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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="ParanoydStyle" data-source="post: 7595782" data-attributes="member: 6984451"><p>Hey, I'm a writer with the gall to call himself a literary writer even though I write genre stuff--I don't think that genre fiction can't be literary by default like way too many lit crits still think, even in a post Neil Gaiman world. As a PC or a DM I can and <em><strong>do</strong></em> make up, on the fly, prose of a quality closer to those opening lines you quoted than your later examples, as well as other dialogue and descriptions which sound more like something you'd read in a novel. So yes, I freestyle novel quality prose to my table, which I realize puts me in the minority if not outright marks me as a freak. But does that mean MY roleplaying is a literary endeavor and no one else's is? (It's a rhetorical question, but my answer is I don't think so.)</p><p></p><p>For what it's worth, I also usually make an effort to ensure that my dialogue when portraying a character is delivered as well as it would be by a professional actor, including body language, accents, etcetera. Of course I'm a retired veteran LARPer and LARP, at least any one worth playing, is a theatrical endeavor. </p><p></p><p>How do we define "literary: some people use it to mean 'like a book', some people use it to mean 'like <u>serious</u> literature'. With the latter definition, I would say no, at least the VAST majority of RPG sessions and campaigns don't achieve (or aspire to) 'literary' status, although I also think a handful do (and I'm positive they're not the ones being streamed, but that's neither here nor there). With the former definition um, well...I think the OP answered their own question. It is different from a book in that it is interactive, which is kind of a duh. Well, I guess Choose Your Own Adventure books would be an exception.</p><p></p><p>Personally, my goal when I am GMing is to create an interactive but 'CINEMATIC' experience. Actually, what I'm going for is 'seriously good TV quality' but there isn't one word to define that like there is for cinematic. But basically the HBO/AMC pioneered hour-long drama is the 'format' I aim to make interactive. Those shows (Sopranos, Breaking Bad, True Detective, Legion, American Gods et al.) definitely manage to be art as well as entertainment, which is something else I go for in my games. The caveats here would be that I expect most GMs take their campaigns much less seriously, and I am totally fine with that, and also that I haven't been able to actually run a campaign to my own standards in a long, long time (going on two years).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ParanoydStyle, post: 7595782, member: 6984451"] Hey, I'm a writer with the gall to call himself a literary writer even though I write genre stuff--I don't think that genre fiction can't be literary by default like way too many lit crits still think, even in a post Neil Gaiman world. As a PC or a DM I can and [I][B]do[/B][/I] make up, on the fly, prose of a quality closer to those opening lines you quoted than your later examples, as well as other dialogue and descriptions which sound more like something you'd read in a novel. So yes, I freestyle novel quality prose to my table, which I realize puts me in the minority if not outright marks me as a freak. But does that mean MY roleplaying is a literary endeavor and no one else's is? (It's a rhetorical question, but my answer is I don't think so.) For what it's worth, I also usually make an effort to ensure that my dialogue when portraying a character is delivered as well as it would be by a professional actor, including body language, accents, etcetera. Of course I'm a retired veteran LARPer and LARP, at least any one worth playing, is a theatrical endeavor. How do we define "literary: some people use it to mean 'like a book', some people use it to mean 'like [U]serious[/U] literature'. With the latter definition, I would say no, at least the VAST majority of RPG sessions and campaigns don't achieve (or aspire to) 'literary' status, although I also think a handful do (and I'm positive they're not the ones being streamed, but that's neither here nor there). With the former definition um, well...I think the OP answered their own question. It is different from a book in that it is interactive, which is kind of a duh. Well, I guess Choose Your Own Adventure books would be an exception. Personally, my goal when I am GMing is to create an interactive but 'CINEMATIC' experience. Actually, what I'm going for is 'seriously good TV quality' but there isn't one word to define that like there is for cinematic. But basically the HBO/AMC pioneered hour-long drama is the 'format' I aim to make interactive. Those shows (Sopranos, Breaking Bad, True Detective, Legion, American Gods et al.) definitely manage to be art as well as entertainment, which is something else I go for in my games. The caveats here would be that I expect most GMs take their campaigns much less seriously, and I am totally fine with that, and also that I haven't been able to actually run a campaign to my own standards in a long, long time (going on two years). [/QUOTE]
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