Who Do You Think You Are?

[Grey]

Hello, friends and neighbours. I have a question.


Are you a writer, taking your roleplaying as seriously as any professional work of fiction, or perhaps just using it to unwind without letting your skills atrophy?


Are you just a roleplayer, someone who has picked up a thing or two about storytelling and writing from your hobby, but really don't consider yourself more than that?


Do you perhaps consider yourself both, or feel that no meaningful distinction exists?


The 'wordsmith' option exists purely so I know of whom to make fun.

 

[Salt Lord]

I do this to escape boredom, honestly. :v

 

[marorda]

I am a writer, but I mostly do roleplays simply to unwind, to relax, to have fun. I like to tell stories with my posts and plots, but a roleplay is different than a work of fiction for me. Mostly because in my own works, I have full control over all the characters, and in games this is not the case.

 

[Coward]

I'm not a writer, I just really like roleplay. I've tried writing stories on my own and find it pretty boring, to be honest. I'm not sure why I'm attracted to this hobby.

 

[Dusky]

I'm a writer, of course, but my attitude towards role-playing varies largely depending on the game.


I always strive to write well, even in posts, but rarely is that the point.

 

[Tiny Turtle]

I'd consider myself both. I love to write stories, and I find roleplaying helps get me into the mind of a writer. I stick to casual roleplays though because I'm too scared to do detailed ones because I'm really not that great at what I do. I do try to give roleplaying my all though, although that can be quite exhausting when my moods drop.

 

[Amberglas]

I don't write long works of fiction, really, but I find both roleplaying and writing relaxing. It's also probably good for my skills; there are pretty rigid guidelines for a lot of the technical writing I do, so it's nice to not have to worry so much about form.

 

[JayTee]

Well if no one else is going to do it...

​

EDIT: More seriously, I'd say I'm a roleplayer who does this for fun who occasionally dabbles in writing.

 

[LegoLad659]

Hmm. Hmmm... This is an interesting question for me, as I don't think I consider myself in either category as you describe them.


I'm not a writer in that I write professionally and put that same effort into my roleplays (Hahahahahaha), but I don't believe I'm a roleplayer who just picked up writing tips here and there.


For me, I started out writing. Fan fiction, mostly, but I think the universe I've created in my head has plenty of opportunity for original stories as well. So I suppose I'm in the writer category, though I put a lot more effort into my stories than my roleplays. I don't put a massive amount of effort into my stories, but I do plan out major events and just go with what I think of at the time from there for the smaller details. For me, roleplaying is something I do for fun. I don't enjoy doing large, complicated stories in roleplays. I'd rather go with a simple story with a simple goal and semi-predictable plots, with a few clever twists here and there for good measure. And I think that reflects in my writing style, too - I tend to prefer not to write super-long, detailed, incredibly well thought-out posts like all the serious roleplayers around here do, I don't like doing that. I'm here to have some simple fun, and so I look for roleplays that allow that.


In a bit of hypocritical humor here, I went on for way too long on that, didn't I? xD Well, at least I enjoy being detailed in posts like this. I'll go ahead and check off that 'Writer' option now, since I think that's the closest to what I am.

 

[Grey]

A further question - do those who consider themselves writers do a lot of writing that is not directly related to roleplaying, especially in terms of daily output?

 

[Dusky]

Recently, yes. Hard to muster the energy, but I do write regularly. See: BYOC.


*dying with anticipation*

 

[Alexandra]

I write for the purposes of play by post rpgs, but I am not a writer. I am a roleplayer, a most friendly and unforgiving GM, and scalpel-armed editor. I always find posts of this nature interesting though, having been party to so many "why do we even create things and what do we do from there?" conversations. Time to go dig out those links.

 

[Demon]

I'm a hobbyist writer. That's all I'll ever classify myself as in terms of writing, because roleplaying is just another form of writing.

 

[Dusky]

roleplaying is just another form of writing.

Forum roleplaying, anyhow.

 

[countrygirl824]

I do this to help get my mind off of things it helps alot. I mean i'm not that creative but I try the best I can and I think i'm doing good so far.

 

[Demon]

Forum roleplaying, anyhow.

Forum roleplaying is a community term in my eyes. In generalized form, it's roleplaying but the platform is a forum. Still comes down to writing.

 

[Dusky]

Roleplaying's beginnings lurk within the dark recesses of tabletop, actually, last I checked. ovo-b

 

[Demon]

Roleplaying's beginnings lurk within the dark recesses of tabletop, actually, last I checked. ovo-b

Sorry for the confusion; I was not talking about the origins of roleplaying but rather the concept of it. Since it's essentially writing, I'm saying that roleplaying is just another form of writing in my eyes.

 

[JayTee]

A further question - do those who consider themselves writers do a lot of writing that is not directly related to roleplaying, especially in terms of daily output?


I am going somewhere with all this, folks. Some of you will be upset.

It's a mostly fifty fifty split. My biggest writing project was roleplaying related, but my 3-4 other writing projects have been unrelated to gaming.

 

[Zilla]

I put both, but really I think of myself as a storyteller.

 

[redroseknight]

I am a role player, but this outlet is very useful to maintain the skills of an actress. I may not be able to convey the emotions and actions in front of an audience on a stage or in front of a camera, but I am able to practice placing myself completely into the shoes of a character and living life through their eyes for a short while.

 

[James Koach]

I don't really fit the category for 'Writer' or 'role player', since I barely ever write anything, and I've only been roleplaying for about two weeks.


I picked 'wordsmith', because I do have a knack for coming up with strange adjectives to describe people, such as 'Peasantic' or 'Peonic' to describe the attitudes and personalities of poor filthy medieval peasants.

 

[ARSENIC]

None of the above, actually.


If anything, I'd call myself a storyweaver. Words are merely a means to that end.

 

[Kai Mi]

Clearly I am a wordsmith! No, I'm just kidding. Typically I am a roleplayer before a writer but do enjoy both. My written pieces just never make it off the ground and having conspirators is more enjoyable to me.

 

[kagune]

I rolepley to make friends but also to not let my writing skills atrophy like you said.