WGE MAG: 11
This latter set of problems is the one that the Writers’ Guild’s Videogames committee decided to tackle.
In other media, the Guild meets directly with a central employer that represents that industry. Such a model works plainly in television and radio; however, no such central body, or single employer, exists in games. Instead, the Guild contacted games companies, outsourcing companies and working games writers to build up a picture of how things were working in the industry. Soon experienced games writers from across the world were submitting their thoughts as too were developers, publishers and studios. These responses helped the Guild construct guidelines representing both sides of the industry (writers and those who employ them) as well as the range of work that writers were being asked to do. This information was then distilled into a booklet that was sent to many developers and publishers, as well as being made available online.
At the same time as story was returning to mainstream games, a new breed of writer was becoming more common, the games writer. Versed not only in the requirements of the Three-Act Structure, character creation and scene construction, games writers also understood the peculiar needs of an interactive environment. As narrative was developing in game, writers were realising that while the lessons of old held in many cases, it was also clear that this new medium required fresh techniques and its own vocabulary. Just as film had introduced the world to the cut and the pull shot, so games had their own lexicon, systemic dialogue, scripted events, FMVs, cutscenes and ondemand dialogue being unique to this medium.
Developing the necessary narrative tools hasn’t always been an easy process. Games designers worried about dialogue and cutscenes interrupting the flow of gameplay, whilst writers worried that developers were unable to recognise the steps necessary to tell stories in this nascent medium. The audience for games narrative was different too, something that still fails to be clearly acknowledged. Among players, for instance, there are those who revel in long cutscenes, but there are also those who revile them. There are players who long for customisable creations of their own, and others who champion rounded characters a writer has created for them. Commander Shepard and Nathan Drake, Gordon Freeman and Mario, all are popular games characters, but they were created and perform in very different ways. To make things worse, beyond these creative challenges there was also confusion over the practical day-to-day considerations of the industry - how to find, employ, or calculate what to pay writers?
This latest version of the guidelines, which was the first such publication anywhere in the world, simply updates that original set. As before, advice has been sought from writers and industry figures so that the guidelines could take into account changes since they were first published in 2005, thus ensuring that the information is still as relevant as when they were first released.
Since the guidelines were first published, the Guild has continued to support and recognise games writers. Those who join can utilise the Guild’s contract-vetting service, meet writers from different media and attend Guild events, maybe even find themselves in the running for a Writers’ Guild Award - which brings us to the next point, myths about the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
1. The Guild Awards are for members only. This is not the case. Unlike the Writers Guild of America’s awards, none of the recent Writers’ Guild of Great Britain awards have required writers to be members before they can be nominated, or win the videogames writing award. The award is open to any British writer, or writer working in Britain within specific dates each year.
2. The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is part of the WGA? This isn’t true either. The Guild here in the UK is a separate, but allied entity to the WGA. Guilds across the world certainly do work together, but they are separate organisations each with their own agreements and approaches.
3. Only experienced writers can join the Guild? The Guild used to have a points system that governed entry to the Guild, but while it is still necessary to have some commissioned writing credits to become a Full Member of the Guild, anyone with an interest in writing can join as a Candidate member.
So, more than 50 years on from its founding, the Writers’ Guild is still offering writers and the industries they work in a place to go to for information, help and advice. For the games industry this centres around these revised, updated guidelines. This revision is unlikely to be the last. As the industry continues to evolve so will games writing and the advice that comes with it. Hopefully, though, the stress of negotiation and employment will be reduced so that the emphasis can be placed on the important stuff forging the tools that take this still young medium forward into the future.
www.writersguild.org.uk
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