I don’t play a lot of video games.  It’s not that I don’t like them.  Rather, I tend to get sucked into them, and either I spend way too much time getting that dopamine hit from completing tasks, building levels, etc., — or I eventually hit the point where my hand-eye coordination just isn’t up to the challenge.

I think fiction writers and screenwriters can learn a lot from how story and worldbuilding is approached in video games.  (And I’m not just talking about how some of the most popular recent movies have been based off video games, or about tie-in books.  Though that certainly does prove a point about how important elements can be transferred through different media.)

With games, story starts with the character in motion, exploring the world and learning about it as her skills level up interacting with it.  There may be an intro level that is basically a tutorial for how the controls work, but even that will also generally introduce the story.  You can get a good idea what skills will be needed later on, and what worldbuilding elements are going to be important to the overall story right from the tutorial level.  Pay attention to those bats that seem to be hanging in every corner.  Look a bit closer at the posters about endangered whales and damage to the ecosystem.  If something feels ominous or out of place — there’s a good bet it’s going to be bigger than it seems, and go horrifically wrong later.  With a game, there’s so much visual space to fill — and yet, the important elements stand out.  If there is some element that stands out.  That’s the thing that your character is working toward obtaining or the direction your character is trying to go.

On the page, you don’t have to worry about the reader’s eye being drawn to the wrong things.  Instead, you fill in worldbuilding detail in a way readers can remember, and you build their knowledge and skill within the world through the eyes of the protagonist.  Draw your character’s eye to the important elements of the story and your reader will be able to follow right along..

How do you get started when you haven’t written in a while, or if you have finished a long project and are looking into something new?  How do you limit your characters so that they have something to work around?  How do you choose new projects?  How attached do you find yourself getting to specific story ideas?