Quick way to get to writing masterpieces (no cheats)

[Sportsfan]

So for my first sim I had her be a writer, I had seen the writing help section on this site so I wrote 4 fictions then a few non fictions and then I wrote a drama. It took me so long to write a drama that I thought it would be faster to get to the 25 book total to write a masterpiece if I wrote only fictions because they are the shortest. This makes it so you can't specialize in masterpieces, but it gives you the time to write a lot more of them.

[CarlosLordofTacos]

Do you honestly want to write twenty six master pieces to specialise in them? It may be mind numbingly long to do 4 of each, but your method will end up being even more so. Trust me, you'll want to specialise in masterpieces.

[Sportsfan]

I just didn't bother with the specialization, at the time I started doing it my sim was already an adult (she started as a young adult) and had only written a few books. I figured that at the rate they were going, they would not have time to write a masterpiece before they died. This was my first sim though so I was just figuring out the game. I guess if you want the specialization, you shouldnt listen to me. I think this would work best on the shortest life spans.

[Hosfac]

If you think Drama takes a long time to write, you haven't seen anything yet lol.

You make plenty enough money off masterpieces without specializing in them.  Masterpieces take a very long time to write and if you're playing with normal life span, you're not going to have time to write a lot of them.  If you want to make any serious money from the Writing skill, you need to stick with a book that takes less time to write and do it in volume...so to speak.

Dramas are good for a main source of income.  Once you achieve the "Speed Writer" goal, you can crank them out pretty quickly.  But romance novels are a real gold mine, and if the sim is a "Hopeless Romantic," they can start writing them at level 6.

During the "Stop the Presses" challenge (that I didn't finish ), my author was a Hopeless Romantic.  Near the end, she was bringing in $2 million a week, and had only written 3 masterpieces.

[Sportsfan]

Wow, that's impressive. I didn't think my sim was going to have time to write 5 masterpieces if he took the time to only write 4 of the others so I thought that if I only wrote fiction I could get to 25 books fastest. I also got to level 10 at just around the 25 book mark. 

[Hosfac]

Fiction and non-fiction books are quick to write, but they don't earn a lot of money.  The challenge you really want to complete before writing a masterpiece is "Speed Writer."  I think you get that after earning $20,000 in royalties.  It's definitely not a "high bar," but it's one that is reached quicker when you're not writing bargain basement books.

[TheChronicR]

I think the best genre to specialize in is the Children's. It's actually quite profitable and was my choice in the writing challenge (which I never finished, too). Comparing the rather short amount of time it takes to write to the profit it brings, you come to a conclusion that it's the best genre for speed and profit subsequently. You have to have four levels in the Painting skill to unlock it, but that can be achieved quite easily.

[Hosfac]

Children's books is one genre I've never tried.  Maybe I'll give it a shot with my next author.

[Sportsfan]

Children's books would be good for a sim pursuing the Illustrious Author LTW.