Quantum Storytelling

There’s an interesting article on Yahoo/Reuters that describes how in this modern age we seem to be working more and accomplishing less. One of the reasons cited in the article is technology.

Sadly, I agree with most of what the article says. In my writing process, I have to consider how much of my work is done away from the computer. I would say a majority of what I do isn’t in front of the computer at all.

I’m always crunching on plot and plausibility issues, character motivations, and how I might improve the emotional depth of my story. I hate to say it, but figuring this stuff out doesn’t happen on the computer, hammering away in Word or Writer.

Aside from my brain, the other tool I use more than I use the computer is a 3×5 Moleskine notebook. Whatever gets crunched gets written in the Moleskine as well. A lot of the actual writing I do happens with my Moleskine laid open right in front of me, which I use for reference to keep the ideas in focus as I write.

My headspace and the Moleskine are where most of the real accomplishment happens. I sometimes find the more time spent on the computer, the less productive I am.

Do you ever feel that you work more, and accomplish less?

Do you accomplish more away from the computer than in front of it?

How much of your writing work or storycraft takes place away from the computer?

Dave Perry who recently resigned from Shiny had this to say about the writing in video games:

“It saddens me a lot that many video game companies don’t hire triple-A writers and that they use their game designers instead. That’s why, when real writers look at video game stories, they kind of roll their eyes. But that’s something that I see changing, I really do.”

First, let me say I agree with him. Most of the stories featured in video games are ridiculous at best, downright awful or non-existent at worst.

However, I have my doubts that ‘Real Writers’ can help the situation. Writing stories for video games requires an understanding of the medium. Things are not cut N’ dried linear like in a novel or a film script.

Do most ‘Real Writers’ understand the effective vehicles for storytelling within games?

Do they understand that what they write is not the divine word of an almighty power, but something that may get hacked and chopped, and put into what’s called a scripted sequence?

Do they understand that certain scripted sequences or dialogue might be called at any time or place in the game?

This is just one of the many technical issues in writing for games. I can’t even begin to get into all the dilemmas here and now. That’s another article in itself.

The video game industry, like its siblings the film and music industry, is a hit-driven business. An understanding of marketing and what drives the top selling works is something a writer for video game stories should absolutely have.

Many writers cannot compete in a hit-driven business. Some of them don’t even want to! All of this is fine and good, but that still leaves game stories in a sad state of affairs.

Now we get to the real meat of the issue;

Game developers need to learn storytelling.

Why? Because there aren’t enough Real Writers who understand games. And there isn’t much incentive for a lot of writers to become familiar with games or the game industry. This isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Either more writers need to become familiar with video games, or more game developers need to become familiar with writing and storytelling. Because this is a game developers’ problem, the burden in solving it is on game developers.

Even if you hire an excellent writer who has a good grasp of video games, as the game developer you still need to understand what makes the writing good and how to best incorporate it into the game.

How do game developers recognize a good story?

How do they determine what works best in the story of their video game?

Some command of storytelling will be required to do this. So even with the use of an external writer on game stories, the game developer still has to know his or her StoryStuff.

That said, there will probably be good money to be made for writers in approaching video game companies for years to come.

Whether the writers come from inside or outside of the industry, game development will always need good writers.

My extra research for Cameron Fields coming to an end. I’ve begun making significant changes to the story. There are some serious problems lingering from the first draft. They will take some time to correct. I’m looking at a rewrite. I’m going to pull any useable sections and put them in the new draft. The rest will be discarded.

The story will be better for it. I feel good about making the changes.

Because the three novels involve different characters that are connected, I’ve also been making notes as I change and add details for the subsequent stories. What I change in the first story inevitably affects elements of the second and third story.

This sometimes makes the process more complicated than I’d like it to be, but I decided from the beginning that I do not want a ‘one-off.’ I am investing in a world that I will be able to use over and over throughout many stories, featuring as many characters as I want. Connectedness and consistency are important.

The next couple months of writing should be interesting. Everyone keeps asking me “When do I get to read it?”

When it’s done.

A great novel is late once. A poor novel stays poor forever.