The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The title explains it; it's a list of 38 rules for fiction writers, worded, alas, as "Don't"s. Each rule gets a chapter. In my opinion, 14 are solid pieces of advice for GMs, 10 could offer some inspiration but are mainly for writers, 12 are simply irrelevant, and 2 could actually be counter-productive.

For instance, I've found myself quoting a few of the "good" rules at myself. "Don't duck trouble" - let your PCs get in it up to their necks. As long as they don't die without good reason, it's all good for the story. "Don't use real people in your story", and "Don't write about wimps" both exhort to use strongly-motivated, somewhat exaggerated NPCs. On the less creative side, some of the rules relate to the market for stories, and are relevant or irrelevant to the degree that the book buying public are like your gaming group. "Don't pose and posture", for instance, is fine advice for books and most RPG groups, but could be suicidal when applied to certain Vampire gaming groups. A handful of the rules talk about the process of sitting down, writing books, and selling them - completely irrelevant to us.

In short, it wouldn't hurt, but their are probably better things to do with your money.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Author: Jack M. Bickham Category: Creative Writing Company/Publisher: Writer's Digest Cost: $12.99 Page count: 117 ISBN: 0-89879-821-3 Playtest Review by Ian McDonald on 02/08/99. Genre tags: Generic	The title explains it; it's a list of 38 rules for fiction writers, worded, alas, as "Don't"s. Each rule gets a chapter. In my opinion, 14 are solid pieces of advice for GMs, 10 could offer some inspiration but are mainly for writers, 12 are simply irrelevant, and 2 could actually be counter-productive. For instance, I've found myself quoting a few of the "good" rules at myself. "Don't duck trouble" - let your PCs get in it up to their necks. As long as they don't die without good reason, it's all good for the story. "Don't use real people in your story", and "Don't write about wimps" both exhort to use strongly-motivated, somewhat exaggerated NPCs. On the less creative side, some of the rules relate to the market for stories, and are relevant or irrelevant to the degree that the book buying public are like your gaming group. "Don't pose and posture", for instance, is fine advice for books and most RPG groups, but could be suicidal when applied to certain Vampire gaming groups. A handful of the rules talk about the process of sitting down, writing books, and selling them - completely irrelevant to us. In short, it wouldn't hurt, but their are probably better things to do with your money. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and how to avoid them)