Breaking Into Scriptwriting for Games

“BREAKING INTO SCRIPTWRITING FOR GAMES”

“PART ONE: BEGINNING”

“1. ACTUALLY WRITE GAMES”

“The main obstacle in the way of the majority of aspiring game writers is the failure to write any actual games”

“If you’re in this position, trust me — the first thing you need to do is stop thinking about careers in game writing, and actually go and create some of the stuff you’re going to be trying to do professionally”

“Congratulations, if you’ve followed this advice, you’re now a game writer”

“2. GAIN TEAM EXPERIENCE”

“My next recommendation is to collaborate with others in producing your games”

“3. Make a WEBSITE TO HIGHLIGHT YOUR WORK”

“you need a way of displaying all of your projects, your role on said projects, a download link or video for each one, and an About page to tell us more about yourself”

“PART TWO: PORTFOLIO”

“By portfolio, it is important to note here that I am referring to PDFs containing writing samples from games you have worked on, NOT your body of work as a whole or your website (which is a whole other kettle of fish)”

“Having sought advice recently on this topic from other writers, I would not advise featuring these samples on your actual website. Highlight projects there, link to playable games, include screenshots and/or videos, but keep your actual writing sample portfolio under password protection or distribute it as a PDF”

“Most people casually browsing your site will not have the time or inclination to read long samples; if they’re interested, they’ll email you to ask for more; and there is a risk of plagiarism by openly featuring raw text passages”

“I’ve seen some of the following issues in early career portfolios:”

“1. TOO MUCH PROSE WRITING”

“2. SOMETIMES SO MUCH PROSE WRITING, THAT THE PORTFOLIO ACTUALLY FEATURES SHORT STORIES”

“3. TOO MUCH INTERACTIVITY”

“4. SAMPLES THAT FEATURE TOO MUCH OBLIQUE OR OVERLY ‘ARTY’ WRITING”

“I’D ADVISE INCLUDING SOME OF THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF WRITING”

“A) A LINEAR BUT ENTIRELY DIALOGUE DRIVEN CONVERSATION OF ABOUT A PAGE, WITH VERY FEW STAGE DIRECTIONS IF ANY”

“B) FEATURE SOME BARKS OR ONE LINERS SOMEWHERE”

“C) A LORE ENTRY / SOME PROSE OF SOME KIND. HALF A PAGE MAX PER GAME”

“D) A BRANCHING DIALOGUE CONVERSATION WHICH DOESN’T BRANCH TOO MUCH”

“FINALLY, I’D ADVISE FEATURING DIFFERENT TYPES OF GAMES FROM DIFFERENT GENRES”

“PART THREE: YOUR MINDSET”

“FOR PEOPLE TO HIRE YOU AS A GAME WRITER, YOU NEED TO PROVE YOU CAN WRITE GAMES”

“THEREFORE THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON YOU. YOUR STRATEGY SHOULD BE ABOUT BUILDING IT”

“1. SELF-PROMOTE”

“None of what I am about to argue means anything if you’re not willing to promote your work and get the word out there about your game writing”

“2. CONSIDER WHAT A GAMES STUDIO IS LOOKING FOR”

“A) TEAM SKILLS”

“B) STUDIO SKILLS”

“3. INSPIRE YOURSELF”

“4. MISCELLANEOUS BORING BUT NECESSARY PLANNING STUFF TO REDUCE STRESS!”

“PART FOUR: WHAT TO DO WHEN WORK SLOWS DOWN”

“1) Some of the best opportunities you’ll find will be on Twitter”

“2) GATHER SOME TESTIMONIALS”

“3. NETWORK AND PARTICIPATE IN WRITER GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES”

“4) consider starting a solo project or small team project”

“5) positivity is a tricky issue here”

“6) Keep a log of potential opportunities”

“7) BE PROACTIVE IN ADVANCE. HOPE FOR BEST AND PREPARE FOR THE WORST”

“PART FIVE: BUILDING A CV”