Write a book; watch a book

Ever wanted to write a book? Next month is your chance to do so! It’s Nanowrimo, aka National Novel Writing Month, where writers all over the world craft a 50,000-word bio. If this is your first time or your 8th (like me), I gave a few tips to the Book Goodies podcast on how to face down that word count like a pro.

But if you’re not in the mood to write a book, why not watch one? Lizzie Bennet Diaries aired two episodes this week written by this woman, Anne Toole — maybe you’ve heard of her. If you missed my previous episodes or my first post on it, LBD is a modern-day adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, delivered twice a week to Youtube.

Episode 57: Weirded Out: Lizzie thinks Darcy is acting strangely.

Episode 58: Care Packages: Fitz drops a disturbing truth bomb on Lizzie.

Can you guess where we are in the book?

Got fantasy? “Red Bandit” short story is up!

If you’re feeling a little low in the fantasy department, fuel up with the Red Bandit, my short story published today from Hell Creek Sanitarium.  A librarian’s quiet night in the state library turns upside down when a man takes her captive, intent on stealing a magical tome, even if he has to burn down the entire library along with her.  If you enjoy fantasy, action, romance, and a lot of books, check it out at Drivethrufiction or Paizo.  Kindle and other versions will be available “soon.”

However, if you’re more of a fan of general speculative fiction, why not sponsor me or one of the writers for the Clarion West Write-a-thon.  Using PayPal, you can give as little or as much as you wish, and the money goes toward Clarion West, a non-profit dedicated to furthering speculative fiction.

Are you doing the write-a-thon this year?  Feel free to share your link, too!

A media map of 2011

So, I’ve been playing around in multiple media in 2011, and not just transmedia.  There’s just one problem.  Something’s missing: you.  Let’s collaborate in 2012 to make an even bigger map for all of us.  If we all made maps and combined them at the center, just imagine what crazy fractal media art we’d make!

Ready to build your own map?  I used 
https://bubbl.us/
.  Let’s connect ours and see what beautiful maps we can make!

My top 11 game/media adventures in 2010

Unlike most years in review, you can partake in these adventures, even if you’re not a game writer yourself.  While some adventures took me far from home, some I enjoyed from the comfort of my home, and so can you!

1. Started playing FARMVILLE

When I went up to San Francisco for GDC, I had to restrain the urge to click on the cows and trees as we drove by.


2. Organized IGDA WIG SIG social at GDC

Cuz girls are cool and stuff. Wherever I go, swag is sure to follow…

3. Spoke about Hot Warrior Women at the LOGIN Conference

While the video for our presentation, “Hot Warrior Women, and six other tips for MMO Content Development,” is not here, you can point and laugh at the game writing interview I did at the conference.

4. Was caught by surprise when I found out AQUA, which I wrote the dialog for, launched for XBLA

The writer is always the last to know.

5. Stopped playing FARMVILLE

And the cows of California were safe.

6. Randomly worked on HOUSE for two weeks as office wench
   

Did you know dengue fever is actually pronounced den-gee? I did not, and I hope that information never comes in handy again.

7. Attended my first PAX expo


Real game writers wear black

If you haven’t gone yet, you should go next year! Check out the pics from our panel on game writing!

8. Started playing LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE – Free 2 Play

Because how premium games transition to the micro-transaction model is an important lesson to learn. And you get to talk to Strider.

9. Enjoyed the launch of ROCK OF THE DEAD for 360/PS3

Because the gaming universe needs more serious, hard-hitting dramas
And zombies.

10. Attended my first Paris Games Week

It’s like a small E3, except you can’t understand anyone. Which is not so different from E3, now that I think of it, with all the noise.

11. Played a bunch of co-op shooters on 360

Warmed up by accidentally stabbing my partner to death.  In retaliation, he stabbed me in the back, and we died together.  How Shakespearian.  Good times.

And as a bonus, I also entertained a new puppy, which I will now force you to enjoy:

Which adventure are you going to take on in 2011?

Story in MMOs – Beckett Massive Online Gamer

Are writers the unsung heroes of MMOs? The Sept/Oct 2009 print edition of Beckett Massive Online Gamer features an article with a number of MMO writers, including two faces that you might know quite well. The article covers the frustrations of writing for MMOs and what the future has in store for story.  Why are we bringing it up so late?  We didn’t know about it until someone recognized our pictures!

This post brought to you by Writers Cabal, a game writing and design partnership.

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Writing for Video Game Genres Book Review

If you haven’t yet picked up the IGDA Writers SIG book Writing for Video Game Genres and want to know the full scoop, check out this recent book review from Slashdot.

Here are some other editorial comments:

A must-have for the bookshelf of any game writer, no matter what genre they’re working in. It was equally fascinating and useful for me to read the chapters about genres I’m experienced in and the chapters about genres I’ve never worked in. –Steve Meretzky, VP of Game Design, You Plus

For those of us swimming in the murky waters of games storytelling and narrative design, Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG is not only a life raft, it’s one with a treasure trove on top. Seldom do we erstwhile swimmers get this lucky. Read, learn, and build the rafts of the future. –Rhianna Pratchett, Writer and co-narrative designer on Heavenly Sword, Mirror’s Edge, and Overlord

The Writer’s SIG has assembled an impressive group of experts who deliver spot-on advice for tackling gaming’s many genres. I wish I had read this 20 years ago. –Bob Bates, Veteran game designer, writer

You can purchase Writing for Video Game Genres from the publisher, AK Peters, or on Amazon.

This post brought to you by Writers Cabal, a game writing and design partnership.

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Get Social, Get Writing, Get Educated

Since GDC09, we’ve been busy with appearances and projects.  Anne recently spoke at Digital L.A.‘s Games Go Social panel in May and discussed the social aspects of games and how successful social games, iPhone games, and casual MMOs are bringing games to the mainstream.  Meanwhile, I analyzed the current crop of social games and offered design ideals for the next generation of social games in an article for Gamasutra, called “The Social Game Boom.”

Next week, I’ll be at CMU for the 2009 Game Education Summit, on June 16-17, 2009.  I’ll be on a panel with noted game writers and academics Lee Sheldon, Richard Dansky, Drew Davidson, and Elisabeth Nonas addressing last year’s hullabaloo on how game writers don’t belong in the game industry.  We’ll also be discussing narrative design and writing for ARGs and non-AAA games.

Additionally, I’ll be co-presenting with Ricardo Rademacher, CEO of Futur-E-Scape, in a session entitled “Creativity, Constraints, and Compromises.” Ricardo Rademacher recently presented his educational theory of MMOGs at the Independent MMO Game Developers Conference in Las Vegas last April.  We’ll be discussing how his educational theory meshed with narrative design to develop a fantasy MMORPG that also teaches physics.  In fact, this game was a case study in our chapter for the book, Writing for Video Game Genres.

Next, I’ll be moderating a panel on educational MMOs and virtual worlds at State of Play VI, on June 19-20, 2009 at New York Law School.  In this panel discussion, leading researchers and creators of educational virtual worlds will discuss the challenges of aligning curriculum and learning with fun. A central theme to the discussion will be to try and establish some best practices for the integration of theory and curriculum into educational virtual worlds.

Attending any of these conferences?  Let me know!

Posted by Sande for Writers Cabal, a game writing and design partnership.

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#1 mistake in game development

Gamasutra rather ingeniously decided to examine all its game postmortems over the past 3 years and actually look for common denominators. Thank goodness, since I wouldn’t have had the stamina to do it. Their study resulted in a list of 10 problems that repeatedly tripped up developers in making great games on time and on budget. What was problem number 1? You guessed it: content added too late.

We have repeatedly brought up the positive impact of bringing in writers early, and highlighted the importance of giving writers the chance to polish (problem #8).  You can say we’re biased.  I’m going to posit that Gamasutra isn’t.  Here’s a quote from Alyssa Finley, talking about the successful Bioshock:

“We had many drafts of the story over the course of development, but the final draft turned out to be an almost complete rewrite.”

“Competing demands for time and resources meant that, unfortunately, some of the important narrative details of the game weren’t created until the final rewrite, and therefore required quite a bit of work to retrofit into an existing game.”

If a successful game with strong developer and publisher backing is wishing it had more time to write, chances are every other story-driven game experiences this problem in spades.

The impact is obvious and pervasive: “Getting story and features right is difficult at the best of times, but when that content comes in just under the wire, not only does that content suffer, every element of the game that relies on that content suffers.”  Thanks, Gamasutra — we couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Did you read the article?  What did you think of the other mistakes in game development?

This post brought to you by Writers Cabal, a game writing and design partnership.

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Book Signing at GDC 2009

If you’re headed to GDC next week, be sure to pick up the latest IGDA Writers SIG book, Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG.  It’ll be on sale at the GDC bookstore as well as on AK Peters’ Web site, Amazon.com, Borders.com, and in most major bookstores.

Plus, a special “Meet the Authors” book signing event will take place on Thursday, March 26, 2009 from 5:30p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center, 747 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94103, at the IGDA booth in the lobby outside of the exhibit hall.  We’ll be there and so will other game writers like Haris Orkin, Richard Dansky, Evan Skolnick, and John Feil.

Let us know if you can make it and we’ll say hello!

This post brought to you by Writers Cabal, a game writing and design partnership.

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Five for Writing Interview

Short post, short interview up on Richard Dansky‘s personal site, Snowbird Gothic.

Each week, he gives five questions to writers of all kinds: game writers, comic book writers, novelists, etc.  This week, it’s me.

Also, if you’d like to vote on Game Design Aspect of the Month’s next topic, please go here.

Posted by Sande for Writers Cabal, a game writing and design partnership.

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