Gaming Fiction

[PaulKemp]

Quality of Gaming Fiction

While I'm admittedly biased in this regard, here's my two cents on the subject.

I'm forced to acknowledge that there *is* bad gaming fiction. Back in the day, TSR put out some novels that are *generously* characterized as bad. Those books and the people behind the decisions to publish them took their audience for granted (hey, they're gamers, they'll buy it). That proved unfortunate for business reasons, and has proved unfortunate for current gaming-fiction authors. I have no doubt that a good number of readers out there simply won't look at a new WoTC book because of their bad experience with TSR. I think that's too bad, because there is a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of excellent gaming fiction out there now (esp. from WoTC, IMO). WoTC has made a deliberate effort to allow room for more mature themes in their books (no talking aardvarks, as far as I know), and I've tried to push that about as far as it can go in my books for them.

Similarly though, there is bad ( sometimes abyssmal) non-gaming fantasy fiction. I recently started a hardcover from Tor by a well-known author and had to put it down after the prologue. It was that poorly written. It's obvious that there's also excellent non-gaming fantasy (G.R.R. Martin is one of my favorites). I have yet to read a generalized statement about non-gaming fiction to the effect that it isn't very good because of x and y book. Yet that is the very thing that seems to me to occur with gaming-fiction. I'd really like to see folks make finer distinctions in that regard -- "I don't like x *author* because.... rather than, "Gaming fiction all sucks because of my experience with x author."

The upshot is this: In my view, the quality of the writing and story have nothing whatever to do with whether or not the fiction is gaming-related. It has to do only with the talent level of the author and the subjective tastes of the reader. So often I wish I could reach through the computer and hand someone my book, or something by Elaine Cunningham, or Salvatore (even if you don't like Drizz't, Salvatore spins a good tale), and say *read* this" before you make generalizations about gaming fiction. If you think that I suck because of what you've read, okay; but I'd rather not be grouped into the "sucks" category because of what someone else wrote.

Of course, I can't reach through the computer. So instead, I pop my head up out of the message board crowd from time to time and try to proselytize.

You may not know who I am, so here you go: I contributed to "The Halls of Stormweather," wrote the novel, "Shadow's Witness," contributed to "Realms of Shadow," and am writing an upcoming trilogy about my "signature" character, all for WoTC. In addition, I've contributed a couple short stories to Dragon, including this month's fiction (July).

Paul Kemp

 

[Mouseferatu]

Re: Quality of Gaming Fiction

Similarly though, there is bad ( sometimes abyssmal) non-gaming fantasy fiction. I recently started a hardcover from Tor by a well-known author and had to put it down after the prologue. It was that poorly written. It's obvious that there's also excellent non-gaming fantasy (G.R.R. Martin is one of my favorites). I have yet to read a generalized statement about non-gaming fiction to the effect that it isn't very good because of x and y book. Yet that is the very thing that seems to me to occur with gaming-fiction. I'd really like to see folks make finer distinctions in that regard -- "I don't like x *author* because.... rather than, "Gaming fiction all sucks because of my experience with x author."

The upshot is this: In my view, the quality of the writing and story have nothing whatever to do with whether or not the fiction is gaming-related. It has to do only with the talent level of the author and the subjective tastes of the reader. So often I wish I could reach through the computer and hand someone my book, or something by Elaine Cunningham, or Salvatore (even if you don't like Drizz't, Salvatore spins a good tale), and say *read* this" before you make generalizations about gaming fiction. If you think that I suck because of what you've read, okay; but I'd rather not be grouped into the "sucks" category because of what someone else wrote.

Oh, I agree, gaming fiction doesn't even remotely have the lock on bad fantasy. There's awful stuff out there all over the place. And there is indeed a decent amount of good gaming fiction. I can't honesty say whether yours counts, because I haven't read any of the books you've worked on. Sorry.

My point, though, is that bad writing seems more acceptible in gaming fiction. There seems to be less of an effort to raise the average level of the genre. I agree some of the recent stuff has been good--I love Kidd's writing, and even the other recent Greyhawk novels are better than most pre-3rd Edition fiction, even if they're not great. But that's just it; they're still not great. And I can count the good--not even great, but good--Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance novels I've ever read without running out of fingers, and that hasn't much changed in recent years.

Also, we're dealing--of course--substantial differences in taste. While I enjoyed those books of Cunningham's that I've read, I think R.A. Salvatore is vastly overrated and has no business being famous. I think he spins, at best, a mediocre tale, never a good one.

I do appreciate you taking time to comment, though. I'm always interested in the opinions of those involved in whatever issue I'm carping about. And hey, to date I've only done RPG writing, but I'm working on forcing my way into fiction, so you never know. A few years from now, maybe it'll be me people are ranting about.

 

[DonB]

Hi there -

Hey, great topic and great responses. It's great to hear people not simply slamming gaming fiction for a change!

I thought maybe you all would like to hear a bit about writing game novels from the writer's point of view. Just to introduce myself, I'm Don Bassingthwaite - I've got six of the things under my belt currently (plus a small whack of game-based short stories) for a couple of different companies. I'm also a gaming reviewer for Black Gate magazine (and previously for sfsite.com), so I do actually read game novels as well - and let me agree, there are some real stinkers out there!

(If anyone thinks my novels are among them, go ahead and say so - I don't mind hearing criticism)

Theron's right - writing fiction is very different from writing other game material and there's a different sensibility involved. Fiction needs plot, character, a certain sense of timing, and an ear for dialogue and description, things that aren't quite as crucial in a game book. OTOH, what I'd consider a good game book requires an astounding attention to detail, flexibility (trying to anticipate all the wants of a gamer), and a much more intimate knowledge of the game rules than a novel does. Fiction is linear, game material is amorphous, and you can't really map one style onto the other without making a mess.

That's not to say there are certain things that overlap - good description, a bit of restraint, and a sense of the bigger picture (of the game world and of real world audience demand) are good for either kind of writing.

I think the bigger picture of the game world is an important aspect of gaming fiction that a lot of writers miss. As both Theron and Yuan-Ti mentioned, we're playing in someone else's sandbox. Yes, that can be limiting, but IMHO a good writer can get around that - it actually becomes something of a challenge. Some of the worst gaming fiction I've read seems to happen when the writer either doesn't know the world or apparently decides that certain rules of the setting just don't apply to him or her. We're writing for an audience that knows their stuff - we need to keep it consistent. We can bend, we can twist (playing against type with characters is great), but we shouldn't break. The other thing that bugs me is when a writer throws in some event of apocalyptic proportions and their heroes end up saving the world. Great - what do you do for a sequel? To be fair, that might be what the editors asked them to write, but it still makes it hard for the next guy to come along.

Shared worlds can also be a bit overwhelming though and leaping into them whole hog is also bad. Have you ever noticed in a movie or TV show that when the characters go to some well-known city, there's _always_ a slideshow of all the famous sights? The same thing can happen in game novels - there's a wealth of information, so the temptation to throw in a bunch of famous details for the heck of it is strong. It's like putting salt on food - a little is just right, too much and it's just nasty.

As far as pulling punches on the dark, nasty, and sexual, I don't like it personally, but that's sometimes the price you have to pay for working for someone else. I've been really lucky in working for companies and lines that let me get away with adult themes - I think that having them there really adds to the depth of the story. BTW to Theron, yes, I think WotC's loosening of the ties on game materials is extending to fiction - I had a lot of leeway in writing my DarkMatter novels (even so far as dealing with homosexuality openly, which is a bit of a triumph) and there are some very graphic turns in Keith Strohm's Tomb of Horrors and Richard Lee Byer's new Dissolution (I got an advance reading copy for review - two thumbs up!).

So what do I think makes for bad gaming fiction? Well, I'd agree with Humanophile that fiction that creates a super-PC with no controls is bad. A character that has no weakness or vulnerability and wins all the time is bad whether you're writing a book or playing a game. OTOH, Humanophile, I disagree with you about the "no dice to inject the chance of failure" - there should be no dice in a novel because failure shouldn't be random. No failure is bad, but random failure is worse. A good novel needs to be tight. One of the more frequent criticisms of game novels I've heard is that "you can hear the dice rolling in the background" - the book reads too much like the transcript of a game. I've read game books where wandering monsters show up. I usually end up throwing those books across the room.

Game rules are a tricky thing for fiction writers. On the one hand, you have to respect them, but on the other, they really weren't designed for creative writing. Leaving aside the use of game terms by characters (who invoked the name of Rose Estes?), there are things like character abilities that end up very restricting - skill progressions, level, that sort of thing. Damage in combat is another good one. When someone is sticking too close to rules it shows, but it also shows when they try to pull too far back and start ignoring things blatantly. Generally what I like to do is read the rules, make sure nothing I have is an outright contradiction, and then put the books away, to be consulted only when necessary.

If I can forget I'm writing for a game and concentrate on writing a novel, it's good. This isn't high literature, but that's no reason not to write a good book. Someone mentioned they really enjoyed Paul Kidd's Greyhawk novels - I would _so_ second that! If you want a good pulpy read, I'd also point you to the Felix and Gotrek novels by William King for Warhammer.

Thanks!
Don

 

[DonB]

Rats! Kemp beat me to the punch! (And aye carumba - my apologies for the monster post! It didn't look that long in the little greay Reply box!)

I wonder how many other writers are crusing around on these boards waiting for the subject to come up?

Don

 

[DonB]

Re: Re: Quality of Gaming Fiction

My point, though, is that bad writing seems more acceptible in gaming fiction. There seems to be less of an effort to raise the average level of the genre.

I don't know if I'd say acceptable - maybe accepted.

I don't know why for sure. Maybe it's because in a lot of houses the old attitude that fiction is just a support for the game line still holds over, whereas other places have realized that it can be as important as the game material.

Wherever you work, though, there's a tremendous emphasis on getting stuff out fast - work for hire has a remarkably short turn around time compared to the length of time an author can mull over an original piece. That doesn't make it easy. Nor does the fact that you don't get to retain copyright to anything you create - I know there are ideas I've got that I'm not putting into anything I write for WotC or anyone else.

Still, a job's a job - turning in trash work isn't good for anyone, unless all you're interested in is taking the money and running.

Don

 

[Theron]

Well, this thread's taken a cool turn. Paul and Don, thanks for the insights.

One thing that I don't think we've discussed is the aspect of editorial control. I know that in the past, Ed Greenwood commented on how editorial decisions changed his novels (once to the point of having a minor character die in one scene, only to turn up in the next chapter, alive and well with no explanation). Even when he broke out of the Wizards/TSR publishing stable, he ended up with a former editor from TSR who wanted more of what he'd always written in game fiction, because he wasn't perceived as a "name" by his new publisher.

Do you guys find this to be a constraint on creativity? It seems the editor of a game fiction line has to wear more hats than the typical fiction editor, needing to answer to the game's needs as well as those of the novel or anthology.

 

[PaulKemp]

Well, this thread's taken a cool turn. Paul and Don, thanks for the insights.

One thing that I don't think we've discussed is the aspect of editorial control. I know that in the past, Ed Greenwood commented on how editorial decisions changed his novels (once to the point of having a minor character die in one scene, only to turn up in the next chapter, alive and well with no explanation). Even when he broke out of the Wizards/TSR publishing stable, he ended up with a former editor from TSR who wanted more of what he'd always written in game fiction, because he wasn't perceived as a "name" by his new publisher.

Do you guys find this to be a constraint on creativity?

Not me. My editor has been open to my proposals and ideas, and I have always exercised essentially complete creative control (which is why I think my stuff pushes the maturity envelope at WoTC). He's also a hell of a guy and a hell of a good editor. Any changes that he's proposed have invariably made the story better. I suppose each author's mileage may vary with their respective editor.

Paul

 

[DonB]

I've heard that same story from Ed - well, the one about the character, not the one about the old editor/new house.

I actually don't think too much about editorial control really - after all, this is work for hire. If the editor wants something, I'll do my best to make it happen. Gaming books always come with some kind of conditions in my experience, something the editors and product managers have worked out that they want. For my very first book, "Such Pain" for White Wolf, I was told mages in San Francisco - I could go from there. My second, "Breathe Deeply", was based on the Rage card game and had to use characters from that. The most freedom I had was "Pomegranates Full and Fine" (also White Wolf) - combine several beasties from the World of Darkness, anywhere and anyhow I wanted.

On the other end of the scale, my DarkMatter books probably had the most conditions. I had to use the series characters (though I could introduce my own minor characters) and for "If Whispers Call" it had to be a ghost story set in Chicago's Bachelor's Grove Cemetery.

None of those really bothered me that much (I have to admit I wasn't too fond of some of the DarkMatter characters but once I got under their skin, I did start to enjoy most of them). It's really about taking the assignment and doing the best I can - after all, it's my name going on the book. Coloring inside the lines just makes it more of a challenge and me a better writer. My second DarkMatter book, "By Dust Consumed", I actually set myself my own "editorial control" - I tried to bring together some of the threads introduced by the other three authors in the series and give things a little direction.

Admittedly, I think I've worked with some really good editors. Almost all of their suggestions have been very helpful and they've been open to listening to my concerns about the ones I didn't think would work. In that sense, their job isn't really that much different from an editor in a trade house - most of the game-related decisions are made before the novel is assigned (at least in my experience).

To the best of my knowledge, there was only once (very, very early in my writing career) that an editor changed something without consulting me (and messed it up - I mean, his change didn't even make grammatical sense!). I think the situation Ed had with the editor at TSR would have challenged anyone. The former TSR editor at the new house, OTOH, is a whole different kettle of fish. I can't really say what I'd do in that situation (make a lot of noise, most likely - but then, I work in publishing in my day job, so I'm not inclined to put up with a lot when it's not work for hire )

Don

 

[DonB]

Not me. My editor has been open to my proposals and ideas, and I have always exercised essentially complete creative control

Oy! Hey, Paul! What is this? You keep replying while I'm composing!!

Don

 

[Conan the Mime]