So, is anyone currently doing a developer journal about some sort of writing topic? I'm currently doing a 'how to do concept art' one as kind of a warm-up to journaling, and I was thinkng about doing a 'how to write' one next. Anyone have any suggestions for what topics I should cover?

I'm currently using mine to document the creation of my design document, although its not "tutorial-ish" like yours.

well, sunandshadow, what you've written so far I think has a good grasp on it. (other topics, of course--mostly mine)

Think screenplay. Dialogue has to move fast, no wasted words. Especially cutscenes. Normal PCtoNPC dialogue probably has a few more complexities, in order to give a challenge.

Also, never take the easy way out: shortcuts only hurt in the long run. Fully develop your world on paper; in your head is good, on paper is better. I don't know how many times I've lost good ideas because I either didn't write them down or couldn't find where I'd written them. That means all kinds of backups. Even if all of your world won't make it into the game, have it. It helps a LOT with the game design, and with any revisions later. Develop a world, develop each NPC, follow chains of logic--if you include A, how does it affect B? And then you have to check each of the following decisions against A and B. Everything must line up.

Read. Intuitive, but reading helps writers. I've heard it said that all of the best writers coming out of my school attribute it to reading old writers like Jane Austen or the Brontes. I know that I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, and it certainly a study in characters. All writers have their flaws, so read broadly. Don't just read fantasy. Read everything. Read on nature, read sci-fi, read non-fiction, read American, British, French, Chinese, modern, ancient. READ
....If you can't tell, I love reading--I must say that it's helped me immensely....

Don't be afraid to use other people's concepts. I've been flamed for this before, but it's just a difficult thing to understand. If a writer did something you like, find out why, and find out what you can do to do it better. I'm not saying to go out and write a Tolkein clone or pick your author. I'm saying draw from what you see. Draw from everything. Draw from a wierd co-worker, from a random man on a street, from an old fried, from a good writer. Take it and make it your own. To take the classic example; Elves--if you decide you want Tolkein's elves, then you should have Tolkein's elves. But you should also see exactly what that does to your world. You want to give them their own history, their own personality, their own niche in the world. Take the concept, end up with something completely different. I'm sorry that I'm not making much sense--I have it in my head, but it's not making the transition well. If anybody's read him, Robert Jordan did this well (especially with King Arthur and the Yin-Yang). Use what you see, use what you know. If you're a good writer, it'll only make your works greater, if your a bad writer, it'll help show you what you need to do to get better. Your work shouldn't be another's. It should always be your own: However, nothing's original, so you probably shouldn't freak out about it.


Hope that helped. I'm sure there are people who will hate me for every single point up there, but I can only say what I know. If someone disagrees, I'm always happy to argue something all the way out. I don't believe in my own infallibility, but in this case, it'll probably be down to opinion in the end anyway, and then there's not much you can do.