68 Writing Jobs, Internships, Lit Mag Opps, Fellowships, Pitch Calls, and More

Jobs for Writers (6.20.25) | Remote roles paying up to $100k, pitch calls paying up to $2/word, and how to break into game writing & narrative design

Jun 20, 2025

∙ Paid

Welcome to Sub Club’s Jobs for Writers!

By the time this goes live, I’ll be in California visiting one of my oldest friends, basking in the glow of… okay, wait. I just checked the temperature in northern California. Well. By the time you read this, I’ll be wearing socks with Birkenstocks and drinking $5 Vinho Verde from the local Trader Joe’s. I know you’re wondering, and yes, it is incredibly challenging to have it all. But I’ll persevere.

Before we get to jobs, we have a new call for a special How to Break In that I’m tentatively calling READER-PALOOZA!! The two exclamation marks are, for better or worse, non-negotiable. We’re looking to hear from folks who work as readers at literary magazines of all shapes and sizes to give a little peek at the perks and processes behind the curtain.

This will be a quick Q&A with no follow-up—unlike the usual How to Break In—and selected entries will get a three-month comp to Sub Club. Oh, and if you’re a reader who has submitted an entry before, but you haven’t been selected, feel free to submit again. We’d love to hear from you! You can learn more at the link below.

Submit to READER-PALOOZA!!

And now, for what you really came for: JOBS! We’ve got a handful of remote roles paying up to $100,000 (!!!), a few gigs at university presses and lit mags, and more. But first, let’s get to this week’s How to Break In—this one is for my fellow gaming aficionados.

How to Break In to Game Writing & Narrative Design with Anja Sekarlangit

I’ve been casually to not-so-casually playing video games since my mother bought me The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, mistaking Link and his modified Scrooge cap for a strong female lead slash role model. So I was very excited indeed to chat with Anja Sekarlangit, an Indonesia-based game writer and narrative designer.

The stories we craft can take a multitude of forms, and games are an oft-underlooked option (or maybe, just an option that’s hard to, well, break into). “At the end of the day, I'm a storyteller,” Anja writes to me. “Whether it'd be for games, for a short story, or even for a film.”

Ahead, we chat about writing prose versus writing for games, the difference between writing for a character and writing for a player, and the advice Anja has for people curious about the world of game writing.

rachael vaughan clemmons: What's your background?

Anja Sekarlangit: I studied Communication, focusing on Film and TV for my bachelor's degree, and did a couple of classes on literature and game writing during that time. There was a very slow shift from studying to become an aspiring scriptwriter to a game writer and narrative designer. I didn't expect at all to go into game writing when I graduated.

I had a lot of difficulty trying to enter the job market by the time I graduated, which was during COVID. Volunteering in a remote setting became my gateway into getting experiences when even trying to secure an internship was impossible. I volunteered as a social media content creator for The Justice Institute, a political commentary publication, and as a fiction editor for Divinations Magazine.

These experiences helped me land my first game-related job: a script editor for a romance, fantasy visual novel named Candied Hearts.

rvc: Where did your interest in writing for games come from? Have you always been a gamer?

AS: I've been playing video games since I was a kid, but I've only been a casual player until a little bit later in life. It was narrative-driven games like Night in the Woods and Disco Elysium that got me interested in this field. They made me think about how small narrative choices can greatly impact a player's experience.

rvc: How has your volunteer experience—as a fiction editor, and as a content creator for social—impacted the way you approached breaking into this career?

AS: My volunteer experiences in editorial work really helped give me the confidence to give any opportunity that comes my way a shot, even if it feels like I'm not fit for it. It gave me the push to carve my own path, and a chance to gain experience in a time when opportunities felt scarce. They also gave me the push to not feel so constrained to a specific career path and be open to opportunities when they come and feel right to me.

rvc: What have you brought from your experience as a fiction editor, specifically, into your work as a game writer and narrative designer?

AS: A big part of narrative design is shaping a player's narrative experience with a game. It's thinking about how to use these things to create a specific narrative experience I want the players to see or understand. As a fiction editor, I'm always thinking about helping a writer shape their story to its fullest potential. It helps me be more intentional when I make these design choices in my role as a narrative designer, because I want to shape each game I'm involved in to its fullest potential.

rvc: As a writer, can you talk about the differences between writing for games and writing prose? I would imagine that there are some things that are similar—that core of storytelling, or perhaps the baselines of structure—but I'd love to hear your take.

AS: Personally, the player and the interactivity of a game make it quite different for me. Writing prose is a personal process where I'm thinking about what story I want to tell and how I want to approach it.

When writing for games—while also designing—I'm always thinking about the players. How can I make the text concise enough to fit the dialogue box? Will the players feel satisfied by this ending? Will this specific character's arc be clear through a player's eyes? How can I tell the players to move in a certain direction through dialogue? I don't think about the readers until I'm in the editing process of writing prose. The interactive aspect of games changes that for me. But I can see why this feels similar to writing prose!

rvc: Wait, real quick: What is the difference between game writing and narrative design?

AS: I think Molly Malloney, who is a Principal Narrative Designer for Remedy, said it best: Game writing is responsible for the character in the story, while narrative design is responsible for a player in that story. These two things are so intertwined with one another that I also personally find it hard sometimes to make a distinct difference because I work both in writing and design. They're different yet equally important to a game's narrative!

rvc: What does a typical day as a game writer look like for you? Is this a space where you feel, like, sufficiently creatively fulfilled?

AS: My day-to-day as a lead writer and narrative designer is filled with making these design decisions, discussing with my team to make those impactful experiences. I never stop thinking about the narrative even after the writing part is finished. It's pretty constant throughout the process of development until the day of release.

My current position really fulfills me creatively—I’m always learning, and I’m always open to different kinds of writing. As a writer, I thrive when I'm able to try new things and experiment whenever I get the chance to, and this industry encourages that.

At the end of the day, I'm a storyteller. Whether it'd be for games, for a short story, or even for a film. My current position tells me that whatever creative pursuit I'm aiming for in the future, it’s possible. And that there's always space if you try and learn.

rvc: Any advice for writers curious about transitioning into game writing and narrative design?

AS: Join a game jam. Create small projects using free tools like Twine or bitsy. Listen to other game writers and narrative designers. Or if you’re me, watch a lot of video essays about your favorite games! I understand it seems intimidating at first, especially when you see the technical aspect of it, but I didn’t know anything about it when I first started. I’m still learning, and I’ll always be learning.

Writing for games is nothing like writing for prose, but I do feel that writers who don't come from a strictly game development background will thrive in this industry. I didn't come from a game development background. I came from a media production background, and that means I’ve been able to bring a new perspective to the work I do.

Anja Sekarlangit, also known as haunthill, is an Indonesian writer, editor & narrative designer for Senja Games. They worked on games like "Larut" and "Galatea". Their writing has appeared in Haunted Words Press.

Is your job—or a friend’s job, or a friend’s friend’s job—looking for a writerly person to do something… writerly?

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