Abstract:
Most writers think of writing in the most traditional sense: poetry, fiction, screenwriting, or creative nonfiction. As the field of English evolves, writers should be looking towards how to write for these new media, specifically games. Game writing is a completely different form of writing, involving a mixture of creative writing (in the form of the game) and technical writing (in the form of the rules). The game writer must be able to do both to create the gaming experience. Much like traditional writing, game design in a creative process in which the writer must reflect on what work he or she wants the game to do. The writer must figure out the goals for the game, both in terms of what the objective is for the players as well as what message the author hopes to get across through the gan1e's design and its gameplay. This thesis will go into some of the finer points of writing for a game, following the creative process from the genesis of the idea to the production of the game and finally taking a very brief look into the future of a game: publishing. I will include quite a few personal reflections from the process of designing the card game Resources, which at this tin1e has a finished, playable prototype.
