Every year at GDC we get to have a writers group gathering. This is an opportunity for any of the 18,000 attendees who might be interested in game writing to come hang out with SIG members, put faces to names, find out what we’re all about, and bring up whatever concerns or ideas they might have.
We had a great turnout this year with 33 people signing our attendance list and even more who came by but preferred to be anonymous. Everyone who gave us an email address was sent an invitation to join this list, so hopefully some new people have arrived. (Hello? Hello?)
These are the topics brought up for discussion at the meeting along with some comments from me:
* Many game developers still don’t seem to know what writers bring to the table, or how to best use their skills.
— We’ve made a lot of progress in this area, but there’s still
a long way to go.
* New game writers (students and writers from other media) feel like there aren’t many resources for learning or improving the unique aspects of the craft, including barks and getting feedback.
— Our first book, Game Writing: Narrative skills for video games,
is a good resource for this, as are the two books we’re
currently working on. But we can still provide more material
on our website etc.
* Localization is one aspect of game writing, but it doesn’t get much attention.
— Very good point. In fact, a new IGDA Localization SIG is
getting underway and we hope to work closely with them.
* It takes a lot of specific disciplines to make a modern videogame, and writers need to interact with all of them. What do writers need to know about these other disciplines (art, programming, producing, design)? And what do those disciplines need to know about writers?
— This topic has come up in the past, mostly about writers needing
needing to know about game design. I like that this time the
point was made that design isn’t the only thing.
* Job titles for game writers are confusing. For instance, what’s the difference between a Narrative Designer, a Story Editor and a Lead Writer?
— The game industry as a whole has this problem. It’s not unique
to writers. The SIG could come up with suggested job descriptions
for specific titles, but we should work closely with the IGDA
credits committee.
* We also had the annual question about rates. What do game writers make? What should I charge for a freelance job?
— This is a touchy subject, and the SIG may not be the best
organization to tackle it. The Writers Guild of Great Britain
has done a salary survey specifically about game writing,
and some other game industry salary surveys include writing data.
* Game writers often find themselves managing people - either as a lead writer managing a team of writers, or a narrative designer managing freelancers. There’s also the issue of managing the boss or the client. But managing people doesn’t come naturally to writers and isn’t taught in school.
— What a great new area to attack, I mean tackle! We can all
improve our people management skills, and hopefully some of the
more experienced among us can put it in terms writers understand.
* New writers are often given advice to find what they’re good at and play to their strengths. But how do you know what you’re good at?
— This is another great topic to dive into. Maybe an article for
the website? Or a trade magazine?
* Game writing job postings are scattered and hard to find. We don’t really have the resources on the SIG to make a job board, but we could do better.
— Graeme Davis volunteered to take this on and had a good idea.
(or was that someone else with the idea? sorry, lousy notes)
We could divide and conquer. If just a few people volunteer to
check one or two of the usual message boards once a week, then
post what they find to the mailing list we could all benefit.
* Game journalism is definitely a part of the game writing SIG, but we don’t talk about it very often.
— Corvus Elrod volunteered to take ownership of this issue and
get things moving for the journalism/reviews side of game writing.
Thanks to everyone who showed up to the group gathering. It was great to see old friends and attach faces to email addresses I’ve seen in my inbox. I’m excited to tackle some fresh issues as well as revisit things we’ve been working on for a while through fresh eyes.