The writer's guide to making a digital living PDF
Preview The writer's guide to making a digital living
Australia Council for the Arts December 2008 The writer’s guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure 2 The writer’s guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure __________________________________________________________________________ Australia Council for the Arts 2008: published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License Publication: December 2008 Authors: Therese Fingleton, Christy Dena, Jennifer Wilson Project Sponsor: Josie Emery Commissioning Editor and Project Manager: Therese Fingleton Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 3 Acknowledgement In 2006, the Australia Council for the Arts launched Story of the Future to support writers to develop new media writing and business skills and to create new work for commercial take-up. This guide has been developed as a discrete project of Story of the Future. The authors acknowledge the contribution of the Australia Council for the Arts and key program partner the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS). The authors also wish to thank the interviewees who generously contributed to this publication. Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 4 Disclaimer This guide includes references, comments and projections regarding the topic of the craft and business of new media writing. The recipient acknowledges that these references, comments and projections reflect assumptions by the authors concerning the future, which may or may not prove correct. The Australia Council for the Arts and its directors and officers, and the authors of this guide expressly disclaim any liability, representations or warranties express or implied contained in this publication or any omissions from it. This guide is no substitute for legal advice and anyone seeking to rely on any of its contents should obtain their own legal advice. ISBN 978-1-920784-44-7 Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License This entitles the reader to : Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work Remix — to adapt the work Under the following conditions : Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes . Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only unde rthe same or similar license to this one. Any reuse or distribution must include the following attribution : Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008,T he writer’s guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council fort he Arts [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguid]e For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a nli k to this web page [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au/]. Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights. Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 5 About the authors Therese Fingleton Therese Fingleton has over a decade of local and international ICT experience, gained as a project manager, IT consultant and producer. She currently manages the Story of the Future project at the Australia Council for the Arts; a federal education and development program for writers and producers. In recent roles Therese has worked with diverse groups including artists, educators, young people and entrepreneurs; presented at the national Connecting UP and Making Links conferences in Adelaide and Sydney; been an online moderator for Oxfam’s International Youth Parliament and worked as an ICT adviser for a remote indigenous community in Guatemala. Therese currently sits on the National Steering Committee of MEGA (Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance). Christy Dena Christy Dena is a cross-media specialist who works as a narrative and game design consultant and educator. She has worked as an advisor, MC, presenter, judge and mentor for the Story of the Future initiative and has mentored at AFTRS Laboratory for Advanced Media Production (LAMP), Booranga Writers Centre and De Montfort University. For the past few years she has been giving presentations on the design of cross-media projects to organisations including Nokia, Australia Council for the Arts, Film Australia, Centre for Screen Business, AFTRS, ABC, ACT Filmmakers Network, Film and Television Institute, IGDA Brisbane and the Web Standards Group. She is currently completing her PhD at the School of Letters, Art and Media, University of Sydney. Christy’s bio site is at [www.ChristyDena.com] and her design-oriented blog and podcast is at [www.UniverseCreation101.com]. Jennifer Wilson Jennifer Wilson is the principal at Lean Forward, consulting in the area of engaging consumer experience, mobile and online, with a key focus on social engagement and soft personalisation. Lean Forward undertakes bespoke development in this area and assists companies in navigating the commercial minefield of the digital environment. Jennifer’s previous roles included Head of Innovation for ninemsn, where she investigated developments in engagement, interaction, social networking, user generated content and other new technologies and how these shape our interactive futures. Prior to this, she was Managing Director of HWW, content provider and developer of online and mobile sites, including yourTime™. Jennifer has over 20 years in interactive communications and sits on the National Executive of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA). Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 6 Welcome ____________________________________________________________________________ Who should use this guide This guide is a professional development resource for creative writers. Its primary target audience is any writer (young or old, emerging, mid-career or established) in Australia or overseas, who aims to earn income as a professional creative writer and is interested in how the new media industry can enhance their craft skills and income earning potential. The secondary audience is any artist or practitioner (producer, games developer, publisher, funding body) whose work may be informed by this resource. The aim in developing this guide is to create a freely available and widely accessible repository of knowledge and information on the theme of professional creative writing in a digital context. While acknowledging that writers often balance their creative writing with other professional writing such as journalism, or entirely separate careers in other fields, this guide is focused on what you do as a professional creative writer. For the purposes of this guide we identify three broad career paths for professional creative writers and tailor advice accordingly. These are: • employed – writers within an organisation or company, who do not retain any intellectual property (IP) or ownership of copyright and do not have complete creative control, but do earn a regular salary from creative writing, e.g. games writers • self-employed – novelists, poets and any kind of author whose work is published by a third party and who earn a royalty from their IP; authors and performance writers who are the writers on other people’s projects or who develop their own concepts and take them to a film, theatre or new media production company, or direct to a broadcaster or online publisher to be produced. These writers possibly retain ownership of copyright depending on the contract and usually work on time-limited projects so have to also generate new business for themselves on an ongoing basis (selling the next idea or winning the next contract) • entrepreneurs – writers who develop an entire business around professional creative writing, often with a business partner or team and usually with some investment from third parties. These writers Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 7 definitely maintain ownership of copyright and have a greater ability to exploit it more easily in other areas. They must understand how to run and structure a business and be prepared to attract investors and sell their idea(s). We also identify three broad types of writing in the new media industry: • digital content such as computer games and interactive fiction • digital and traditional media combinations such as cross-platform storytelling • digital content to increase the reach and market of traditional media (traditional media is the term used to describe print media such as books and magazines, and TV, film and theatre). The terms digital and new media are used interchangeably in this guide . How to use this guide In devising the focus of this publication, we have identified three professional writing career types: employed, self-employed and entrepreneurs; and three types o fnew media industry writing: digital, cross-platform and promotional : The diagram at the beginning of each chapter will guide you to those that are most relevant to you now and in the future as your needs and interests change. If the chapter is not particularly relevant to one of the career or writing types it will appear lighter than those that are : Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 8 Contents ____________________________________________________________________________ WELCOME ...........................................................................................................................6 THE NEW MEDIA INDUSTRY ...........................................................................................19 CRAFT – PART 1: NEW WRITING....................................................................................49 CRAFT - PART 2: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ....................................................67 COPYRIGHT IN NEW MEDIA ........................................................................................100 MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION – PART 1 ...............................................................116 MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION: PROMOTION – PART 2.......................................127 DIY PART 1 – CONCEPT TO COLLABORATION .........................................................153 DIY PART 2 – THE BUSINESS CASE AND BUSINESS MODELS...............................175 DIY PART 3 – BUSINESS PLANNING AND PITCHING................................................211 DIY CASE STUDIES – LEARN AS YOU GO..................................................................229 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................253 Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 9 Introduction By Therese Fingleton ___________________________________________________________________________ Avoid all paradigms, even mine! When someone says this is the way it’s done and it has to be this way, question it, because the landscape is changing so much. Matt Costello, 2008 The world of the Internet, computer games and mobile technology, broadly referred to here as the new media industry, is a rapidly changing environment, difficult to grasp and keep still long enough to examine. It involves professionals from all walks of life who approach it from myriad points of view. In writing a guide especially for writers, and including the experiences of writers already active in this multi-faceted business, this guide will take you on a rich journey that resonates beyond any immediate use-by date by being relevant, presented in context and designed especially for you, the creative writer. Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure, Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide] 10 Contents NEW MEDIA MYTHS, TRU E OR FALSE ..........................................................................11 WHERE TO NEXT?............................................................................................................17 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................18 Australia Council for the Arts Fingleton, T. Dena, C. & Wilson, J. 2008, The writer's guide to making a digital living: choose your own adventure , Sydney, Australia Council of the Arts. [http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/writersguide ]
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