Discussing Choice vs Reaction #AuthorToolboxBlogHop

Choice plays a critical role in any story. Much of the meaning found in stories is exemplified in the choices characters make, as well as the consequences that follow. And yet, I feel that most characters make very few real choices over the course of their story. And I think that’s necessary. Too many choices can overwhelm an audience, just as too few often make for a boring story.

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Discussing Being “In the Moment” (What Larping Taught Me About Writing Part 3)

A newton's cradle

So far I’ve been discussing the experience of role playing, but for me there’s one distinction between tabletop role playing and larping, the tension. In a traditional “sit down” role playing session, players have time to think and react. The game master tells players what is happening, and one by one players choose an action, roll a die, and find out what happened. The fact that every choice has to be processed and resolved by the game master creates a natural staggering, which does not exist in larping.

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Uniting a Story Part 1-How Characters Can Unite a Story 110-01

Some stories are told from a single perspective, in a single location, over a short span of time (for example, Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson), but in general, the longer a story is, the more complex it becomes. Most novels feature between 2 and 6 different point of view characters, each with their own cast of supporting characters. They engage multiple narrative threads, spanning a wide range of locations and moments in time.

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