Getting the Work Done - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 84

write three novels in a month and a half, and you're not going to write one video
game in that time, either. Respect the enormity of the task and scope your projects
realistically.

9.2 Eating an Elephant One Spoonful at a Time
The only way to tackle something this big is to break it into smaller pieces. Oth-
erwise, you'll face an initial project paralysis and a final frenzied kamikaze attack at
the end. Don't try to do everything at once. Every project is different and every
person will split things up differently. When I worked on Bratz: Forever Diamondz ,
I worked on one level at a time, then on the mini-games within each level, and on
barks last. On ArchLord , I edited all the quest dialog and broke it up by the average
length of the lines. There were 1500 short ones, 2500 medium-length ones, and
1200 long ones. The short ones were fewer than ten words, the medium ones were
between ten and twenty words, and the longer ones were, well, longer.
When you've divided the overall project up into smaller pieces, make a task list.
Consider using a spreadsheet or project-management software. It will be most useful
if you include the following specific information about each task.

•

Detailed descriptions of each task. This task list will be with you a long time.
Don't let a vague description cause confusion down the road.

• Time estimates. Guess how long you think each section will take to complete.

As the project progresses, compare your estimates with actual hours spent and
adjust future estimates as necessary.

•

Approval/edit lists. If anybody needs to look things over and approve them—
or if you're lucky enough to have someone editing your work—provide a place
in your task list to specify which day feedback and approval was requested and
when it was given. If more than one person gets approval, provide a slot for
each person on each task.

• Their contact information. Sure, you have it written down somewhere else, but

when you realize it's been three weeks since you sent in the last segment and
you haven't heard anything back, the last thing you want to do is go find that
phone number in that email they sent three months ago.

• Deadlines. Set specific deadlines for each task and hold yourself to them. Re-

member to check your estimates to make sure you're not working 30-hour
days. Don't give every task the same deadline and give yourself some wiggle
room. Nobody estimates perfectly.

• Collaboration details. If you're working with other writers, include their con-

tact information and a description of what they're contributing.