Part 3 of 3, by David Gaider
Allow me to say a word about editing.
It is one thing to sit down and actually write a novel itself, and I think for many people their idea of how much work that encompasses ends there. You have pages and pages that need to be filled up with words. Tough stuff. That’s usually what people ask me first – how did you get through it? How did you fill up all those pages? The answer’s a bit pat: you just do. Seriously, you just do.
In fact, if I could offer any piece of advice to anyone struggling to complete their own piece of writing out there, it would be not to get caught up being a perfectionist. If you spend all that time making sure that every single page is a perfect little snowflake then you will simply never finish. You have to accept that some parts are going to be golden and some parts are going to be rough. Smoothing things out is what editing is for.
Which was an interesting process for me, and a rather fascinating one as going in I really didn’t know what to expect. I kind of imagined this ogre who would take my manuscript and send it back to me with entire chapters gutted, big red marks through everything and orders to change half the story. Yikes! Talk about feeling trepidatious. It turned out, however, that the editing process was much more collaborative than I thought it would be.
I had two editors, my regular editor and my copy editor. The regular editor was the person I worked with directly. She dealt both with larger story issues – are characters being developed well? Do the story arcs make sense? Does it flow well overall? – as well as smaller questions of continuity and grammar. Maybe not every editor works this way, I can’t really say just from the one experience, but certainly in this case it was much more a case of having a sensible second opinion, someone with a good eye. You can bounce ideas off your friends, and some of them will be fantastic editors and brainstormers both… but even the most well-meaning friend will eventually get glassy-eyed after the second hour of you talking about your book. They have their own stuff to do, and no matter how much they’d like to they really can’t spend all their time tracking down every last issue in your book and telling you so. An editor, however, gets paid to do that. They’re right in there with you (at least once you’re done the writing; you’ll need to get your own cheerleaders for writing the manuscript itself).
The copy editor, meanwhile, was the person who checked things like spelling and punctuation and even more grammar… and who looked for “echoes”. Echoes are words are phrases that you repeat too often, either too often throughout the entire manuscript or in too close a proximity to each other. Let me tell you, getting your manuscript back with all your echoes nicely highlighted in purple with a little tag next to it going “you might want to vary some of these” is a humbling experience. I had no idea I used some of those words that often. With the highlighting it became obvious that every character in my book was constantly spitting, glaring and clenching their teeth. They exchanged looks, glared, growled and even snarled – sometimes multiple times on the same page.
I also used the words “obviously”, “simply”, “attempted” and “began to” so often it was embarrassing, especially since many of those uses could simply be deleted without changing what I was trying to say. I padded my text. I used passive voice. I thought I knew these things and avoided them as a rule, but clearly I did not and I really had no clue that I did not.
So, wow. It was a good experience, I think, as both editors gave me a lot to think about. They worked with me to pound the book into much better shape, and I think overall it has made me a better writer. Every writer should go through that. I could easily imagine how an editor experience could also be bad, mind you, and I have little doubt there are plenty of horror stories to be found – but this one was fantastic.
I’m eager for people to see the final product. I’m eager at the idea that, for some people at least, their first dip into Thedas will be this novel. That’s an exciting thought. I’d love to go on about the whys and wherefores of the plot itself, but I suppose that will have to wait. Now I just get to cover my eyes and have an anxiety attack as the novel goes out there to be torn apart or adored as people will do.
Yikes. I suppose when Dragon Age: Origins itself goes out it will feel similar. Every game does (and Baldur’s Gate 2 will always be my first), but at least there I get to share my anxiety with the rest of the team – who I should thank, incidentally. There’s a lot of people I could thank for making the novel possible, but the Dragon Age team helped breathe the life into this world. I didn’t do it on my own. They made my job that much easier, as I didn’t have to work quite so hard to imagine what I was putting down on paper.
That will make the waiting a little easier to bear, I think.
David Gaider wisely prepared for a career in the games industry by first suffering from terminal boredom as a hotel manager. During that time he gamed as much with his friends as he could, and that paid off with a sweet little job writing for a company he’d never heard of before on a sequel to a computer game he’d never played. “It’ll last a few years, I guess,” he thought. Nine years later he is still at the same company, working as the Lead Writer on Dragon Age: Origins. Who knew?
Tags: dragon age, gaider, novel, writing
December 13, 2008 at 10:33 am |
Wow, what a beautiful, inspirational blog! Man… You sure have the most awesome job in the entire world. It is my absolute dream to become a writer at BioWare. It is the one thing I want to achieve during my lifetime. Unfortunately, I’m an unknown, little Belgian teenager whose parents share a grudge against videogames and everyting that has to do with it. They’re intent on making me change my mind about it: they believe writing stories for videogames is the dream of a 3-year old child. But it is my dream, and that is why I look up to you so much (and all the other writers at BioWare). You actually did it. And the thought that despite my talents (I’ve been told by many a reader I’m really good) I will never be able to do what I do best and like to do most for a living depresses me. Reading about what you do, and how you do it really, really makes me jealous of you.
Strange you first worked as a hotel manager. I thought you needed some kind of degree to become a professional creative writer, no? But that makes it even cooler. It’s really a shame that there isn’t a single gaming developer in my country. Otherwise I’d certainly go beg for a chance to try me out. This blog is a real inspiration, man! I hope to see more of them.
December 14, 2008 at 12:12 pm |
It’s not impossible, Nils. BioWare has hired folks from Israel, Russia, Korea, New Zealand — we spread the net pretty far and wide to find good people. I don’t know that we’re actively looking for writers at the moment, but that doesn’t mean we never will. Submissions are always welcome. And if there’s any advice I can offer on a submission, it’s just to keep it simple. Simple and yet distinctive enough to be noticeable. A single quest with some good choice & consequences, maybe a nice twist and some decent writing is FAR preferable to someone planning out a story for an entire expansion or full game. Trust me, you won’t start there.
And incidentally, my parents were never keen on the video games either. They always referred to whatever I was playing as “that D&D stuff” and lamented that it would never lead me anywhere or get me a proper job. Now they sigh and nod every time I remind them of that. It’s very sweet.
December 16, 2008 at 7:56 am |
In Belgium you’ve got Larian Studios. It’s not Bioware, but they make cRPGs and were running a story contest until yesterday. There are lots of other studios in Europe that make cRPGs that run story contest all the time. Maybe you could try some and maybe get paid for it, it’d be a great way to begin your career.
I know, i know, my english sucks. Sorry about that.
December 18, 2008 at 7:45 am |
I appreciate this blog and your thoughts especially. Writing has long been a passion of mine, so it is good to read your process as someone with a career in this field.
Naturally I’m commenting because I have a question, of course. What kind of advice would you give someone who wants to write for video games, in terms of career path? It’s not like some other fields, where you know the papers you’ll need published or the exams you’ll need to take in order to get into a decent postgraduate program. I guess I could get into the fast-paced world of hotel management, but that might be too intense for me.
It’s difficult to know how to build skills and gain experience when there don’t seem to be any entry-level positions available. I assume there is a magical secret that will make everything simple and easy.
December 18, 2008 at 11:44 am |
Wow, that comment of Nils’ really touched. I know that it must sound VERY cliché, but you REALLYREALLY should try and achieve your dream(s). I mean, that’s pretty much everything we have here in this world. Why on earth you “should” become something ordinary and “proper” that might not interest you in the least. As a teenager, I used to think that “Oh well, dreams are nice and they keep you going and all that”. But now, a couple years later I have started to understand that there really isn’t anything you “should” do. Just aim for the things you want. The more you think of it, the more absurd any other choice seems. And I promise, you’re not going to be disappointed: ask David if you don’t believe me ^^.
And to David (and Biowarians), great blog! I really enjoy reading your thoughts, you all really seem to enjoy what you do at Bioware. That makes me kinda happy, as it would be quite sad if the makers of the best games in universe didn’t seem like they like their job =). And your games being the best really isn’t just a saying for me, I really mean it (lol, I just installed BG1 once again to play the whole saga… It seems I just can’t let it go…).
Happy Christmas for you folks!
December 19, 2008 at 5:10 am |
Hello, Dave. Old Role-Player from the Codex forums here, if you remember. If you don’t – or prefer not to – that’s alright
Still, I’m not part of the staff anymore, so maybe
To be honest, I can’t say I have much anticipation for the novel but I *am* genuinely interested in seeing how it goes for you; it’s not uncommon to find criticism towards videogame writing, and even more criticism towards videogame-based novels. In particular, I’d like to see how you will handle the standard fantasy archetypes that will be featured in the novel as well as a personal project; sometimes, it’s not easy to create something that stands as your own when the background work must adhere to some guidelines.
December 19, 2008 at 5:11 am |
Seems the post cut my words.
*so maybe that will open some conversation.
January 8, 2009 at 4:48 am |
I’ve been mildly watching Dragon Age development for some time now, and I can honestly say that this blog alone has really got my interest going for the game, time to take a closer look. Also after reading your thoughts and feelings regarding a DA novel I will certainly be getting my hands on it as soon as it comes out.
January 8, 2009 at 10:42 am |
It was very interesting watching David go through the process of writing a book for the first time. His motto was bascially ’sit down and write’ and that’s what he did. I’m sure most everyone who plays RPGs has thought about doing a serious bit of writing at one time or another and see a friend actually finish a novel was really impressive.
January 14, 2009 at 4:50 pm |
As one of the few who were fortunate enough to read it as it was written, I was amazed by what David produced. The story is wonderful and I hope everyone loves it as much as I did. I can’t wait to actually have it sitting on my bookshelf. Who knows, I might even play the game when it comes out.
January 15, 2009 at 6:09 am |
I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
I have been following this game with great interest since I first heard about it.
February 19, 2009 at 5:11 pm |
I admit I was dubious at first but I have to say that was a wonderful insight and an enjoyable read. I, like almost everyone else, is trying to find a way to get a story down on paper…dodging obstacles and distractions along the way though I do tend to hit more than I evade. Encouraging to know this is not uncommon and whether you meant to or not you did give some inspiration. Ironic that this occurred while browsing the Internet, the number one distraction. One second…is that a lolcat over there?
Thanks for the blog.
I am now, officially, looking forward to both the novel and the game.
March 3, 2009 at 11:41 am |
Congrats on the book release today!
March 9, 2009 at 6:59 pm |
Thanks for writing this inspirational, yet thruthful, article…
I think that it has given me a lot of clarity on where to take myself and my “dreams/wishes”, next…
“Whether that be in the far reaches of space [a "dubious" thought indeed], or in a place a little closer to this world, I.E. Thedas…”
— Dale G. [Sir Mordred]
March 21, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
I just finished The Stolen Throne.
More, please!! What a wonderful book! I don’t mean to insult other authors when I say that this didn’t feel like a ‘book based on a game’ at all. First rate stuff. Sign me up for anything else you’re working on.
April 18, 2009 at 9:37 am |
This has been a very interesting read mr Gaider!
Writing is a passion of mine, probably like most of the people commenting your blog and it was very interesting to hear about the dynamic between writer and editor. I can relate to your trepidation. I share a similiar sensation when I write but then it’s the veil of failure looming over my shoulder commenting on my every sentence and story-arc.
What your blog also accomplished, I believe, is that it gave people more hopes. It showed that you can get to where you want as long as you try.
May 6, 2009 at 6:54 am |
Great blog, and I love to see the way some people think, and your blog really shows how you approach the task at hand and go at it!
I have bought the novel immediatly when I saw there was one, because I think the Dragon Age world is an interesting one and I cant wait when it drops in the mail so I can devour it, I think the love in which it was made will really show, and I am really anxious.
It is also great to hear you say to Nils how he should follow his dreams, and that it is not impossible. Because like someone else said no matter how cliche it might be its also very true for a lot of us, I am at the exact same position so it was beautfiull to see you comment on that!
I am right now posting this at work, being at a place I really dont want to be, and its not the first time, but hopefully the last time I am forcefully working somewhere for the money but not for the love and for the fun of it.
But nonetheless cant wait for more inspirational and great blogs to read, good luck with everything!
May 18, 2009 at 12:38 am |
Man! finally you’re book has come in, I’ve began readin it, and couldnt stop. I really mean it, didnt expect anything like this because this being the first Fantasy book I have ever read, dont know why I have never did it before since I love the genre. It really feels like a well thought out mini LOTR esque epoch, it reads like a movie where you want to see what happens after every turn. I can really visualise everything I read in your book, and it really is awesome. Cant wait till work is over and I can dive in your world again, thank you!