Questions for writers, please answer ASAP

[dcharlesb]

Sorry if this is my first post on these forums.

These are questions I need answered from someone whom is a current writer. I am interested because I want to know more about it from someone who is currently working as a writer.

1. What do you do in a typical week?
2. What do you think your career will be like in 10 years from now?
3. If you went to college, what do you know now that you wished you had known when you were in school?
4. What is the most interesting thing that has happened to you while working this career?
5. If you had to do this career all over again, would you? Why or why not?

[yaustar]

The Games Industry has very few permanent positions for writers because they are only needed for a short amount of time per project. Normally freelance writers are used.

If you are talking about journalism, then that is a different matter.

[dcharlesb]

Originally Posted by yaustar

The Games Industry has very few permanent positions for writers because they are only needed for a short amount of time per project. Normally freelance writers are used.

If you are talking about journalism, then that is a different matter.

So its not exactly the most marketable job if your not a journalist?

[yaustar]

Pretty much. Personally, I would say that making a living just being a games writer would be immensely difficult. Becoming a writer that dabbled in some games from time to time as well as other subject areas is more realistic.

[ndimucci]

Please specify which field of writing you are asking about. Screenwriting? Creative writing? Novel writing? Non-fiction writing? Journalism?

The list goes on.

[zenobuk]

Yaustar's being a little over pessimistic... While writers are certainly in very much less demand than programmers or artists, it's still perfectly plausible to develop a career as a games writer. See this job ad http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/...in_writer.html for an example...

My first job in the industry (which was a little over 10 years ago now) was as a writer for a games company, so I'll give some answers to how things were like for me, even though my job has changed a lot since then...

Basically, I spent about half my time writing - everything from advertising copy to adventure scenarios... The other half of the time was spent either in meetings and reviews, or editing/proofreading/laying out my own and other people's text... It was the lowest paid job I have ever had, and often frustrating and boring...!

From there I moved into a more general design role, and then through a variety of design/level design positions. I'm now lead in a studio that develops action/adventure games from film and TV licenses. I think that's pretty much the kind of thing I would have imagined for myself 10 years ago...

Honestly, I don't think there's much that I would have changed about my college education... I studied philosophy - perhaps a degree that offered more concrete skills would have been objectively better from a career point of view, but college is not just about developing career skills...

I think I would follow the same career path again, if given the choice to rewind and replay... My job has always served me well in getting me where I want to be and doing the things I want to do in life, so I can't really complain too much!

[yaustar]

Originally Posted by zenobuk

Yaustar's being a little over pessimistic...

I didn't say it was impossible, just extremely difficult as there are very few companies that have full-time writers. Even the job you posted requires 2-5 years previous professional experience.

[Claxon]

There are other options than freelance or permanent studio staff. There are several consultancy companies out there that specialize in writing for games. For example the guys at International Hobo (http://ihobo.com/) specialise in Game desing & narrative / scripts, but don't do any content development themselves. Developers simply contract them for their game designs.