Game on!

I guess I'm admitting to being a true nerd at this point, but yes, I've played Dungeons and Dragons (aka D&D) as well as other RPGs. For those who don't know, those are Role-playing Games. You get to hang with friends and play as a character in a world, make your own choices, and have adventures. 

Someone has to run it, of course, and provide the world. That's the Game Master. There are hundreds of these games, each with its own rules and mechanics. The Game Master (or whatever it's called in a given game) provides the rules, sets the story up, and then answers the player's actions with the consequences. They're in charge of how it runs. They control the conflicts and basically tell the story the characters are in.

We finally got to play again recently (currently a player in a Traveller's game and learning the ropes!), and it got me thinking; being a gamer has helped me a lot with writing. Being a Game Master is essentially being an author with one notable difference; you get instant feedback. If your players have wandered off the plotline, then you probably failed to set up a good hook. Or if someone's on their phone again, the plot's too slow for them, and you need to pick it up. RPGs are a testing ground. What kept their attention? What did the group end up bringing up again and again? What didn't work out at all the way you expected?

So if you're thinking about writing, I recommend playing an RPG. Better still, I recommend being a Game Master!

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This Month's Freebies! The Review copies one are free and request a review posted on something like amazon in exchange. A nice way to find new books and meet new authors!