Hey! I’m Leon, I’m 24, and I’m a narrative designer and (copy)writer from South East England, and now living in South Wales. I’ve been writing professionally for 5 years, and am best known for my writing on Gloomhaven Digital, and my co-founding of Word Tonic.
A little more about me
For narrative design, I have just shy of three years’ experience at games studios. I specialise in horror, (queer) romance, and metafiction, usually within high fantasy and sci-fi, but I do often write outside of that.
For copywriting, I also have just shy of three years’ experience writing for clients within or alongside games. I specialise in tech, AI, education and literature—but again, often write outside of it.
A lot more about me
Like every other writer ever, I have been passionate about writing and gaming for as long as I can remember, and have spent my academic and professional career in creative writing and gaming.
Narrative Design
Story in video games, to me, is about more than just giving players a good story with memorable lessons for players escape within and explore.
It’s about taking hold of the interactivity unique to games, and using that to teach people things about themselves and the world we live in, sometimes without them even realising that’s what’s happening.
I think games have a real untapped potential for this, because in theory they can change a world’s every detail around a player’s choice instantly, even if it’s not yet been done.
But ambition like that doesn’t fit every project and budget. Sometimes you really do just need a good story that meshes with the gameplay, and helps you forget about the world for a little bit. And I love writing those too.
Copywriting
Ever since I first started copywriting, I’ve seen it through a narrative designer’s eyes.
Copy is more than words; it’s crafting a representation and an experience that controls the perception people have of your brand—and of themselves.
Good copy is all about delivering memorable value to people, and doing so in such a way that you convince them to become customers—either in the moment, or months down the line (or funnel).
Like with narrative design, I really enjoy working with brands brave enough to push the meaning of copy and advertising, and let me explore more narrative and interactive options.
But, like with narrative design, that doesn’t fit every project. Sometimes, you just need some clean, tight copy written with a little emotion. And I can do that too.
I just love writing, really. If you couldn’t tell.
When I’m not writing games, I’m often talking about writing for games. I co-run Guildford’s Tuesday Drummond Game Dev Monthly (which you may know as GGDev), and have had workshops commissioned on Narrative Design in the past (which I still take bookings for, if you’re interested 😉 ).
When I’m not doing that, I’m working with Word Tonic, a gen-z copywriters’ community I co-founded, and run the AI masterclasses for.
Outside of that, I’ve always been a big Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror fan, and so can often be found voraciously consuming anything and everything I can find in the genres. Halo, Mass Effect, Fable, Dead Space and TES 5: Skyrim are some of my favourite of these games.
I’m also a tabletop gamer, and when I’m not playing Troika! or Dungeons & Dragons, I’m usually building new units or lore for my Drukhari and Space Marine armies for Warhammer 40,000, or my Enforcer team for Deadzone. You can get a taste for these things here.
If I’m not doing ANYTHING to do with writing, I’m also a big metalhead, so I’m probably at a gig or playing my guitar.
Disclaimer: please be aware that this portfolio website is continiously updated. Examples of my work my change, disappear and/or reappear without warning. Please contact me with any questions.