"Its all sex and death as far as I can tell."

[greygirlbeast]

Just as the last of the snow was melting, it snowed again last night. Not much here in Providence, but more up north.

Yesterday, I wrote another 1,068 words on the last chapter of The Drowning Girl: A Memoir. I think I'm terrified. The book is a house of cards, and I'm stacking more on top, and pulling cards out from the bottom, and somehow I have to keep the whole from toppling over. And there's to be a lot of sexual energy at the end, and it has to absolutely not become pornographic (not because I have anything against porn, but because that's not what this is meant to be).

Thanks to the awesome Richard A. Kirk, who sent me a copy of his illustrated novella, The Lost Machine. It's beautiful. You should order a copy. I say so. Also, there's a forward by Mike Mignola! In case you're unaware, I've worked with Rick on...let me see...five books, five books since 2000. Most recently, he did the amazing cover for The Ammonite Violin and Others.

Today, I think there's going to be a very small adventure, and then work, and a little work after that. I think.

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Selwyn made Level 13 last night, and Shaharrazad is only five quests (out of 86) away from having the Blade's Edge Mountains achievement (and so one achievement nearer Loremaster). Too much gaming. And, mostly, I'm having some weird worldshock, jumping back and forth between Telara and Azeroth. The latter being bright and cartoonish and silly, the former being so rich and urgent and possessed of depth. Oh, and there was about an hour of rp with a friend in Telara last night. She's another mage, named Enthlye. We sat on the docks at Kelari Refuge and had a conversation. It was very good, and I can see Rift lending itself to good rp, once you learn the lore. Well, actually, Enthlye talked and Selwyn scribbled on the planks with a stub of charcoal. When she made the jump from the future to the past, something went wrong, and she has no tongue. I've also discovered that Selwyn prefers to work magic with a sword, instead of a staff.

And, also, I really wish that people on SL and in MMORPGs would understand that roleplaying isn't writing. It's acting. And no, it's not collaborative writing. That's what actual writers who write together do. RP is theater, improvisational theater, and if you understand this one simple fact, you can make it good and rewarding. But to call it acting is like calling the act of writing a novel acting, which it isn't, no matter how deeply I immerse myself in a character. Now, you can write stories based on or inspired by rp (I've done that), but that happens after the actual rp, and it's writing, not rping.

Honestly, it feels like there are these people who want to be writers, but either they have no talent or they won't sign off a damned game or social dohicky or whatever long enough to endure the intense solitude of writing, so they're trying to change the definition of writing to include what they're doing.*

---

I'm loving The Hunger Games more and more and more.

Okay, must take meds and finish coffee.

*Postscript (4:45 p.m.): To quote my post of January 28th, "1) Do not assume that because I express my views that I'm obligated to defend those views to you or engage in a dialogue, or even listen to your views. And I will exchange the favour."

Comments

[timesygn.livejournal.com]

I'm loving The Hunger Games more and more and more.

I'm hearing this with increasing frequency. (You know they're making a movie, right?) I have a chance to pick up a paperback copy at a discount. Perhaps I shall. At your recommendation, I read Tithe and loved it. Hey! Auntie Beast's Book Club ...

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in this idea you present that writing is inherently connected to isolation, a private act which is necessarily divorced from social interaction. I'm not sure I agree, but I'm also not disagreeing that MMO RP is incongruent with formal writing. There's certainly stylistic things I'd do in RP that I'd never do in prose, and vice versa. I definitely have a different idiom for each kind of expression.

Perhaps the issue is that formal writing requires a kind of discipline which RP side steps as a form of recreation. But then, no, that would suggest that acting doesn't have its own discipline which (while social) can be no less rigourous. Hmm. Not sure.

[catconley.livejournal.com]

The Hunger Games is amazing! I'm as excited about Katniss and The Hunger Games as I was about Lyra and The Golden Compass when I read it in high school.

Have fun on your adventure and good luck with your work.

[pisceanblue.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it feels like there are these people who want to be writers, but either they have no talent or they won't sign off a damned game or social dohicky or whatever long enough to endure the intense solitude of writing, so they're trying to change the definition of writing to include what they're doing.
Agreed. I have no experience in this in regards to RPGs, but I have encountered it in other forms, people who "write" but make no effort to actually create something of worth. I find those people do most *everything* halfassedly.

[lachendwolf.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks for the link to the Kirk book - I love his work. I'll pick that up when the budget allows!

I am very fortunate that I've never come across anyone who thought that RP was writing. I suppose it helps that I don't interact w/many people I don't know in MMOPRGs. Therefore, I'm almost always RPing with someone I know already. I'd be curious to see if this occurs in Rift (I'm hoping not!!).

[olivia nishkian (from livejournal.com)]

Well I don't know, C., RPing online is conveyed through writing, so saying it isn't writing is kind of silly. It is, in a fashion, but you're right in that the activity itself is more based around improv and getting into a character's head (acting) than writing.

But you know, I think RPing frequently and raising my own personal bar has enhanced my ability to write other things. It has not enhanced my ability to get up on a stage and act in a play.

So I don't know. Why do you even need to make the distinction so badly? It is what it is.

[poesillchild.livejournal.com]

This morning, the evil that is Wal Mart engulfed me. We required bird seed and suet for the wild birds, and WM has the least expensive.
Near the end of my WM imprisonment, I acquired a copy of the Hunger Games because you and a coworker have recommended it this week - I must need to read it.

I can hardly wait the year or so to read The Drowning Girl.

[tracy tibbits (from livejournal.com)]

I've never figured Roleplaying for writing myself either. A skill in writing certainly helps, sure. You have to be able describe whats going on and that takes a certain ammount of linguisitic skill. About the only time its 'writing' is when you're setting a stage for something, describing a setting. But then we're right back to roleplay as acting again.

Of course, I never gave roleplay much thought in relation to acting before. Always thought it was what it was. Now that you mention it, it makes sense. I'll even try to apply though structure of thinking towards future RP events. Thanks!

[blackestdarkness]

I'm looking forward to reading The Hunger Games series. I just ordered a bunch of books and received the 2nd and 3rd but the 1st is on backorder. It seems to be a popular series and I did hear they are making a movie.

[kathryn-aka-kat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I've been trying to tell people that RPGs are improv acting for years, but now there's backup.

Re: Rift
Someone posted a not-as-nice first take on it. That females still have to wear mini-skirt versions of the male outfits and get the extra "make-up" option. Is so? or not as bad?

RP and Improv

[jessamyg.livejournal.com]

Completely agree that Roleplaying in games is very like Improv, and to compare it to actual writing is like comparing Dungeons and Dragons to The Lord of the Rings. Both are fine, but I've a funny feeling that Lord of the Rings took a lot more work and passion - erm, wasn't it a full lifetime Mr Tolkien?