Writing

The Writer’s Game: The DeathSpank Series

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

If the title concerns you, the DeathSpank series are a trio of comedy action RPGs from Hothead Games.  You can stop worrying about the name.

Starting in 2010, this series follows the adventures of DeathSpank, a muscley but vacant hero in the vein of The Tick.  Through three games (the titular first one, Thongs of Virtue, and The Baconing), our sword-swinging protagonist travels a colorful world to smite evil and recover magical artifacts.  It has all the trappings expected of a fantasy action RPG – equipment, button-mashing combat, quests – while parodying the genre.

The genre, a staple of video games, had plenty to parody.  Overblown magical weapons, senseless side quests, post-apocalyptic tropes, strange artifacts were all targets for DeathSpank.  I can still remember laughing at the overdone reveal of a magical sword or seeing the realm of the gods as a walled community of snobs.

Comedy is tricky no matter the media.  DeathSpank provides us lessons we can use in other media, even if you find the title questionable.  There are lessons for writers in this series, especially writers of comedy.

Get The Foundation Right

DeathSpank was a parody of games, but it was a game.  The monster-bashing was solid, there were interesting environments to explore, and it was fun to play.  The authors could have made a serious game on the DeathSpank engine, but chose parody.

Fortunately, the authors deiced to be hilarious.

This is a reminder to authors writing comedy that you’re still doing writing.  Much as DeathSpank had the mechanics of the game right, your novel or comic needs to have the right pacing, language, etc.  If you want to write comedy, be a good writer.

Had DeathSpank not had good gameplay, not as many people would have stuck with the series to enjoy the comedy.

Actually Be Funny

DeathSpank had plenty to make fun of – fantasy RPG Action games are both familiar and have plenty to mock.  The crew didn’t just poke a few things and call it a day; they worked hard to make you laugh.

The voice actor for DeathSpank (the character) was hilariously overdone.  The genre’s common devolution into “sidequests” is roundly mocked.  The dialogue is often plain funny, even when the hero talks to a cow or his evil Anti-self.  The comedy writing and acting were authentically good and extremely well written.

If you’re writing comedy, you have to put the work in – and as many of us know, it’s not easy.  Even when you have obvious targets as DeathSpank did, you still should put in the work.  DeathSpank was well-written enough I could have seen it being a film or short-run TV show.

Know Your Subject

The reason DeathSpank had me laughing as I battled monsters was that the creators clearly knew the genre they mocked.  As a fan of fantasy RPGs and fantasy in general, I recognized what they were parodying.  I was the target audience (and still am).

Thus, it’s clear the people behind DeathSpank knew what they were making fun of.  It wasn’t shallow humor, there were a few deep cuts, as well as many medium ones as it were.  Simply put, no one that didn’t know the genre well could have made this game.

This is a reminder for writers that you have to know any subject you’re parodyiny.  If you don’t – or think you do and don’t – your work will suffer for it.  Come to think of it, so will your audience.

There may be a time to look at something and realize you can’t mock it, no matter your writing skills.

Love Your Subject

DeathSpank was there to mock, but it was also  a labor of love.  You don’t craft something this funny without caring about what you do.  Much as The Venture Brothers was both parody and homage, DeathSpank got close to that line.

The game was funny, yes but done with affection.  Time was lavished on the dialogue, humorous environments, and game design.  There is craftsmanship in this game, even if you teleport via magical outhouses (no, really).

Caring about a subject means you know it well enough to parody it.  That intimacy also means you’ll have love and sympathy for the subject matter, saving you from the traps of mean-spiritedness.  Instead, your humor will be true as you know the subject so well.


The audience will respond to that love, as their laughter comes from knowing the subject as well as you.

In Conclusion

DeathSpank managed to be a comedy game that was both comedy and game.  The result was a fun, funny experience that reminds us comedy lies on a foundation of knowing the subjects and the mechanics of your craft. 

Lesson’s For Writers

  • Solid writing matters no matter the genre.
  • If you’re trying to be funny, don’t hold back even if the target is easy.  Put in the work.
  • Know the subject you’re parodying.  If you don’t, focus on something you do know.
  • Care about the subject you’re parodying.  It helps you be funny, leads to good craftsmanship, and saves you from mean-spiritedness.

Steven Savage

It’s Great. So What?

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Lately, I’ve been prereading/editing many works.  I’ve also finished several books and have more things being juggled for publishing.  I’m finding one of the worst forms of feedback is “it’s great!”

You’ve had that experience.  You tell some writer, “it’s great” and then the questions come – why, how come, are you sure?  Didn’t you give enough feedback?  You just said it’s fine!

Then it strikes you since you’re also a writer – “it’s great” means nothing.  It provides no details on what to do right, what to improve, etc.  “It’s great” is useless to writers because there’s no way to improve.  You may have written a novel that will stay in the public mind for centuries, and you don’t know why.

Even if you should change nothing, you want to know why you shouldn’t change.  If you don’t get feedback on what you did right, you might stop doing it by accident!

It’s almost easier to give negative feedback because we can probably go on in detail if we dislike something.  We forget the easy and pleasurable read, but the flaws prick our minds and the pain stands out.  Negative feedback comes easier.

I take this as a reminder that giving feedback on what’s right is a skillset all its own.  It takes work to notice why things are good, what impressed us, what even taught us.  A smooth ride of a read can become so smooth we don’t realize why it was smooth.

The best answer I have is to be self-aware.  When a story flows through your mind, what is it that worked for you?  What did you feel in your gut as your eyes took in the words?  Your reactions are the key to tell you what makes a thing great.

If we listen to ourselves, we help others do better – or keep doing the good things.

Steven Savage

Media, Message, Mismach

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

When creating a piece of a media we need to ask “did I choose the right form for my Bright Idea?”  Should it really be a book, comic, movie, game, or is it better suited for another form?

Some readers may be nodding, others may be curious.  Let me explain by examples.

I’m no fan of the Twilight series, yet I found the lush-looking movies beautifully overdone.  When I saw the manga it impressed me as more interesting than the books.  At least to me, Twilight seemed better suited to a visual medium.  Yes, it was a commercial success, but I can’t shake the feeling that had it been an anime/manga there might have been more to it, and maybe some useful artistic lessons.

As a less personal example, consider an issue that I discuss with fellow authors – those series that seem to be Open World games or RPGS in novel forms.  As much as I love worldbuilding myself, I know 800 pages of “it really picks up by the second book” doesn’t interest people.  Some novels or series seem best – or became – things better suited to games or fictional guides.

If you’re a creative, especially a self-published one, you should ask if your story and setting fit the medium you chose.  Some people might be fortunate enough to get away with a “media mismatch” (see above), but ask if you can beat those odds.  A marketing machine can get someone to read a five-book series far easier than you may – even if people forget it afterward.

This doesn’t mean you should give up on an idea – you need to refine it for your chosen media.  If you have a book that is an RPG-in-disguise, you can refine it into a more bookable form.  If you want to make an RPG, but it comes from a story, maybe you can expand the worldbuilding.  It’s OK to rework your idea so the audience can enjoy it in the form you want.

Making a piece of media accessible requires many things – the right wording, rules, art style, etc.  However, we should ask as if we’re doing the right thing in the right form of media.  There may be a mismatch here.

To give an example in my Avenoth series – which is worldbuilding heavy – “A Bridge to the Quiet Planet” was a romp across worlds, and had overly “worldbuildy” moments.  I tightened up the focus in “A School of Many Futures” which made it more intimate, which made the setting more accessible.  A tweak of perspective improved the story.

Consider the right media for what you want to tell and how to make what you want to say optimized for the media you’ve chosen.  It’ll help you reach people, which we all want, especially in a crowded market.

Steven Savage