The best advice I have is keep writing, keep practicing, keep winning, losing and understanding the difference. Never stop learning, never stop pushing yourself. Then find yourself a team you can work well with and help make awesome things happen.
In regards to being female, I don't really think about it in the same way that other people do. I prefer to focus on my job rather than my gender. I'm still amazed that people think it's a big deal.
You can't have bravery without fear...
Creativity comes from the part of the brain that is veritable soup of experiences, memories and influences. We really don't like to start questioning exactly where it comes from, in case it stops coming.
There's a moment on the arch of a jump, when you are neither rising nor falling. All you can see is the sky. All you can feel is the air and all you can hear is your heartbeat. That is all you are. Muscle and motion. It's called the deadpoint. I live for that.
I think it would be a great challenge to work on a military game which featured a female lead character. Since female soldiers are now being allowed on the frontlines, we're actually in danger of reality overtaking games!
There's always a lot of pressure with big projects and so as a writer you have to be robust and flexible, with a tough hide.
I am terribly British. Especially in the eyes of Americans. I drink several gallons of tea a day, I'm often excessively polite and it's only through many years of expensive and painful dental work that I don't have bad teeth.
I enjoy co-directing or even being there just for support because you get to see your script come to aural life in front of you.
A lot of young girls don't realise how diverse the career opportunities are in games development. Many think that you need elite math skills and a vast knowledge of all things tech to work in games, and haven't thought about avenues like design, producing, art, writing or composing.
Generally I wouldn't accept work on projects where I didn't agree with the sensibilities behind the main character.
Games aren't created by writers rocking up to developers saying 'I have this great game story.' It's about establishing relationships and working hand in hand to create something wonderful.
Traditionally games never used professional writers to create their narrative, so there's definitely a residual feeling that hiring a proper writer is somewhat of a luxury, rather than a necessity. Like a feng shui consultant.
Videogames need more women and are too reliant on male, stubble-covered heroes.
I think it's essential for writers to be involved in the recording process as things can often go wrong in this area. Voice actors are all too often presented with a wad of XL sheets, no proper character notes, context or reference and are just expected to perform.
They are very good reasons why voice acting in games can be so terrible. Writers are in a great position to be able to bridge this gap.
By the time a writer comes onto a project (if they're being hired as a contractor) the main character has usually been designed, as that's always done during a project's pitching stage.
I like to make all my characters interesting. Be they male, female or creatures unknown.
Larger game teams are often a bit more experienced at working with writers, which is often a huge relief. However, it also means that there are more people wanting to wander around the narrative kitchen telling you how you should be making your story pies.
There's the underlying feeling that writing must be easy, because it's all about putting letters together. That's only true in the same way that programming is all about putting numbers together.
I can pretty much spend an entire week talking about how the writing process works, to be honest! It can really vary from project to project and is often dependent on when you're brought on board, the genre, the platform and the narrative desires of the project.
