Gamewriting!

Many people who aren't staff want to do things previously done only by staff. Games have had an excess of overpowered SPCs and rigid flows lately.

Those two things are related, because they'd both be helped by a Gamewriting Workshop!

And such a thing would be pretty easy to pull off, I think. We've got plenty each of experienced gamewriters and people who have ideas for games. All we really need to do is put them all in the same place, with some writing materials, and maybe a few people to keep them on task, and awesome game submissions will happen!

On the subject of game submissions, let me outline what generally goes into them:

• World Background. Where do the events of the game occur? A game can take place anywhere from Arkansas to Pluto to a universe of your own creation, but not if you don't describe it! What is the landscape like? Who lives there? What's the history?
  
• Characters. You can't have a game without them! You don't necessarily have to write a detailed description of every single one, though. A description of each group of characters is fine for a game submission. And there's always the option of letting your players make their own characters.
• Flow. What happens in the game? This one can be a bit confusing, because it's incredibly difficult to predict what the players will do. A good flow is structured enough to give the characters things to do, but flexible enough not to fall apart if the characters do unpredictable things. (Which they do. You can count on it.) A written flow can take a number forms: A chart of events, a narrative, a series of separate goal lists for each group and/or character, even a flow-chart! (Pun definitely intended.)
  
• Game Conventions. Is there magic? Super-advanced technology? If so, what does it do?
  
• Teaser. A story, a picture, a short film, anything that people see and, as a result, want to play your game.
• A couple miscellaneous things: Note whether your game is a Bootleg (outdoors with combat and adventures) or Tavern Scene (indoors with no combat and only social adventures). Also, use correct grammar and spelling. It doesn't matter how awesome and fleshed-out your submission is; run-on sentences and a lack of capitalization will make it look silly.

So that's how you write a game submission! Bear in mind that this isn't an official Call For Stories; I'm just giving all you aspiring gamewriters an idea of how to go about making game submissions.