Top 5 misconceptions about hiring a game writing team

So you want to hire a game writer.  Congrats!  Whether adding to your staff or outsourcing your game writing, you’re not alone.  Apparently, most companies that hire writers, just hire one.  But have you considered a team of writers?  Before making your decision, read on to see if you’re struggling with any of these misconceptions about hiring a game writing team.

1.  Won’t two people cost more than one?

Quantity of work and the time you need it done in set the price for game writing more than the number of people doing it.  You could pay one person for two months to get a project done, or a team of two one month to get it done.  Either way, the costs are the same.   

2.  Can’t one person deliver the same as a writing team?

The above example assumes that all else is equal.  But not all things are equal.  You also pay your game writer(s) for quality, which as we all well know varies greatly in the game industry.  With an extra person looking over the writing before submitting it, you get higher quality work from a game writing team than a solo game writer.  You’re getting greater value by hiring a team.

3.  Won’t two writers just disagree a lot?

Yes, thank goodness!  It’s in these disagreements that the writing actually gets better.  Sande and I have worked together long enough that we can discuss an issue until we reach consensus.  This week we were working on a game pitch, and, based on our assessment of what the client wants, we decided to go with the classic 3-act structure.  We spent quite a few minutes discussing “midpoints,” of all things.  In the end, our conversation yielded a stronger, more organic story than if we’d just agreed to get along.  On the other hand, some clients — and maybe you’d be one of them — want a plurality of options before they decide to move forward, so our different perspectives come in handy.  

4.  A writing team can’t work individually.

I confess I don’t quite understand this misconception in game writing, but I’ll dispell it anyway.  While Sande and I collaborate on just about everything, with large projects we often split the work.  In the event that one of us is ill or occupied, the other one steps up and works alone.   

5.  I need my writer to come into the office, and it would be too hard to bring in a team.

Good for you!  It’s always a brilliant idea to bring your writer in to work, see the builds, and eat lunch ;)  That said, we have had cases where the client only had one of us come to the office at a time.  Since Sande and I are accustomed to virtual collaboration, we can easily communicate any information we learn to each other. 

So, let me have it.  What else is nagging you about hiring a writing team?  Send me an e-mail at anne (at) writerscabal.com, or drop a comment to this post!

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

Top 3 ways to choose your game writer

Earlier this week we explored how to find your next game writer (aside from hiring us, of course). Now that you know how you’re going to seek and destroy — er — discover writers, how do you go about choosing the best one? Here are the top three ways to go about it.

1. Go on reputation

In the last post, I warned about going on a writer’s reputation only. Sure, Sally may have a writing credit on 2008’s bestselling game, but did she actually write anything that ended up in-game? If you’re approaching Joe, the television writer, the stakes are even higher, because he might not even “get” interactive storytelling.

I worked on one project where another game writer was brought on without having to submit any writing samples. The writer had a bumpy start, largely because it turned out the writer didn’t really understand the game genre. You’re better off if you can get an idea of his/her strengths and weaknesses before hiring. If you have approached a writer based on reputation, make sure to try one of the other approaches below.

Benefits:

• You’ll get experienced writers with a long track record
• Less search effort

2. Ask for writing samples

Our preferred way of applying for writing jobs. Tell your writers the rating, game genre, and the storytelling genre of your project (such as a rated teen fantasy FPS) and allow them to submit their best samples. We don’t mind signing an NDA first so we can learn more about the project. If you’re open-minded about other types of writing samples, such as screenplay excerpts or prose, let your applicants know. Sande, who does all types of writing, once submitted poetry and landed a game writing gig.

Benefits:

• You find experienced writers who have done writing similar to what you need
• You may find new talent if you’re open to other types of writing samples.

3. Ask for a writing test

You may decide you need a writing test to identify which writers “get” your game project. To help your prospective writers out, try to explain to them as much as possible what you’re looking for. When I was looking for writers, the only instruction I gave was “write a quest.” I ended up getting 30 and even 50-page epics, complete with world backstories. While the length a writer defaults to can be informative, you don’t want to be reading 30-page anythings. Give a page limit and you’ll thank yourself later.

In other cases, you may decide that the best way to know for sure if this writer is for you is to ask them to work on a small part of the actual game. This is what we did for THE WITCHER.

Keep in mind, even with a NDA, you don’t want to let too many people know about your game-in-progress. You may have to pay for this type of writing test, but by this time, most likely, you are only choosing between a few writers.

Benefits:

• Good for larger projects
• Good for unique projects where existing samples won’t work

3.5 Get a writing test and ask for revisions

How well writers write the first time out can hint at how talented they are, but how well they write the second time shows you how good they are to work with. Game production means iteration, iteration, iteration. If your writer can’t take and incorporate feedback, you’ll be kicking yourself. This process also helps the writers figure out if they want to work with you, so play nice!

• Good for projects with lots of iteration
• Good for sussing out your own pipeline

Keep in mind Hollywood doesn’t use writing tests, due to legal and creative concerns. You don’t want to be in a situation where the writer sues you for going with an idea similar to the one s/he submitted! The game industry gets around the legal concerns by making the writer sign away rights to the test. With no guarantee of getting the gig, however, your ideal writer may pass up your writing test offer if it means s/he has to sign over their ideas to you.

Television shows like LOST also don’t read sample scripts of their own show, largely because no one on the outside can quite capture the voices like someone who has lived and breathed the show on the inside. At STARGATE WORLDS, we had many instances of otherwise good writers tripped up by not knowing the TV series well enough to capture the voices.

What is the most unexpected writing sample you have read — short stories, screenplays, personal diaries? Drop a comment or an e-mail!

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

5 ways to find your next game writer

You’ve got the money; you’ve got the resources. You’re ready to make a game. But how do you find the perfect game writer for your project? This week we’ll explore how to find the game writer who can make or break your project.

1. Referrals
One of the best ways to find a writer. Talk to people you already know who have worked with writers. Who do they recommend? Who should you avoid? When I was hiring game writers, I e-mailed literally everyone I knew in the game industry, describing my ideal writer. I found several writers I wouldn’t have found any other way and even hired one. Find out if your contacts have actually worked with the writer before.

Benefit: You will already know the strengths and weaknesses of the writer
Drawback: Limited to your network

2. Agencies
Contacting the major Hollywood agencies will yield you quite a list of writers. Many game companies are going that route, though many others are put off by the whole Hollywood scene. As far as I know, agencies primarily provide writers on contract. Whether you hire a writer through them or not, you won’t have to pay them a cent.

Benefit: Established writers in games, Hollywood, or both.
Drawback: Established writers in games, Hollywood, or both.

3. Recruiters
Game industry recruiters make a good resource for game writers, content designers, and narrative designers. I found my staff job as head writer through a game recruiter, so they definitely have their benefits. You have to pay them if you hire one of their candidates.

Benefit: Pre-selected candidates with game industry experience
Drawback: Not good for small games. Recruitment fee. May be redundant if you have a human resources department

4. Advertisement
I have seen quite a few game writer jobs listed on places like Craigslist and other game industry boards.

Benefit: Some are free to post, and depending on where you post, will gather a variety of people.
Drawback: You may find less qualified writers and you also have to devote your time to sorting through the huge volume of irrelevant responses.

5. Research
Which writers wrote your favorite games? Which wrote games in your genre? Equipped with names, you may contact your next writer directly. Watch out for hiring the hot action writer for your action game. It might just turn out like his or her last game. Think outside the genre. The showrunner of HEROES had to apologize for second season — he apparently found so many good Sci Fi writers, that the season plodded through poorly constructed love stories. Conversely, the LOST television series made sure to find “good” writers, even if they didn’t have a Sci Fi background.

Be wary of hiring based on reputation. At ION, we had one lunch partner say “Oh, I thought there were only 5 game writers.” Don’t go with a writer just because they have good PR! A writer may have gotten credit for a popular project, while having had all work thrown out by the producer. Do your research before going with any one writer.

Benefit: You cut out the middle man and find qualified writers
Drawback: Those writers may be overbooked or overpriced.

Have you had better results with one or the other? Now that you have a few candidates, next we’ll explore how to vet your game writers. See you soon…

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing is live!

It’s out!  We contributed to the Game Writers SIG book, Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing and it’s now available for purchase.  Whether you’re a game writer or a game developer, you’ll find this book of interest as it covers collaborating with writers and working with writers on contract.  In fact, we think you’ll like it so well, we’re going to pass along to you the friends and family discount.  You’ll get 30% off, but it’s only good till May 31st, so get truckin’!

Order our book or anything else at www.akpeters.com and use the discount code Friends.  Anything else about collaborating with writers you’d like to know?  Stay tuned next week for more tips on working in a team!

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

Save the environment with game writers!

Happy Earth Day!  You may think game writing has nothing to do with the environment, and you’d be right.  Undaunted, I will now analyze whether you save the environment more by hiring a game writer in house versus outsourcing a writer, say, in another city.  I will use http://www.carbonfootprint.com/ to discern how many tonnes — yes, tonnes — of CO2 emissions occur in each case.

Remote emissions

I recently took a round trip flight from Los Angeles to Austin for a kick-off meeting.  How much did this flight emit?

• .561 tonnes of CO2

The meeting got us all on the same page, and I went home and completed the writing assignment remotely.  How much did working remotely emit?

• .779 tonnes of CO2 for house annually
• 4.562 tonnes of CO2 for food, entertainment, etc. annually

However, chances are this CO2 would have been emitted no matter where I worked or lived! 

Onsite emissions

Now let’s pretend that instead of living in LA, I lived in Austin, worked on-site and commuted 10 miles to work every day in a car without taking the highway.  How much would that emit?

• 1.826 tonnes of CO2 for car annually

Looks like outsourcing a writer is a clear winner compared to having one drive to work every day.  Even if a writer worked on-site for half the year, it wouldn’t catch up to the emissions of one flight.

But when I worked on staff at a game company, I didn’t drive to work.  I took the bus or carpooled.  So what if your on-site writer took the bus instead of drove?  How much would that emit?

• .717 tonnes of CO2 annually 

Aha!  So if you hire a writer on-site for about two-thirds of a year or less, who also takes public transportation, you would thus be saving the environment! 

How’s your carbon footprint?

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

Fielding writer questions saves money

Got your attention? As US tax time heads into the final stretch, I know I’ve been thinking about the money I spent — all of it wisely, I assure you — in the last year. At the same time, we’ve started working with a new game developer where we agreed from the outset, due to time and money constraints, to only go as far as a first revision. How could we get it right nearly the first time if we weren’t familiar with their likes and dislikes? Simple — we asked lots of questions! But how can you make sure your game writers ask the ones that save time and money? Try these tips:

1. Be available — Our client e-mailed us to ask if we had any questions. If we didn’t ask any questions, they called to ask us for questions. We even had personal mobile numbers — which was helpful when we were trying to make a 10pm deadline.

2. Be thoughtful — No need to rush to answer. If you need to think about it, do so. I asked the client a question. Without an immediate answer, he hung up so he could think about it. When he called me back a half hour later, he had a reasoned, articulate answer.

3. Be cool — There’s such a thing as being too available — give your writer space to get the job done. Saying, “Call or e-mail” if you have any questions should be sufficient. If you’ve shown you’ll keep the door open, the writer will walk through it.

With all of these in place, I had no problem pre-approving script ideas before I set them on page by asking specific questions. Whether you want to save money or just want a better first draft, you can follow these steps to get the script good faster. Have any questions?

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

Game writers offer 4-hour work week!

To hire or not to hire a game writer, that is the question.  I’ve been researching productivity recently and came across Timothy Ferriss’s book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5.  Apparently it was quite the thing in tech circles last year.  We’ve often said that hiring a writer, whether on contract or not, frees you up to focus on your strengths.  We’ve never said you’d get a 4-hour work week out of it.  Maybe we should start.

One of the key components of the 4-Hour Work Week means you automate as much of your work as possible.  For Ferriss, that means he outsources just about everything, so much so that I half-expect unions to be denouncing him over breakfast every morning.  He allegedly hired someone in Asia to troll the internet looking for hotties to date.  You may have already spotted the real flaw in the automated system: Ferriss may have the 4-hour work week, but no one working for him does.  Still, some people swear by his methods and some have actually seen their families at the end of the day once they’ve instituted his suggestions. 

You already know this industry strives for work/life balance.  I’d like to offer up a suggestion: hire a game writer.  It doesn’t mean you give up control, it just means fewer inane conversations about whether the villagers would worship squid monsters and a decrease in the likelihood you’ll be writing lines like “Uh!”  “Huh!”  “Look out!” at ten at night.  Leave that to us — Lord knows we’ve been working that late all week.  Maybe you’ll end up traveling the world with the time you save, or maybe you’ll finally get together with your raid group.  It’s up to you. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make another developer’s week that much shorter.

What would you do if you had more free time during the work week?

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!

Got cross-discipline? Why you need it in game development

Only a week or so ago, we had a designer/writer say you don’t need specialist writers.  But the fact of the matter is, everyone is somewhat specialized — few indeed can say they program, model, produce, and write.  And if you know anyone, send them our way ;)  To make a good game, we don’t need to roll up every talent into one person.  We do, however, need to find a way to get the various disciplines working together.  I’ve rounded up a few links on how game developers have been doing just that.

Inside Game Design: Media Molecule
Kareem Ettouney loves the small core team of different disciplines.  He sites other larger companies following the same model.  I’ve worked in a small core team of different types of designers and a programmer on staff — and I loved it!

Getting Coders and Artists to Communicate 
Chock full of great tips for building communication between any two disciplines — whether it be in person or e-mail.  These producers advocate getting out of the way of communication, especially if you’re a control freak, which none of our readers are ;)  Producers should create the opportunity to create, then reward it when it works.  These suggestions dovetail nicely with helping a writer “get it.”

Why Your Game Studio Should Practice ‘Shared Design’
Instead of putting experts from different disciplines, Crystal Dynamics’ Arnab Basu suggests putting your designers across different areas.  Put junior and senior together, let them get their hands on every project coming out of the gate.  This process includes interfacing with external teams, especially in “stunt” design — bringing someone on for a short period on a specific challenge.  Seems like you could use a writer in there who could flexibly move between projects.  I’m just sayin’.

The Secrets Of Portal’s Huge Success
You know this panel had to show up somewhere.  Kim Swift saw the importance of cross-discipline here, saying there’s a story story and gameplay story.  We like to say they’re ideally the same, but we’ll give them a pass. Working these stories together created a game that was better than the sum of its parts, which is the result of any good cross-disciplinary work.

Sharing the Design
You can still share the design, even if you’re not playing well with others.  This article shows how the old ownership model can still play in in cross-disciplinary design.  Split the work based on strengths, develop a common vocabulary — especially with outsourcers, then keep coming back together to communicate.  A good model for a designer working with a writer whether on staff or on contract.

Found any other great cross-discipline success stories out there? 

Found this blog entry useful? Click here to e-mail it to someone!