A student in our bootcamp asked an excellent question. He wants to know:

If only those studios would tell us!!

But usually, they don’t tell you exactly what they’re looking for. They give you a writing test and say, “It’s due on Friday…good luck!”

And then there you are, staring at the screen, wondering where to begin. OK, they’re asking for a conversation between two characters. It needs to include one player choice. Hm. Should you focus on the characters, the story beats, or the dialogue? Or maybe the player's choice? Do they ALL matter? Does EVERYTHING have to be great? What does “great” look like here, anyway?

Agh!

We find ourselves in this stressful place when we don’t know what the studios are looking for—when we’re flying blind. Many things go into a good piece of writing, but what is important to them? What are they looking for?

Root causes of the problem

Part of the problem is that studios don’t spell out precisely what they’re looking for. They don’t always provide an example of what “good” looks like.

We very much want that job. We want to put our best foot forward. We look at our writing tests and wonder, “Did I do this right? Is this good enough?” This can lead to overthinking, paralysis, or a sense of "Ugh, who am I kidding?" We work on the problem but don’t know if we’ve found the solution.

And we don’t usually get feedback from the studios when they reject us—just a “thanks for applying.” if we’re lucky. So we don’t learn and improve. Argh!

Here's a solution

Let’s start with some general insights, and then get more specific.

In general, there are only three things a studio wants to know about you:

1. Can you write?
2. Can you write for games?
3. Can you work well with other people?

You can answer the first question with your writing samples on your portfolio. These DO NOT have to be game-writing samples. (You'll tackle that in the writing test.) We’re talking about “Good Writing 101” here, the kind of thing you learn in writing courses. To show that you are a good writer, give them a good piece of writing. This can be:

• A scene from a play, a TV pilot, or a screenplay that you wrote
• A short story
• A newspaper or blog article
• A poem

(Yes, really.)

You can work on these samples today before applying for game-writing jobs. This way, when you do start applying, you will already have this material in your back pocket, ready to go.

So that’s how you can answer the first question.

What about the third question -“Can you work well with other people?” You’ll answer that one in the interview - just by being yourself. 💖 So don’t worry about that for now.

The question you want to focus on is the second one, “Can you write for games?”

There’s more to that question than meets the eye. Here’s what they really want to know:

And that’s where the answer to the question lies.

Study the studio's games. Figure out how they tell their stories. Then, in the test, show them that YOU can tell stories that way, too.

Three different game studios, three different styles

Every studio takes a different approach to storytelling in games. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. So you want to take this on a case-by-case basis.

Let’s say you are applying for a job, and they’ve asked you to complete a writing assignment.

Assuming this studio has shipped games in the past, play those games. Take notes. How do they like to tell their stories? For example:

• How do characters talk in this game? Do they use branching dialogue?
• Do they feature a lot of environmental storytelling?
• Do they rely on lore to tell their story?

Imagine you are applying to work at CD Projekt Red, the studio behind Witcher 3. Would the studio care about branching dialogue? Yep. In that game, your dialogue choices impact the story and the game world. "The Bloody Baron" quest is a great example. Geralt's conversations with the Baron and other characters change the narrative. They lead to very different outcomes for the Baron and his family. So, in your writing test, pay special attention to your branching dialogue. Create choices with real consequences.

And if you're applying to Naughty Dog, you'll want to show them how you'd tell a story through the environment. In The Last Of Us, players who explored the sewer system discovered the story of Ish. He was an outbreak survivor who built a community underground. We learn the entire story through scattered notes, makeshift classrooms, and booby traps. How would you use an environment to tell a story?

Finally, if you're applying to FromSoftware, pay attention to their approach to lore. Dark Souls is famous for its minimalist storytelling. The developers tell a large chunk of their story through item descriptions. An ordinary ring can reveal details about a fallen knight or a forgotten kingdom. When players want to learn about the nature of the gods or the curse of the Undead, they read the lore. That means you want to read the lore, too - and be ready to write some lore of your own.

Immerse yourself in their games. Soak up their storytelling style. Then, deliver the same goods on your writing test.

(It turns out that studios DO tell you what they want to see from you. They may not say it in words, but it’s all over their games.)

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Susan’s first job as a game writer was for “a slumber party game - for girls!” She’s gone on to work on over 25 projects, including award-winning titles in the BioShock, Far Cry and Tomb Raider franchises. Titles in her portfolio have sold over 30 million copies and generated over $500 million in sales. She founded the Game Narrative Summit at GDC. Now, she partners with studios, publishers, and writers to help teams ship great games with great stories. She is dedicated to supporting creatives in the games industry so that they can do their best work.