Four Things Writers Can Learn From Videogames

Well, I started re-playing the original Playstation version of “Silent Hill” recently. Somewhere between consulting a walkthrough guide for the fifth time and realising that “Silent Hill” is about ten times more disturbing than I remembered it being (when I played it about as many years ago), I started to think about the subject of storytelling in videogames.

But, since I don’t really have any proper experience with making games, I started to think about what videogames could teach us about writing prose fiction.

1) Think visually: For starters, although storytelling isn’t always a priority in video games (since it should usually take second place to gameplay), videogames are obviously a much more visual storytelling medium than prose fiction is. Yes, there are advantages and disadvantages to telling stories in visual and in written mediums, but even if your story isn’t illustrated, then it is very important to think visually when you are writing.

Yes, your readers will probably imagine the characters and the settings in a slightly different way to how you do when you’re writing your story but it is still extremely important to have at least a vague impression of what your characters and settings look like.

Thinking visually can obviously be useful when you’re writing descriptions, but it is also important because it helps you to immerse yourself in the world of your story. Although doing this too much can sometimes make you forget to write proper descriptions if you’re not careful, it is a brilliant way to stay enthusiastic about your story.

2) Implications and hidden stories: This is similar to both the previous point on this list and the classic “show, don’t tell” rule about writing. In a game, there usually isn’t space for long backstories and long passages of text. If someone who is making a game wants to give the story a sense of atmosphere and a rich backstory, then they usually have to do this through implication using the surroundings, optional background details or the appearance of characters. Although you are writing prose fiction rather than making a game, this technique can be an incredibly useful one to use in your stories.

For example: Say you were writing a story where your protagonist visits a small rural town where there had been a devastating forest fire ten years earlier. Your protagonist doesn’t know about this, although it could explain the mysterious disappearance of someone or something she is searching for.

Now, you could show your protagonist reading archive copies of the local newspaper or having long conversations with residents of the town about the fire, but a much quicker and more dramatic way of getting some of this information across would be just to briefly show a burnt-out and abandoned cabin in the forests surrounding the town.

Yes, you’d probably have to back it up with a bit of an explanation later – but the implication is that it is one of the few things which hasn’t re-grown or been repaired after a fire of some kind.

Learning how to hint at both important and secondary parts of the plot through small details and descriptions is a slightly difficult skill to pick up, but it’s one that is definitely worth learning if you want to give your story a sense of depth and atmosphere.

3) Functional dialogue: Like with films, TV shows and comics, every single word of dialogue in a videogame has to serve some function or other (usually advancing the story, characterisation or conveying vital information to the player).

In some games, especially older games, there isn’t room for a huge amount of dialogue. Not to mention that, except in adventure games and role-playing games, too much dialogue can slow the plot down and make the player feel bored or frustrated.

Because of all of this, dialogue in games can be slightly on the “functional” side. As I mentioned in my article about writing dialogue, if you’re still learning how to write good dialogue (like I am), then it can be very useful to focus on writing “functional” dialogue until you feel more confident. Yes, it might sound slightly “wooden”, but your readers will probably appreciate it a lot more than lots of rambling and badly-written dialogue which does very little to keep the story moving.

Plus, if you’re fairly experienced at writing dialogue, then playing the occasional videogame can be a good reminder about the importance of writing concise and plot-relevant dialogue too.

4) Innovative settings: Ok, think about an interesting videogame (or computer game) you’ve played. Chances are, one of the reasons that this game was so memorable was because of the interesting and innovative settings which the game took place in. This is an especially important thing in game design because there are already quite a few clichés and well-used settings (eg: I’ve lost count of the number of 2D and 3D platform games which contain ice-based and lava-based levels) which lazy designers might reach for if they can’t think of any innovative ideas.

Since prose fiction isn’t a visual method of storytelling, then this isn’t as much of an issue. However, it can be a useful way to show both the importance of avoiding “stock” settings (eg: settings which turn up in a lot of stories) and the importance of coming up with imaginative settings that have lots of interesting details and are far more memorable.

For example, out of these two descriptions, which one is the most memorable?

1) “Barry stepped into the dining room of the old mansion, there was a large table running along the length of the room and the glowing embers of a fireplace at the far end of the room. Old portraits glowered down at him from the walls and the only sound he could hear was the sombre ticking of an old grandfather clock.”

2) “The rusty door was flanked by two swaying piles of obsolete computers. As David walked further into the room and fumbled with his lighter, he heard something crunch loudly under his foot. Clicking his lighter faster, he managed to coax a thin flame out of it. In the flickering amber light, he was able to make out the shattered edges of a faded green circuit board on the rough concrete next to his shoes. Moving the lighter up again, he found himself face to face with another circuit board. In fact, the wall in front of him seemed to be made out of nothing but old circuit boards.”

Apart from the fact that the first example is also an example of badly-written “Resident Evil” fan fiction, the second example is a probably lot more memorable because, although you’ve probably seen lots of old mansions in horror movies, horror novels and horror games, you probably haven’t seen that many settings like the one in the second description.

So, remember, keep youir settings interesting and innovative. Yes, it’s a lot harder than it sounds, but it can be essential for memorable stories.

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Anyway, I hope this article was useful 🙂