How Video Games Helped Me Become a Novelist.
Interactive, engaging and entertaining. Nowadays we are blessed with different mediums of entertainment and storytelling such as movies and TV shows. Video games are no exception, as they not only grant the literary enrichment that books and novels provide, they can also help you become a better writer by giving you better ideas for stories and narrative twists.
From a gamer to a writer
Ever since I was young, I have been surrounded by video games, and played a lot of them growing up, which until now is still my favourite hobby. You see, video games were my kind of escapism since I was young, but thanks to that, I have learned a lot along the way. If it wasn’t the case, I might not even be able to speak English.
Playing games with good storylines like GTA, Max Payne and Metal Gear Solid, along with many others changed the way I look at stories, and made me realize that the key to make them work is to keep the player engaged. This made me aware of the way my characters should be created: in a way that makes the reader able to stand in their shoes, switching to different points of view to make the story more alive and, in a way, interactive.
Another positive thing about video games is the ability to explore the environment in which you play. When I started playing Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain. I was really surprised by the way they was able to simulate the military environment. I also liked the way they added futuristic concepts like cloning and military AI mechs to old points in history, like WWII and the cold war.
Playing video games was more than a hobby for me, as it allowed me to grow up as a person and as a writer.
Video games and literature
Video games are evolving in a fast pace, and as of now, they’ve become a great storytelling medium that many writers should use as assets for inspiration. In fact, video games also borrowed a lot of titles from various literary works like The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski, a many titles from the famous thriller writer Tom Clancy, like Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and the most popular multiplayer game in the series, Rainbow Six Siege.
A writer’s job is to convey a message, a thought, or an experience to other people, and video games are standing shoulder to shoulder with literature in this. With the advancement of video games, and the gaming industry’s newfound interest in storytelling lies a new possibility that changes our perspective on fiction and also offers a prosperous scope of experiences.
If you play games, and also want to be a writer, you should consider getting inspired by video games. The next time you play a game, pay attention to the details, focus on the story, and analyse everything within it, because this might a new source of inspiration for your novel.
Final words
Video games have given me as an novelist access to an entirely new medium of storytelling, and without them my novel wouldn’t have happened. Video games provide a one-of-a-kind experience, as they open many horizons and inspirations for me and many storytellers to become better artists and tell exceptional stories.
