Episode summary: These days, video game writers are taking something old – storytelling – and marrying it to something new – technology. In this way, writers are redefining what it means to tell a story in the 21st century, just as screenwriters did in the 20th century. Now more than ever, great games deserve great stories.

In this episode, hosts Danny Iny and Abe Crystal interview  Susan O’Connor, the creator of the multifaceted course “How to write for video games.”  Susan’s been writing for many years and learned everything the hard way, which meant screwing up and mostly screwing up in public. Why should other writers have to go through this hard process, she asked herself? Why not go through a class? So, she created one that’s achieving “pinnacle results” for her students. 

In this episode we discuss:

• “The digital campfire” model; creating a space for writers to build a community – they LOVE it. 
• How she constructed the content of the course and its multifaceted structure.
• How the TA (teacher assistant) strategy enabled Susan to scale. 
• What she’s charging for her course(s), and why she has class 1 and class 2.
• How Susan is able to get her students jobs in the industry.
• Danny’s and Abe’s debrief after the interview 

“I created a buddy system. I waited a couple of weeks until we’d had a chance to know each other. But I would partner people up so that they could have a go-to person to discuss that week’s homework assignment. And then I changed up the buddies every week.”

Susan O’Connor

Guest Bio: Susan’s first job as a game writer was for “a slumber party game – for girls!” She’s gone on to work on over 25 projects, including award-winning titles in the BioShock, Far Cry and Tomb Raider franchises. Titles in her portfolio have sold over 30 million copies and generated over $500 million in sales. She is an adjunct professor at UT Austin, where she teaches a course on writing for games. A long time ago, she founded the Game Narrative Summit at GDC. Now, she partners with studios, publishers, and writers to help teams ship great games with great stories. She is dedicated to supporting creatives in the games industry so that they can do their best work.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

• Mirasee 
• susanoconnorwriter.com

Credits:

• Guest – Susan O’Connor 
• Hosts – Danny Iny & Abe Crystal 
• Producer – Cynthia Lamb 
• Executive producer – Danny Iny 
• Writer – Michi Lantz and Cynthia Lamb
• Assembled by – Geoff Govertsen
• Audio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher Martin
• Audio Post Production by Post Office Sound
• Music soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely

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Music and SFX credits: 

• Track Title: Access
  Artist Name(s): OBOY
  Writer Name: Martin Hampton
  Writer Name: Matej Djajkovski
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
• Track Title: Bossa BB
  Artist Name(s): Marie
  Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
  Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS
• Track Title: Carousel Lights
  Artist Name(s): Chelsea McGough
  Writer Name: Chelsea McGough
  Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION
  Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS
• Track Title: Grace
  Artist Name(s): Shimmer
  Writer Name: Matthew Wigton
  Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION