23 Apr 2013
Posted by Ki 
Editor’s note: ADANAI originally interviewed Skolnick prior to Disney acquiring Lucasfilm. After the transaction was announced, ADANAI caught up with him to amend the interview and get his reaction to the termination of the “Star Wars 1313” project.
DDon’t hate Evan Skolnick. Yes, he’s had a life you only dreamed about: a successful run writing at Marvel Comics, a successful run writing for hit video games like “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2” and “Spider Man 3”, and until recently he was the Lead Narrative Designer at LucasArts, working on “Star Wars 1313” and getting noogies from George Lucas.
Okay, hate him a little bit. But don’t stay jealous for long, because Evan wants to share the inside word on how you can become a video game writer too. Listen close. Your trip to success begins now…
Did your tenure at Marvel Comics help you write for video games, or was it a whole different ballgame?
When Evan Skolnick speaks the video game world listens
It was a different ballgame. Making the transition from writing traditional, linear media to writing games is a challenge for any writer. There’s a lot to learn and even more to unlearn: rules that just don’t apply in the realm of interactive narrative. It took me years to identify and appreciate those differences.
But some of the skills I picked up from my comics days do come in handy while working on games: writing succinctly, understanding visual storytelling, and fulfilling the audience’s power fantasies.
You’ve been writing video games for over ten years. Ten years ago, story and character was mostly an afterthought for level designers. Now, has it gained more precedence in the development hierarchy?
Well, I’m glad you qualified that statement with “mostly”, since “Half-Life” came out over ten years ago, as did “Grim Fandango” and many other games with great characters and stories.
The desire’s been expressed from various fronts to offer up better stories and characters in games. Developers have been focusing increasing attention on this area for a while now, and they’ve begun making actual investments to back it up. Which is great!
Even better, the old-school tactic of hiring a contract writer to pretty up the script at the last possible minute, affectionately known in some writer circles as “polishing the turd”, is increasingly giving way to hiring experienced game writers and narrative designers on staff, fully integrating them with the team from an early stage, and empowering them to help shape the game world, missions, characters and story, while keeping the narrative focused on supporting the game’s mechanics and fun factor.
That said, though, it’s still an uphill battle at many studios.
How can someone who has never worked in the industry make the first step towards their dream to write for video games?
A great first step is to buy the classic PC game “Neverwinter Nights” and learn how to use its embedded Aurora Tool to create original RPG modules. It definitely reveals some of the constraints, technical requirements and challenges of writing compelling characters and stories in a game space.
Assuming that process doesn’t scare you off and you still want to make a living being a writer for games, I’m aware of two main paths.
The most successful approach I’ve seen, and experienced, is to enter the industry in another role, such as designer or producer. Get your foot in the door, do your time, learn how games are really made and how narrative elements can fit into that process. Then, when opportunity presents itself and something needs to be written, raise your hand and volunteer to take a crack at it. Perform well, and you’ll probably be asked to do it again sometime. You might eventually be able to make this your primary role.
An alternate path is to be lucky enough to have a friend who works in game development and knows you’re a writer hoping to break in. And if you don’t have a game developer friend, make one! Then at some point in the future, they may call upon you to help out with the narrative content of their game.
A writer who wants to work in this industry needs to have a good working knowledge of games and how they’re made. Writers from other media who see the game industry purely as another prospective source of income should be aware that writing for games is unlike writing for any other medium. Knocking on a game studio’s door looking for work while admitting you don’t play games is like knocking on a Hollywood studio’s door saying you don’t watch movies.
You are giving a game writing tutorial for the seventh straight year at the Game Developers Conference this month. The Booth Babe Cosplay show is in the next room. Why should I come in your door instead?
Without casting aspersions on booth babes or cosplayers, you might come away from my game writing tutorial with some things you can actually use in your game development career, for months or even years going forward.
It’s intended not just for writers, but for anyone who works on a game dev team, since nearly everyone on the team ends up having something to do with helping to deliver the game’s story, world and characters. We’re all part of the storytelling experience, and so the idea behind my tutorial is to help developers get that basic grounding in fiction writing under their belts, so that during development, everyone’s speaking the same language and pulling in the same direction when it comes to narrative.
However, I make no claim to be as easy on the eyes as a booth babe or a cosplayer. Well, maybe certain cosplayers.
It is quite a shame “Star Wars 1313” will never come to be – it looks very cool
The gaming community was shocked by the abrupt end of “Star Wars 1313”, a game everyone was looking forward to. How did your team deal with the news?
From the day Lucasfilm was acquired, we in LucasArts had some inkling this scenario could potentially play out. We were hoping for the best while trying to be ready for the worst.
So, we weren’t completely taken by surprise. But a punch in the gut you’re half-expecting still hurts. The team handled this tough situation like the true professionals they are. And in a way the team is continuing to work together… helping each other find new opportunities.
Learn more about Evan’s appearance at the Games Developer Conference at evanskolnick.com.
John Zurhellen writes video games for Rockstar Games, Activision, and other great developers.
