How To Write and Sell Books

Have you ever seen a play? Dozens of actors all coming together to create the illusion of a scene, all based on a script pre-written and rehearsed time and time again.

Have you ever read a book? A painstaking process of personal creativity, the soul of the author spilled out on pages, and then edited, reworked, re-imagined in a thousand ways, edited, copy edited, rewritten and redone until the most perfect piece possible has been accomplished.

Have you ever seen improve? A scene of comedy or lore acted out in real time, no script, no rehearsal, just actors working with an imaginary scene to create an illusion, a make believe world that is developed and interacted with on the spot, in real time. Its an act of wit, which brings together various story elements in real time, and merges them into a concerted whole.

Role playing chat is a combination of all of these. Part theatre, part book, all happening in real time, acted without script, based only loosely on the preconceived scenes developed by the actors themselves. Its a game which is played, and yet at the same time its a story thats told, and even written, and even beyond that its a collaborative effort. The stories are not prewritten, and rather they are created out of the various idiosyncracies and personalities of the people who are involved in its telling.

And in the end something unique is created.

Some call it a game. The players are, after all, intrinsically tied in a struggle against one another. The bad guys attack, the good guys defends. Wars and battle abound and rage all around. And yet in the struggle it is more about beauty then victory. A loss is not a defeat if it's handled in an interesting way. The important thing is to tell a story that is so good, that even the characters that fall will live forever in the imaginations of those who see it.

That's the unique nature of this beast. You have to work together, whether you are good or bad, whether its allies or enemies, everyone has to come together to create a story which is bigger than any single voice. It is an act of life, an act of creation, born of many writers all working to craft something that they can be proud of together.

The future of the story is being created on the tender tendrils of the web we walk. And in its wake we are seeing the birth of epic tales of love and loss. We are creating the future of the myth. We are the storytellers.

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