Storytelling Grit: Jessica Sloinsky on 20 Years in Game Writing

On this week’s Fateless Podcast, narrative designer Jessica Sloinsky joins Sham, Aaron, and Brad to share lessons from two decades in the game industry. From Star Wars to BioShock, Game of Thrones to Jurassic Park, Jessica unpacks how she’s survived (and thrived) through wild pitches, bad feedback, tight deadlines, and unexpected success.

Jessica’s origin story sounds like fiction. With no connections or experience, she applied to BioWare using a Neverwinter Nights module… burned onto a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed mini CD. Her digital submission failed, but someone found the disc on a desk in Edmonton and passed it on. She got the job.

“I didn’t even know what Maya was, but I was determined,” she laughed. That risk-taking mindset became a career staple.

Jessica’s written for huge franchises like Star Trek, SpongeBob, and Game of Thrones. Her favorite? Game of Thrones Ascent, where weekly content had to match each new HBO episode, often written the same night it aired.

“It was chaos,” she said. “But our content felt relevant, like it really mattered.”

The high-pressure live schedule taught her to stay nimble and trust her instincts.

Jessica credits fanfiction for sharpening her ear for character tone and pacing. Good fanfic, she says, feels like a “missing chapter” and teaches writers to study voice deeply.

“Players can tell when something sounds wrong,” Aaron added. “Even if the mechanics are fine, the feel matters.”

Capturing existing characters authentically, especially in licensed games, demands careful attention to voice and rhythm.

Jessica shared a memorable moment with John de Lancie, who plays Q in Star Trek. He didn’t just read lines, he made smart suggestions that reshaped the scene.

“Nobody knows Q better than John,” she said.

Aaron echoed that sentiment, highlighting a New World performance where a vulnerable, unscripted line changed the emotional tone of a boss battle. The takeaway? Write tight, then give actors room to surprise you.

Jessica recalled a moment when a licensor asked, “Who’s this guy?” about the villain featured in every chapter.“I just said, ‘You’ve approved him six times,’” she laughed.

The team agreed on this principle: Most people can tell you when something’s wrong. But only some can tell you how to fix it. Learn to separate helpful notes from noise, especially when working under constraints.

Narrative design has come a long way. Once treated like an afterthought, it’s now seen as a pillar. Especially as visuals and mechanics mature.

“We’re still fighting for tools and time,” Jessica said, “but there’s more respect now.”

Writers now contribute to systems, mechanics, and UX but often with fewer resources. The field’s growing, but the support still lags behind.

Jessica warns against “encyclopedia worldbuilding.” Games aren’t novels. Players don’t want a lecture on your world’s calendar system, they want story.

“Nobody cares about your fantasy crops,” she joked. “Just give them the parts that matter.”

Everything from dialogue, mechanics and UI should reinforce player experience. Narrative should enhance, not interrupt.

Working in mobile games taught Jessica the power of precision. With dialogue capped at 63 characters per line, every word had to count. “It was brutal at first,” she said. “But it forced me to be concise, to cut filler, and make every line land.” That discipline stuck with her even in AAA work. Today, her writing is sharper, her choices cleaner, and her scenes more focused because of those mobile constraints.

Her advice to new writers reflects that clarity:

• Build now, not later: Use free tools like Twine, Ink, or Bitsy to start writing playable stories today.
• Play with form: Try mobile constraints or write within tight word limits to practice economy of language.
• Run tabletop games: TTRPGs teach pacing, improvisation, and how to write for an audience that’s actively pushing back.
• Get curious about systems: Don’t just write dialogue, learn how the game works. Mechanics and narrative aren’t separate.

“Don’t wait for someone to hire you to start writing,” she said. “Just start. Build something weird and playable.”

For Jessica, the best game writers don’t just tell stories, they build experiences. And sometimes, the limitations are what make the storytelling shine.

Jessica doesn’t aim for “flowery” writing. She aims for resonant writing—lines that punch, characters that linger, and choices that feel earned.
She’s not flashy—but she’s effective. Her stories land. Her scenes breathe. And after 20 years, she still cares deeply about the player experience.

“At the end of the day, I just want the player to feel something real,” she said.