Writing in a Team - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 76

Bob, another writer, suggests they compromise by emphasizing the character's role,
rather than her personality. Since the character is a healer, they agree to dress her in
green. The solution works, so they agree and move on to more pressing concerns.
Although Joe and Sally didn't get what they were most passionate about, they don't
feel like they lost more than they gave.
Instances when compromise works best include the following.

• When time is short but you still want others' input.

•

When the issue is important but not a hill to die on.

• When you have no or low ego concerns on your team.

•

When team members prefer to work collaboratively.

Drawbacks. After compromising, sometimes both parties are left feeling like they
lost. When the compromise is imposed from somewhere up the chain of command,
writers may be confused about what just happened, but complaining about it is
counter to team-building. You want to avoid compromising your game into medi-
ocrity, but remember to take changes as a challenge for excellence, not a personal
insult.

Ownership
Ownership as a way to manage teams has yet to hit the dictionaries, but it is already
a hallmark of the game industry. Also known as the “compartmental� approach (see
Section 8.9), assigning ownership is the act of giving a project to one person who
is ultimately responsible for its successful completion. Ownership allows writers to
pour their passion into their work and take pride in it. For that reason, ownership is
a great way to manage ego and makes it easy to track progress, because there's only
one person to ask. Ownership allows a writer to tell his or her story without the
drawbacks of working in committee.
A writer with ownership of a project may act like a mini-producer, making sure
systems, level design, and art can support the story, characters, and dialog. Even if
the writer isn't coordinating with other types of developers, the writer with ownership
may very well need to enlist other writers to complete the task at hand. Here are a
few tips on how a writer can do just that.

1. Practice good salesmanship. While you own a project, you will need to sell your
ideas to everyone you enlist to aid you. The more excited you can get them
about your idea, the more time and effort they will put into it. Remember,
also, that good salesmanship does not end with the sale. Follow-up with thanks
for their work speaks volumes.

2. Ask for and listen to feedback from peers, with reservations. No matter how
fabulous your story is, you will want to get feedback from your peers. You