I’ve been doing this since sixth grade, and working together with people to build a world and a story has increased my skills as a writer DRASTICALLY. Not only that, but it’s tremendous fun. Not that anyone’s ever going to read this post, but here’s a link to our harry potter forum if you’d care to read any of it!

http://atroveoftales.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=roleplayhp&action=display&thread=22

I strongly suggest starting something like this with some of your own friends! It’s one of the most fun things you can do online.

One of my concerns about playing RPGs and writing has been that the elements some of the RPG worlds I have been introduced to would influence my writing. For example, I have noticed some similarities between the world of Exalted and my current series. My disclaimer is this: I’ve been working 0n my current series since my senior year in high school (I graduated in 1996) and I didn’t start playing Exalted until I was in college (I started college in 2002). I know, when and if, I get this series published some readers, who also happen to play Exalted, will say I have ripped some ideas from the Exalted world. But despite these fears, I’m still rolling with the ideas. Listening to this podcast laid those fears to rest.

Note: I know fourteen years is a long time to be working on a series, but the series has evolved over the years and I’ve come up with other book ideas. Some YA, one thriller type, and a few geared toward high school and higher.

Which is why it’s NO surprise that many of the very best Game Masters are World Builders par excellence, but can’t be persuaded to try their hands at a novel. Writing is a solitary pursuit.

Younger brothers friend couldn’t play D&D because Mother thaought it lead to devil worship. She wanted her so to hear it from someone inside the church so one Sunday, a few decades ago, she brought him up to the Deacon and told him of her dilemma. He told he in from to her son that He couldn’t help her as He and the current priest were players in a roleplaying group run by one of the other members of the church. Wasn’t enough to stop her from forbidding him to play D&D but my brother was able to incude his friend in the ‘Top Secret” and Traveller campaigns, that were also going on.

I’ve been roleplaying since ’77, back when roleplaying was all about dungeon crawls. But even then I was lucky enough to be in a group (Of fellow High schoolers) who demanded backstory, motivation, and and a true sense of risk; long before D&D had rules and guides to help us do these things. Heck, when I start a campaign not only do I at least outline the histories of the land; I work out the plate techtonics so that my mountain ranges make at least some sense. My group has added new blood as some of us have gone afar and 2 dear friends have passed away. Where is this leading …

I have a friend, who for the last 3 years has been leading a small party of us on the most complete roleplaying experience in my 33 years of playing and GM’ing. How do I get him away from the game, and get him writing? He has all the tools of pacing, plot, building dynamic tension, originality, character growth, catharsis, … well, you guys understand where I’m going.

The other player in his ‘interactive novel’ agrees with me. We are willing to stop the campaign (A true sacrifice) to let him put this opus to pen (er … laptop) but he shrugs us off. He says writing is too much work, then he puts in 20 to 25 hours weekly into his 2 campaigns (he also does one for his nephews, and niece). He’s failed his perception die roll. I told him of this topic from your site to prove that writers can still role-play, in moderation at least. Alas, I’ll continue to write and try to improve, but my current GM is a writer that may never find the spark to actually do so. How can I get across the concept of the multi-class character: GM/Writer? How do you break a person not out of the standard “afraid to fail” mode but out of his “afraid to succeed’ habit?

Of course, I’m asuming that like me, his craving to roleplay and especially GM all these decades is because that deep inside his soul, that there is some ember of a writer waiting to be fanned.

http://www.suvudu.com/2010/02/writers-reminisce-about-dungeons-dragons.html