A poll to my friends list: HP_Dungeon readers and not.

[icarus]

Are you reading hp_dungeons?

Here's what I'm finding in the RPG madness:

- It breaks inertia with fresh insights, input.
- It gives you the chance to work with many excellent writers, all at once.
- It is a like a movie set. Hurry up and wait, completely messes with your schedule.
- It is a tremendous time-sink.
- It develops some bad writing habits, dependency, and breaks down story structure as the story is pulled between several people.
- It is addictive.
- It concentrates your energy for a small readership; everyone else is left out in the cold.
- It's ephemeral. Once you write it, it's gone. People don't look back and read it later.
- It reduces your story to 'attention grabbers', there's a flattening that happens over time that I can't explain, except it seems to be related to the story structure being pulled in many directions.
- It has politics behind the scenes.
- It is well-nigh impossible to write your own fanfic while you're doing an RPG (at least that's what I find).

What do you think?

Are you waiting for stories that don't seem to be coming?

Are your RPG experiences similar? Different?

Comments

[sharp-tongue.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking a great deal about the pros and cons raised in this post and there are many comments and observations that I'd like to make. Unfortunately, most of my brain is sucked into a little side project I've been challenged with and the rest of it has been destroyed by the soul-sucking void that is my job. (Working with Dementors would be a step up, I think.)

But I digress. How can I digress from nothing, you ask? I refer you back to the points made about my brain in the last paragraph.

Where was I? Oh, yes. I'm replying here because, in the absence of any ability to express my own thoughts, I'm going to simply agree whole-heartedly with snooks_ranting.

I can see how there would be downsides to writing for The Dungeons but for me, as a reader, there are so many more good points. The interactivity of the project creates a dynamic structure that can't be replicated or imitated in linear story. The backstories contrast with the snippets of journal entries and owl posts to flesh out each character in several dimensions, allowing them to show a more fundamentally fractal and human face.

As a writer, I'm crap. My writing itself is fine but I'm completely incapable of finishing a story, which is why I don't inflict any WIPs on my fandoms. The Dungeons has given me an unbelievable opportunity to interact with many outstanding writers and to be creative without the pressure of a structured plot to follow.

I simply adore The Dungeons and am throughly thankful to all of the contributors for making it such a fantastic experience.


(Oh, look. I had something of my own to say after all.) *grins*