Sunday, October 02, 2011

Why Do You Blog?

I feel a bit of a fraud writing about why I blog given that I have only been doing so in a focused manner for a brief period of time, but in answer to the question; I blog because I am somewhat obsessive regarding my hobbies (namely, miniature painting and role-playing games). Blogging gives me an outlet to discharge/expunge/provide (delete as applicable) the various ideas going through my head.

Arda - The World
I am one of those gamers who has generally ended up being the GM for my tabletop groups, and I have started or thought up so many campaigns that I have lost track of them all. What I really need is a category like "The Junkyard" on Dreams in the Lich House in which ideas for campaigns are placed, to be developed further or not, as the whim may take me.

Tolkien referred to this urge to create a fictional world as "sub-creation" i.e. that one was expanding upon the Creation that God formed. For Tolkien, it was vital, if the sub-creation were to be "true" that it be congruent with the world as we know it, and that it not conflict with the Biblical account of the world, and the arrival of Christ. Hence, Middle-Earth is our world in a distant past inhabited by virtuous pagans, who fight for the good, whilst being ignorant of the Resurrection (well, it hadn't happened yet....) OK, for me (as an agnostic) that isn't really a factor, but I do believe that the creation of fictional worlds is a valid past-time.

Anyway, I seem to have veered into my undergrad dissertation, so I shall stop there!


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2 comments:

  1. Hart Johnson2 October 2011 at 23:13

    Interesting. I think, had I encountered all this at an earlier point (or been introduced by a cute enough boy) I could have really loved this world building stuff. I love to write, but think myself more a puzzle master than an imaginer--I think because I waited too late in the game to develop that kind of creativity. At 12, I was 'too mature' for fantasy (indulging instead in mind erotica an horror, as any worldly 12 year old will), but when I came back to it as an adult (no longer in fear of being perceived 'immature' I love fantasy.

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  2. Unknown2 October 2011 at 23:23

    That sounds rather like my wife, who reads voraciously, but only started playing rpgs in 2008. She does some writing occasionally and has created a fantasy world for it, but has no inclination to do so for a game. She loves creating quirky characters though!

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