Writer Profession

Writer Profession

While a case could reasonably be made that this is really just another facet of the Journalist field I am happy that it is not -- but then this particular Slacker profession has been around since the base game, offering the rebel Simmer the opportunity to stay at home, back away at the keyboard, and earn their residual payments for letting their imagination loose on the public!  You have to love that!

The basic strategy here is not to write books willy-nilly -- though you can do that and still make a decent living really -- but rather to specific genres and, preferably, genres that are related to each other.  Why?  The trick to this is that you earn your money through the sales of your books, and the sales of your books are driven almost completely by fan interest.  Writing a few books in a lot of different genres will get you some fans, but writing a series of books in one or two genres will quickly build a large fan base -- and that translates into better income.

Learning to write is simply a matter of writing -- but for that you will need a computer, so this will like as not be the second job your Sim does, since they will need the first to get kitted out.  Once they are kitted out however, they can start writing to gain the entry Level and then write to their heart's content, earning bonus payments and residuals and, eventually, raking in the dough!

If you have not caught on to the trend yet, once you achieve the entry Level in the profession you need to trot on down (or jog, your choice) to City Hall and register yourself as self-employed as a Writer.  Once you have done that it opens all sorts of interesting possibilities, challenges, and side-quest type opportunities, and will make your life more interesting.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Bookworm, Charismatic, Computer Whiz, Friendly, Loner.

The Professional Writer entertains in a Novel way...

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles along with the earnings that are required to unlock that level... 

Level 01: Fan Fiction Drafter
Level 02: Small Time Scribe ($75)
Level 03: Tabloid Typist ($400)
Level 04: Paperback Pauper ($2500)
Level 05: Work-for-Hire Wordsmith ($5000)
Level 06: Pretentious Poet ($8000)
Level 07: Ghostwriter ($12000)
Level 08: Prizewinning Author ($19000)
Level 09: Fiction Fantastico ($19000)
Level 10: Blockbuster Writer ($30000)

As previously remarked your best path here is to pick two book genres and stick with them because the more you publish in those two genres the better you will do, the bigger following you will draw, and the more money you will earn.  The worse thing you can do is spread yourself out over too many genres, because the fans like to know what to expect from you, and if you began building your fan base with Sci Fi they are not going to want to read a Cookbook written by you, even if it is a Cookbook that tells them how to cook aliens!  Just saying...

While there is not a lot you can do to influence your Sim's writing success, you can influence their progress and efficiency by making sure that they are always in a good mood when they are writing.  Being in a bad mood can have disastrous effect upon them -- so keep an eye out for bad moodlets and do whatever has to be done to get rid of them -- and do not have your Sim sit down to work if they are in bad mood.

Other than that there really is nothing left to be said about this profession -- you just have to remember to write, and write often.  Even if your Sim is leading a full life of hobbies and mates, they should be able to bang out two chapters a day no worries, and that is the minimum rate you want them doing (more is better).

Enjoy!