My blog on getting a job in game-writing was too long so I split it up. The main article is here.

Okay, this is where the bullshitting ends. Everything above was about getting your foot in the door, without having to prove anything. But your samples are what you’ll need to get the actual interview / on the shortlist / be sent Larian’s insanely long and involved writing test.

It’s up to you if you have both a sample folder and a portfolio, as they fulfil the same function – providing evidence for the arguments you made in your covering letter. I have both, with slightly difference functions.

The word portfolio is ambiguous – it literally means ‘carry flat’. In art, it’s simply a set of work samples carried in a large flat case. For me, it’s a list of completed projects and it’s hosted here, on my website. It should have descriptions of what I achieved on each one… but it doesn’t always, because no-one’s perfect. However, for many people, this is synonymous with a sample folder.

The sample folder is a collection of a huge array of your writing. It isn’t designed to be sent ‘as is’ – it’s more a repository of samples for you to choose from when sending applications out.

I break my samples down into three categories: game writing, narrative design, and other writing.

• In game writing, I put samples that cover a range of ranges.
  • First, fiction genres – fantasy, science-fiction, historical, real world.
  • Second, standard forms of game writing – quest text, item descriptions, barks, dialogues…
  • Third, game genres – RPG, 4X, action-adventure, text adventure
• In narrative design, contested as it is, I put everything that doesn’t actually go in the game:
  • documentation, planning, requests for systems, worldbuilding, seasonal plans, internal communications, etc.
• In other writing… I put everything else.
  • Books, journalism, blogs, marketing copy, fiction, screenplays…

And that’s my sample folder. When I apply for a job, I find a handful of samples that most closely

• a) fit the specifications for the game I think I’ll be working on,
• b) show off a wide range of skill sets and styles, and
• c) hint at the extra stuff I could bring to the role, compared to the average writer.

Those, plus a custom covering letter and customised CV are the core of the application.