Week 6 concludes with the biggest metaphor of all - writing itself. What *is* writing? A game? A journey? A battle? Today we try an exercise to get to the bottom of what it means for you. Please buy
word juicE
INTENSE
LOL talking bollocks amazing
man I’ve done that poetic truth for science public engagement :|
please don’t twist me out context
“This is just for you”
And the counsellor. And the careers coach next week. HA.
MANIFESTO.
One of the best things to happen to be recently was talking to a role player. They were discussing with me the plot points for the story they were writing off the back of my work, one that creates a mechanism for a magic system, basically. They were using the terminology I’d developed and fleshed out to create new moves and to motivate their character and plot. To hear them using the same words I’d really poured work into was an amazing high - I’d actually communicated this idea in my head effectively enough that it seemed natural for this other person to use the terminology. They haven’t been the only one to do so.
I’m happy creating worlds. Not necessarily from scratch, but the process of “and then”ing - here’s a seed and what happens next, what does that cause in the world - is amazing, and when it all fits together to create a modified language, a set of customs, and some things are remarkably similar... that’s awesome. I love the contrast between what the characters in that world see as extraordinary and mundane, and what we as the reader think.
I want to create worlds that people want to explore, that there’s enough there for readers to want to pick up a pen and to insert themselves of a character into. I want it to make sense to people, not at a whishy-washy level, but if there’s sci-fi, it not necessarily be hard sci-fi but appear to be, or to find all these science analogies that really bring a story to life and will make people dig down further. “Could this be real? Could this work?” I want readers to feel immersed in a world and story like they’re piecing it together from journals they’ve found, or blog posts and songs and holiday photos. I want to run an ARG for a world. I want a reader to want to find out what a character is doing on their off days (if usually extraordinary), those quiet moments of friendship and comfortable silences that we all want for ourselves, and to relax with the characters and shoot the breeze.
