Today, I got to do something that is so amazing and unexpected, I can’t believe it was real … and I have to keep all the details of it a total secret for a very long time.
That seems to be the story of my life these days. I’m not complaining, but everything I work on has this huge list of NDAs and terrifying agreements that make me responsible for millions of dollars in damages if I give up the secrets. Seriously. I had to sign an NDA recently where I affirmed my understanding of the value of the information I would be holding in my head, and that I further understood that if I leaked this information out of my head before a certain period of time, I agreed to be responsible for a minimum of a million dollars per bit of information, up to several millions of dollars. I was so afraid of something happening when the materials were out of my hands, I destroyed them — first in a shredder and then in a fire — to ensure that nobody could somehow dig through my trash for some reason and go through the improbable and difficult series of events necessary to put me on the hook for the millions of dollars that I do not have. It was a little weird, in retrospect. And don’t ask me what it was, because I won’t say.
This is pretty awesome, because it means that I get to work on projects that a lot of people are really excited about, including me! This is also a bummer, because one of my first loves, narrative nonfiction writing, doesn’t have as deep a well to pull from as it has for the last decade that I’ve been writing it almost every day.
Over a decade. Wow. That’s …. a thing.
I’ve been telling Anne that I need to take some time away from my on-camera work, so I can focus on storytelling and creative writing. I have lots of ideas that can be turned into things, and there’s a very good chance I’ll get to pitch at least one of those things to a comic publisher this week. Fingers crossed. I’m also working on narrative fiction pitches for Geek & Sundry, Nerdist, and Legendary Digital, so I can do that sort of thing in addition to the games and the hosting and stuff that’s been most of my professional life for the last couple of years. These are all first world problems, I know, and they are good problems to have, on balance.
I have stories to tell. I just need to find a way, and find the time, to tell them.
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Please write a comic. I need ALL the good things.
Can’t wait to learn about these awesome things! Thanks for doing them, and for sharing them with us.
You know… eventually. 🙂
The stress of being liable for millions of dollars if something slipped has got to be hard! I can’t even imagine.
What a wonderful problem to have 😀 I have a hard enough time finding the time to consume your content…
Best of luck with the pitch!!
Are there any completed and released projects you can tell us about that you had previously signed an NDA for that you nearly violated or just were ready to burst over for a long time?
A million dollars per item of information. That is a hell of a lot of pressure to put on someone.
You worked on the new Star Wars movie, didn’t ya?
(Probably not, but that’d be pretty sweet, right?)
Maybe not 7, since principal photography is done on that I think… but maybe the ‘standalone’ single-character-centric one that follows it.
Or maybe ADR for 7, since, y’know. Major voice actor talent.
so whats it like to be a part of the new star trek movie coming out 🙂
I wish! That’s probably never going to happen.
maybe it’s the Doctor Who – Star Trek crossover we’ve all been waiting for 😀
Ah, random speculation without any shred of evidence.
I’m really looking forward to reading what you will be writing, especially the fiction you might come up with and obviously the huge secret thing.
Don’t take time away from your on-camera work. Keep that ball rolling. Luke didn’t become a Jedi by leaving his training with Yoda. Oh, maybe he did… nevermind.
I can imagine the anxiety that NDA generates. I mean, if I told you about [redacted] at work I would be summarily fired.
You know how many times you’ve told us you can’t tell us right now what you’re working on. Then you never come back later and tell us what it was. A guest star on a TV show, a internet project, whatever. Its very frustrating.
Yeah, I get that. The thing is, I work on so much stuff that falls under that kind of restriction, I honestly forget what each thing was when I look back at the posts.
Captain Crusher! Maybe?
Have you insured your head? That’s some pretty valuable real estate right there.
(Even more so with all the NDAs!)
I’d love to hear what the anatomy of a comic book pitch is like. Or, from a different angle what the organic conversation is like. I have these ideas of what comic editors, illustrators, and producers is like and it’s probably a million miles away from reality.
Living without a tardis makes time the enemy.
No idea how hard this would be, or how much effort (and if its really any, please ignore this) but it would be awesome if you could, when you can finally talk about things, put a link back to entries like this so we can go “OH MAN, that one time you said you did that awesome thing that one day; that was totally awesome”
All things considered, I am happy for you. 🙂 These are good problems to have.
You’re playing Young Han Solo in the spinoff, aren’t you?
It has something to do with Star Wars (NOT Trek).
Can’t wait until we find out what it is. Regardless, looking forward to whatever next steps you take.
We all have creative ideas, but you get opportunities to pitch them and get them made. You are very lucky.
Odd question: when someone makes you sign something like that, do you get paid? I mean, by the time you get to an NDA, are you at least getting some kind of retainer? I have always thought I should get on the payroll before I sign one.
Best of luck on your pitch this week! I enjoy reading your blog messages – thank you for sharing them with us!
Wil I sincerely hope you get all the time you need to write and write and write. You are good reading. (And it will be good to do what makes you happy)
Sometimes, when you think you will not have the time to sit down and write, you suddenly find you have. I never had found the time to sit down and write, then my son got born…I expected to have even less time, then wrote my first book. :p
Wil Wheaton for President!
Would totally vote for him!
Welcome back! We’ll be here when you are ready with your stories.
Since others are speculating: Possible involvement in the Redshirts series? Or American Gods?
Seriously, though, congratulations, though, on the contract! Looking forward to the reveal when the NDA allows…
As for the writing: Have you considered using a digital recorder (or app) for brain dumping/hashing out story ideas on the go, even if it’s only to get the basics down?
Oh, and also looking forward to downloading the audiobook of Cline’s Armada next week (after recently finishing Scalzi’s Lock In and the RA Salvatore Drizzt antho)… any more audiobooks on the horizon?
OK, this is NONE of my business, but in the spirit of sharing & maybe helping you out: consider a Liability Umbrella insurance policy. Close friends of mine (who are totally not me & my wife) have one, and for a few bucks a month, we’re covered in the event that we are liable for millions of dollars – for ANY reason. (DISCLAIMER: my wife is in the medical profession, which was the original impetus).
Point being this: of course you’re not going to knowingly disclose private information – you have too much integrity for that. But accidents happen, and there are malicious folks lurking about, and you should not stress about being liable for money you don’t have. That’s what insurance is for.
Just trying to be helpful (not selling anything, blah, blah, blah…)
I mean . . . my close friend’s wife! I mean.
Oh, dammit… 😉
Does this mean no tabletop series 4 ? not that I don’t want you to do other things but what else is worth watching on the internet other than tabletop
Titansgrave: the Ashes of Valkana
That’s totally worth watching on the internet.
Excellent point thanks for the catch
you can tell us tonight at Hop-Con 3.0 and again tomorrow at Woot-Stock since it will only be your closest friends there and you can trust us!
Hiii Wil! Take all the time you need!
Personally I really like it when stuff is finally released, if you can point back to the original blog post and say “This is what I was talking about there!” or even edit the original post to say “it’s now been revealed – see here.”
I’m sure it’s too much work to always do, but it always gives me a great sense of closure when I can go “oh THAT’S what it was!”
embarrassment of riches, “friend”. Really. so glad to hear things are going well.
I think it’s really amazing that you have the opportunities that you do. I know you have worked incredibly hard to be where you are today, and I couldn’t think of a more deserving person than you. Thank you again for all you do.
Follow your heart and best of luck to you. 🙂
Will, I enjoy a lot of your work and I just want to say have a great day!
Howdy Wil Wheaton! I’ve been a fan for a while, since TNG. LOVE you on Big Bang Theory. I didn’t realize that you had been diagnosed with anxiety issues. I just wanted to say, as someone with OCD and GAD, that you are a strong person. Hang in there ok! I know things are crazy sometimes. Keep being the wonderful geeky person that you are, because you inspire us other geeky people (I’m a physicist and a mathematician, and a geek). 🙂
You in on jjp hobbit?
What Andrew and Bean said. We’re happy for you, and we get that you can’t tell us yet, but it would feel way more satisfying to get the update, even if months later.
You said: “I’ve been telling Anne that I need to take some time away from my on-camera work, so I can focus on storytelling and creative writing.”
That’s neat. Acting pays well and you’re good at it. But if you can get paid to write? Money & recognition – and you get to have an unscrutinised life. I’m all for interactive “social” media… I’ve been socializing online since it meant dialing in to boards with a 300baud handset modem… but I refuse to participate in the several flavors of corporatized(tm) social media with attendant big-data backend. 144 characters and a “like” button turns a rich online social experience into a shallow snarky invasive parody of a social experience. Moreover, it has broken the social contract with entertainers. I understand fans wanting to thank an entertainer for doing something they found meaningful, but the celebrity stalking thing has spun so far out of control these past years as a result of large-platform social media & smart phones. Everyone is a pap now, except paps who have evolved into… god knows what. Actors are doxed and tracked in a way normally reserved for pariahs. I find it surreal that society can at once claim to look up to a set of people while simultaneously shredding their quality of life.
Imagine you were going to go have a beer with an acting or writing acquaintance you hadn’t seen in a while. Say Kiefer Sutherland or John Scalzi. How different would those two experiences be? Could you & Kiefer even go have a beer in public?
As a part-writer part-actor you straddle that fence so well. Also – my 2c and sincere apologies if this comes across as too familiar – IMHO you’re a good actor, but you’re a f*ng great writer. Rock on.
The only comics that I own are the complete run of Scott Pilgrim. But I’d happily expand that with a “Wil Wheaton” penned comic.
By the way, Wil. May I ask a TableTop related question (or two)?
I’ve been dying to see you tackle Sentinels of the Multiverse. Have you played it in your non-TableTop life? Is there any chance of it being on TableTop? Just such a great game and I think it deserves as much exposure as possible!
Note: I’m only asking here because you’ve been kind enough to respond to me twice before here.
I love Wil the actor, Wil the brewer, Wil the borad game host, Wil the GM, Wil the blogger, but I missed Wil the writer the most. Mostly because I am waiting for some more on the “The Day After and Other Stories”
That being said, I have the books, I have the chapbooks, waiting for some more. Whatever they are. 5 Gold for book, and then we party!
I’ve found the best times and ways to tell stories is during poker games with friends or even complete strangers.
I just listened to Radio Free Burrito episode 42 today. I know… a late comer. Any how I couldn’t help think of “Natural Science” “Permanent Waves” Rush circa 1980, as Will read the Tidal Pool story.
My bet is that Wil got to playtest Mass Effect:Andromeda.
Several things support this:
1: Wil (or at least the Titansgrave and Geek and Sundry panels) are at SDCC,
2: Bioware is at SDCC, and has apparently released “Secret info” to a “select group at the conference” (search google for “mass effect sdcc” to bring up the article).
3: An NDA makes a ton of sense, given that ME:A is an unreleased game, doubly so because of the (unconfirmed but so far consistent) plot leak on Reddit a little while back, they’d want to nail anyone releasing future leaks six ways from sunday.
Alright, it’s a big stretch, I know. I don’t know Wil personally, and my only contact is as a reader of this blog. I have no actual knowledge. I just put these two chunks of information and go “Hmmmmm.. .plausible”. If it is true, I suspect Wil won’t be able to tell us until ME:A gets released in (I hope) Fall 2016.
(… or if not playtest, have access to secret materials, as Bioware themselves has stated they have done with a select few, as per their tweet of July 10th, #theyaresworntosecrecy )
Late to the comment party here, but keep the writing coming. What you’re doing on TitansGrave is amazing. You’re the exemplar of what a GM should be.
You are quite eloquent with your writing. Please, tell your stories.
Hi Wil. I just finished the audio book, Ready Player One, and thought it was amazing. The story is a clever angle into Sci-fi and seriously nostalgic for anyone with a nerdy edge that grew up in the eighties, but your narration made it special.