My corelation: video games is to writing...

Did I tell you I love to play video games?  Of course, I can’t play the ones in first person because I have motion sickness.  Yep, it’s not just for amusement parks or long rides.  For me, it’s that same sickening feeling when I’m not playing a third person video game.

I love the RPG games because I’m always surprised to see where they lead me.  It didn’t take me long to realize some great authors are responsible for these quests.  And character development?  Wow!   Most of the games I play involve killing people.  That’s something I would never think to do in my own life.  I don’t own a weapon and don’t believe in violence.  I’m the one who always looks for alternative methods while I’m bursting inside to do like the RPG characters.

That’s what I like about writing.  I can be young, old or any character in my books. I can be all of them – I’m omnipotent.  As my story develops, I can be the hero or the victim.  I can save the hour or make it worse than it was before my fingers touched the keys.  There’s this great feeling of power when I write.  I meet one challenge and then I’m faced with another, just like in my video games.

However, sometimes I have to repeat a “level” several times before I get it right.  I decide exactly where I want to go with my story, but after I get there I realize that’s not where I want to be at all.  But, I don’t throw the game away because I can’t beat the level.  I just try the level again.

When I play my RPG’s (and no, I don’t do MMORPG’s) I have a goal, at least for each level.  When I reach that goal, I quit.  There’s no sense pushing it, right?  Sometimes the goal is easily attainable, but most of the time it requires several chapters to set up the goal and several more to reach it.

Another thing I love about playing RPG’s, is that I’m sometimes surprised at who I meet along the way.  This reminds me very much of real life scenarios.  For my own personal information, I’ve been asking friends and co-workers for years where they met their significant others.  Now these are people that I feel comfortable asking, of course, but I’m always surprised by their answers.  Some have been married for years, yet met in the most unlikely places (considering where they are now).  I’m also surprised by the type of people they were and who they are now.  Some of my friends were WILD in their younger years; a few still are, I’m afraid.  So when an RPG character sometimes does something I don’t expect, I’m as shocked as when my friends tell me where they met.

I guess the best part of the RPG’s is when I beat the game.  It doesn’t happen that often and I take soooo much longer than my children to beat it, but I’m proud to finish just the same.  That’s how I feel when I finish a book.  I sit back and allow the glow to wash over me.  Sometimes there are tears, like I’m leaving an old friend.  Other times I’m dancing around the room for joy.  And the best part about this?  Those are the same reactions that my “informal editors” (my friends whom I have preyed upon to read my next work) act as well.  Sometimes they cry and sometimes they are elated!  That’s when I know I can’t stop writing.  And it’s just like when I finish a good RPG – I can’t wait for the next one to begin!

Emotions

I wanted to talk about emotions for a minute. This year I really decorated the house to the nines because my granddaughters were coming for the week. I fussed with the “displays” I made and tried to capture the magic of Christmas. As this was done in different areas of time (mostly after my teens were in bed), I tried to have themes for the areas I decorated. For instance the front hall had a white mini-tree on a table which I covered with a white table cloth and then used red and white decorations and white lights. I used red candles and fake poinsettias to finish the theme of the front hall. I did a Santa theme in the kitchen with various mini areas with Santa Claus characters. I had a traditional Christmas tree in the living room, but did a lovely Nativity Scene on the other end, complete with angels and lights.  

Taking my creativity outside, I did a life size Nativity scene using an antique crib which still needs refinishing and three straw angels. The only doll I had belonged to my granddaughter, so I had to cover Tinkerbell’s head in order to make it work. When I was finished, I asked my teens what they thought. Here’s a sampling of their insight (paraphrased):

          "Mom, Christmas is about the smells! It’s the Christmas cookies you make and the cinnamon pine cones in the front hall. It’s the oranges in the dish on the kitchen table punctured with cloves. It’s the ethnic food for Christmas Eve. It’s all about the smells.”

          “No, it’s not! It’s totally about the hearing the Christmas music that constantly plays – even when we’re trying to watch television. It’s you and Alex singing Christmas carols along with the music and hearing your voice crack on the high notes. It’s going to bed to the sound of the wrapping paper and scissors as you wrap presents in the living room and yell for us not to come upstairs without notice. It’s the laughter that seems more prominent at Christmas time. It’s the songs we sing in church that make me feel so close to God.”
          “For me,” my oldest in the home explained, “it’s seeing the lights – in and out. I love what you did with the house this year, Mom! It reminds me of when we were little and had trees in our bedrooms. I love the house at night when we watch television by Christmas lights and we take long rides to vote on which houses we like best. When the decorations are down in January, I’m depressed until Valentine’s Day.”

I was amazed at how Christmas effected each of them differently and what they gleaned out of it. It made me think about my writing. I’m the first one to admit I get a bit flowery. I try to incorporate the senses into my writing to explain things in detail and make sure the reader understands what I believe each character is feeling. Some readers will relate more to a character than others. For instance, one reader told me she hates a character in my book because he has such a condescending tone it reminds her of her father. That’s good! I want the readers to relate. I want them to feel the emotions, just like my children did at Christmas time. It has to be real to the readers or why will they bother to finish the book! So I will continue in my flowery style in hopes that others will follow. I encourage you to do the same!