A Very Special Announcement
Self-reflection has lead to a revelation.
How To Write a Game is a free publication written by Ryan Matejka, an organic human who loves to write. If you like this, please consider making a small donation.
The Lie That I Believed
In storytelling, there is a concept known as “the lie your character believes” (a term coined by K.M. Weiland). This refers to the philosophy of a character that guides their decisions, creates conflict, and is challenged by the story's events. This lie is not something they are conscious of; it is something that the character has come to believe because it kept them safe and comfortable during an important time in their life. At the story's climax, after putting their lie to the test and seeing that it now causes more harm than good, the character is forced to decide to either continue to live in the old comfort of their lie or reject it in favor of the uncomfortable truth.
Last week’s issue of How To Write a Game was my plea for you to stop trying to write what you think you should write, what you think other people want, or what you think will make your story “perfect” and instead embrace authenticity.
Three years ago I was forced to confront some of the biggest lies that I believed. After wrestling with my worldview, I rejected the lies in favor of the truth. However, instead of being the climax of my story, it was only the inciting incident of a journey to re-examine everything I believed about life and myself, uncovering one truth after another. One of these truths came to me just over a month ago when I realized that I believed in the lie that it was foolish to pursue my deepest, most cherished dream and that I needed to be less authentic and more perfect.
On the surface, last week’s issue was about the importance of writing authentically. But below the surface, it was about why I have decided to stop writing How To Write a Game for the foreseeable future.
A Dream Rediscovered
Ever since I was about 13 years old, I have wanted to be a published author. Even before then, my greatest joy in life was to create people, worlds, and stories in my head. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of that dream, believing when other people told me that it was too difficult or too foolish to pursue. I attempted to redirect that dream into other forms of writing that I was told were more sensible, such as copywriting, content writing, and yes, video game writing.
To be clear: writing for video games was the absolute greatest experience in my professional life and something I would happily do again, but it feels like playing a really good game demo—I love it, but it’s incomplete.
For the past year, I have been slowly developing multiple ideas for novels, short stories, and screenplays, a handful of which I am very, very excited about. For over a month now I have been bringing my dream into clearer focus; identifying a path forward and what obstacles and distractions need to be removed to make the way forward clear.
How To Write a Game is simply one of those obstacles.
This Newsletter Has Been a Huge Success
I’ve accomplished more with How To Write a Game than I first thought I would. My initial goal was to write one issue each month for a year and I thought that maybe a dozen people would subscribe and read it. Now, a year and a half after I began, I am sending this last issue to over 90 subscribers. Believe me when I say that it is very, very difficult to walk away from that many devoted readers, though it is comforting to think that you’d all be notified if I return.
I have truly loved doing my part to share the craft and importance of good writing in video games, and I am honored to have gained such a following. If you want to continue getting emails from me, you’ll still be able to.
Follow My Creative Writing Journey
Nowadays a person can’t just walk into a publishing house, hand over a manuscript, and expect to be published. In this increasingly competitive world, a person with a built-in audience is seen as a much safer bet than one that nobody has heard of. As such, I’ve got to start building a following of people interested in my creative writing.
Fortunately, not only do I have professional experience as a Community Manager, but I was an active blogger for 11 years before starting this newsletter. I loved blogging and I got pretty good at it, but the Blogger platform didn’t make it easy for new readers to become regular readers. Fortunately, Substack seems to have that figured out.
If you’d like to follow my creative writing journey and learn more about the craft, you can subscribe to Scrawl Through the Void, follow me on Instagram, Threads, and maybe even Bluesky.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading. Keep on writing.
I'm only a recent subscriber, but it's awesome to see you take the leap to pursue what you really want! I am interested to see your creative endeavors, and wish you the best!