Video Game Writing

This is an excerpt from the book Creative Writing Career: Becoming a Writer of Movies, Video Games, and Books. This section comprises the entire section on video game writing, to include video game writer interviews, and is Part Five of the book.

In June 2007, the FBI informed the NBA that one of its referees, Tim Donaghy, was the subject of a probe into illegal gambling. Within months, the public knew the broad outlines of a scheme involving Donaghy betting on games he officiated with a coconspirator, longtime Donaghy acquaintance and professional gambler Jimmy "Baba" Battista. They were joined in the scandal by a mutual childhood friend, Tommy Martino. By November 2008, each man had pleaded guilty to charges relating to the conspiracy and was in federal prison.

In Canada, volunteers are raising money for charity by playing marathon stints of Penn & Teller's Desert Bus, probably the worst video game ever created. Across the globe, thousands of viewers tune in to Kurt J. Mac's epic but seemingly pointless voyage towards the outer realms of Minecraft's procedurally generated world. In Iraq, mothers encourage their children to enter Call of Duty competitions to keep them off the bomb-ravaged streets of Baghdad.

In this sequel to Creative Writing Career: Becoming a Writer of Movies, Video Games, and Books, Stephan and Justin continue to bring you industry advice as well as interviews with screenwriters, video game writers, and authors of books and comics. These writers' credits include such amazing titles as: Big Fish; Batman; Game of Thrones; The Crow; Divergent; Brave; Yesterday's Gone; Sandman Slim; Jurassic World; and many more!

Everyone wants to be a writer, and they want to know what they can do to make that dream come true. However, most aspiring writers do not understand how to position themselves so they are ready when presented with an opportunity. They identify themselves as writers but have no writing samples, or their websites and social media talk all about their paintings or music but say nothing of who they are as writers.

Pix and Jaz are two girls who just want to hunt monsters, craft armor, and pay off their college loans - but when a colossal new monster falls through the portals in the Dazzling Skies, it’ll take all their skills to survive it. Their skill levels? Slightly above noob. Fortunately, they have their oversized swords, a lot of sass…and one giant monster friend who might help them out.

In telling the story of his youth through seven computer games, critically acclaimed author Michael W. Clune (White Out) captures the part of childhood we live alone. You have been awakened. Floppy disk inserted, computer turned on, a whirring, and then this sentence, followed by a blinking...

Gerade 26 geworden, hat Cheryl Strayed das Gefühl, alles verloren zu haben. Drogen und Männer trösten sie über den Tod ihrer Mutter und das Scheitern ihrer Ehe hinweg. Als ihr ein Outdoor-Führer über den Pacific Crest Trail in die Hände fällt, trifft sie die folgenreichste Entscheidung ihres Lebens: mehr als tausend Meilen zu wandern. Die berührende Geschichte einer Selbstfindung - voller Witz, Weisheit und Intensität, mit einer respektlosen Heldin, die man lieben muss.

An epic convention. An epic cosplay. An epic engagement. It was the best night of Kaito’s life - until the ground opened up beneath him. Well, technically, a portal did. Either way, it sucked. Now, trapped in another world with rampaging monsters, he’ll have to learn to survive. Fortunately, this world is conveniently similar to his favorite video game. And he’s got monster hunting experts (?) Pix and Jaz to show him the ropes. With their help, he might last long enough to find a way home. But if not, at least he’ll have fun hunting monsters before he dies!

Paul Frees is the voice of your Ghost Host at Disneyland and Disneyworld's Haunted Mansion, the dastardly Boris Badenov from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Professor Ludwig von Drake via the Wonderful World of Disney, the Pillsbury Doughboy, voices in George of the Jungle, half of the Beatles in their cartoon series, narrator of such classic films as The Manchurian Candidate, The Shaggy Dog, The War of the Worlds, and others.