The SFWA Board of Directors and the Nebula Awards Committee are pleased to announce an extensive update to rules for the Nebula Awards®, including the Ray Bradbury and Andre Norton Awards, effective November 15, 2018.
I think game developers, both in tabletop and in videogames, don’t necessarily need to be good writers, but they do have to be good storytellers. At the very least, an emphasis on storytelling creates a common language. Developers need to understand how a story comes together, and how to work in partnership with the writer, to craft something cohesive and meaningful.
by Aidan Doyle
Twine was created by Chris Klimas in 2009 and is “an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories.” Simply put, it’s a program that makes it easier for writers to make their own “Choose Your Own Adventure” style fiction. There are a number of tools for writing interactive fiction, but Twine is one of the simplest and most popular.
by Monica Valentinelli
When you produce a game, you’re creating the interactive means for players to share a common experience that is often shaped by a story or narrative. The point, or goal, of that interaction will vary by the type of game. In games set in an expansive world like Star Wars, the Forgotten Realms, or Dragon Age, the goals will be present on a macro and micro level. Those goals drive the game design and shape how writers will intersect with the game’s text.
A designer must consider far more boring details than a writer. Game writing is all about the big ideas in a game and how they fit together. That requires detail to ensure everything meshes, but a world or character can tap into a gamer’s imagination to fill in the details.
by Monica Valentinelli
Though there are commonalities that game writers share in their work, there are a lot of routes they can take in order to work in the industry. This column will shed a light on some of those aspects to show what it is game writers do in these varied forms.
by Cat Rambo
So this morning one of the items that’s been hovering in the wings for a couple of weeks now finally went out, which was the announcement of the game writing qualifications. Since there there’s been a lot of stir and some questions about it. So here’s some answers.
In this vibrant and approachable book, award-winning writers of black speculative fiction bring together excerpts from their work and creative reflections on futurisms with original essays.
Garrett Boatman is the author of Stage Fright, Floaters, Night’s Plutonian Shore, The Clocks of Midnight, The Mirror of Eternity, and A Prisoner of Dreamland. His stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.
