What might people be surprised to learn about your work?
It involves all kinds of writing! Game writers write scripts, which are mostly dialogue. But we also write other in-game text, like a newspaper clip or journal entries.
What’s the hardest part of your job?
It’s fun for me to start writing. There are so many possibilities! But going back and editing is hard.
What’s the best part?
I love watching people on YouTube play games I’ve worked on. It’s so fun to see how they react to the plot twists I came up with.
Pretend you’re teaching a video game writing class. What prompt would you give students?
Start with two characters in a cafe. What are they talking about? Then imagine a random event. A hurricane hits! Someone falls! How do your characters react? What happens next?
Why are video games important?
Video games can teach empathy. That means they can help you imagine what a character’s life is like or how they feel. I recently played a game called Venba. It’s about a family that moves from India to Canada. Your job is to help save their family recipes by “cooking” them. I love that I got to explore a new culture through a game.
Do you like to read now?
Yes! I fell in love with books as an adult. If I had picked up a book about video games as a kid, I might have been more likely to finish it. That’s why I tell kids to read what excites them. Anything that has a story counts.