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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7595896" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I think (1) and (2) are - at their core - about extrapolating from established to new fiction <em>by reference to theme/interest</em>. That fits well with my description, in my post not far upthread of your post, of the GM's narration <em>inviting the players to engage as a protagonist</em>. What stirs the player, what rouses emotion, is not the fluency of the GM's narration but the power of that invitation.</p><p></p><p>I think a GM can do this although s/he has no great skill as a writer (in the sense of writing beautiful prose). My belief here is grounded firmly in my experience!</p><p></p><p>I think your (3) puts more pressure on my contention - I would describe the source of this being that <em>it puts pressure on the contrast between form and content</em> - this is the contrast that [MENTION=6787503]Hriston[/MENTION] has helpfully articulated upthread, and that I also tried to capture (via some examples, and comments around them) in my post not too far upthread from yours.</p><p></p><p>This is because dramatic pacing (probably) can't be completely divorced from the words - the form - whereby the content is conveyed.</p><p></p><p>In the context of a RPG, though, where the pacing concerns - at least the sort that you refer to - are more at the "scene" level than the line-by-line level, I think the dependence of pacing on words becomes pretty lose. A GM who can't control his/her words at all is going to have troube wrapping up a scene, or cutting to the next situation, in a smooth way; but I think the threshold of skill to be able to do this falls well short of being able to write an evocative opening or closing line.</p><p></p><p>I'll finish this post by saying that, in denying that RPGing is a *literary* endeavour I'm not denying that it has an important aesthetic component. But I think that the aesthetic component is much more connected to a sense of motion and drama in human affairs, than to a sense of beauty in composition or performance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7595896, member: 42582"] I think (1) and (2) are - at their core - about extrapolating from established to new fiction [I]by reference to theme/interest[/I]. That fits well with my description, in my post not far upthread of your post, of the GM's narration [I]inviting the players to engage as a protagonist[/I]. What stirs the player, what rouses emotion, is not the fluency of the GM's narration but the power of that invitation. I think a GM can do this although s/he has no great skill as a writer (in the sense of writing beautiful prose). My belief here is grounded firmly in my experience! I think your (3) puts more pressure on my contention - I would describe the source of this being that [I]it puts pressure on the contrast between form and content[/I] - this is the contrast that [MENTION=6787503]Hriston[/MENTION] has helpfully articulated upthread, and that I also tried to capture (via some examples, and comments around them) in my post not too far upthread from yours. This is because dramatic pacing (probably) can't be completely divorced from the words - the form - whereby the content is conveyed. In the context of a RPG, though, where the pacing concerns - at least the sort that you refer to - are more at the "scene" level than the line-by-line level, I think the dependence of pacing on words becomes pretty lose. A GM who can't control his/her words at all is going to have troube wrapping up a scene, or cutting to the next situation, in a smooth way; but I think the threshold of skill to be able to do this falls well short of being able to write an evocative opening or closing line. I'll finish this post by saying that, in denying that RPGing is a *literary* endeavour I'm not denying that it has an important aesthetic component. But I think that the aesthetic component is much more connected to a sense of motion and drama in human affairs, than to a sense of beauty in composition or performance. [/QUOTE]
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