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Narrative Design for Writers
Do you want to turn your talent for writing into a narrative design career in the games industry?
It's never been a better time to be a writer for video games. You're tapping into an industry that was worth more than $120 billion dollars in 2019, and it's still growing.
And it's an industry that needs great storytellers.
But there's a BIG difference between a great story and a great game story. Traditional stories are told. Game stories are experienced. That's why video game narratives need a totally different design approach.
So how do you apply your scriptwriting, storylining, poetic, copywriting, prose producing skills to an audience that won't sit still and an industry that's ever changing?
That's what this book is about!
I've been a narrative designer for over a decade, as well as a novelist and a scriptwriter / storyliner for TV and comics. I love playing games, and even more, I love helping game developers realize their storytelling aspirations. Nothing delights me more than a game that's both fun to play and delivers a satisfying story experience.
In this book, I'll share both the evergreen principles and practical techniques that I've learned and developed during my narrative design career so that you can position yourself for your first game writing gig. And if you're an experienced narrative designer already, you'll still find plenty of insights that you can apply to your trade.
I'll say it again, "the games industry needs you!"
Play is what we do, but story is why we do it.
It's never been a better time to be a writer for video games. You're tapping into an industry that was worth more than $120 billion dollars in 2019, and it's still growing.
And it's an industry that needs great storytellers.
But there's a BIG difference between a great story and a great game story. Traditional stories are told. Game stories are experienced. That's why video game narratives need a totally different design approach.
So how do you apply your scriptwriting, storylining, poetic, copywriting, prose producing skills to an audience that won't sit still and an industry that's ever changing?
That's what this book is about!
I've been a narrative designer for over a decade, as well as a novelist and a scriptwriter / storyliner for TV and comics. I love playing games, and even more, I love helping game developers realize their storytelling aspirations. Nothing delights me more than a game that's both fun to play and delivers a satisfying story experience.
In this book, I'll share both the evergreen principles and practical techniques that I've learned and developed during my narrative design career so that you can position yourself for your first game writing gig. And if you're an experienced narrative designer already, you'll still find plenty of insights that you can apply to your trade.
I'll say it again, "the games industry needs you!"
Play is what we do, but story is why we do it.
170 pages, ebook
First published April 7, 2020
18 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Edwin McRae
18 books20 followersEdwin is an interactive fiction writer and narrative designer for the indie video games industry.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 22, 2020
Wish I had something like this eight years ago
There is a lot of great information in here. It's also communicated simply and clearly. The examples used to illustrate the points are also very well thought out. I wish I had a resource like this from my first try at narrative design.
There is a lot of great information in here. It's also communicated simply and clearly. The examples used to illustrate the points are also very well thought out. I wish I had a resource like this from my first try at narrative design.
July 22, 2022
I don't have a gamer background, but picked up this guide as a novelist wondering whether my skills might be transferable, or at least, suited, to learning narrative design.
And after reading this book I'm very encouraged.
There's a little bit of context missing if you've never made a digital game before, BUT fortunately not enough to be confusing. Jargon like "Unity" might cause you to pause while you Google it like I did, to learn such basics, (Unity is one of the game "engines" or web platforms on which games can be made. So imagine Unity is to game making, as Word is to document creation)
On the whole, everything is very familiar and anyone with a solid understanding of the pillars of writing commercial genre fiction: conflict, character and emotional connection, should have no trouble understanding how they might begin to reapply that knowledge within a narrative design framework.
Definitely recommend checking this out.
And after reading this book I'm very encouraged.
There's a little bit of context missing if you've never made a digital game before, BUT fortunately not enough to be confusing. Jargon like "Unity" might cause you to pause while you Google it like I did, to learn such basics, (Unity is one of the game "engines" or web platforms on which games can be made. So imagine Unity is to game making, as Word is to document creation)
On the whole, everything is very familiar and anyone with a solid understanding of the pillars of writing commercial genre fiction: conflict, character and emotional connection, should have no trouble understanding how they might begin to reapply that knowledge within a narrative design framework.
Definitely recommend checking this out.
April 3, 2022
If you're a non-games writer curious about game writing and/or narrative design--how it differs from other formats, what types of thinking and activities the job requires--this is a good starting point to gain insight there.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews