This is the first time since childhood that I don’t have a creative writing project on the go. And it feels weird.
I wrote about my existential and creative crises in a previous blog post, and while I’m looking forward to starting my master’s programme this autumn, I really wanted to try writing some fiction again before embarking on two years of studying. I’ve started probably half a dozen short stories but found I can’t get past a few notes and rough paragraphs before losing interest. I’ve also tried to find inspiration in competitions and writing prompts, but something is missing. Is it confidence? Passion? Stamina? It feels like I’ve lost something that I didn’t even realise was there. I took whatever it was for granted, and now it’s gone.
While I try to regain this unknown missing part of me that used to help me write, I have found something that is easing the grief: solo journaling role playing games (RPGs).
The concept of solo journaling RPGs is pretty simple – the game guides you in the creation of a character and the world they inhabit, then you roll the dice to get directed to different writing prompts, which are your character’s journal entries.
Solo journaling RPGs are more involved than a standard writing prompt, but they’re often simpler than a classic RPG like Dungeons and Dragons. They set the momentum of the storytelling to a certain extent as there are rules to follow, but they’re not particularly strict rules. The whole point is to creatively tackle the challenges brought about by the writing prompts, and this exercise has been something I have sorely needed to feel a bit like myself again.
The game I’ve been playing is called Thousand Year Old Vampire, which is a great one for beginners and is one of the most popular games available. In it you create a mortal, decide on their background and pick a point in history where they will be turned into a vampire. You also create a set of skills, items, memories and side characters to get started with. Then, after a dice roll, you’re directed to a writing prompt to begin your journal. Each journal entry creates new memories, but sometimes you have to lose old memories to make room for new ones – a supernatural being that can potentially live for eternity simply cannot remember everything that’s happened to them. If you lose all your skills or items, you must write a journal entry describing the vampire’s death, and the game is over.
Over the course of a few days I wrote more than I have done in months. Unfortunately, my vampire was murdered with the tooth of his maker’s maker by a crazy fledgling vampire (RIP Wesley), but it was such an incredible journey – and to be honest, Wesley deserved it as he did violently kill his mortal sister and best friend in a moment of blood lust.
If vampires aren’t your thing, there are billions more games out there – a lot of which are on itch.io. Here are a few I’ve bookmarked:
Yeah… As you can probably tell, I’ve been looking into this a fair bit. Please help me grow my list and let me know any recommendations in the comments – I’m particularly interested in horror-themed RPGs.
While this may not be a cure for writer’s block, or whatever it is I have, it is a great way to get writing again. I’m hoping it is the gateway drug to writing original stories, but who knows. Either way, I’m off to create Wesley’s successor 🧛
If you enjoyed this article…
…may I recommend my dystopian novel, These Unnatural Men? Available in paperback and ebook.
The public call her a cold-blooded murderer. An executioner. A killer for hire.
Nieve Hindeman is a euthanasist.
She is one of hundreds of professionals relieving patients of their pain every day. To her, euthanasia is simply a medical solution to a medical problem.
But when Nieve starts to treat a voluntary patient – a man who is physically healthy but choosing to die – she starts to question the work she does. How can she prove that someone’s desire to die is genuine? Can a patient ever be psychologically terminally ill? And is a life ever not worth saving?
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