
Professional development
for working game writers
From a bestselling, award-winning game writer with 20+ years in the industry —
The only game writing course that goes beyond breaking in.
The job is hard. We make it easier.
The professional development path for game writers that the industry doesn't have, but desperately needs.
Game writers and narrative designers deal with challenges most writing careers never prepare you for — and there's no clear path for getting better at the hard parts.
How do you keep the story on track when the whole project is shifting underneath you? How do you learn what narrative directors, designers, and producers actually need from you — the casting packets, the pipelines, the collaboration skills nobody ever formally taught? How do you become the writer that studios fight to keep?
MC1 is eight weeks of getting better at the work, getting better with people, and joining a professional community of writers who take this as seriously as you do.
The lessons behind the games
A curriculum built on real experience — on teams, under deadlines, across 20+ years of studio work
30 million
games sold
25+
titles shipped
$ 500 million
in sales
Get better at talking to your team
"It gave me concrete vocabulary that I didn't have before. I've been largely self-taught... I realized quickly that while I had the skills and the thinking, I didn't know how to articulate it all. Everything was so amorphous until taking this class."
Melissa Tanner
Narrative Designer, Liftoff Games

Fun is the point
"The amount I’ve learned from Susan about interactive writing is staggering. Her incredible good humor only adds to the cocktail that makes her one of the best writing instructors I’ve ever had."
Lucas Loredo
Narrative Designer, Wolfeye Games
Find your people
It's been a lonely journey, and these are my first friends in the industry, truly.
Anonymous

"The lady knows her stuff"
"And she's so generous with her knowledge, it's ridiculous. If you want to get better at telling stories that really connect with your audience, listen to what she has to say."
Leah Hoyer
GM & VP of Creative, Wizards of the Coast

Watch doors open
"In the interview, mention that you took TND's Masterclass — they are gonna love that." I've never had somebody say that to me about my college degree.
Sam Smyth
Professional Narrative Designer, Game Designer, and Simulation Designer
Past Projects
25+ shipped titles, from RPGs to shooters and everything in between.
Everything MC1 teaches comes from real work on real games.

Tomb Raider
Crystal Dynamics
Nominee, Outstanding Achievement in Story, AIAS
Nominee, Best Narrative, GDC
Over 8 million copies sold worldwide

Far Cry 2
Ubisoft Montreal
Nominee, Best Writing, GDC
Nominee, Game of the Year, AIAS

BioShock
2K Games
Winner, Game of the Year, AIAS
Winner, Best Writing, GDC
Over 4 million units sold
Launched a franchise
Hi, I'm Susan
Founder & CEO, The Narrative Department

I'm a bestselling, award-winning game writer with 20+ years in the industry. I founded the Game Narrative Summit at GDC, and I built MC1 to be the professional development I wished I'd had — because nobody should have to figure out the hard parts of this job alone.
Our alumni are now working at:
Bad Robot Games, Blizzard, Cloud Chamber, Crimson Herring, Deck Nine, Deviation Games, EA, Firaxis, HakJak, High Moon Studios, Jam City, Kluge Interactive, Massive Games, Monumental, NetEase, Obsidian, Spooky Doorway, Squid Games, System Era Softworks, Telltale, Tencent, Undead Labs, Wizards of the Coast, and ZeniMax.
And the list keeps growing.
You got into this to make great games with great stories.
We're here to help you do it.
Copyright 2025








