I just spent an incredible day with my old gaming buddies. There we were, a bunch of forty year old RPG lifers, tossing back Cokes and chips, rolling dice, and having a blast despite the fact that we should be discussing world politics or the current economy. Screw growing up, right?

This is a yearly event for some of us (that’d be me) since reality makes it impossible to spend days at a time delving into fantasy. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a straight up, forty hour wage slave dutifully taking care of my family first. I enjoy my “reality” but miss foregoing all of that to pretend I’m a pointy eared archer hunting dragons and orcish hordes.

One thing that did come from this was a since of how my role-playing had an impact on my current passion with writing. I never realized this until recently how developing a character for an RPG would impact how I worked out characters for a story.

We always fussed over stat levels, weapon specializations, feats, and magical items, but there was also an element of character development that went beyond that. I forgot the time I’d spend searching for what my PC (player character) liked as far as food and clothes, what he dreamed about and hated, who did he despise, what were his fears and phobias. All of these aspects rounded out the role-playing portion of the game, enriching the experience for all. It helped tremendously when we had random encounters with NPC’s (non-player characters ran by the dungeon master), or whenever we broke into a fit of role-playing amongst ourselves. Without costumes, make up, mood lighting and backdrops, we sank deep into our characters and played them out with all the passion and conviction one would expect to see on a London stage.

I’m surprised it took me so long to realize how that translated to writing. When I see a piece I’m working on that falls flat and doesn’t resonate with me, it’s ultimately because I didn’t flesh out the character enough. When they appear like two-dimensional clichés they act and react as such, and the writing stinks. Going back over their backgrounds and adding the appropriate material to breath life into them colors the page with wide brush strokes that sends the story soaring across the imagination.

As I look at another flat piece of mine, I see a pile of editing to delve into but an opportunity to meet these people I’m writing about and getting to know them like family. Guess it’s time to re-introduce myself and get acquainted.