Debra’s comment on my last post got me thinking. She said that the idea of keeping journals on behalf of D&D characters is “a way to approach first-person narrative that hadn’t occurred to me before.” The more I thought about it, the more I realized what a fascinating process it is. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was probably the most fun I’d ever had writing anything.
I am sure I’m not the only bookworm out there who has entertained fantasies of being a writer (come on, you know you have). And I’m sure I’m not the only bookworm out there who has made sporadic attempts to write fiction (come on, you know you have). I am able to come up with a seemingly endless supply of interesting characters, and I think I can turn a sentence pretty well. Where I fall flat is PLOT. Give me a situation, and I can tell you exactly how my characters will react. But give me the situation, please, because I can’t think of it myself.
With D&D journals, the problem is solved. I get all the fun of creating the character, finding her voice, and turning the sentences. And best of all, the plot is handed to me on a platter. I don’t have to make anything up, because it’s a real journal.
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Plot IS hard, based on the short stories and dramas written by my eighth graders. Before the second round, I had to specify that no one could write about people at our school and they had to limit the number of characters. Otherwise I was getting the same story over and over: ALL of my friends went to a slumber party and were each killed in a different way by a maniac. No motive, no resolution. Aristotle rolled over in his grave.
I am not sure what D&D is…but you are IT!!
I have tagged you for the authors meme….if you want to play.
Sounds like you’ll give it a try. :) Yay.
Writing the diary of someone else, who is maybe part alter ego - part fantasy. I’m still not quite sure I have my head wrapped around it entirely, but it does sound challenging. Does your character have a moniker?
Books written from the perspective of a familiar animal would seem to provide an analogous challenge - one that demands we stretch our own preconceptions about the mind of the “other.” I think of The White Bone by Gowdy as an example of a text that really pushed those boundaries.
Sara, your comment reminds me of an English teacher’s complaint I read somewhere — ridiculous amounts of blood and gore, neatly wrapped up at the end with “Thank God it had all been just a dream.”
Bethany, that is a fearsome meme, but I’ll do my best, thanks! And I’ve added an abbreviation tag to “D&D” — if that doesn’t help, here’s the Wikipedia article. :)
Debra, I imagine writing from an animal’s pov would be similar. Though in that case, presumably, you’d be making up the events, not the character. ?? I haven’t read the The White Bone but I am eager to. I am also eager to explore every inch of your blog, by the way, because I can see from just a quick glance that you’ve got tons of fascinating stuff going on.
Oh, and my current character is a 9th level wizard named Dawnzer Leelight. The name was my 9yo daughter’s idea, from the scene in Ramona the Pest where she goes to kindergarten and misunderstands the lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner.
I’ve written fiction before. It’s called my resume.
Ha ha, I’m tempted to say something about my tax return, but on second thought I probably better not. :)