Game Writing at a Distance (aka Game Writing under Contract) - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 58

much the kind of thing people like about making your living as a writer. For those
so inclined, these lifestyle choices are their own advantage. Often the writer might
need to talk to someone at the game developer on instant message or the phone, but
the work can be solitary and productive. Following are some of the not-so-obvious
advantages.
You Can Work on Multiple Projects at a Time
Since you are a contractor, your time is truly your own. The developer is not buy-
ing your time; they are buying your work product. Assuming you can handle the
workload, you are able to work on multiple projects at the same time for multiple
developers. In fact, I don't know of any contract writer who doesn't take advantage
of this perk in some fashion. Most (if not all) the work you do is owned by the
developer you work for, so you need to keep at least the semblance of a “clean room�
approach to the work (meaning that you must be disciplined enough to not let the
work you are doing on one project creep into the work you are doing for another).
But with the odds being that the individual projects are different enough that the
mental “gear shifting� won't be too difficult, this is fairly easily accomplished.
Note: I have seen contracts stipulating that the writer can only work on the
contracted project and none other, or limiting the ability to accept a job in the same
genre (preventing the writer from working on two MMOs at the same time, for
example), but usually the developer understands this limits the writer's ability to
make a living and compensates the writer for the exclusivity. For that reason, this is
pretty rare in my experience. From the developer's point of view, the easiest way to
do this, if you are worried about the writer becoming spread too thin, is to simply
give the writer so much work and adequately compensate them that they don't have
the time to do anything else.
Experience Different Development Methodologies
The game industry is very young, even compared to other modern industries such as
the film industry. Our methodologies are changing and evolving at a rapid pace, and
different developers will follow a very individual path to the finish line of a shippable
product. If you are on staff, with games often taking two or more years to ship, it
becomes easy to see the only viable way to the finish line as the one you're using.
As a contractor, in the same two-year period that your on-staff colleague has used
only one development methodology, you might have worked on four or five titles and
seen (for both ill and good) a corresponding number of methodologies, even as they
pertain to your own job. This allows you to offer perspective and contribute in other
ways besides the words you write. Even if a particular developer isn't interested, you
have perspective on future job opportunities that allows you to be better at picking
situations you want to be a part of and those you don't.