Who am I, and what is this class all about?

Hi. Nice to meet you. My name is Reinhardt Suarez, and I am an editor and writer based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota area. I’ve been published in a few small arenas (short stories, essays, and in an upcoming graphic novel anthology), but the great majority of my printed work can be found as sparkling text in other people’s books, articles, and the whatnot. 

This tumblr is a supplementary site for the class, “Writing the Video Game Narrative: Mass Effect,” October 2012, at the Loft Literary Center. This class is part study of Bioware’s Mass Effect trilogy of video games, part beginner’s exploration into the basics of video game writing, and part experiment in multimedia education.

On this tumblr, students will be able to access all suggested class readings and activities, as well as links to essays and videos that augment the discussions and lessons we engage in as a class. As well, it functions as an online discussion space for questions, comments, and insights that students have outside of class. 

The goal of this class is to show how Mass Effect has fundamentally changed the possibilities writers have to express their stories. As one of the first video game series to establish a tight, coherent universe, Mass Effect hopefully will engender further inroads into immersive and interactive storytelling.