Raph Koster
Game designer; wrote A Theory of Fun for Game Design and worked on Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies.
A Poetry Handbook by Babette Deutsch
I am tempted to also mention Babette Deutsch's A Poetry Handbook , even if you don't plan to write verse, because anyone who wants to master cadences of language, and the use of techniques of rhythm, assonance, and the like, would benefit from poetic training.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
For general writing books, among many others I like John Gardner's The Art of Fiction and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. They perhaps tend a little more literary than others.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
Character Development and Storytelling for Games by Lee Sheldon
My favorite book specific to games writing in particular is Lee Sheldon's Character Development and Storytelling for Games .
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
Hamlet on the Holodeck by Janet Murray
From a less practical and more visionary side, Janet Murray's classic Hamlet on the Holodeck should be eye-opening as regards the possibilities for storytelling using interactive and immersive media.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
If you really want to delve into genre fiction, as many games do, Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy has a lot of good material in it, regardless of what you think of the author's politics.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
Making Movies Work by Jon Boorstin
That said, for cinematic thinking, I really like Jon Boorstin's Making Movies Work , since it goes beyond writing and into cinematic storytelling in general.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
On Writing by Stephen King
Moving more towards populist writing, Stephen King's On Writing is also quite excellent, and more in touch with many of the sorts of stories that games tend to tell.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
For general writing books, among many others I like John Gardner's The Art of Fiction and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. They perhaps tend a little more literary than others.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler
Christopher Vogler's distillation and updating of Campbell in The Writer's Journey is worth a look, even if it is still hammering on the monomyth.
on raphkoster.com · 5 Mar 2016 · Report
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann
It's sort of like Connections but for world history since that date, with a huge emphasis on the way globalization changed the world.
on raphkoster.com · 19 Jan 2012 · Report
The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You by Eli Pariser
In short, this book is about the fact that we have set up our digital world to lie to ourselves. Repeatedly. We have built it, step by step, to confirm our biases and to never show us anything that troubles our placidity.
on raphkoster.com · 19 Jan 2012 · Report
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick
It begins with African talking drums and the curious poetry they contain embedded in their beats, and from there embarks on a tour of all of information theory.
on raphkoster.com · 19 Jan 2012 · Report
Everything Raph Koster recommends — not just books — on rcmnd →