I was a contributing writer and contributing editor on this book, edited by Chris Bateman
As computer games become more and more like Hollywood productions, the need for good story lines increases.
Research shows that stories are highly valued by game players, so today’s studios and developers need good writers.
Creating narrative – a traditionally static form – for games is a major challenge. Games are at their heart dynamic, interactive systems, so they don’t follow the guidelines and rules of film or T.V. writing.
Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames addresses these issues and is the first book written to demystify this emerging field.
Through the insights and experiences of practicing game writers, the book captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today’s game industry.
This unique collection of practical articles provides the foundations to the craft of game writing.
The articles, written by member of the International Game Developer’s (IDGA) Game Writer’s SIG, detail aspects of the process from the basics of narrative and non-linear narrative to writing comedy for games and creating compelling characters.
Throughout the articles there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers will expect a game writer to have.
The book is suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, and is a detailed guide to all the techniques of game writing.
This book is an essential read for anyone wishing to get into this exciting field, particularly for new game writers wanting to hone their skills, and film and T.V. scriptwriters who want to learn how to transfer their skills to the games industry.
Originally published in 2006 by Charles River Media, a new Second Edition was released in 2021 from Bloomsbury.
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
I was a contributing writer and editor on this book, authoring a chapter titled “Writing For Licenses” about the challenges faced by writers working on existing intellectual properties (IPs).
This project came together after editor Chris Bateman brought the idea to the game writer’s special interest group at IGDA, the International Games Developers Association; Chris suggested we work together to create a guide that would be useful for both writers inside and outside the games industry, and Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames was the result.
As a collective, we wrote our own chapters and edited each other’s, pooling a knowledge base that covers all aspects of writing in the games industry. My contribution joins chapters from Chris and many other high-profile games writers including Richard Dansky, Stephen Jacobs, Richard Boon, Mary DeMarle, Andy Walsh, Ed Kuehnel, Matt Entin, Rhianna Pratchett, Tim Langdell, Coray Seifert and Ernest Adams. Together, we hope that this volume will serve to spotlight the importance of good narrative in gaming and improve the future of video game storytelling.
COVER GALLERY
