<h2>I&#39;ll be frank: I love creative writing.<br /> <br /> I write all the time, and I write all sort of things. I&#39;m eighteen years old, with a year and a half left in high school. Without really bragging, I feel that my English knowledge is more advanced than what would be required to get top grades in high school - as noted by several teachers. However, due to the nature of Swedish high school English teachers, my English hasn&#39;t really grown the last two years which I feel is a shame.<br /> <br /> Nevertheless, I improve my English outside school. In fact, I&#39;ve already left school at heart, as I&#39;m looking for things to do outside school. I write poetry, I write lyrics, I write novels, I review stuff constantly and most importantly, I create game concepts all the time.<br /> <br /> <br /> So what I&#39;m proposing is simple. If you need help with game design on a written level, or improvement on a story, be it details, background or character, feel free to contact me. I&#39;m freelance, so it&#39;s voluntary and I don&#39;t expect any rewards other than the experience. Since I&#39;m not particularly interested in graphic design or programming, I will not - unfortunately - be able to perform any task that involves either. As long as it&#39;s on a concept and written level, I&#39;m up for it.<br /> <br /> Basically, what I can offer is<br /> <br /> * Creating game concepts and ideas.<br /> * Create storylines.<br /> * Develop characters.<br /> * Help with any background, lore, items, mechanics, etc.<br /> * Improve and/or help with game concepts and ideas.<br /> * Improve and/or help with story and plot.<br /> * Scene creation on a conceptual level.<br /> * <span style="font-weight:bold;">Innovation, creativity and dedication in any project I work with.</span><br /> <br /> If you need any sample of what I can do, contact me as I am rather reluctant to throw out just about anything on the net. Even if your project may not be completed, the experience is what matters most to me. As long as you have some desire to work, I&#39;ll have it, too.<br /> <br /> Any other questions? PM me&#33;<br /> <br /> <br /> PS: I have much more experience with console games. As such, I will strictly not work with any MMO or RTS game. While I might consider FPS, I prefer common Action games, Action-RPG&#39;s, Adventure games, Horror games or RPG games. <br /> <br /> [size=2]

Well, judging by your post, your command of English is indeed excellent.

Do you have any writing samples?

As a freelancer, you'll probably be writing to somebody else's specifications, but have you developed your own voice? What kind of writing do you enjoy most? What is your style or voice like?

Also, who are some of your favorite authors?

[q]Do you have any writing samples?[/q]

Certainly. I have plenty, and I could probably throw together something decent fairly quickly. Preferably, I'd throw something together based on the "employer's" request. Mainly to demonstrate both language skills and if I'm the right person for this specific task.

[q]As a freelancer, you'll probably be writing to somebody else's specifications, but have you developed your own voice? What kind of writing do you enjoy most? What is your style or voice like?[/q]

I'm quite flexible, I tend to write in different styles depending on what I'm writing, but what has recently been a factor in my writing is my descriptions. Recently, I started adding less descriptions, opting to choose few and specific words that'll help the reader get the big picture but at the same time, imagine it the way he or she wants to.

I would have to say that novel writing is what I find most fun, but I enjoy creating ideas more, and writing is just a tool, a bridge between my mind and the paper.

As for my style... mood-setting, I would suppose. Whenever I write, I try to deliver a feeling, an emotion. With this, I vary words, description and content - of course, this only applies to novel writing. There's no actual style to my game design writings. But whenever I can, I try to work much around the characters. And I try to make it realistic and believable, even if it is indeed fantasy. This is true especially for dialogue, names, lore, etc.

[q]Also, who are some of your favorite authors?[/q]

Ah, a question I never thought would be asked. J.R.R. Tolkien comes in mind, not necessarily for how he wrote, but for what he wrote. Generally I consider the entire lore behind his books as the true masterpiece; for people who like to work with fantasy, Tolkien must be included there because he essentially created a world that seems logical, despite the fantasy.

Orhan Pamuk is another favorite author of mine. His writing is also rather exceptional, and I feel that he successfully delivers vivid images and emotions with his writing, something I consider vital when you're dealing with a sort of media that gives you neither pictures, sound or scent.

Orson Scott Card is yet a favorite author of mine. His books (at least the ones I've read) are a bit of genius, really, because he involve so many morales and ethical issues at the same time, and in a way that isn't forced at all but believable and enjoyable to read. In terms of character development, I think he's excellent.


I hope I answered your questions. I was a bit uncertain about what you meant with my "writing style".

I realize that at 18 you're a bit new on how contracting works, but generally companies want to be able to view some sort of portfolio before even beginning to talk to you. You should set up a portfolio website where you have works for people to peruse. If they like you style and if they can see that you've been dependable in the past they'll contact you.

I'm perfectly aware of the importance of having a portfolio. What I first thought about was how I don't actually have any previous work, and a resume that looks good to someone looks good to someone else. I figured I could write, but then I would write in my own style, and this might be misleading as I know how to write in ways other than my own. All I can offer is therefore work I claim to be mine, but ultimately I can't prove I did it - I'll simply remain without any proof that it wasn't made by me.

In addition, I'm also not looking for a job per se, or to get hired and receive payments. I'm just looking for something to try out my skills with, to gain experience, which I then add to my portfolio. Essentially it's more of a hobby thing and as I said, I own't expect every project I get involved with to reach completion. Nevertheless, I'll add something I have written, because you do have a point in that I need some form of work sample. I'll put it up here.

Your advice is taken to heart. I appreciate it :)

Quote: Original post by Metallon

Basically, what I can offer is

* Creating game concepts and ideas.
* Create storylines.
* Develop characters.
* Help with any background, lore, items, mechanics, etc.
* Improve and/or help with game concepts and ideas.
* Improve and/or help with story and plot.
* Scene creation on a conceptual level.
* Innovation, creativity and dedication in any project I work with.

Unfortunately, most people don't think this requires any particular skill, and you'll be facing an uphill battle trying to convince anybody you can do it better than they can, even for the rock-bottom price of free.

In any event, best of luck!

If by "they" you mean non-designers, I suppose they'd just have to try it for themselves to see that it's not the easiest job out there. If you mean competition for a certain position in a project, then I would preferably send in a resume containing relative samples. For instance, an employer may not want a short story when I'm looking for an employment in game mechanics design.

In either case, the key factor is that I'm doing it voluntary for free, and I don't have to be involved from beginning to end; I can be in it for a while, design a part of the game I'm requested, and once my job is complete, I'll leave it to other designers or the director/producer of the game. I do it because I think it's fun and rewarding in itself.

Well, if you just want an exercise, here's something.

***

Write a scene, screenplay format, in the following context. No length parameters.

The time is modern day; the setting is urban, inner city.

Characters;

Female, 5'4", African-American, police officer. Single, mid-thirties. Straightforward, not prone to introspection, prefers action to talk.

Male, 6'0", African-American, goatee, police officer. Married, early thirties. Philosophical, sarcastic.

The two of them are good friends. The goal of the scenario is for the female officer, to explain to the male officer why she has decided to stop pursuing relationships.

No other information on the characters or setting will be provided. It can take place wherever you want.

From a technical standpoint, your writing is full of errors. You abuse run-on sentences like Carol Burnett, most likely because you wrote this as a forum post. Really, for a post such as this, you want to present your writing skills immediately. If you are too shy to share your work here with everyone that's fine, but it won't get you very far. Writers are a dime a dozen, even brilliant ones.

You do demonstrate command of an excellent sense of the explicative; you can express your thoughts thoroughly and succinctly. That, my friend, is an invaluable talent in any industry.

Unfortunately, the bit that lost me was this:

Quote: Original post by Metallon
Since I'm not particularly interested in graphic design or programming, I will not - unfortunately - be able to perform any task that involves either. As long as it's on a concept and written level, I'm up for it.

This is basically a community of hobbyists. Most of us here are plenty creative on our own, along with other skills related to game development. You might find someone who wants you to help them creatively, but I think for the most part everyone here is already busy with their own concepts.

I'd love to see a writing sample though...

I think most people do underestimate what basically any people can think up. Most people have the potential to come up with something fairly nice. I suppose the difference would in lie in that it takes a bit more than that to be able to plan all the concepts for a game and flesh them out.

It takes structure, and experience working like that. It also requires to have played many games with these things in thought (what's good, what's bad, what's working, why/how does it work, etc.) and you will need to have that extra creativity in order to create something that is fun and feels fresh. I know I myself was in a period merely a year ago when I (for fun) wrote lots of conceptual remakes of games I liked, and added whole new depths to the game, but essentially, the challenge lies in creating it in the first place and then adding depth to it.


As for the part where you lost me, I meant to say that my game design revolves ideas, fleshing them out and structuring them in text documents. As such, I'm not really suited for level design or character design because no matter how well-detailed I make it, a graphic designer will be able to persent an image of a vision that much easier.

I'm going to put up a writing sample, as soon as I finish the lore for my card game, which, by the way, has reached its beta version. It's been tested a few times with a friend and it works fairly well and rather balanced (when compared to the alpha version, where the game was horribly imbalanced and the rules contradicting).

Along with the lore, I'll be putting up the rulebook along with text-and-image guide to present the game. Basically, it's like any Trading Card Game, except it focuses much more on the card representing the self (you), and involves more console-like features like spending MP to use spells, equipping different armors and weapons, a Level-up system with experience points, and a bit more. I began thinking about this game a couple of months ago, and it's taken me a month to create the cards and put them in various workstations.

If I had decent programming, I'd be able to make it playable with a program, but alas, I'm not.