How did you get into writing for video games?

There's no direct, tried-and-tested route into games writing. I got involved via a friend of a friend. I mentioned to a friend that I liked a particular children's book – he'd met someone at a party the previous evening who was planning to make a game a lot like that book and who was looking for a writer. He made the connection and there we were! Very much luck and right place, right time.

Journalism was equally fortuitous really. I published a novel, which was hard work, and my publishers set me up with some journalistic work. An editor on a newspaper had really liked my novel, so asked me to write more for her paper.

Is your writing process and your creative approach very different for the different media?

For me, novels aren't so much about logging hours and hours on any given day, but about consistency. Eight-hundred words a day, every day (including weekends). That's a first draft in six months, which works for me as a pace I can keep up. There's then a lot of rewriting and rethinking.

Journalism is often about speed and about producing an opinion quickly. I work on adrenaline, it’s good fun and there's not much time for rewrites.

Games are different again. They're very collaborative, involving working with a team in constant communication – it's great fun, though it'd drive me mad if I didn't also have the novels where I'm in full control.

With funding for the arts somewhat reduced at the moment, do you see gaming as a more attractive industry for young creatives?

I can't possibly lie: gaming is not a big-money industry for writers at the moment. And it's hard to get into. Games don't necessarily value their writers, even though games are making a lot of money! There are probably fewer writers able to earn their living as full-time games writers in the UK than full-time novelists. Having said that, it's a growing industry, and if you're passionate about games – and especially are willing to make indie games on a shoestring because you think you have a great idea – it's definitely worth giving it a go.

If someone had told you at 17 that you’d be making a living as a writer now, would you have believed them?

I would have been thrilled. By 17 I already knew that writing was what I wanted to do, but I didn't really believe I'd be able to make my living at it. I tried to write a novel when I was 15, managed to complete one when I was 19. So yeah, this was what I wanted.

The games have come as a surprise to me though. I loved games when I was a teenager, but I didn't know it was possible to make money [from] them at all.

What would be your top piece of career advice for young creatives? 

Make work. Finish work. Send it out into the world. Rinse, repeat. Don't get stuck working on the same piece over and over again. Make it as good as you can, finish it, work on something new. 

What would you recommend to a young person trying to break into writing online games?

I'm going to be teaching a course at the beautiful Arvon centre in Yorkshire with David Varela and Rhianna Pratchett at the end of January, so you could start there!

Otherwise, you should probably start by watching the Extra Credits series of web videos. Read Raph Koster's Theory of Fun and Rules of Play. Familiarise yourself with the Bartle gamer types. The best possible thing, though, is just to try to make your own small indie game! You'll learn so much more from doing that.

Naomi is leading the one-week course Writing for Games at Lumb Bank - The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, Yorkshire, from 30 January 2011 to 4 Febuary 2012. Book your place.