Freelance Writer

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14 comments, last by Grumpy Sam 16 years, 4 months ago
Quote:Original post by Metallon
It takes structure, and experience working like that.


Quote:Original post by Metallon
I'm eighteen years old, with a year and a half left in high school.


huh. I've been at it since I was 12.

Quote:Original post by Metallon
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.


Quote:Original post by Metallon
If I had decent programming, I'd be able to make it playable with a program, but alas, I'm not.


If you're going to brag...
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Hahaha :P well, I guess I should explain.

In Sweden, you're usually around 15-16 when you begin high school. You attend three years in a Swedish high school, so you finish at around 18-19. In my case, I would've finished at around 18, but since I temporarily dropped off for six months, I'm redoing my second year (all my other peers are on their third and last year).

What I meant to say is, no, I can't program or anything, so there's no point in asking me to do some C++ stuff or any computer-aided design.

As for that English part... well, you kind of have to see it form my point of view. Very, very, very few Swedish students at my age have the knowledge I do. This isn't to say I'm some professor in English, I'm just saying that I'm pretty confident in what I do. I realize that without any actual proof, there is no reason to believe in me, but I feel that a short PM can't harm. After all, most of us here are doing this more or less for fun, and the PM could contain something along the lines of "we're interested in having you in X project which is an Y game, send a sample regarding Z part of the game".


Saying it again: I'll have my card game with appropriate lore some time in the future, but until that time, I'm just here, up for grabs. This thread isn't really a "I'm looking for a project" thread as a "Just telling you guys that I exist" thread.
When I was stuck in Karlstad between Kommunalvuxenutbildning and university I felt my proficiency in the English language slip too. The thing is that you HAVE to write to get better. It doesn't matter that you are better than the rest of your class, there is always someone who does it better than you, and from who you can learn from by assimilating the good ways they write stuff.

If you want to be a good writer your primary drive should be to write more of anything. Not having a project to write for isn't an excuse. More importantly, at this stage people shouldn't have to contact you for work.

One of the things I did was look at the different HL mods that were out there. The few that got my creative juices going I contacted and asked if they needed an intro story written, as I wrote my own novel at the same time. None of the HL or HL2 mods made it, and I never finished my novel. But, I had that material to show when I saw a very interesting indie game here on Gamedev, and even though they had 2 writers on the team I was still hired because they liked the style of my writing.

The moral of this story is that you must develop your writing skills, this is only done by writing material. And, don't expect people to hire unknown writers, go out and ask to write for projects you are interested in.

In addition, don't be disappointed when projects you work on fail. Simple name changes can get that story up and working for the next team you work for (provided you still own the rights to the story). I have tons of old stories I scavenge from when I want killer sentences and unique concepts.

So....WRITE, dammit!
Quote:Original post by Metallon
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.

I'd be interested in hearing more about this card game concept. Looking forward to reading the rules/outline when you post it. :)
In response to Grumpy Sam, I'd like to state that I still do write, because due to school no longer providing any actual source for improvement in my English, reading, writing, and further listening and researching and working with the language has become so far the only way to improve my English. In addition, this thread is to let people know that I'm around (as stated before) but this does NOT mean I'm sitting around and waiting for someone to contact me. It's like a two-way channel. While I'm around looking for projects, I'm having this up so as to let others who may not publicly looking for a position to be filled to contact me.

I write pretty much all the time. I write all kinds of stuff, all the time, and I sit around and fool around with various game creator programs un order to better understand the expansive work a designer has. But while all this going on, I'm merely letting people know that a dedicated, passionate and FREE writer is around in case they're looking for one.

As for the card game, it's actually reached past "concept stage". As I mentioned before, it's been (and still is being) beta-tested. There are around 60 cards available including two "hero" cards, along with spells, skills, equipments, monsters and a few other quirks I decided to add. They're also built to work rather well with the two hero cards (one being a Dark Knight and the other a Holy Knight). It feels like Magic: The Gathering, but plays quite differently. I think it should be playable through Magic Workstation Online. I haven't created the proper card design or anything yet, but I'll probably leave that to a graphic designer.

The game's basic concept was to minimize the amount of luck required to play the game well (a fairly well-built deck should require very little luck to play well). It was to focus more around a single card rather than the deck as a whole. To be more specific, the hero card isn't counted in your deck total, and the entire deck is more or less just things your hero can use. Finally, my vision would be to actually have it as a beautiful online flash game; that way, it's more like a "cheap" game. I hate the fact how you have to shell out hundreds of bucks to keep on playing a TGC. Replacing money with points is better, in my opinion. Gamers like it better that way =)



On a different note, I posted up something on my resume, but where do I view it? Who else can view it? Is it better if I post it here? I'm thinking about setting up the website for my CCG soon, as well. Have to get it copyrighted though... I think this game might be nice.
You'll get more offers if you post in the Help Wanted section of the forums then.
(http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/forum.asp?forum_id=8)

As people will invariably ask for examples: A site I find useful for hosting written material is www.fictionpress.com Its free, and easy to upload/edit your stories.

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