We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Poprik. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.
Hi Ashley, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
For starters, doing what I love helps keep me going. I love just about everything that I do, which means I WANT to be putting time into them. However, there are days (even weeks or months) where even my work has tough challenges that are difficult to overcome. I have seen my peers and coworkers struggle, even sometimes quit in the face of these difficult times. It’s impossible to feel unconditional love for any type of work all the time, even if it’s not your dream job. I have a fortune that I received from an old fortune cookie taped to the top of my work desktop monitor. It reads “Do it because you love it.” I keep it there because it serves as a reminder for why I keep doing what I’m doing, even if it’s difficult. My therapist has told me that life was not designed to be easy. We were not built for a life of endless and constant pleasantries. There’s a natural balance in the world, which means with it comes some truly difficult times. But like a rollercoaster, it doesn’t dip forever. There will be highs and lows and that’s what makes it exciting. Knowing that working struggles are only temporary and that I will be feeling excited and passionate about my work sometime soon again is what keeps me working through the more tedious or hard times.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am currently a video game writer working on Call of Duty titles. For the most part I have been focused on single-player story mode (also known as the “campaign”) which means I’m responsible for working with creative teams to make an experience that is both memorable and human. We are always looking for ways to excite players while giving them characters that are realistic and relatable. I work with my team to craft cinematics (parts of the game that the player sits and watches, usually for important story information that can’t be conveyed in gameplay) and write dialogue that will be used for voiceover in gameplay (what the player is actually engaging with). For example, when a character says something like “they’re getting away!” or “get down!” Yeah. I write that kind of stuff. I have always been a fan of video games and it really means a lot to me that I can make stories for players to enjoy and perhaps even learn from. I also want to help break the stereotype that video games are just nonsensical promotions for violence and misogyny. Games are for everyone. Yes, girls play and enjoy Call of Duty! I want people who have never played video games to feel compelled to try them. There’s something for you out there that you will love and enjoy. Anyone can be a gamer.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Be resilient, even if things don’t seem to be panning out. It’s a long and sometimes unforgiving path but I’m a firm believer that if you stay on the path, you’ll get to the right destination. Resilience is something that you just sometimes have to force yourself to do. I don’t think people are naturally more or less resilient than others. Another piece of advice I would recommend to honestly anyone is to continue building your people skills. Even if you are the most talented person in the world, people would rather you are a good and easy person to work with. Listen to people’s wants and concerns. Always ask questions, even if it’s just to emphasize that you’re giving them your full attention. Working as a team is especially important in my line of work. Nobody is just off on their own and doing their own thing, so you need to learn how to be a team player. Lastly, the best way to be a good writer is to get out there and experience the world. Have hobbies, meet people that are different than you are, volunteer at organizations that have you doing something outside of what your work is. All of this is incredibly important because writing is like picking out of a bucket. That bucket has all your experiences, all your memories, all your stories. If you have nothing in there, you’ll have nothing new to write.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I would love to write graphic novels or comics, but I have no illustration experience and would want to partner up with someone. If you are making graphic novels or comics and are in need of a writer, please do not hesitate to reach out! My website will have all methods of contacting me. The url is ashleypoprik.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ashleypoprik.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleypoprik/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashleypoprik
Image Credits
Images of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games. Images of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III by Activision. Black and White photo by Kurt Oldman.
