sitting around a table, lying

The father of a roleplaying friend once described our sessions as sitting around a table and lying to reach other. And in essence, he was right, that’s exactly what it is. The GM describes a setting and a scenario, and the players portray their actions, as they think their character would act. It’s all make believe, with nothing at stake, and no impact to the real world. While some might call it cooperative story telling, its not untrue to say that we’re all just sitting around, lying to each other.

In that sense, I’ve been a liar my whole life. Or in more favorable terms, I’ve been telling stories for as far back as I remember. My earliest memories being playing with stuffed animals as a child, coming up with silly little dramas and having my toys act them out in my room, around my house, and outside.

I never lost my enjoyment of storytelling, and began roleplaying at around eight or nine years old when my older brother began playing Dungeons & Dragons. And while the systems and players evolved over time, I’m still playing some version of tabletop roleplaying games today.

I think its this foundation that has enabled me to write my book(s). I enjoy creating backgrounds, settings, and scenarios and seeing how they all play out. The biggest difference being that with writing, I’m coming up with every role as opposed to having other people decide on the actions of most of the characters.

Though with years of putting myself into the head space of an individual, who are ostensibly ‘not me’, has really aided my writing. I can put myself in the characters position, change the lens of my perspective to their world, their upbringing, and their emotional state in any given moment. Though sometimes it’s harder than others, such as when writing from a woman’s perspective. (I am a man, and respect that I cannot fully appreciate the perspective of a woman fully. Which is why I often ask for advice from the women in my life to help guide my writing for women.)

I love telling stories and seeing how they affect others. One of my main goals in my first book was to make my wife laugh out loud and cry, both during the touching moments, and during the emotional trauma it portrays. And I’m pleased to say that it has worked, which was my first sign that I was on to something special…