I'M NOT A READER, BUT I WANT TO LEARN TO WRITE FOR VIDEO GAMES

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If so how do you think one would go about doing so? Is it feasible? How would one go about improving in this field? I've never really been interested in books as a medium since I'm a very visual person, but I really want to write at least a decently engaging story for my game.
I don't think there's a way to write well without doing a lot of critical reading. "Read more" is basically going to be the first step for 90% of any given how2write faq.

Doesn't have to be book-reading, though, necessarily. If you're looking to make a story-based game, you could start by playing/thinking through a bunch of other story-based games, looking at what works, what doesn't work, what techniques are used... taking notes, analyzing the nuts and bolts.

If you don't play any games with stories, you're not going to write a good story for your game. Just doesn't work.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Take scriptwriting classes at a university, or find scriptwriting advice online on places like Youtube. There are plenty of web-based classes and seminars you can take, and of course an endless number of textbooks about scriptwriting you can read. Overly Sarcastic Productions is a popular giver of writing advice on Youtube. A game script is much closer to a movie/TV script than it is to a book.

There are still a lot of differences, especially with regards to how information is presented, because the audience is the player and you need to make sure they focus on what to do next. As an obvious example, if you have a scene talking about a location, the player is pretty likely to misunderstand the scene as the game directing them to go to that location. Or if you spend too much time telling the player about information that isn't relevant to the gameplay, they'll get frustrated and bored. So, in video games, you have to be more careful about what kind of information you give and especially about when you give it, and time your story beats based on gameplay relevance rather than just aiming for good pacing.

But still, it's closer than books. You don't narrate actions and scenery and thoughts in a video game. It's just a script, there's nothing but dialogue.

Game companies hire scriptwriters from TV shows and movies. They don't typically hire scriptwriters who only do video games. I've been told by professional game writers that lot of game producers have this mentality, when hiring a writer, of, "Well, he seems fine, but if he were really good, he would be working in Hollywood."
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
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Tarantino watched films a lot. Playing games with inspiring narratives can help you to get inspired (emergent narratives do count).

In my opinion you don't need to read a lot to be good at writing. It's important to get informed so you're not reinventing the wheel but sometimes knowing less is better as it can lead to something fresh. It's not always good when every other sentence is a reference. Try to write down your feelings, record a situation you see happening on the street, do whatever comes as natural to you. And you might find yourself becoming a reader suddenly, because of your newly found interest in improving your writing skills.
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
OP: If it helps, there is a recent article on RMN that covers how to write for games, including some of writing in general. It's stuff I'm sorting through myself, and worth a read.

author=LockeZ
Take scriptwriting classes at a university, or find scriptwriting advice online on places like Youtube ... A game script is much closer to a movie/TV script than it is to a book.

... There are still a lot of differences, especially with regards to how information is presented, because the audience is the player and you need to make sure they focus on what to do next.

This information is relevant to my interests and makes a lot of sense. In a lot of my games I've very narrative-heavy, and also tell more than I show. Tips for script writing might help me tell a more snappy story while not letting it overpower gameplay.

author=Cap_H
In my opinion you don't need to read a lot to be good at writing. It's important to get informed so you're not reinventing the wheel but sometimes knowing less is better as it can lead to something fresh. It's not always good when every other sentence is a reference.

This is also pretty reassuring. I can probably count all the books I've read and remember on one hand, and some of them include ones from grade school. Nevertheless the ones I actually remember are ones that have inspired at least some prose ideas.

Thanks a lot guys, lots of useful tips and resources.

There are still a lot of differences, especially with regards to how information is presented, because the audience is the player and you need to make sure they focus on what to do next. As an obvious example, if you have a scene talking about a location, the player is pretty likely to misunderstand the scene as the game directing them to go to that location. Or if you spend too much time telling the player about information that isn't relevant to the gameplay, they'll get frustrated and bored. So, in video games, you have to be more careful about what kind of information you give and especially about when you give it, and time your story beats based on gameplay relevance rather than just aiming for good pacing.


This is one of the things I'm trying to avoid, I've always though the story should be built around the game play rather then vice versa.
The issue I'm having is thinking up a plot that can be stretched out into a games length organically, it's a lot more difficult then I initially thought.
author=The_freecs
This is one of the things I'm trying to avoid, I've always though the story should be built around the game play rather then vice versa.
The issue I'm having is thinking up a plot that can be stretched out into a games length organically, it's a lot more difficult then I initially thought.


The most important thing you can do when consuming other work (video games/films/whatever) is take scenes you like and examine what purpose the serve. It's rare for an interesting scene to serve only one function. Tarantino, for instance, is notorious for using his scenes to do multiple things at once; action sequences that move forward the story, snappy story dialogue that fleshes out the characters speaking, etc. Once you've got a good handle on what makes interesting scenes interesting, you can store those for later, when you need something that serves that purpose.

As for plot, I suggest this: Worry about a few major, inalienable points at the outset. The start of the story is incredibly important, as are any the climax, denouement and ending. Major "twists" are good to lay out, as well, so you can build foreshadowing with them in mind. Everything else is a string of filler that can be invented and reinvented as you need. Most importantly, you need to be willing to go back and edit as you come up with new ideas.

So yeah, that's my advice: build a frame out of those critical junctures (start, middle, end) and then fill it out with your library of interesting ideas. So long as you vary scenes (so not too many of one type in a row), you should be able to come up with something worthwhile. It's not how you write Game of Thrones, but it works for a compelling RPG with good pacing.
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
author=Kaempfer
As for plot, I suggest this: Worry about a few major, inalienable points at the outset. The start of the story is incredibly important, as are any the climax, denouement and ending. Major "twists" are good to lay out, as well, so you can build foreshadowing with them in mind. Everything else is a string of filler that can be invented and reinvented as you need. Most importantly, you need to be willing to go back and edit as you come up with new ideas.


I second this. Whenever I make any kind of story, for a game or otherwise, I use "bullet points" of what big plot pieces happen and roughly when. Then I connect the dots as I go along. I'm mostly a pantser/discovery writer, so this simple planning is usually enough to give me a roadmap, while I define and adjust the routes I wanna take.
author=The_freecs
If so how do you think one would go about doing so? Is it feasible? How would one go about improving in this field? I've never really been interested in books as a medium since I'm a very visual person, but I really want to write at least a decently engaging story for my game.


like anything, i'd say start by trying to improve a little at a time. for example, take a scene from a game your working on, or a game you like to play, especially if its got a good intro. like when you first walk into a tavern and meet someone.

write out the dialog that happens, put yourself in one of those characters shoes. since you can't hear voices or see constant facial expressions, use your vocab to enhance the sharp and softer tones of a scene. with just perspective and vocab alone i feel like you could elevate any writing greatly, and the rest would just be to keep practicing.

You DEFINITELY need to get some reading experience. Doesn't have to be books, can be short stories online, movies, scriptwriting, etc etc.

And it will take a lot, and I do mean a LOT of actual writing practice. This, honestly, is the key.

My first forays into game writing were unbelievably cliche and loaded with stilted dialogue and situations and banter that were not remotely credible. After much practice, I got better, then better still and so on.

My advice is as follows:
1) Read stuff, write stuff. Get a feel for what dialogue and plots you like, and then analyze it to understand WHY you like it.

2) Research. Whether that's writing youtube videos from people like Hello Future Me or reading TVtropes or whatever. Learn to analyze writing and what works for you.

3) Practice. Make short games where you explore a theme, and keep trying to further your craft each time. This will give you a wide variety of experience. I legit wouldn't have my game writing job if it wasn't for all the 2-Week-Dev-Time event games I've made on this very site.

And some more targeted tips:
- Reading your dialogue out loud helps a lot. If it sounds bad when you say it out loud, the line needs work.

- Treat your characters like they're real people. And real people are complex, with a great many traits. Find many traits for your characters, even if they'll never be brought up in game, and get into their heads when you write them.

- And above all, never give up. Writing is hard. You will make mistakes. You will look back on recent work and go "My god what the hell did I write?!" from time to time. But you WILL improve. You will never be perfect, no one is. But you will improve, and you will eventually be able to look back on previous work and go "Yep, I still love it", and you will feel rightfully proud.

Even as a now professional game writer (still junior level), I still make mistakes. So don't get down on yourself if you feel it's hard. It's hard for everyone. :)
Write! Write lots! When I took my creative writing classes at college, we were instructed to write 50 short stories in a semester. Reading and exploring what's already out there is really important, but you'll never get better at writing without actually doing it. For your 50 "stories" you could tackle maybe 50 different scenes in a game you'd like to write (doesn't have to all be in the same game). Or take an existing game (or games) and try rewriting scenes to make them better. I find older games have much more interesting plot ideas than they have quality of writing, if you need source material. As you write, choose a few scenes/stories you really like to refine into something better.

Work at character writing. Historically, RPGs were very much built around bland, one dimensional character tropes. And those can still be really effective in indie games (and I still enjoy them, personally). But if you're looking at writing for bigger companies, you'll need to learn how to create convincing and differentiated characters through dialogue. Try asking all of your characters the same question and see how they may answer differently. Or place them in the same situation and see how they behave differently. Will some succeed where others fail? You've just found an opportunity to merge game play and story.

One of the exercises of my writing class was to take one of my short stories and cut out 1/3rd of the words. It was done as the mid-term, actually, so the end result had to not suck. I tell you this because you need to be in the right mindset to really struggle through how to tell the same tale far quicker without the end product suffering. Really commit to that 33% reduction (even if it feels too harsh). The practice will be worth it.


Events and RPGs Specifically
Think about how a game is played. We talk about "plot" and "story" a lot, but really a game is a series of events. Go there, take that, beat him, save them, etc. Indeed, in early RPGs the only story-related positions were "Event Planners." Even FF7, who had two story writers, had 8 event planners. I personally think of events as what players do, and think of a good story as something that motivates a player to want to do those things.

Some things I consider for wants and motivation (using Star Wars as examples):
- Mystery (why did Darth Vader turn evil?)
- Discovery* (what is the force?)
- Protection (stop the evil empire / save Han Solo)
- Power (training with Yoda) <-- use carefully and sparingly!!
- Recovery** (Darth Vader isn't evil and I'll prove it!)
- Revenge (kill the emperor)

* I like to think of Mystery as solving old things while Discovery is learning new things.
** Recovery can be turning someone from bad to good, restoring someone's power, encouraging a hero to fight again, etc. Maybe I should call it Redemption?
*** Note that this is all motivation for the player, not the characters. Often they overlap, but not always.
**** I'm sure there are many other options for motivation than the ones I mentioned above.

author=The_freecs
The issue I'm having is thinking up a plot that can be stretched out into a games length organically, it's a lot more difficult then I initially thought.

From an event and want perspective, the beginning of the game is easy. Players are eager to explore the world and begin the story, so it doesn't matter what you tell them to do -- they'll do it. The end is similar. It is the climax. They finally get to take out the big bad and complete their quest. But the middle lacks such natural incentives. I think that's why its so hard and doesn't feel organic.

Another problem with the middle is that RPGs often require progression geographically in order to facilitate the standard game play loop (new equipment, new enemies, new towns, new NPCs, etc). So it is basically a question of "how many reasons can you give for player A to move to point B?" It is no surprise that this portion often feels repetitive and contrived.

Games have done all sorts of things to try to solve this. Some games convert into more open world adventures for a period of time. Many early games were basically long fetch quests (Crystals anyone?). Mini character arcs are extremely common. As are interrupting story arcs (big bad is still destroying the world, but your friend needs help!). But I don't find these concepts to be particularly effective, and indeed most modern RPGs I've experienced forgo them (though FF10 did a pretty fantastic job of its fetch quest, if I'm honest).

If you want to feel organic, my advice is to try to maintain an interwoven, layered narrative, with multiple "wants" active at any given time, and with events relating to something beyond themselves. And then solve some wants while constantly introducing others to give the player a feeling of accomplishment while maintaining the forward drive.

For my part, I also ask "why" concerning the elements I already have. Just solving a loose end can cause you to go into some very interesting places. I mean, The Lord of the Rings was literally started when Tolkien asked himself "what is the ring that Bilbo found?" And LOTR is certainly and epic plot if ever there was one.

Hopefully that helps. And good luck!

EDIT: I just realized there was probably a reason why you asked this question in the first place. Did someone tell you that you needed to read more? Are you upset at the quality of your writing and trying to figure out how to improve? Is it something you just "feel you should do"? I know Anime and comics have been the inspiration from some games. Is there a reason you feel those aren't sufficient for your needs? Are you really asking us what you should be reading to get better?
author=hedge1
EDIT: I just realized there was probably a reason why you asked this question in the first place. Did someone tell you that you needed to read more? Are you upset at the quality of your writing and trying to figure out how to improve? Is it something you just "feel you should do"? I know Anime and comics have been the inspiration from some games. Is there a reason you feel those aren't sufficient for your needs? Are you really asking us what you should be reading to get better?


No one has said anything to me, because I've never fully written something and any writing I have done no one has ever seen. But I can tell the quality of my own work. I've been working very hard on game mechanics, programming and game design, but it's all gonna be worthless if I can't even put together a half-way coherent story.
My issue right now is that the game is a Character Action RPG where the main character is solo most of the plot. My biggest issue before even beginning with the plot, is finding a feasible reason on why she tackles these tasks on her own.

Your advice is amazing though, thanks a lot. Everyone's been really helpful in this thread.
Some basic tips, in order;

1. Decide on the big picture concept, flush out the big picture as much as you can.

2. Think about the individual events required to build that picture. For example, what draws the hero in, what motivates them along the way, what challenges do they face, who's help do they need to overcome challenges.

3. Consider the hero as a real person. What kind of person are they? Get in depth. The more depth your characters have, the more interesting your story and world become. For example, is there trauma holding them back from doing what needs to be done, how is the trauma revealed, how does it affect (what conflict) the hero and supporting characters, and how does the character overcome thr trauma? Examples of trauma could include PTSD, the loss of a child or family, or having to face an enemy who's defeated or humiliated them in the past.

4. Once you know your protagonist's personal motivations, attitude and short comings, you should be getting a picture of how they will go about tackling the big picture. So now look at the same points for supporting characters, make them people of their own. This includes villains and mission providers! There's nothing worse than a shallow villain. They want power is not enough. What was lacking in their life that lead them to world domination? People don't just wake up with the motivation to rule the world, they are driven by something psychological. Did the world hurt him? Did his father? Get uncomfortable with your villains. Same with supporting villains - why are they motivated to serve the Destroyer of Worlds?

5. Now that you've got the framework for your cast, give each a personality. Traits which make them unique. Some inspiration can come from a thesaurus/dictionary (thesaurus.com and dictionary.com) For example, you might think of a character as sad, but dad is a shallow and uninspiring term. Put sad into the thesaurus and you might be inspired by more colorful words, like gloomy or disheartened. Dictionary can be used to better define these terms which help to flesh out a feeling. Ultimately you want toninspire feelings in your player. To feel for your characters.

6. So you have your big picture and you know your characters through and through. You even have a picture of events. Start writing a rough draft and make it really rough. Just write, don't worry too much about details.

7. Review your first draft and determine if the flow of the story is good. Does there need to be more scenes? Does it get sonm side tracked the player forgets the mission? Is the conflict and motivation convincing, or does it require more preamble earlier in the story? Fix the flow for your second draft.

8. Third draft is where you solidify things. So your flow is solid but let's work on the details. Do the characters use language and take action as their personality and traits auggest they do? Do any characters act out of their character. For example, does the highly intelligent and thoughtful villain do something utterly stupid to be defeated? Why would he do that? Keep him in character.

9. Input. Here's where it gets really interesting. Every month hollywood pumps out movies rehashing stories from a couple dozen storylines. The stories are rarely unique, but people keep watching. Why? *$*!PRESENTATION!*$* Hollywood doesn't just have script read across a screen. Now you probably won't voice act your whole game and that's fine. What you need to enhance a story in these types of games is to set the scene with the right atmosphere. Music is big for this, so are weather and lighting effects, character movement as they talk, pauses in speech, chaos in the background (fire, shaking earth.)



If you're not great with dialog then look to games like Zelda. Link is a silent protagonist and none of the characters have much depth, but they still manage to tell a story and create a believable world.

There are other games which focus almost entirely in letting atmosohere tell the story. I think Unraveled was one.


WARNING: Things to Avoid

- whiney characters and fan boys. Don't include characters which will obviously annoy the player.

- cliches... there are so many and they are called cliche because they are already overly used. I have examples above, such as world domination. Try to create unique stories, they don't need to be the most badass characters ever, they could be a person fighting addiction, cancer, or abuse rather than fighting the Destroyer of Worlds. All of those examples are more human, real, and provoke feelings in your player when told well.

- Take time to tell it consistently. If you rush, players notice because immersion is broken.

- shallow characters. If there is a girl who swoons day and night for your hero, and this is the entirety of her character, and you can't figure out how to fix that, get someone else to write your stories.
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