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fleetfootmikeI've been doing a fair bit of writing lately, as some of my friends can attest. It's led me, over the course of that time, to a number of conclusions, some of which are obvious and probably rank as perceived wisdom, and maybe some don't...
First off, inspiration. Whoever it was said that invention is more perspiration than inspiration is right. I used to bemoan the fact that I rarely got inspired enough to write fiction, and when I did, the inspiration would dry up after a few pages... The old adage "if you want to be a writer, then write", is, I can attest, true. What I try and do is (say) pick up the scene that I'm stuck on, and just try and take it somewhere, anywhere. What then often happens is that I wind up with a few lines that I look at critically, grumble, and throw away, often more than once, till eventually something happens I like, usually in response to the inner muse/voice that says something akin to 'Oh, for ****'s sake - let me do it...'. It's kind of like practising difficult phrases on the guitar - you just have to keep trying, however discouraging it is, because eventually you'll get there.
I used to be staff on several online RPGs (MUSHes), and play on several more. I used to treat it pretty much as interactive writing with little or no chance for a rewrite. The aspect of MUSHing that is particularly magical for me, compared to writing, is the whole thing of having a world that is populated with people I can interact with that I don't control, and as a result the ability for the world, and the characters in it, to surprise the hell out of me in a very pleasant way that is impossible to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it. Granted, it's possible for a character one is writing to develop a life/mind of its own, but the act of roleplaying/interactively writing with others makes the experience much keener, because you only have control of one end of the interaction. And the bigger the world/player-base, the more likely you are to find multiple rewarding collaboration opportunities.
Having said that, it's also a downside. If the person or people you're roleplaying with don't share your vision of the world, the larger story, or even the crucial details you're hanging a characterisation or plot from, you are, in a nutshell, stuffed :-) And the bigger the world and the player/writer base, the greater the odds on this happening. Moreover, and perhaps the reason I gave up, the things that you create are both flawed and ephemeral. Flawed because, despite the spontaneity (which is wonderful), you are constrained, consciously or not, by the MUSH command format and the alternating, 'self'-based nature of the interaction, and also by the linear nature of the medium - no rewinding to revise things. Ephemeral - well, because it is. Not only is it transient, gone as soon as you log off (barring logging), it's not part of a greater story in the same way that a scene in a book is - it's part of your character's story, and theirs, but (unless you make the (flawed) log available, and explain how you percieve it fits into your perception of the bigger story), it's just one story in many. Moreso, even, it's one story in many and everyone else (with some noble exceptions) thinks it's Not As Important As Theirs.
Being selfish, though, I want to have my cake and eat it. I want both the control over the large scale plot that being The Writer gives me, but I really miss the 'oh my God...' moments that collaborating with someone inspired can bring. That's what I so miss from MUSHing: there are, I know, a number of people reading this who I've RPed with online. You know who you are, and I miss you.
So, I'm sitting here with my laptop on my knees, thinking: what am I looking for here? Some bits of story are best just told by The Writer, whoever he or she is, who has the large scale vision. But some bits aren't: sometimes the interaction between characters can be handled that way, sometimes it's better beyond all reason if the interaction is played out, with all the magical surprises that can bring, yet secure in the knowledge that it isn't flawed, isn't ephemeral, and that it Matters In The Story.
I want to write something this way. Heck, I'd even settle for helping someone else do it.
First off, inspiration. Whoever it was said that invention is more perspiration than inspiration is right. I used to bemoan the fact that I rarely got inspired enough to write fiction, and when I did, the inspiration would dry up after a few pages... The old adage "if you want to be a writer, then write", is, I can attest, true. What I try and do is (say) pick up the scene that I'm stuck on, and just try and take it somewhere, anywhere. What then often happens is that I wind up with a few lines that I look at critically, grumble, and throw away, often more than once, till eventually something happens I like, usually in response to the inner muse/voice that says something akin to 'Oh, for ****'s sake - let me do it...'. It's kind of like practising difficult phrases on the guitar - you just have to keep trying, however discouraging it is, because eventually you'll get there.
I used to be staff on several online RPGs (MUSHes), and play on several more. I used to treat it pretty much as interactive writing with little or no chance for a rewrite. The aspect of MUSHing that is particularly magical for me, compared to writing, is the whole thing of having a world that is populated with people I can interact with that I don't control, and as a result the ability for the world, and the characters in it, to surprise the hell out of me in a very pleasant way that is impossible to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it. Granted, it's possible for a character one is writing to develop a life/mind of its own, but the act of roleplaying/interactively writing with others makes the experience much keener, because you only have control of one end of the interaction. And the bigger the world/player-base, the more likely you are to find multiple rewarding collaboration opportunities.
Having said that, it's also a downside. If the person or people you're roleplaying with don't share your vision of the world, the larger story, or even the crucial details you're hanging a characterisation or plot from, you are, in a nutshell, stuffed :-) And the bigger the world and the player/writer base, the greater the odds on this happening. Moreover, and perhaps the reason I gave up, the things that you create are both flawed and ephemeral. Flawed because, despite the spontaneity (which is wonderful), you are constrained, consciously or not, by the MUSH command format and the alternating, 'self'-based nature of the interaction, and also by the linear nature of the medium - no rewinding to revise things. Ephemeral - well, because it is. Not only is it transient, gone as soon as you log off (barring logging), it's not part of a greater story in the same way that a scene in a book is - it's part of your character's story, and theirs, but (unless you make the (flawed) log available, and explain how you percieve it fits into your perception of the bigger story), it's just one story in many. Moreso, even, it's one story in many and everyone else (with some noble exceptions) thinks it's Not As Important As Theirs.
Being selfish, though, I want to have my cake and eat it. I want both the control over the large scale plot that being The Writer gives me, but I really miss the 'oh my God...' moments that collaborating with someone inspired can bring. That's what I so miss from MUSHing: there are, I know, a number of people reading this who I've RPed with online. You know who you are, and I miss you.
So, I'm sitting here with my laptop on my knees, thinking: what am I looking for here? Some bits of story are best just told by The Writer, whoever he or she is, who has the large scale vision. But some bits aren't: sometimes the interaction between characters can be handled that way, sometimes it's better beyond all reason if the interaction is played out, with all the magical surprises that can bring, yet secure in the knowledge that it isn't flawed, isn't ephemeral, and that it Matters In The Story.
I want to write something this way. Heck, I'd even settle for helping someone else do it.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-08 03:16 pm (UTC)It's important to establish ground rules, first (i.e. the background, general things you want to happen and don't want to happen, etc.). Hey, maybe you could cowrite something with one of those people you used to MUSH with? Perhaps try a short project at first, just to see how it goes.
Good luck,
Debbie
On Roleplay
Date: 2003-01-08 05:21 pm (UTC)I also find the whole time/dedication factor to be a staggering obstacle. It just drains so much out of you. All your creativity, all your energy, and most of your free time goes to that -- especially if you're running a game. Even playing a character can be a tremendous commitment. It takes months to get to the point of being involved in a compelling story. All the rest of it's just filler.
I'm intrigued by the idea of experimenting. A friend and I did that for a while after Aether closed -- we had a more self-contained story, and so we could decide which scenes were necessary and which were not. Sometimes we'd write short stories to fill in the spaces between. So you sorta had the best of both worlds, although I think we sometimes fell short on the communication aspect. ;) I think we were both trying too hard to please the other and give each other free rein, that we sometimes floundered. That, and I stood her up one too many times.
Our Lewis/Winona scenes were close to that. I still look back on them fondly. And I wonder what ever happened to our outlaw duo. ;) If you'd be of a mind to find out, I'd like to give it a shot. Or try something new. But I've been jonesing for some good RP lately, so if you want to try a new experiment, just give me a holler. :)
-Astra
Re: On Roleplay
Date: 2003-01-08 05:36 pm (UTC)a) both of us being prepared to shut the **** up when we had nothing to say beyond 'it's my turn to pose'...
b) we knew and trusted each other enough to let each other basically drive a bus through the standard MUSH rules about consent and control of your own character, when it made the story and prose better to do so
c) the story was just about Lewis and Win
d) both of us were prepared to let the characters be yanked around by the story (whichever of us - usually me, IIRC - was in charge of directing the larger plot)
e) (as an aside) - did you notice how much what plot there was got derailed when we moved onto a public Wild West game rather than a private one? :-)
The only *real* difference between Lewis/Winona and a proper collaborative writing effort was that we (well, me, certainly) didn't really have a plot outline to work from. I suspect that, given the nature of the collaboration, it wouldn't have survived contact with the characters, mind!
Re: On Roleplay
Date: 2003-01-08 09:58 pm (UTC)-Astra
Re: On Roleplay
Date: 2003-01-09 12:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-08 06:01 pm (UTC)On a MUSH, by its very nature, everyone who takes part views the game as a forum in which they can tell *their* story. However much people may want to treat it as a collaborative writing environment, it's not. It's a game, and must perforce be balanced. And there's no way you can get away from this, for the simple reason that part of the general contract between the creators and their players allows them the right to control their character how they want. Imagine a MUSH in which the creators said "Actually, this is Joe and Beth's story, and the rest of you are all just bit players': somehow I wouldn't expect it to get many players.
What I'm angling after is something closer to a semi-experimental film, or at least one made by a director with a great deal of faith in his actors. It's a film in which there's a general plot outline, the characters are pretty well detailed with their desires, loves, hates and personalities, and on the whole the director knows the story he or she wants to tell. But he doesn't necessarily know the fine details, and he believes in his cast enough to provide them with sketches for given scenes and let them improvise their dialogue in front of the camera. On top of that (like all but John Hurt in the famous scene in Alien) sometimes he keeps the actors in the dark about things their characters wouldn't know, simply so that he can capture the precious moments of genuine shock, surprise, wonder...
Improv
Date: 2003-01-08 06:12 pm (UTC)And, my answer is - you can do it. Set up a space (I'm wiz on a MOO or two if you want to use an existing space), assign sketches, determine the story arc, turn on logging, and there you go. If the story doesn't work out the way you like the first time, reset and start again. :) Have people swap characters and try again. Run scenes several times, and you'll find common things that arise each time, and that will tell you something. I'd participate gladly in something like that. Sounds like fun. :)
Re: Improv
Date: 2003-01-08 07:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-08 07:10 pm (UTC)Yes, but none where I can read it ;)
Many moons ago, I used to be a gamer. I games a LOT, was in several worlds, ran a few others. One of the things that caused me to drop out of it was the fact that people's characters didn't much have actual lives; they didn't ring true. And when I discovered the online multiplayer worlds, I tended away from those that were gaming rather than talk-based for just that reason. I prefer to interact with some realistic sort of person (I can't say if larp is any different, as I never larped).
I cant' speak for collaborative fiction writing, as I've not done it (and I haven't written longer pieces of fiction in some years -- years in which I collected lots of rejection slips from magazines), but one thing I HAVE collaborated on is songs; there's a very definite OMGYES! from someone taking a phrase, a line, or even a word and breathing life into it.
The trick, of course, is to find someone with a compatible vision of what your characters and word are like. Not the exact same as yours, but close enough that the characters live and breath and talk to each other.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-08 11:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-09 12:09 am (UTC)One of the things I'm writing at the moment isn't intended to be shared like that - I know the story I want to tell well enough to not want/need to work on it that way. I do, though, have at least two other settings for stories that are big enough, and have more than enough characters in that I think they'd merit that approach.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-09 07:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-10 01:38 pm (UTC)I'm part of a PBEM now and find that my best posts are actually based on conversations that my character has had with another character via MSN Messenger. That way it keeps the spontenaity (?sp)but can still be edited afterwards.
Just my thoughts.
raar.
Date: 2003-01-17 04:50 pm (UTC)Erm, anyway. I know what you mean about MUSHing. There are times I miss it terribly. I was really distracted and blah through the tail end of my mushing period too and I regret so much not making more of that time. I always enjoyed our interactions though, and I miss them!
Mushing always felt like an engaging story that hmm...sort of amplified the elements of the story when you were a part of it. Humor seemed all the more amusing. Drama was highly compelling. And so on. Though it could be draining at times, or in certain settings feel a bit constrictive.
But I could relate very much reading this and I found some observations very insightful. Enough that it punted me out of a state of quiet lurkness. Ever feel inspired but aimless? I get in those moods sometimes these days.
Send me your e-mail addy again sometime if you don't mind talking again, so I have it to pester you with!
*warm hugs*
Theresa a.k.a. Cassandra, etc
gaia@interaccess.com
Re: raar.
Date: 2003-01-21 09:58 am (UTC)Oh God yes. That sums up a feeling I get sometimes, all too well. It's that *need* to create, to get my virtual or literal hands dirty *making* something, be it story, music or whatever, but not knowing WHAT.