Narrative News September 2024: Jobs, Opportunities, and How to Steal Like a Games Writer
Also: a very important survey.
Hi fellow narrative designers!
This summer I attended NarraScope, an interactive fiction conference, and — after letting the lessons soak in a bit, I realized that one of the core takeaways was what you can learn, as a game writer, from things that aren’t necessarily video games.
Stealing from Games Adjacent Things
Keynote speaker Nat Clayton of Highland Song mentioned it when they spoke about how much they learned from architecture, envisioning spaces as narrative. For example, religious buildings evoke a sense of the divine, by design. Brutalism was an attempt at breaking away from the old world. Thinking about the choices that were made in achieving those goals offers abundant inspiration for narrative design. What does a curlicue say that a straight line does not?
Meanwhile, Joseph Sutton spoke about using Tarot cards as narrative design inspiration. This, of course, makes perfect sense. Tarot is as much a storytelling medium as it is a fortune telling medium. The imagery used is so evocative and essential that it causes users to dig deep into themselves — why not harness that power to generate a story with depth and meaning? His suggestions for practical approaches in interactive fiction were as follows:
Maps: Each card is a node in the story web. Cards may symbolize a conflict or character that must be overcome or interacted with in the node.
Characterization: A card symbolizes two different player character mindsets or ways to view the same situation (useful for creating multiple differing choices for the PC).
I’ll add in a third, rather obvious example of stealing from things that aren’t exactly video games — tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). Rule books for things like D&D, Candela Obscure, or Powered by the Apocalypse are massively helpful if you (like me) are struggling to master the complexity of branching systems in which players can gain skills and be rewarded for them narratively. Running a game is some of the best skill development a narrative designer can get, but if you simply don’t have time, studying a rulebook can be extremely edifying by itself.
On Writing Tests…
I’ve seen a lot of discussion bubbling around the idea that a company shouldn’t need a writing test if they just read their interviewees’ prior work. I don’t necessarily agree with that — sometimes I’ve been glad to provide a test because I don’t have a sample within that genre or format.
But I do believe strongly that any test should be remunerated and not with a piddly $100, but at the rate that that author commonly charges. Tests are massive lifts, not least because your mission is to do your very best work in order to impress the potential employer. I’ve spent well over 20 hours on a single test. No matter how much an employer might admonish not to spend “more than three hours” it won’t stop an overeager writer (aren’t we all) from going above and beyond. So pay your writers, it’s only humane.
Besides, it could really help an unemployed writer to make rent during those weeks spent only submitting tests.
Alert! Alert! Very Important Survey
That’s it for the state of the industry spiel this month, but I have a quick request related to labor organizing.
It’s not a controversial statement to say that this industry is a tumultuous, sometimes spirit-breaking place full of layoffs, unfair wages, crunch, and instability. In the interest of making it a better place for future generations, myself and some narrative designer friends are working on labor organization within the field of narrative design/games writing. Think, for instance, of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, which supports writers within the video games industry.
It would help us greatly, if you are an American writer, to please submit responses to this short survey.
Events
The SF Bay Area Interactive Fiction Group is meeting up on September 7th, hybrid-style. That means if you’re in the area, you could go check out the amazing Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment in Oakland. They’re checking out entries from IFComp.
The Austin Film Festival is hosting a game writing track this year, and there’ll be some pretty amazing panelists including Stephan Bugaj, Ryan Kaufman, Shanon Ingles, and more!
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is hosting a meetup in London on September 5th.
Jams + Competitions
Bring Out Your Ghosts Game Jam is designed for entrants to resurrect old half-dead narrative-focused games projects. Entries due Sept. 9th, midnight.
If you’d like to make a low-fi walking sim or some such wonderful game writer-y thing on the quick, try the latest bitsy jam, the theme of which is “temporary.” It also closes Sept. 9th. At 2:39 AM, to be specific.
Another wonderful opportunity for writers, the latest Spooktober Visual Novel Jam. This runs until October 1st.
You can also vote on entries to the IFComp until October 15th.
Opportunities
A16z Games is hosting SPEEDRUN, an early-stage accelerator for “startups at the intersection of Tech x Games.” As they explain: “Our intensive 12-week program is highly selective, with ~1% of applicants accepted in our last cohort. Participants are supported not just with capital, but also by a highly curated set of industry luminary coaches, mentors, and a community of ambitious founders.”
If you’re a woman/non-binary student enrolled in a design, engineering, or art program in Canada who is passionate about games, check out Kabam’s GameChanger Scholarship.
Jobs
Junior Narrative Designer at Nanobit. Zagreb-based. “To get a general feel for the content you will be creating and editing, feel free to check out our games Tabou Stories: Love Episodes and Winked: Episodes of Romance.”
Video Game Writer at Asobo Studio (Plague Team) Bordeaux-based. French and English necessary!
Writer (Comedic Dialogue) at OmniMegaSuperCorp Remote, Part-Time. “Dreaming of joining a brand new video game company? Look no further! The Production Director and Lead Writer of Helldivers 2 have founded an indie studio.”
Writer at Hooked Remote, Freelance. “Looking for a talented Game Writer to craft engaging storylines and dialogues for our upcoming ARG psychological horror game.”
Narrative Designer at People Can Fly Remote. “In this role, you will be responsible for creating and seamlessly integrating narrative elements into our video games.”
Narrative Designer at Elephant Games Remote. “Our team is looking for a Narrative Designer for a new mobile F2P project— a series of classic hidden object games (HoG) in the genre of a mystical thriller with horror elements, set in a "realistic" 1960s-70s style.”
Narrative Designer at EA SPORTS UFC Vancouver, Canada-based. Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, the EA SPORTS UFC team is on a mission to become the world's greatest fighting game.
Writer at 2K Quebec-based. “Cloud Chamber is looking for a creative Writer to join our hard-working internal Narrative Team to help bring the world of BioShock to life once again!”
Senior Writer at 2K Quebec-based. Same as the above description, just more senior.
Senior Writer at Beamdog Alberta, Canada-based. “We’re best known for bringing beloved isometric roleplaying games like Baldur’s Gate™ and Planescape: Torment™ back to life on desktop and tablets as Enhanced Editions.”
Quest Designer at CD PROJEKT RED Poland-based. “We are excited to expand our Quest Design team and are looking for talented individuals who are passionate about narrative-driven and emotional design.”
Principal Writer at Tencent California-based at Tencent’s Lightspeed LA studio. “As an experienced Principal Writer on the Narrative team at Lightspeed LA, you’ll play a key role in crafting the game’s open-world narrative experience […] for a new I.P.”
Senior Writer II at Tencent California-based at Tencent’s Lightspeed LA studio. Same description as given above.
Lead Writer at Cloud Imperium Manchester, UK-based. “We are a crowdfunded company and have a dedicated and enthusiastic community of backers who are helping us create the ‘Best Damn Space Sim Ever’.”
Narrative Director at TiMi California-based. “Award-winning TiMi Studio Group seeks a Narrative Director who is an exceptional leader and can help us build a new AAA multi-platform game for gaming communities around the world.”
Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.
About the Writer:
Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove by Double Loop Games, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.