Are Good GM's good writers/storytellers?

[Waylander the Slayer]

I was recently reading Steven King's book - "On writing" ( a great read btw.) and many of what is stated about being a good writer seems to resonate in being a good GM.
For example, he states that you should almost always never "plot" but rather have characters in situations and let them react to the situation. What does everyone think? From reading some of the story hours here, the corollation between being a good writer and GM seems to hold true.

 

[diaglo]

not always.

i've seen some rather good storytellers who are just plain awful as DMs.

 

[Mr. Lobo]

deleted

For example, he states that you should almost always never "plot" but rather have characters in situations and let them react to the situation. What does everyone think? From reading some of the story hours here, the corollation between being a good writer and GM seems to hold true.

Sounds like some of the old AD&D modules. Like the D series. I bought the D1-2 module and read through it. Most of it seemed like just encounters in a long tunnel. I really didn't get much of a plot element out of it until I got the G series and made the connections.

But I think that's a Gygaxian philosophy of gaming. As I recall in the AD&D DMG his points about building a campagin were to let it build itself based on situational events. I think that he mentions that the campaign usually takes on a life of its own.

But to answer the question I think it depends on the group to decide what makes a good GM. If the group is more into storytelling they might consider that their storytelling GM is great. But hack 'n slasher players might think otherwise.

Mr. Lobo

 

[francisca]

Um. Maybe. It certainly helps. Depends on how you define storytelling. I can see playing in a game wherein the DM is very adept at providing great descriptions, which provide imagery and evoke reactions from all five sense, but can't string a plot together for love or money. Likewise, I can see a DM who can pull off the most amazingly complex plot, but the descriptions are lacking. Could both be good DMs? Well, maybe. If the players are having a good time, yes. Also, running a D&D game requires an understanding of the mechanics as well. Storytelling doesn't help if you repeatedly screw the players over due to lack of rule knowledge.

So, I think storytelling skills certainly enhance a DM's ability to provide a good gaming environment (so max your skills out!). However, it is just a part of the picture. How big of a part depends on the group and style of play.

 

[jinx crossbow]

A GM can be good without beeing a good writer or storryteller but its more difficult.
He has to know where are his strengths and shoulkd set his main focus on them.

I know a great Storryteller, but hes no good writer and has big problems in GMing
because he allways has problems with gamebalancing (CR is something he doesn't
understand)

But the best GM s I know are very good storrytellers. So there a bit of truth in
your question.

 

[SmokeDoctorlove]

A good writer can be a good DM, but some are awful writers, but amazing adlib story tellers. The best DMs do both.

 

[maddman75]

I plot, but I tend to plot loose. I hate hate HATE when the DM comes up with once special way the group has to approach a problem, and nothing else will work. Most times I'll make up a situation with no predetermined way for them to deal with it. Just a situation and see how they deal with it. Sure, I have my main plot that I'm wanting to do, but you have to add in the actions of the PCs and their various subplots to the gaming soup.

 

[JDJarvis]

Being a good storyteller does help one be a good DM. Storytelling shouldn't be confused with railroading however. Being able to turn a random encounter into something that is exciting and dynamic and maybe a more signifigant part of the camapign then it was initially intended to be certainly requires a degree of storytelling that makes the stats more then stats.
Personally I think i'd be a a fairly poor author of ficiton but still consider myself an all right storyteller.I used to spend time in grade school and middle shcool telling my classmates stories and they actually enjoyed them and kept coming back for more. I'd suppose those skills became part of my bag o' tricks as a DM.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I used to have a good writer as a DM a while ago. He was a creative writing student and had a fair bit of work published in small SF magazines and the like.

His games were good fun, but the style was really unusual. He'd railroad us heavily during a session - there was not often much real PC choice. However, at the end of each session he'd sit down and let us tell him generally what our PCs/group wanted to do for the next week(s). Then he'd write the metaplot to fit that. I don't think it would have worked unless he was such a good storyteller... I certainly wouldn't attempt it, but he ran some memorable and engaging campaigns.

To sum it up, it was like reading a book. But at least it was a decent one.

He would also run more 'normal' games, but those just wern't as much fun.

 

[Yair]

Sure, I am

Actually, I would answer in the negative.
Some of the skills, as you say, are the same and can work for both GM and writer. And yes, of course there are differences - but those do not make the difference.
There is a difference between verbal and written description, for example - I for one give reasonable written descriptions, but quite poor verbal descriptions (). This I find to be a major hurdle as a GM. Well, that and lack of time But it is not a show-stopper.
There are other differences of course, but I ain't gonna do a list. I suggest you won't find a difference that really is a show-stopper.

See, I think the essential skill of being a DM is empathy to what the players want, and being willing to deliver it. If you do that, then even if your plots are mediocre and your descriptions are so-so and your roleplaying non-existant - you could still orchestrate a good game. (Of course, I mean catering to their real wants, not giving them perks like magic items or whatnot but rather setting up intrigue with the family of one PC, providing some plain hack-and-slash for another player, and so on.)
In contrast the primary skill of being a writer is being able to construct made-up constructs others can relate to (characters, descriptions, and so on that will evoke the reader's emotions); it helps if there is a good plot structure too. This is a key asset to a GM, but I actually think it is secondary. Anyone has it to some degree; the empathy to the other's needs and willingness to commit time and effort is much more rare in my mind. Once those are given, the GM will improve his skills with time - but without them, all the skills he would gain will be in vain.
So some of the skills of a writer will help you build better adventures, run them more evocably, and generally be a better GM. But being good or bad to begin with - that, I find, has little to do with writing skills.