On Rejection: Geoffrey Golden
Joining us this week is Geoffrey Golden, a game writer and the creative force behind one of Substack’s most popular fiction publications. You can see exactly why in fun stories like “Use Your Tongue to Save the King” (trust me). Come check out his experiences with rejection below, and how he turned that into a thriving career.
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Tell us about a time you experienced rejection.
Before I got into game writing full-time, I used to pitch TV shows to networks. My hard drive is full of spec scripts, bibles, and pitch docs for TV shows that will never see the light of day. I've always loved cartoons and wanted to work in animation. I wrote my first Powerpuff Girls spec when I was in high school. I’m sure no amount of Chemical X would make that script good, but you’ve got to start somewhere!
A few years ago, I pitched an idea to a big-time animation studio, along with some collaborators. It was a really well-thought-out pitch. We spent weeks talking about the idea, workshopping it, writing and rewriting the treatment, getting feedback from allies within the studio, and hiring an artist from the studio to do illustrations. Early on, we sent the executives a preview and they liked what they saw. When we came in to pitch, they had a blast in the room. A few days later, they rejected the idea for a very arbitrary reason. It was the kind of thing they could’ve pointed out when we gave them the early preview, but instead they wasted our time and energy. The idea used the studio's IP, so it wasn’t repurposable. It was the most frustrating experience in a long line of frustrating experiences. Soon after, I quit pitching TV. I was donezo.
How did you get over it?
As I was putting together this pitch, I got a job as the narrative director for a video game called Fallen Legion Revenants, which is now on Switch and PS4. It was a transformative experience. I had worked on game projects before, but this team was really creative and collaborative, particularly the game’s director Spencer Yip. The artists were inspired by what I was writing and told me so. And I thought, why am I wasting my time with TV? If I doubled down and focused on game writing, I could have a fun and fulfilling career doing something I love that’s pretty darn close to what I’ve always wanted to do anyway.
In just a few years, I built a career in narrative design. I’ve worked on a number of award-winning projects for studios around the world. And ironically, I got to write for some of the most beloved animated characters of all time, the Toy Story gang, in the mobile game Disney Wonderful Worlds. The TV industry was a proverbial snake in my boot.
If you could go back and tell yourself anything right before that experience, what would you say?
*Steps out of time machine*
"Just because you wanted to write cartoons as a kid, that doesn’t mean the TV industry is a good fit for you. Frankly, it’s a waste of your time and talent. Focus on the job that makes you happiest: game writing. Also, buy GameStop stock and sell at $450 a share in early 2021!"
Are there any interesting game storylines that inform how you think of rejection and moving on?
Being a professional writer is a lot like playing a Choose Your Own Adventure gamebook. There are a lot of arbitrary and frustrating failures on paths where success seems inevitable. But instead of dying because a robot through you off a cliff, you die a little inside when you get a bummer email. (The analogy only goes so far.) I always remind myself that rejection is part of the journey, and figuring out your path to a writing career may require following an unexpected path.
What are you working on now?
For the past three years, I’ve been bringing adventure to people’s inboxes. Adventure Snack is a series of choose-your-path fiction games I send via email newsletter. Every two weeks, I publish a new free game for my players, taking them to distant galaxies, dragon caves, and haunted vacation rentals. I’m very excited with how it’s grown to become one of the most popular fiction newsletters on Substack. And there’s no way to “fail” these games. I try to make every outcome rewarding in some way, even the silly deaths.
Follow Geoffrey on Twitter.
