Guest Post: “Characters and Choices: Games as Stories” by Brianna Shrum

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to author Brianna Shrum, who we invited to stop by today to talk about a hobby that means a lot to her. It just so happens this particular hobby means a lot to all of us at The BiblioSanctum too. Longtime readers of this blog are probably familiar with our discussions of games and their contributions to storytelling and character development. Gameplay that involves the ability to make meaningful choices are a big thing these days, and seeing as character choices are so central to Brianna’s new book Never Never, there isn’t a more perfect topic for her to share with us today! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the fun.

* * *

CHARACTERS AND CHOICES: GAMES AS STORIES
by Brianna Shrum

Oh man, I can’t even TELL you how excited I am to have an excuse to talk about gaming and writing all in one post! They’re basically the two things I live for.

So, I’m a major gamer. I do tabletop roleplay, board games, video games, you name it. Within the world of video games, my favorite thing? Is story. I’m a Bioware fangirl, and if it has the word RPG in it? I’m there. Because, once again, story. More specifically, character. I’m playing through Last of Us right now, solely because I was told it has some of the best characters my brother and husband have ever seen in a game. That was all I wanted. Hand me the controller.

I don’t buy a game because of the gameplay and I don’t write a book with the sole intention of making it pretty. I play games, I write books, because I want to live someone else’s incredible life for a while. I love Dragon Age because Alistair and Morrigan feel *real.* They are deep. They are hilarious and dark and good and right and wrong and human. I love Knights of the Old Republic because I, the character, am grey. I am someone. I get to live the life of this person who, on an epic scale, is faced with choices, and doesn’t always make the right ones.

Alistair and Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins

The best games, the best stories, rend our hearts because we get to walk through people’s lives with them. And what a freaking cool experience is that?

I love gaming because I am in love with people. I want to experience their stories.

And when I write? I want to tell them.

Never Never is available now from Spence Hill Press.

* * *

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’m a lover of words. Sometimes weird ones. Sometimes bloody ones. Sometimes kissy ones. I try not to discriminate. Also, all things nerdy. Odds are, if they talk about it on The Big Bang Theory, I like it. Star Wars, superheroes, gaming, you name it. Much to the dismay of my much cooler younger sisters.

I live in fantabulous Colorado with my hubs and two boys, all of whom are pretty awesome. (It’s pretty testosteroney around here. SO. MANY. BOY.)

Sometimes, I blog about writerly things. I’m an author of YA fiction, and I LOVE what I do.