A Journey of Learning Writer's Craft from Video Games - Introduction

When it comes to writing advice on the internet, any budding writer can expect to see one phrase: read books. The details may change depending on the individual; they may tell you to read certain books, or certain genres, or even just more books overall.

But what about media outside of books? While a good novel on a rainy day certainly can’t be beaten, I have found that I’ve learned just as much, if not more from other forms of narrative, and the most inspiring medium of those has been video games.

Now it may be partially because I am a gamer, but I do believe that there is a lot we as writers can learn from video games, even if we never touch the format in our craft.

Before I begin, though, what kinds of games have inspired me? Though I’m a lover of all things narrative, certain game genres have piqued my interest the most: puzzle games, cozy games, JRPGs, and Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) RPGs.

In future blogs, I’ll dive deeper into these genres and specific games, but for today, it’s time to talk about some of the broad strokes of what I’ve learned:

Narrative Structure

Though the narrative structure of games may seem different than novels or short stories at first glance, every medium of writing follows the same basic principles of conflict, action, and pacing. In games, though, you don’t simply see the narrative before you. Instead, you are placed within the structure and experience it within your actions. It’s easier to tell when you’re moving too slow or too fast when you’re the one actually moving.

I’ve found this especially helpful when it comes to the smaller tasks that protagonists have to do. In games, we would often see this as tutorials, fetch quests, or even side quests, but in novels, we may call it a subplot. While these side stories may be essential for character growth, worldbuilding, or setting up the tools necessary to overcome the conflict in the climax, one must be very careful not to include too few or too many, or else the pacing of the whole text may crumble.

What better way to understand how your tasks and quests interact with each other than by going through the motions yourself? Through my gaming, I’ve learned how important these relatively small elements of the plot can be, but I also understand how they must be included with caution, or else the reader may get bored before you get back to the main plot.

Worldbuilding

No piece of writing, whether it’s a short story or video game, epic fantasy or contemporary romance, would be complete without worldbuilding. But what exactly is the right amount of worldbuilding to include in a story?

There are countless arguments on the internet about how much worldbuilding a writer needs and how much of that needs to be included in the story itself. At the end of the day, though, there’s no mathematical formula for the perfect worldbuilding touch.

In video games, there is the added advantage of living in the world that has been built. For the game developers, that may have meant a lot more work, but it does provide an advantage for us writers of novels.

For me, I like to pay attention to the worldbuilding when I play video games, whether they take place in vast fantasy lands or a single structure. What do I actually notice when interacting with the world, and what exists more as ambiance? What is explained in the world, and what is left up to the imagination? How are the characters themselves interacting with the worldbuilding, and how does it affect their lives, attitudes, and values?

Though I will never crack the code for the most efficient and effective worldbuilding in a novel by playing video games, this analysis has taught me how to shape a world and the people within it to make the landscape of my narrative become deeper and more full of life, instead of simply window dressing to the plot.

Collaboration Between Narrative Elements

When outlining any story, a writer often has to complete a checklist of ingredients for what they hope will be a stellar literary recipe: characters, setting, plot, and more. But how do they all interact with one another?

In a story, the narrative elements cannot exist separately, even if they sit in different categories in a brainstorming document. For a story to truly feel alive, everything must interact with each other, in the same way a person interacts with the events of their day and the community that surrounds them.

This is an area that I believe the playability of games allows for a unique illumination of the topic. You, as the player, are responsible for interacting with the world in some way. Unlike written works or television shows, where you can experience the narrative passively, it is a requirement that you are an active participant in the world, which means you are a part of the connection between the narrative elements.

Role-playing games and related subgenres (MMO RPGs, JRPGs) are probably the most powerful examples of player participation in the world, but video games by default have to have some level of interaction. It can be difficult to put into words, but being a part of the elements that make up the narrative lets you see the way they influence one another in a way you may not when reading a book or watching a television show and will allow you to elevate your writing to a more refined level.

Conclusion

Overall, it could be easy for me to spend hours discussing how video games can improve writing. Even this blog is much longer than what I usually put on this website, and I didn’t even dig into any of my specific favorites.

Until my next blog post about video games and writing, where I’ll delve into Palia, Final Fantasy XIV Online, and MMO RPGs in general, I just have one suggestion: try a video game and look deeper into its narrative structure. It doesn’t matter if you only write novels or you want to branch out into other mediums; I’m sure you’ll find something to learn.