The difference between narrative designers & game writers
When it comes to defining who I am as a game developer, my first and foremost identity is as a narrative designer. But for the first six months of my game development career, I called myself a game writer.
The distinction is relatively small, but completely relevant. Both a narrative designer and writer are a part of the story team on a game. In smaller teams, they may very frequently be the same person. The narrative designer, however, will focus on on the rules that govern how the narrative is expressed in the game.
You can think of the narrative designer as someone who creates a bridge between game designers and writers. Because of this, they need to understand both good game design and good storytelling. The general plot of the story and how it plays out are key functions of a narrative designer, in conjunction with game writers. They not only help define what the story is, but how the story is told through the gameplay. What actions can the player perform that effect how the story plays out? How does a player learn about the lore of the world they find themselves in?
A game writer, on the other hand, would be the one in charge of writing character dialogue, item descriptions, lore… These things could fall into the hands of the narrative designer, but not always, depending on the project or studio. In a major studio, the narrative designer may be in charge of providing placeholder dialogue that game writers will eventually go in and improve.
The game writer and the narrative designer work hand in hand as two specializations with the same final goal — to tell a great story. If you are interested in game writing, or game development in general, it is usually best to find your niche and specialize in it. I personally like to consider this my “wedge” skill, meaning it’s the skill that I am particularly good at that I can use to wedge my foot in the door. All my other skills and interests are secondary.
References and further reading
(Article): What Does a Narrative Designer Do? And How to Become One? https://gamedesignskills.com/game-design/narrative-designer/#narrative-designer-vs-game-writer
(Deck): The meaningful difference between a Narrative Designer and a Writer https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-meaningful-difference-between-a-narrative-designer-and-a-writer-maria-boryspitkowska-flying-wild-hog/256493572
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If you want to learn more about me or my games, you can find my website here: https://www.heyitsamanda.com/
