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New Short Fiction, “Ten Confessions…” Now Available
Just a brief update: My latest short story, “Ten Confessions of Blue Mercury Addicts, by Anna Spencer” appears in the March / April issue of venerable British SF magazine Interzone. You can purchase...
View ArticleEmpathy and Responsibility in Writing
Generally speaking, I try to focus this blog on “how you might write” rather than “what you should be writing.” We’re about craft here, not art–not because one is more important than the other, but...
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“Story Engines” and Content Development
How do you deliver narrative to a player in a content-rich, nonlinear game? This is neither a purely mechanical question (“non-player characters scattered through the open world will offer quests,...
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In Defense of Didacticism
While watching reports and live-tweets come in from the recent East Coast Games Conference, I was intrigued to see a number of speakers independently touch on the same point. Warren Spector advised,...
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Comicpalooza Houston (and Twilight Company in Paperback)
Just a brief update this time around–life and work have been busy, and while I’ve got a few new game writing articles in various stages of production it may be a while before I have a chance to polish...
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Writing Romance in (non-Romance) Games: Linear Romances
Ah, romance. Compelling romance subplots are tough to write at the best of times. Consider their place in linear media–how many otherwise strong films or novels suffer from an unconvincing,...
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Writing Romance in (non-Romance) Games: Branching Romances
Here’s where it gets complicated. Or… well, more so. This post is a companion to Writing Romance in (non-Romance Games): Linear Romances. You’ll find a number of assumptions about our overall topic...
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Now Available: Rogue One Novelization
Has it really been that long since I last posted on the blog? Let’s see if I can crank out some new game writing articles soon; as always, suggestions on subject matter are welcome. The good news is,...
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On Cutscenes and Viewpoint Changes
It’s been a while since your game’s scheming villain has actually shown up. There’s a good reason for that–you know the player will try to kill her as soon as she appears, and there’s only so many...
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What I’m Doing: 2019 Edition
I’ve been exceedingly busy for a long while now, but I haven’t been able to talk about most of the work I’ve been doing. In 2019, that changes. Here’s what I’ve got coming: Violet Dawn The Last People...
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