In order to explore the fundamentals of good writing, each session will concentrate on a fundamental principle of the craft. Using examples, illustrations and in-class exercises, students will be able to discover how the page gets translated into finished product. Moreover, lectures will seize upon opportunities to unpack relevant principles of grammar and composition. Finally, every effort will be made to ensure the relevance of the material by drawing on real world examples or using exercises based on the student’s existing body of work.
Week 1: What is good writing? Why do we care?
This session will cover the fundamentals of good writing and its importance to the video game industry both as a creative and business form. A broad overview of the field will be provided in the context of expectations and outcomes for the term.
Assignment #1: Consider what good writing means to you, regardless of form, and bring in a short example of that work.
Week 2: Openings / Closings
Effective writing – regardless of form – is bracketed by a great beginning and a resounding conclusion. Using examples from various media, this session will explore how such moments are created and realized.
Assignment #2: Drawing on any written form, bring in an example of a great opening and a terrific ending.
Week 3: Theme
The heart of any creative work is the theme; the trick for the storyteller is how to unveil that to the audience with subtlety and finesse. This session will explore the elements of them, how they increase the potency of the written work and how the writer carefully weaves them into his subject matter.
Assignment #3: Drawing on any written form, bring in an example of a well developed theme.
Week 4: Mood
Whether creating dramatic tension or building a compelling conceptual document, the writer has at his/her disposal a number of techniques. This session will explore these in detail and comment on industry attempts to mine this emotional vein.
Assignment #4: Drawing on any written form, bring in an example of a work that sets forth mood in a compelling fashion.
Week 5: Implying Visuals
When moving from “page to stage”, much can be easily lost in the translation. Drawing on examples of both success and failure, this session will illustrate how this transition is made and how it effects the realization of the final piece.
Assignment #5: Bring in a media example of great visuals PLUS the accompanying writing.
Week 6: Voice
One often hears about a writer’s “voice” and how he/she discovers it. It may sound mystical but this facet of writing is one that is surprisingly easy to master once you’ve developed an ear for dialogue. This session will start students on that journey by drawing on illustrations drawn from popular culture.
Assignment #6: Develop a short work with a distinctive “voice” for discussion in class.
Week 7: Monologues
Sometimes the bane of a writer’s existence, sometimes completely necessary. Monologues, short speeches, voice-overs or soliloquies are dramatic devices that can define a creative work or belabor it to the point of irrelevance. This session will examine the promise and pitfalls in crafting such works.
Assignment #7: Develop a short character speed for discussion in class.
Week 8: The Pitch
In this industry, creative ideas do not see the light of day unless they can be condensed into an effective selling document. This session will explore the process of developing a pitch and illustrate how this device has – for better or for worse – become entrenched in the entertainment industry.
Assignment #8: Develop a short pitch for your dream video game project.
Week 9: Innuendo
Moving more formally into the realm of dialogue writing itself, this session will begin playing with simple scene structures and how the use of voice and character come together with unexpected results. Specifically working on the level of multiple meanings, students will learn to avoid the practice of “writing on the nose.”
Selected Scenes from: Develop a short scene between two characters with extensive use of double meaning.
Week 10: One liners
Increasingly the stock in trade of animated shows, movies and video-games, no device has as much potential for humor or groans. This more light-hearted session will be teeming with examples drawn from popular culture and show how crafting this form is it’s own art.
Assignment #10: Come up with 10 “one liners” and their set ups.
Week 11: Irony
Though seemingly simple, this topic covers a wide potential field and is a godsend to budding writers. Drawing on a numerous examples from contemporary literature and popular culture, students will unpack concepts ranging from dramatic irony to simple sarcasm.
Assignment #11: Develop a short scene that makes extensive use of the various forms of irony.
Week 12: Script Forms
To this point, the course has concentrated on the fundamentals of writing across a number of media. This session will now unpack how different script forms exist for the various media and how adherence to such forms limits or improves a project.
Assignment #12: Bring in an example of a script that makes effective use of the elements covered in this class.
Week 13: Understanding the Editing Process
No work is ever complete. This class will talk about how the editing process works and how it can transform a raw first draft into a polished gem. Tricks, tactics and the negotiation process between writer and editor will be discussed in detail.
Assignment #13: At your discretion, edit a sample script.
Week 14: Best of Breed and Summing Up
