Geek Woman continues a series of interviews with women who work behind the scenes to present  large gaming conferences. This is an interview with the engaging Susan O’Connor, Scriptwriter and Chair person of the Game Writers Conference. She provides encouragement and enthusiasm for girls and women to play and write for games.

“I think it’s great that you’re providing girls with a window into the whole game-development world. It looks so mysterious on the outside – and it’s so crazy on the inside. ”  <i> Susan O’Connor
Scriptwriter</i>

<b> Geek Woman: </b> What title do you have at the Game Writers Conference ?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> I’m the chairman of the board, baby.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> Is the staff mostly women?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> I invited four people to join the advisory board. Two are men, two are women. It’s a great balance. They all bring something different to the table. Gender’s part of it, of course, but I also picked board members with different backgrounds. So, for example, one advisor is an independent writer, like me…one advisor is a creative director who works full-time for one company…one advisor works in MMOs, which are so different from single-player games…and one advisor HIRES writers. They’re all smart, dedicated, fun people, and they’re all writers. That was important. I wanted advisors who really understood writers. I feel lucky to be working with them.

And of course the event organizer, Cynthia Freese, is a woman! She’s an incredibly hard-working woman. She works closely with Chris Sherman, who runs the Austin Game Conference.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> How do you make this all happen?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> Lots of talking, asking, finagling, and jive-talking. Someone originally floated the idea on the IGDA Game Writers’ mailing list – sort of a casual “Hey what about Austin” comment. I’ve wanted to attend a game-writing conference for years – YEARS, people – and I live in Austin, so I jumped on it. I volunteered to take the idea and run with it, and  the game writers said “Sure.”  I asked all of my local friends to introduce me to the AGC organizers. One friend had a contact, he organized a meeting, I pitched the idea, they said Sure, and we were off. It started small, but it’s snowballed pretty quickly. We’ve had a great response – from advisors, from speakers, and from attendees.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> It  <i> is </i> a great idea. How long have you been running this event?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> This is the inaugural event, so it’s my first year. So far, so good – it’s been the highlight of my year, really. I think I have a knack for this stuff.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> How many people do you think will attend?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> Who knows? It’s  the first year, so anything’s possible. We can’t go wrong, because if we have an intimate gathering, people will have the opportunity to enjoy some in-depth conversations with industry superstars…and if it’s a mobscene, then we’ll have lots of fun at the bars. (Writers unite!!) I suspect we’ll have between 150 and 200 attendees, although for some reason the number 450 keeps coming to mind.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> What is game script writing?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> A game writer works with the development team to create the story, create the characters, and write the script. It’s as simple (and as complicated) as that. The job requires a lot of love for story, but of course you’ve got to understand game design and how a story plays out in a (virtual) three-dimensional space, where the “reader” (player) wants to be in charge of the action. It’s a fun job, one that we’re all inventing as we go along. It’s a lot like being a screenwriter in the 1920’s. When I get frustrated, I think of those playwrights from New York sitting in those Hollywood bungalows, clutching their pens, asking themselves “what the heck are these movie things anyway?” They figured it out eventually; so will we.

Game writers aren’t always involved in the project from beginning to end. So sometimes I help the team develop the overall story. Sometimes I take the designer’s concept and use it to write the script. And sometimes I just polish dialog. It’s all fun. As long as I’m writing, I’m happy.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> What careers are there available for young women who are interested in
writing for games?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> There aren’t many entry-level writing jobs (duh!). And the game world is small, a lot of people find work through personal connections. So if I were starting out, and I KNEW I wanted to write, I would look for a job in design or art or even production – just something to get in the door. I would make clear every step of the way “I’m a writer, you know.” And I would be ready to back that claim up with all my writing samples. Which means, of course, I would have to WRITE some writing samples. Scary, I know. But people hire writers based on their writing ability. You’ve got to show your work. Your samples don’t have to be game-writing samples, necessarily. Script samples are always good – things from film, TV, or even plays; you could even submit nonfiction, newspaper articles…anything that required you to string a few sentences together in a compelling way. If you’re a big Buffy fan, write a Buffy script.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> What type of courses or degrees would girls need to enter this field?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> I majored in Art History, which actually prepared me very well for my current career – I learned how to really LOOK at things, and I developed my ability to visualize and articulate. (Art History majors write a LOT of papers). And in my job, I have to be able to write a script that matches gameplay – which means I have to use my imagination. English, of course, is a no-brainer option. I started out as an English major, and I’m still a voracious reader. Personally, I would recommend a liberal-arts degree, but that’s because I’m a nerd, I like to learn, and lib arts majors see a nice cross-section of the world. You could study screenwriting, too. Architecture’s a great degree – when I first started working in this industry, all the designers I knew had architecture degrees! Makes sense – they’re moving people through 3-D spaces. I know that lots of schools now offer specialized game-dev degrees. That’s OK if you want to be a particle programmer, but writers need a rich imagination and a flexible mind, and for my money, lib arts is the way to go.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> What is the difference between a game writer and a game developer?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> One is a subset of the other. So, all game writers are game developers, but not all game developers are game writers.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> Do game writers have to know computer languages and code?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> If they do, I’m in big trouble!!

<b> Geek Woman: </b> Are you a gamer yourself? (If so do you belong to any clans or Guilds?
Do you play mostly with women or men?)

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> Honestly, I didn’t play many games until recently. The games I played in the late ‘90’s were pretty story-free, if you know what I mean. There were plenty of things to shoot, but no REASON to shoot (unless you count “he’s trying to kill me” as a reason). I love story, so these games bored me to tears. Happily, things have improved – dramatically. So many people are working hard to create magical, emotionally-engaging games…and I’m buying their titles as fast as I can.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> What are your favorite games?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> God of War, Psychnonauts, Beyond Good and Evil, Grim Fandango. I’m an automatic fan of pretty much anything Tim Schafer does. I’m a fan of the spit he spits on the sidewalk. If you’re reading this, go check out his games! He fights an uphill battle in this industry, and the dude is a visionary, he deserves all the support he can get.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> Do you consider yourself a ‘writer who writes for games’ or a ‘gamer
who writes scripts’, above all?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> A writer who writes for games. If I weren’t doing this, I’d be writing plays or novels or stuff for cereal boxes.

<b> Geek Woman: </b> Other stuff?

<b> Susan O’Connor </b> We have several women speaking at our conference. I never realized this before, but there a lot of female game writers! Nice, I say.

Geek Woman: Yes it sure is. We women love to read. It seems natural that women are game writers. Maybe I’ll be next!

The conference site: http://www.gamewritersconference.c om/

The IGDA writers website: http://www.igda.org/writing/

My portfolio site: http://www.susanmary.com/