"How can I start working for Sierra as a writer/designer? Who do I need to speak to about this?"

Submitted by: J.H.

Answered by: The Talemonger

"The deity of your choice. *grin*

"No, seriously, there's no easy answer to this one. As you can see from our earlier designer question, there is no guaranteed 'career path' to becoming a game designer or writer. Game designers come from all aspects of the gaming industry, as well as similar positions in unrelated companies.

"But there is one single factor which is absolutely, positively required for the job, and that's experience. When you consider that a game designer is responsible for shaping a project which will cost their publisher, on the average, about a million dollars (sometimes considerably more), you can see why they might be a little wary of putting an inexperienced person in the position.

"So how the heck can you get experience in design without a job as a game designer? Well, the traditional method is to start out as an Assistant Designer, which is to say that you do all the 'grunt work' of a project while the senior designer does the cool stuff. While he or she is deciding the functionality of the interface and engine, outlining the storyline, and detailing the gameplay features, you'll be neck-deep in research and bone-tired from generating endless documents and reports. It's far from glamorous, and the hours are terrible, but there's no better way to learn the trade than to study directly under an established designer. In the old pre-industrial days, this would have been called an apprenticeship. (Of course, they didn't have computer game designers in the pre-industrial days, but you get my point.)

"After you've survived two or three projects as Assistant Designer (each project taking a year or more), assuming that you've done your job well, haven't cracked under the stress of those end-project crunch months, and managed to avoid dissolving from the sheer amount of Mountain Dew you've ingested, you may be asked or allowed to submit a design proposal of your very own. If not, you'll certainly be eligible to apply for an open Designer position on an existing project or sequel!

"So at this point, you're probably wondering how to get one of those spiffy Assistant Designer jobs, right? Well... again, there's a catch. The senior designers rely very heavily on their assistants for everything from insightful creative feedback to in-depth knowledge of specification document formats to coordinating discussion between different segments of the development team. And that means a good assistant is one who is already intimately familiar with the game development process. Which means... yup, you got it... you can't get the job without previous experience.

"Here is an excerpt taken directly from the hiring requirements for Assistant Designer at Sierra On-Line:

College degree or equivalent plus 2 to 3 years experience in the game industry. Must have been extensively involved in one or more successful product development cycles and demonstrated strong organizational, communication and problem solving skills.

"I know, I know... 'Extensively involved? What does that mean?' Basically, it means that you have survived several years in the gaming industry in a non-design position. Commonly, this involves completing a couple of projects as a programmer, artist, or sound designer, but might also be applicable to a team QA lead or assistant producer. I've heard of Assistant Designers being chosen from the ranks of InterAction's journalist collection, and there's also a tale of one gent who made his way there from Tech Support. The important thing is getting into the industry, in whatever capacity you can, and picking up the necessary experience to understand game development inside and out.

"And, as if this wasn't enough to keep track of, there's also that bit about 'demonstrated communication skills'. Since the major portion of an Assistant Designer's job involves writing of one sort or another, it's important to prove to the company that you can churn out large amounts of text, and good text at that. So, no matter which 'starter' job you take in the industry, make the most of any opportunities you have to write! Reports, specifications, troubleshooting guides, Web summaries, press releases -- anything the company asks you to write, make that document the best thing you've ever written. Then, when you have some experience in your pocket and you apply for the Assistant Designer job, you'll be able to show off a portfolio of excellent writing samples.

"Whew! Long explanation. Sorry about that. One more thing, and then I'll let you get back to your regularly-scheduled browsing. At any given time, you can access a partial list of jobs currently available in the industry by going to the Cool Links portion of this website. If you see something you like, just send in a resume' and cover letter, and get your foot in the door!

"I'm going to run off now and scrounge another can of Mountain Dew, but first I'll add an interesting bit of info from Steve Bieler, who was an Assistant Designer before he became the editor of InterAction magazine. Hope you find it enlightening.

"Good luck to you!" - CindyV

Steve sez: "You know what prepared me for this job more than anything else? A lifetime of reading and writing! Read. Read a lot. And don't just read the stuff you've always read. Take an occasional chance outside your usual interests. Go to the library, wander around at random, and pick out a book on a subject you wouldn't normally read. Sit down with it for half an hour or an hour. Maybe you won't want to finish it; maybe you'll take it home. The point is to open yourself to the big world out there. Sometimes we have interests that we didn't even know we had!"

"Everything you read, even the stuff you forget, will settle into your brain. Sort of like compost in the garden!! Someday something will grow from it, something you might be able to use in a game."

"If you've haven't already tried writing, try it now. Write about what you did today. Make up a story. Make up an idea for a computer game. Don't worry, no one has to ever see it. This is batting practice. Take writing classes. I keep a list of every book I read in a year, and under each title I write a paragraph or two about why I liked or disliked the book. I've been keeping these lists since 1972! It's really inspiring to me to look back at all the books I've read. It might inspire you, too."

"I'll leave you with a true story. You may have read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. How did he get the idea for this book? He was visiting his little nephew one day and they were drawing on the walls (the room was due to be painted, so they weren't going to get in trouble for this). Stevenson started to draw a map of an island with an interesting shoreline, a snug harbor, dramatic cliffs, etc. He liked his map so much that he copied what he'd drawn into his pocket notebook (it was either that or saw a square yard out of the wall!). Stevenson had read a lot about pirates, and he'd already done a lot of writing, and this map that came from somewhere deep in his brain got him to thinking. The result was "Treasure Island." And a computer game could spring from your mind just the way that novel sprang from Robert Louis Stevenson's. You never know."

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