5 Tips on Writing: With Christopher Morrison
An award-winning writer/director in multiple medias/forms Christopher has worked on films, theatrical productions, VR, videogames, and immersive entertainments on four continents and more than 200 projects. He’s worked as a writer and in script development in the US as well as Europe and is fluent in both systems of funding. He’s had his own projects produced in five separate countries. His VR branching narrative “The Werewolf Experience” was one of three VR pieces to play the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 and has been seen on three continents. His next VR project “Drunk Zombie Duelists” received a grant from the Dutch government to shoot its proof of concept in 2021.
It was also selected for the Stereopsia Booster program the same year. His feature film ‘The Bellwether’ was released in 2019 and has been seen over 80,000 times. He has written and directed 360° films as well. He has been commissioned for screenplays and plays alike. He is a “Narrative Designer” as well and has written/designed for multiple videogames ranging from indie to AAA. Cirque du Soleil called him “A huge asset to the creative process.” He frequently speaks on new forms of storytelling, recently addressing the House of Lords in England and has spoken at film festivals, XR, and videogame conferences alike. He is a XR mentor for SXSW. He is an Adjunct II Professor at the California College of the Arts where he teaches Immersive Storytelling.
Hooking Your Audience
Authenticity. Write something that is from your authentic self and not fit to some formula. Commit to what you are doing and, if needed, build in some kind of tutorial (and don’t be ashamed about that). Let us know the rules of your world/story and that we’re in good, solid hands.
Mastering Plot Development
Again, you do not have to conform to some prefabricated path in order to develop plots that folkx will love and follow. If you’re working on something that breaks the ‘rules’ be consistent in your own ‘rules’. Feel free to follow different types of shapes for your underlying structures: wave, cellular, ripples, fractal, spirals are all great shapes to play with.
Effective World-Building Strategies
NK Jemisin calls it finding your ‘X-factor’ for your world. For the X-Men it is the, literal, X-gene. For Blade Runner it is rainy cyber-punk milieu and Replicants. For Jemisin’s own Broken Earth it is Geomancy. Dig into your X-factor and explore it to its limits. (This can also be for traditional fiction, not just speculative. For the TV show ‘Atlanta’ the X-factor is exploring what it means to be Black in America.)
Techniques for Character Development
Humans are complex creatures that regularly tell on themselves, say one thing and do another, and are heartbreakingly present and honest. Let your characters do all these things and not just boil them down to their costume/outfit. PS: Subtext is for cowards.
Crafting Meaningful Decisions
Work away from binary choices… and that doesn’t just mean having more than two choices. It means that the choices you present the player will actually effect either: play or character perception. If the outcome of the choices are obvious just from how the choices are presented then you do not actually have choice (or, certainly, meaningful choices). For maximum effect choice must reflect life… we can’t know the perfect outcome of our choices in life… muddy that in your game as well and you’re on your way to meaning.
What are your strengths in writing and narrative design?
I’m becoming very good at cutting through the traditional forms and arriving at something authentic to me. There’s so much out there that can deliver meaning away from the Aristotelean 3-act and the Campbell trap of the Hero’s Journey. I’m also good at sentiment. As I stated above one of my new guiding stars is: Subtext is for Cowards.
Exploring Favorites
Come on, folkx. Impossible.
Let’s see, coming to mind right now is the amazing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Not just b/c it’s the gold standard for comedy in sci-fi… but it’s amazing flexibility.
It started as a radio program! Then a record. Then a series of books. Then a text adventure video game. Then a TV mini-series. Then more books and comics. Then a feature film. And was hilarious, poignant, and brilliant in every form. What other story has done that?
But there’s a million more I could’ve put here.
Which games or stories have you worked on?
I’ve worked on over 200 projects so… yikes. But in video games I worked on:
Ary and the Secret of Seasons
Blooming Business: Casino
Dying Light 2
Outcast 2
And a few others under NDA.
I also wrote and directed my feature film: ‘The Bellwether’
My VR piece “The Werewolf Experience” is playing in Tokyo.
A Wish for Interactive Audio Stories
“Spiritfarer” would be a lovely interactive audio story. For those that aren’t familiar SF is a cozy game where you collect souls and assist them to their eternal rest while you build your boat to make it more comfortable for said souls as you work to release them. Yeah. THAT. 😉
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