While trying to organize all of the media and notes from last weeks Siggraph conference, I took a break and checked some of my regular net links. Very interesting and thorough interview with game author, Rhianna Pratchett, at Gamasutra.com. In light of the fact that the Game Industry is a full participant at Siggraph for the first time this year (and all of the interesting panels/talks), Rhianna’s comments have got me thinking about GameStory, a new term I heard for the first time at Siggraph. I particularly like her notion that an author has to create a full backstory for the characters/world she is writing about in order to create effective scenes. This sounds a lot like Stanislavski for game writing (a good idea). The interviewer (Christian Nutt) did a great job of asking interesting questions and guiding the discussion.
This is an interview I’ve printed out and will re-read. Hope y’all like it. And, yes, she is the daughter of Terry Pratchett.
click the picture to go to Gamasutra
Tags: Gamasutra, Game story, gaming, Rhianna Pratchett, writing for games
Great article – thanks for the link. I do agree about the importance of backstory – not only for games but even short films and animations. I think it fills-out a character more in the author’s mind, gives them more soul and certainly speaks to things like motivation and reaction. It adds an intangible depth and richness. I even do little mental backstories for the static characters I draw! It aids in the work and how I visually choose to characterize that person.