Gitfrog

BIRTHDAY GIRL'S BETRAYAL, also readable on my website.

A quick piece I made to give @narcissistcookbook on tour tonight ✨☀️

Hello womandotpng (killer name btw),

So, this is a great question because I'm a firm believer in "voice" being central to the craft of each individual writer/designer. The game designers that impacted the 2010's and me are the ones with the most distinct and enticing voices: Moran, Slattery, Dragon, the Bakers, Adler.

And I'd love to hear what they think about voice and such, but from my perspective, this way of writing that I do came about from being dissatisfied with what I was reading as a teenager. I read a lot of things off and online, watched too many movies and television shows, and in my head I was always thinking, "well, I would do this differently."

It's important to point out now, with many years of effort looking back, that what I was really doing is identifying the things about a work that I liked.

I didn't want to make my own Digimon Tamers, I just liked the setting and its nested media which set it apart from the previous two seasons of Digimon.

I didn't want to make my own FLCL, I just liked the snappy writing, the quick editing, the off-the-wall sci-fi, and, well, basically everything it was doing. (so much of my voice is me trying to be FLCL)

It's also important to point out that, in trying to make my own versions of these things, I was able to learn. Recreating, stealing, copying wholesale from the things I liked taught me so many things. And is still part of my process when it comes to sifting through a work and finding the bits and pieces I like.

So, in short:

Find what you like and like it well.

Copy and steal from it like it owes you money.

Throw away the stuff you don't like and keep only what you like.

Repeat until your voice feels like your own.

This will take time and so you kinda just gotta keep trudging. Especially if you're at a point where you hate your writing or don't think you'll ever succeed. Understand that feeling as part of the process and keep moving.

(Art by octosoup on Twitter)

perspective