James Cavin

James Cavin Writes Feb 5, 2025

Can I turn 90-year-old public domain banjo recordings into haunting ambient space music for fun and/or the torment of my enemies?

Did you know that if you take 90-year-old public domain banjo music and then chop it up and slow it down 1000% and…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Jan 30, 2025

Stop wasting your item descriptions!

There's a finite amount of text space in your game. It's a terrible shame to waste any of it. Item descriptions are…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Jan 20, 2025

Making games made me realize that I'm a malformed freak of nature, but at least now I know why none of my shirts fit

– A Tragedy of Seeing With Open Eyes – – – Also Some Rambling Advice about Narrative Delivery Systems – – – – – And…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Jan 15, 2025

Writing Tool Recommendation: The New York Times Dictionary of Misunderstood, Misused, & Mispronounced Words: Words We Know (until Someone Asks Us What They Mean)

In all its rugged splendor.This is a brilliant book, and you should buy it.I was reading Gene Wolfe's Castle of the…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Jan 2, 2025

Branching into Tabletop: Hot Rain Falls on the Boiling City (Sixth Place Winner!)

Out of all my 2024 projects, this was one of the ones that I enjoyed the most.Just for fun, I decided to try narrative…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Dec 30, 2024

Fireball Island: A Master Class in Narrative Design

Has anyone else experienced the master class in narrative design that is Fireball Island: the Curse of Vul-Kar? This…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Dec 6, 2024

I just solved my first ever Sudoku puzzle.

AND I DID IT WITHOUT COFFEE. …And with nothing to help me but an English degree! (It turns out that numbers are just…

Read article →
James Cavin Writes Sep 13, 2024

Welcome and All That Stuff

Howdy! I'm a narrative designer and writer with wildly diverse work experience that includes content planning and…

Read article →