Write Better With Gaming Tools
Tabletop Gaming and Fiction Have Elements in Common
Science Fiction and Fantasy authors should take advantage of tabletop gaming resources and methods.
Many fantasy writers are of the opinion that there is a world of difference between what they do and what their tabletop game-playing brethren do, but they are mistaken. In fact, authors who can get over any prejudices they may have concerning the gaming community may be surprised to find that there is a lot to be learned from that particular world, and a ton of useful resources to boot.
World-building. One major thing that tabletop gaming and fantasy or science-fiction writing have in common is the need to engage in world-building. When a writer sits down to map out a civilization on his brand-new planet, he is world-building. When a dungeon master sits down to create a world for his gamers to play in, he is world-building. Though the outcomes may be slightly different, each person is doing essentially the same thing, and needs to solve the same problems, such as figuring out the elements of culture, politics, terrain and character races that will come into play, and the implications of each.
Character-building. Gamers, like authors, are very concerned with character. The only difference is that the gamer acts his character while the author writes his. However, each is concerned with the same elements – character skills, attitudes, history and the like. Gamer tools such as character sheets and race descriptions can give an author a great deal to work with and build on. By using the same step-by-step character-building approach used by many gamers, authors can make their own process of writing characters much easier by virtue of making it much more organized.
Technical resources. If you don't believe that the world of gaming is full of all sorts of nifty writer tools, then just go into a gaming store and have a look around. If your characters deal with guns, look for a gamers' guide to guns. If your characters tend to use more primitive weapons, you will find several guides to those. You can find monster guides, robot guides, spaceship guides, magic guides – almost anything you can dream up will be available to you in a gaming store.
There is a reason that these two activities have so much overlap: Gaming is a form of storytelling. The only difference is that the gamers sit down to create the skeleton in the form of the world and the characters, and then get together to create the action. It is a story created by many, instead of just one. However, lone storytellers can reap the benefit of the work of gamers by using their tools. Give it a try. You may find yourself with a writer's library full of useful tabletop gaming books.
