The concept of "Game Author" can be much more than a boasting label.

If you see it from an audience perspective, it's basically a Celebrity thing, which is practically useless in Game Design since it won't help your craft. If, instead, you look at it from a game creation perspective, it can be a useful check for any Game Director. It can prevent you from losing your compass in the art world and keep re-considering why you do what you do.

This week, I'll propose a different definition of "Author" so it can actually be helpful in your day-to-day Game Design work.

The more Authors an art medium has, the more it will improve.

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We’re going to discover:

• A Pragmatic Definition Of Author
• Author And Celebrity

Without further ado, let’s jump right in.

A Pragmatic Definition Of Author

Let me give you my definition of “Author” right away.

“An Author is someone who has a Creative Vision and produces a work of art for the sole purpose of communicating that Creative Vision”. Let’s analyze it a bit and understand what it implies.

We can immediately see that the audience’s perception doesn’t matter. This definition messes with the “Author’s Intent”, which the audience can’t know by definition of intent. This is done on purpose since the audience’s opinion is not useful in defining the concept of “Author” because of the personal attachment they may have to him/her. So, by following this definition, being an Author is more a self-judged condition than an externally imposed label.

Of course, the existence of this definition won’t prohibit fans from judging artists as Authors, but that’s not the point here. I’m only considering the Game Designer’s perspective.

The reason is to turn the concept of “Author” from a useless fan war to a practically useful one.

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The purpose of this definition is so you can use it and not just boast it.

This notion of the concept of "Author" may seem strange and anachronistic compared to other, more famous ones. And it is!

However, it's an attempt to accept the subjective nature of the topic and shift it to something useful for the Author himself. By doing this, Authorship is more like a check that any Game Director can use to understand what moves him creatively in designing experiences. That's why it's a condition and not a title.

You are an Author until you fulfill a condition (producing a work of art to communicate your Creative Vision). From this, it follows that an Author must have total control over realizing his Creative Vision.

For example, if you think of a Hollywood blockbuster, the production has such tight constraints from stakeholders that any divergence is nipped in the bud.

So, by definition, an Author must be free.

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From the Author’s point of view, personal drive is the only thing that matters.

From an artistic perspective, project size, budget, graphical fidelity, and whatever are poor and trivial metrics anyone can recreate. What differentiates a work of art from another is the Author’s drive.

The Game Director of a tiny indie game can be just as much an Author as a Game Director of a Triple-A game. It’s essential for an Author to make sure that he maintains a self-imposed creative impulse that is not driven by factors or people outside himself. This means having a Creative Vision, a fundamental condition for being an Author. The 2 concepts (Author and Creative Vision) reinforce each other.

So, it should be clear that the loss of Author status coincides with the loss of Creative Vision. However, since the status is not bound to other people’s judgment, you can regain it by fulfilling the condition again.

At this point, it could kick in a confusion between 2 related concepts: Author and Celebrity.

So, let’s understand why they’re different.

Author And Celebrity

You can't choose whether to be a Celebrity or not.

First, we must establish a hard line between the 2 concepts. "A Celebrity is simply a person known, for whatever reason, by a large number of people to be recognized as a Celebrity".

Being an Author is about why you do what you do; being a Celebrity is about what others think of you. You are a Celebrity as long as others decide you are. All you have to do is to be famous, and you have zero control over it. If the audience decides you're famous, you will be whether you want it or not. You can't get up one morning and choose you are a Celebrity (or not being one), but you can do it with the Concept of "Author".

This would seem to discredit the value of an Author because it's essentially "An Author is whoever Author claims to be". And that's true, but a simple declaration of intent is not enough; you have to prove it through your work.

The hard part is to remain an Author, which falls back on the need to be independent.

And the concept of "Celebrity" can sometimes make it even harder.

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“Author” and “Celebrity” are not mutually exclusive but constantly challenge each other.

The 2 concepts are not in antithesis since you can be an Author and a Celebrity at the same time. So, the challenge is to remain an Author in the face of Celebrity status. Being popular worldwide (or in part of it) will make you bombarded with requests of all kinds. And, especially in the social media era, being a Celebrity often rhymes with bending to the will of the public to avoid losing Celebrity status.

Doing so would make the Author no longer free and, therefore, no longer an Author. Not all Authors are in a position where they can overcome this challenge.

The best feature of an Author is that his Creative Vision will inspire other Authors.

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Key Takeaways:

• The Creative Vision is an essential concept for any Author.
• Author and Celebrity are 2 different things.
• Celebrity status often poses a challenge to the Author’s condition.