the International System.

2.0 Stylistic Requirements

The following requirements concern the overall style and appearance of the information presented in the text. They are just as important as the grammatical requirements.

• 2.1 Narration

  We use a somewhat formal style for both the Jovian Chronicles and Heavy Gear. Anything familiar or of a lower language level will be deleted. If overly frequent, it may justify the refusal of a manuscript.

  Avoid the use "I" or "you" in the book. "We" is barely acceptable, but not too often (especially in Heavy Gear, where it's heavily frowned upon). The reader should not be distracted from his reading by having the impression that he is being "watched" by the writer. Make the style as transparent as possible, so that the reader/GM can get involved with the story you are telling. Remember: the reader cares about the story and the world, not about what you think.

  "It" and "they" are often misused and lead to what is called "vague pronominal reference." For instance, in "The microwave and the toaster belonged to the man and his wife. They were black," what does "they" mean, the appliances or the couple? Using "the latter" or "the former," or simply using a synonymous noun will solve the problem.

  Show, don't tell. If you want people to feel something, describe what it is, what it looks like, how it happens, etc. Don't tell them how they feel about it. Don't say that something is horrible, but describe what makes it so. This is one of the most forgotten rules of skillful writing.

  Avoid repetitions. Words often have many synonyms and you are encouraged to use them (the synonyms, of course!). Nothing distracts a reader more (aside from typos) than seeing the same word over and over within a few sentences. Keep that thesaurus handy!

  Never ever EVER EVER (!!!) start a sentence with "But," "And," "So" or any hinge of that sort. Use "However," "Also," "Additionally" or "Consequently" instead. In this instance, we disagree with the Canadian Style.

  No wisecracks and comments between parentheses ("so the PCs get killed - who cares about 'em anyway!?") Such writing is amateurish and fills spaces which could be better used otherwise. Remember that people are paying you for this. Give them their money's worth.

• 2.2 Verbs

  Avoid the passive form. Don't say (if you can avoid it) "the car was driven by John," but use instead "John drove the car." It makes for a more dynamic text. Remember this as the "killing be," "to be" being a verb which tends to unconsciously bore the reader. It's too... remote.

  If you're going to use two verbs together in one hinged sentence, make sure they're same tense. For instance: "He picked up the book and, after a few hours, reading to the end."

  No imperatives. This goes along with the restriction of not using "you" with the reader. "Roll a Skill check" should look like "The Player must roll a successful Skill check in order to..."

• 2.3 Miscellaneous

  Parentheses should NEVER contain another set of parentheses or more than one clause. It is tolerated to have two clauses separated by a semi-colon within parentheses, but with extreme care and moderation. Also, a single sentence should preferably contain no more than one set of parentheses, unless it can't be avoided. Lastly, parentheses should NEVER contain more words than the rest of the paragraph.

  While the "... as well as ... and ..." structure can often be advantageously replaced by "..., ... and ...," this is not a rigid requirement but a strong preference.

  Writers often abuse "as." Aside from the comparative structure (as good as, as tall as, as much as...), the ", as " use of "as" is incorrect. You can only use "as" in a structure such as this one: "As , ." Notice that the "as" begins the sentence. As a rule of thumb, if you can replace "as" with "Since we all know that...," then your use of "as" is correct. Otherwise, drop it. If you're not sure, use "since" or "because" instead.

  Put statements in a positive form: i.e. "He usually came late," instead of "He was not very often on time." This makes for a stronger and more vivid style.

3.0 Contents Requirements

The following requirements are more concerned with the material itself. Nothing breaks a manuscript like glaring inconsistencies and bad research. This is especially true of the realistic world of Heavy Gear and the highly scientific world of the Jovian Chronicles.

• 3.1 Reality Checks

  Don't put something in the book just because "it's cool" (though we do like cool stuff). That may work with a young audience (12-18), but we also sell to a more adult market (16 to 25) which tends to be more demanding in that respect and also tends to be well-educated. Things must make sense. They must be done because there is a good reason for it. It must fit within the story and be consistent with the world around it. A character should not have a particular skill only because he has to use it at some point in the scenario. He should have it because it's part of his "schtick."

  People aren't stupid. Most Gamemasters and writers seem to think that police officers and NPCs in general are complete idiots. They're not. They have been trained to do a job and they often do it well (which doesn't mean that they can't be corrupt). See to it that they look and act as intelligent as they should be, not as modern stereotypes make them out to be. A team of marines, for instance, is going to know quite a bit about tactics and will give a team of overarmed psychos a hard time. That will only mean that if they get splattered to the wall, the overarmed psychos were REALLY tough.

• 3.2 Relevancy

  Make sure that the material you have written is not self-indulgent. If you wrote it for yourself and not for potential readers, if it has no actual use for the "people out there" who will buy the product, then you are wasting your time and your resources -- and, potentially, the money of the potential buyer.

  While we recognize that gaming is NOT about stats, these are undoubtedly what sell the most. Please keep in mind that we do not publish books for the sole sake of wasting paper, but to entertain the reader and provide him with something he can actually use during his game sessions. Be aware that sections which we do not find relevant will be edited out of the book and will not count toward the word total on which the payment is based. In other words, useless material will be deleted both from your work and your check.

• 3.3 Rules and Over-rules

  Don't over-rule. This is roleplaying, not roll-playing. There should not be a rule for everything that the characters can or cannot do, nor a stat to describe their reactions to the world around them. Make up rules only when something is not covered by the main CORE Rulebook or the OGL (and it'd better be something extremely relevant) -- make a reference instead, or use already existing rules in new ways.

  Don't over-detail. Do leave room for the GM to be creative. Remember that although it is recommended that they read a book first before they GM it, most GMs only browse through it. They're not likely to remember small details like how many liters of water the characters must drink to survive extreme weather in a near-orbit module, or how many minutes they can survive underwater in an adventure set in the Badlands or the Martian deserts. Let's not waste space for things like that. That's what the GM is there for.

  The players should have a chance to succeed and look good. Do not include tasks that are obviously beyond the abilities of the characters. It is a waste of paper. By the same token, don't include NPCs that do everything for the players. And NEVER, EVER have NPCs win the game for the players.

  Remain consistent. If you have set a certain difficulty level for the adventure and the general tasks within it, stick to it. As a general rule, we recommend that the PCs be slightly above average in that respect.

• 3.4 Depth

  Try and write material which include some depth and human drama. Roleplaying is often seen as a technojumble game, but we want to make a difference and bring more human elements into our books. War and conflict may be about death, but they are also about people.

• 3.5 Playtesting

  To insure that your adventure material is pleasing, not only to us and to yourself, but to a more representative public, we now require that you playtest it thoroughly with external gamers. Include their names and references.

• 3.6 Credit and Back-Cover Text

  The required back-cover text for the book was already mentioned before. Many authors often forget about it, leaving us the task of accurately describing the book on the back cover. Also, full credits should be included. If you insert quotes, include the reference(s). List your playtesters and the people who gave you advice. In short, don't leave us any guess work.

4.0 Vehicle Sheet Formats

We like to use standardized formats to avoid unnecessary work for the whole staff, especially those in layout. We expect writers to use them. We want you to absolutely adhere to the character and vehicle presentation format.

All table information should be separated by SINGLE tabs, regardless of the game line.

Make sure your Threat Value and Costs are correct using the required formulas in the CORE Rules and d20 Mecha. We cannot stress this enough. Space ships and other large vehicles, by virtue of their modular nature, are especially vulnerable to mistakes.

5.0 If You've Read This Far, You Need to Know This!

It is unfortunate that we have to do this, but it has become glaringly obvious that most prospective authors are not reading these guidelines before they submit their work. Please include the following code at the beginning of your next submission or cover letter, as 'proof,' if you will, that you have read the package through. Thank you.

Authorization Code: NEWL7U98-DP9

6.0 Lastly...

That's about it. These rules are long and demanding, but we expect our authors to do their best to stick with them. With time they will come naturally to you, and we hope that, in our own small way, we helped you become a better writer through them.

This document will hopefully answer most questions you have about writing manuscripts for Dream Pod 9 (see the separate submission guidelines for the actual submission process). Should you feel we have left something out, you can reach us by mail or email at:

Dream Pod 9, Inc.
c/o Robert Dubois
5000 Iberville, Suite 332
Montreal, Quebec
H2H 2S6
Canada

Robert Dubois, Senior Editor

Please understand that we are extremely busy and may not have much time to chat. Try to have your questions ready and ask us only about topics that have some relevance to the project you wish to submit.