# Narrative Writer Brief: Spiralverse **Project:** Cross-genre fantasy (though actually hard sci-fi) universe (VR game + web novel) **Scope:** Style test → potential ongoing collaboration **Test piece:** Write a 1,000-1,500 word scene (paid) **Contact:** Discord `samlabs` / Email `[email protected] --- ## What We're Looking For We need a **narrative collaborator** - someone who can help develop: - 📖 **Web novel chapters** (Morgan's story, first-person neurodivergent voice) - 🎮 **VR game dialogue** (branching conversations, environmental storytelling) - 🌍 **World-building documents** (lore that feels alive, not wiki entries) This is a paid test to see if we click. If we do, there's ongoing work. --- ## The Test: Morgan's First Real Meal **Context:** Morgan Lindgren crashed into Verdancia five days ago. She's been starving, failing to participate in the impossible bioluminescent currency economy, watching everyone else trade glowing light while she has nothing. She collapsed from hunger near the outcast community. Raven found her and brought her to their hidden grove. **The Scene:** Morgan wakes up. Someone has given her food — real food, without asking for payment. For the first time in five days, she eats. The relief is so intense she cries. **What I want to see:** - Morgan's internal voice (pattern/meaning-seeking, analytical, but overwhelmed) - The "show, don't tell" approach to her neurodivergent traits - The contrast: Verdancia's currency economy vs. the outcasts who simply share - Emotional authenticity without melodrama - The cozy-strange tone of the world **Word count:** 1,000-1,500 words **POV:** First person (Morgan) **Tone:** Intimate, grounded, emotionally honest --- ## Morgan's Voice (Critical!) Morgan is a late-20s Swedish woman with a robotics / distributed systems engineering background (AI safety research focus). She's neurodivergent but we NEVER name diagnoses. Instead, show these traits through behavior: **Pattern Recognition (Strength)** - She notices what others miss - Jungian metaphors, archetypal thinking as framework - "The kind of pattern that made my brain light up" **Overwhelm Under Stress (Vulnerability)** - Sensory overload becomes static/white noise - Social situations drain faster than expected - Recovery requires isolation and quiet **Existential Horror as Comfort (Coping)** - Finds weird fiction calming (Welcome to Night Vale, Vigor Mortis) - Treats cosmic strangeness as more honest than forced normalcy - "The impossible was easier to accept than the merely improbable" - Dark humor through absurdist observation **What to AVOID:** - ❌ Medical terms (bipolar, autistic, ADHD) - ❌ Self-aware "I'm so quirky" narration - ❌ Explaining traits instead of showing them - ❌ Making her incompetent (she's highly capable, just different) --- ## World Context: What You Need to Know ### The Currency Problem In Verdancia, currency is **visible bioluminescent light** that flows between people during transactions. When you share knowledge or help someone learn, golden light streams from you to them. It's beautiful, impossible, and Morgan has NONE. She can SEE the economy happening — liquid starlight flowing between people, complex fractal patterns forming during valuable exchanges — but she can't participate. She's economically invisible. ### The Outcast Solution The outcasts (led by Raven) live outside the mainstream economy. They SHARE without currency exchange. No golden light flows when they give food — they just give it. This is Morgan's first encounter with unconditional giving in Verdancia. ### Full Story Context See attached: [[VERDANCIA-30MIN-STORY]] for the full first-30-minutes narrative arc. **Key beats before your scene:** - Morgan crashed five days ago (Days 1-4: survival, confusion) - She's been trying and failing to earn currency - She collapsed from hunger/exhaustion - Raven found her and brought her to the outcast community --- ## Style Direction **Prose feel:** - Intimate first-person, present-tense or past-tense (your choice) - Grounded magical realism (magic is strange but treated matter-of-factly) - Emotional honesty without purple prose - Specific sensory details over general descriptions **Tone references:** - Becky Chambers (cozy sci-fi, found family, gentle wonder) - T. Kingfisher (practical protagonists in strange situations) - Welcome to Night Vale (impossible things described calmly) - Vigor Mortis (existential horror as comfort, dark warmth) **What I'm NOT looking for:** - Epic fantasy voice - YA action pacing - Grim/dark tone - Overly poetic/literary prose --- ## The Bigger Picture Spiralverse spans **multiple genres** that should feel like the same universe: | Region | Vibe | Genre Reference | |--------|------|-----------------| | **Verdancia** | Cozy pastoral magic | Ghibli, Stardew Valley | | **Luminara** | Anime hero academy | My Hero Academia | | **Neocortica** | Cyberpunk corporate | Blade Runner | | **Nexaria** | Fantasy RPG dungeons | Solo Leveling | **Morgan's story starts in Verdancia** — cozy pastoral with an outsider protagonist learning to belong. **What I'm really testing:** Can you capture Morgan's specific voice while working within established world constraints? --- ## What This Could Become If we click, ongoing work includes: **Web novel chapters:** - Morgan's full journey (Days 1-30+) - Character POV switches (Raven, supporting cast) - Emotional arc development **VR game writing:** - NPC dialogue (branching, reactive) - Environmental storytelling (journals, signs, overheard conversations) - Tutorial/onboarding narrative **World-building:** - Character backstories - Lore documents with narrative voice - Scene briefs for concept artists --- ## Compensation **Test piece:** $120-150 USD (1,000-1,500 words, ~10-12 cents/word) **Test timeline:** 1 week **Full project:** Per-chapter/per-word rates negotiated after test (expecting similar range) **Payment:** PayPal or similar, on delivery for test **Budget context:** Self-funded indie project. Looking for sustainable rates for ongoing collaboration. --- ## How to Apply 1. **Writing samples** (2-3 links) showing: - First-person character voice - Fantasy or speculative fiction - Emotional scenes 2. **Your take** on Morgan's voice — what interests you about writing her? 3. **Confirm $120-150 works** for the test (or counter-offer) 4. **Questions** about the brief or world 5. **Availability** in the next week --- ## FAQ **Q: Can I deviate from the scene description?** A: The emotional beat (first unconditional meal, relief) is required. How you get there is flexible. **Q: What if my style doesn't match exactly?** A: That's why we're doing a paid test. Interpretation welcome within the voice guidelines. **Q: Do you have existing writing I can reference?** A: Yes — sample scenes available on request. The VERDANCIA-30MIN-STORY doc gives you the broader arc. **Q: Is this ghostwriting or credited?** A: Credited collaboration. Exact credit format TBD based on contribution level. **Q: What about the VR game dialogue?** A: Test is prose first. If that works, we'll test dialogue writing separately. --- ## Attached Context Documents - [[VERDANCIA-30MIN-STORY]] — The 30-minute demo narrative arc - [[SPIRALVERSE-REGIONS]] — Overview of all world regions - [[ORIGIN-RIGHTS]] — Content licensing and attribution --- *Looking for someone who wants to help bring Morgan to life, not just fill word counts.* *Last updated: December 2025*