How This Freelancer Makes 6000 Monthly as a Freelance Video Game Writer

Lucas: So, we talk a lot on this show about side hustles that are very business-adjacent — bookkeeping, grant writing, pitch decks. But what if the side hustle you actually want is more… creative? Luna: Yeah, I think there's this assumption that creative work doesn't pay reliably, or that you need a portfolio and connections to even start. Lucas: Exactly. But today's guest, Maya Chen, proves that wrong. She makes about six thousand dollars a month as a freelance video game writer. That's writing quest dialogue, item descriptions, character backstories — the stuff that makes games feel alive. Luna: And she's been doing it for just over two years, right? I read that she started with zero industry experience. Lucas: Right. She was working in customer service for a small software company, and she'd always loved writing. She'd even written fan fiction for years. But she didn't know how to turn that into a side income. Then she stumbled on a forum post about freelance narrative design for indie games. Luna: And what was her first step? Because that's the part people get stuck on — the 'how do I start when I have no credits' problem. Lucas: She did something really smart. She picked a popular but unfinished game on Itch.io — a platform for indie games — and wrote a sample quest for it. A full narrative beat, with dialogue and branching choices. Then she posted it on the game's community forum. Luna: So she created her own portfolio piece, essentially, and put it in front of the actual audience that cares about that game. Lucas: Exactly. The developer of that game saw it, loved it, and hired her for a small paid gig — two hundred dollars to write a few side quests for their next update. And from there, she just kept building. Luna: Okay, so what does six thousand dollars a month of game writing look like? How many projects is that? Lucas: She currently juggles three to four projects at a time. Most are short-term — one to three months. The biggest chunk comes from two recurring clients: a studio working on a narrative-driven RPG, where she's writing the entire lore bible, and a mobile game company that needs weekly dialogue updates. The lore bible alone pays her about twenty-five hundred a month. Luna: A lore bible — for listeners who aren't gamers, what does that involve exactly? Lucas: It's basically the internal document that defines the game's world. History, factions, magic systems, character relationships. It's the reference that every other writer and designer uses to stay consistent. Maya says it's the most lucrative niche within game writing, because very few freelancers can do it well, and studios need it early in development. Luna: So someone who's good at world-building and keeping track of details can command a premium. Lucas: Exactly. The other high-paying niche is dialogue for branching narratives — games where player choices matter. That requires writing multiple paths that feel natural and lead to different outcomes. Maya charges about fifty cents per word for that, which is well above the typical freelance rate for general content writing. Luna: And she finds these clients on Itch.io and Discord, not Upwork or Fiverr. Lucas: Right. She says the key is being active in game development communities. She joined about a dozen Discord servers for indie devs, and she doesn't just lurk — she offers feedback on design documents, answers questions about narrative. Over time, people recognize her name, and when they need a writer, they reach out directly. Luna: So it's relationship-building, not cold pitching. Lucas: Exactly. She also publishes short samples on Itch.io — free interactive fiction pieces that show her range. Those act as a public portfolio that potential clients can experience, not just read. Luna: I love that. It's more engaging than a PDF resume. Now, what about the business side — contracts, deadlines, revisions? I imagine game studios can be chaotic. Lucas: She says the biggest challenge is scope creep. A studio asks for 'a few quests,' but then they want additional dialogue options, or they change the story halfway through. So she learned to write very specific contracts: number of words, number of revisions, and a kill fee if the project gets cancelled. She insists on fifty percent upfront. Luna: Smart. And what's the typical timeline for a project? Lucas: Most are one to three months. She works about twenty hours a week on top of her day job — she's still at the software company, actually. She doesn't want to go full-time freelance because she likes the stability, and the side hustle gives her creative fulfillment and an extra six thousand a month. Luna: So she's not trying to replace her income, just supplement it with something she genuinely enjoys. Lucas: Right. And I think that's a healthy way to approach a creative side hustle. You're not under the pressure of making rent with it, so you can say no to bad projects and wait for the right ones. Luna: And she's picky now? She's been doing this for two years. Lucas: Very. She turns down about half the inquiries she gets. She only takes projects that interest her or that she thinks will build her portfolio in a new direction. For example, she recently took a lower-paying gig writing for a visual novel because she wanted to learn that format. She sees it as an investment. Luna: Okay, that makes sense. But let's talk about the numbers for someone starting from scratch. What's the realistic ramp-up? Lucas: Maya says her first month she made four hundred dollars — one small gig. By month six, she was at about two thousand. It took her about a year to hit the five-thousand mark, and then another year of refining her rates and client base to get to six thousand. So it's not overnight, but it's also not five years. Luna: And the rates — what can a beginner expect to charge? Lucas: She started at ten cents per word for dialogue, which is low, but she needed credits. Now she charges fifty to seventy-five cents per word for dialogue, and she quotes flat fees per quest or per lore document, which often works out to a higher effective rate. For a beginner, she recommends aiming for fifteen to twenty-five cents per word, and increasing by five cents with each new client. Luna: And for someone who's not a gamer but is a good writer — could they break into this? Lucas: Maya says it helps to be a gamer, but it's not required. What matters more is understanding narrative structure, character voice, and the constraints of interactive storytelling — like how to write a dialogue tree that doesn't frustrate the player. She suggests playing a few narrative-heavy games to get a feel for it, like 'Disco Elysium' or 'Oxenfree.' Luna: So there's a low barrier to entry in terms of tools — you just need a word processor and some understanding of game design basics. Lucas: Exactly. And a willingness to engage with the indie game community. That's where the work is. The big studios have in-house writers, but the indie scene is booming, and they need freelancers. Luna: You know, I think this episode might actually be useful to a lot of our listeners who are writers but feel like they have to choose between creativity and paying bills. Maya's story shows you can do both. Lucas: I think so too. And if today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash f-e-x-i-n-g-o. No pressure — just if you want to keep these conversations going. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to say 'this was worth my time.' And we genuinely appreciate it. Lucas: Alright, back to the craft. Maya also shared one mistake she made early on — she took a project for a game that sounded cool but turned out to be a scam. The studio never paid. So she now vets clients by checking their previous releases and talking to other freelancers in her Discord networks. Luna: Good advice. It's easy to get excited and skip due diligence. So what's next for her? Does she plan to grow this further? Lucas: She's actually thinking about writing her own interactive fiction and releasing it on Steam. Not as a side hustle, but as a passion project. She says she's learned so much from freelancing that she feels ready to create something of her own. Luna: That's the dream, right? The side hustle becomes a launchpad for something bigger. Lucas: Exactly. And even if it doesn't take off, she's got the income and the skills to keep going. I think that's a great note to end on.