Writer Dan Birlew talks about the ins-and-outs of his game guide-writing dream job, dishes Devil May Cry 4 details, and then, for some reason, quotes Van Gogh. You can preorder his masterpiece from Prima here .

1. Can you give us a little background about you and the strategy guide world and how they coalesced with the Devil May Cry franchise? The day I started writing about the first Devil May Cry, I knew that players of the game would be seeking a competent strategy guide to help control the mayhem. I was already quite experienced by that time, having written thirteen guides for other games. But this project proved to be a bigger challenge than my previous titles. I was excited by the style and play of the game, knew it would be an immediate success, and looked forward to the public’s reaction. 2. Do you view games differently as a gamer than as a strategy guide author? I certainly do, I think. To a guide author, games are serious work. This is no pastime. Oftentimes games have optional areas or side quests that players can skip over with no problem. But all areas must be covered thoroughly in the book, so more seasoned players can also benefit from the guide. 3. What types of games do you tend to write about? I am mostly assigned to write about action, adventure, and fantasy role-playing games. I have also written guides for first-person shooters, stealth espionage, strategy RPGs, and children’s platform games. 4. Is it different writing a guide for an RPG vs. an Action Adventure? There is a distinct difference. RPGs tend to be very long and story-oriented, whereas a strategy guide is not concerned with story. RPGs also deal with a lot of statistics and items, and those things have to be cataloged in tables so that the player knows they exist and understands what they do. Action and adventure games center on the player’s skill with the controls and the ability to push the right button with the right timing. That timing has to be conveyed in the strategy guide, so that players can understand what it takes to clear the game. So the main difference is that RPGs are long, but simple to play, whereas adventure games are shorter but take more words to describe. 5. Out of curiosity, on average when writing a strategy guide, how many times do you have to play through a single game? How do you keep track of all the information? I try to play every game I write a guide for at least twice. Sometimes this is not possible, especially if the game is an RPG where a single game runs on for 60 hours. Many people are probably going to think that playing the game twice is not enough, but they must try to understand that the turnaround time on a strategy guide manuscript is typically two weeks, at the most. And the writer must spend more time writing than playing. This is why it is important for a guide author to be a very season game player, so that he or she can play the game with certainty that the way they are playing it is correct. The easiest way for me to keep track of information is to record myself playing the game. Then I can merely scan through the recordings to extract the walkthrough information and other data. I use these same high-resolution recordings to capture the screenshots displayed in the book. 6. How does one of these books come together? Is it all you? Do you have an extensive team of gaming researchers working around the clock locked in a small room with every game console imaginable? Usually, I am on the only one playing the game and writing about it. There have been a few instances where more than one writer was assigned to a project, and we divvy up tasks to complete the project more quickly. But most of the time, the content of the guide is the work of one extremely tasked person. And let’s not forget the production team, who edits and designs the book. 7. Devil May Cry 4 has a lot of hidden items and secrets. How does working on this guide compare to working on other titles? My wife watched me play it for a few minutes, and she asked me why I was making my character jump up and down in the corner of the room repeatedly. I told her I suspected that some invisible orbs were hidden up there, and I was trying to figure out how to reach them. So the game challenges players to jump to a lot of weird places that you might otherwise ignore in most other games. I find myself trying to jump and land on every flat surface just to see if orbs are hidden there. Also, I go around slashing at weird places in the environment to see if there is a breakable wall or object that might yield hidden stuff. The search is persistent throughout the game. 8. What do you enjoy about DMC? What are you looking forward to in Devil May Cry 4? I like the crazy, over-the-top action. It’s a game that is definitely not rooted in reality, the action is more fantastic. I like any game that gives the player an opportunity to take on a horde of monsters and try to slip through the mayhem without a scratch. I enjoy how the game rates your performance with the increasing stylish meter, giving you higher ranks for mixing up your combos and avoiding attacks. The things I’ve been looking forward to the most in Devil May Cry 4 is to see the story threads of the previous games finally coalesce, to see my favorite characters return to further the saga. I’m very glad that the story in Devil May Cry 4 is even deeper and more gratifying. I’ve also been excited to find out who Nero is, learn what his special abilities are, and play as him. 9. There are a bunch of familiar faces as well as some new characters Devil May Cry 4, including the lead character, Nero. How does this effect the gameplay? Does this change the way you write the guide? Nero’s arm, called the “Devil Bringer,” adds new mechanics to the gameplay and broadens the Devil May Cry experience. The Devil Bringer can be used to seize enemies and smash them into the ground in a powerful attack. This can also be executed mid-air, and can be worked into all the familiar combos. The Devil Bringer lets Nero reach out and snatch opponents, dragging them forward for a royal beating. This allows the player to break up enemy clusters for easier dispatch. The Devil Bringer also allows the player to reach across chasms and grapple little magic lanterns called “Grim Grips,” which Nero can then use to glide across gaps and reach higher levels. 10. Do you have any advice for all those young aspiring strategy guide authors out there? As with all creative and freelance writing, have a backup plan. Go to college, earn a four year degree in something that you can use to rely on while you pursue your higher aspirations. If you have any interest in math or computer science, marketing or engineering, study those fields and earn a useful degree. Guide writing is a market just like any other, and just as hard to break into. I was lucky–as in “lottery winner” lucky–to be noticed and have a chance to become a published guide author. Make grammar and spelling your religion. Subscribe to “word of the day” newsletters and expand your vocabulary daily. Write every day, even if it is garbage. Vincent Van Gogh said, “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,‒ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” Keep at it every day, and practice will make perfect.