The hardest part of writing video game narratives

A few days ago, I put up an article about my first-ever interview as a narrative video game writer. Since then, I’ve been thinking about one of the answers I gave that I want to expand on.

So, here’s the answer that I prefer

I said that reaching the finish line – localisations, editing, etc. – is the most difficult part for me when it comes to video game development, but I don’t think that’s quite right. After all, deadlines are a part of almost every job, and finally seeing the finished product is amazing! The hardest part of what I do are the projects that don’t happen. They can be gigs that I don’t get or titles that never get off the ground, or in-development games that just fizzle out for whatever reason. Those are the hardest.

The difficulty in what will never be

Every writer already knows that writing tests are a part of the hiring process, regardless of whether it’s for a full-time, part-time, or contract work basis. I put a lot of myself into creative writing gigs – even if it’s all set in someone else’s world. I mean, we all do, right? These are some of the projects (without breaking any NDAs): 🔫 Third-person shooter MMO 👻 Science fiction horror platformer 💏 Romantic thriller 🏎️ Mobile racer 🤖 Science fiction first-person shooter Every one of those is a little part of me that I won’t ever be able to show off. That is the hardest part of video game writing for me.