Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames 2nd Edition
Author(s): Chris Bateman (Author, Editor)
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Publication Date: 11 Feb. 2021
- Edition: 2nd
- Language: English
- Print length: 432 pages
- ISBN-10: 1501348965
- ISBN-13: 9781501348969
Book Description
There’s no better starting point than this volume for someone wishing to get into this exciting field, whether they are new game writers wanting to hone their skills, or film and T.V. scriptwriters who want to learn how to transfer their skills to the games industry. As the videogame industry has grown up, the need for better stories and characters has dramatically increased. Creating narrative a traditionally static form for games is a major challenge since games are at their heart dynamic, interactive systems that do not follow the guidelines and rules of film or T.V. writing. Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames was the first book to address these issues and demystify this emerging field. Through the insights and experiences of professional game writers, the book captures a snapshot of the narrative skills employed in today’s game industry. This unique collection of practical advice provides the foundations to the craft of game writing, detailing aspects of the process from the basics of narrative and nonlinear narrative to writing comedy for games and creating compelling characters. Throughout the chapters there is a strong emphasis on the skills developers and publishers will expect a game writer to have. This second edition adds four new chapters providing even wider coverage of the craft of game writing, including script formatting, video game micronarratives, and massively multiplayer online games. Professional game designers and writers, such as Rhianna Pratchett and Richard Dansky, give credence to the advice making the text suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, situating Game Writing as the essential guide to all the techniques of game writing.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Bateman’s latest iteration of Game Writing is a worthy contribution to the research and scholarship on writing narratives for video games. A dream team of highly successful writers guide students through the particulars of crafting stories for the most popular and lucrative form of entertainment on the planet. Theory and practice come together in this must-have collection for those interested in games and interactive storytelling. I’ll be assigning this text in my game writing classes for years to come.” —Peter Telep, Senior Instructor, English Department, University of Central Florida, USA
“This new edition features top-notch contributors with wide-ranging industry experience, specific and actionable information and advice, and comprehensive coverage of the entire topic of writing for games. Other books on this subject have been published since the first edition came out, but in my opinion none have surpassed it.” —Evan Skolnick, Professor of Practice, Game Writing, Cogswell University of Silicon Valley, USA
About the Author
Chris Bateman is a game designer, narrative designer, and philosopher who has worked on nearly fifty published game projects. In 2013 he became the first person to attain a doctorate in the aesthetics of play. He is much in demand as a speaker and has given talks on four continents.
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