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One Year and Loving It

"Time flies when you're having fun."

Everyone's heard that quote. It's one of those little cliches that are impossible to avoid. But I never expected it to apply to a year. I mean, sure, we're all familiar with the phenomenon of picking up a good book, blinking, looking at the clock and noting with surprise that two hours have passed. It can happen with a lot of things- a movie that feels like you just sat down even though an hour and a half have passed, a rousing swordfight that takes an hour and feels like five minutes- I've done those. But I never thought this could apply to a year's time.

In August of last year, I- protesting to myself that I had no time for this- heeded the call for writers and applied for a position as a Reporter at Terrouge. I had some writing experience under my belt: The first Questors Bold, decent marks in English, and three years of role-playing. That didn't seem like much, to me. I felt certain that someone else would be picked. My submission piece was an editorial on feedback, and how much authors enjoy it. Erin, editor-in-chief, had- and still has- a policy of publishing good guest articles. I figured that would be the best I could hope for.

Wrong.

And thus began a roller-coaster of late nights, triumph, occasional despair, and all-around general excitement that has left me wondering: Where has the last year gone? I can't possibly have been here an entire year- can I? This question set me to wondering just why it should seem that the days flew past so quickly.

The precise answer continues to elude my grasp, yet I can at least pinpoint some of the reasons. Most obvious is that, like a lot of authors, I enjoy it when other people read my work. Twenty thousand people- that's four zeroes!- read my work. Less obvious but more important, to me, is the sheer, unbridled creativity that Terrouge is home to, which has been known to explode from time to time, into things like the Questors games, Greenhawk, and VI. And... well, not to give anything away, but the list continues to grow.

Then there's the comradeship. When I first joined Terrouge, I was friends with exactly three people, two of whom were also new. Within days, that had expanded to cover most of Terrouge's active staff. Within two months, I'd gone from an outsider to having a part in most of the various projects done by Terrouge Productions. Which leads nicely to my next point about Terrouge.

What you put into it affects what you get out of it. I brought with me vast enthusiasm, a mentality too stubborn to quit, and an odd ability to whip things up on short notice; sometimes scant hours before deadline. And the results? In September- my first month on the job- I not only gained my own regular column, but I also joined the Greenhawk team. In December, I joined the committee developing the Vulpine Imperium; in February, I was part of the QBII staff; in March I was named Assistant Editor, and in June I was part of the group that began work on the third Questors game.

Since that August, I've logged hundreds of hours of planning, dozens of hours of writing, three editorials, eleven Wordsmith's Forges, one chapter of Greenhawk, had a hand in the creation of a popular club, created the first- and second- fan-made 3d Redwall movies, helped to work on an opera, planned a revolution, planned a military coup, and, more importantly, made a whole bunch of friends. I've had months when I wrote my articles a day before deadline- in some cases mere hours before they were due. I've had months when I had all my stuff plus some extra done on the third of the month. I've even had a month where I had nothing to do, since everything was written the previous month.

And now my first year is behind me, and the final Wordsmith's Forge is about to be published... before I move on to whatever new things await, though, I'd like to thank a few people; Erin, Sean R., Julia, Nick, Retto, and you guys, the readers, who make it all worth-while. Oh, and I'd also like to say...

Yeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaw! Let's do that again!

By: Sean A.