How to See Writing as a Multiplayer Game?

It takes a village to hone creativity.

You probably have read this quote by Stephen King:

Writing is a lonely job.

It sounds sad, doesn’t it?

Fortunately, that is not all he said.

Here is what he said:

Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough. — Stephen King, On Writing

That is what it is about. It is about us not being alone as writers. There are people out there who believe in us. If we don’t recognize them immediately, we can find them if we look around without judgment but with an open mind and curiosity. And as writers, we are not alone in our craft. There are so many other writers too. Also, at a similar stage of writing experience as we are.

Life is a single-player game

Yes, each of our lives is unique, and each of us can only live our own life — no one else’s.

The same applies to when we turn anything in our lives into games. It is like a game of solitaire.

Thus, Self-Gamification, which is the art and the process of turning life into games, is a single-player game. Only we know how to design our self-motivational games (projects, challenges, and activities turned into games) so that we can’t wait to engage in them.

What we are up to is a multiplayer game

Even if the process of self-motivation and engaging in something is a single-player game (someone opens the door, but you need to enter all by yourself), the projects and activities you turn into games don’t have to be single-player games. They are not, and they can’t be. They are multiplayer games.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the word “multiplayer” means

“involving or intended for more than one player.”

Aren’t your creations as a writer intended for more people than just you? Aren’t there more people involved in “birth” of your creations than just you?

Many players

There is that famous saying,

It takes a village to raise a child.

I wouldn’t be the first to use this phrase to writing and publishing a book or writing and publishing an article, a blog post, a verse.

It takes a village to hone creativity.

So none of us is really in a single-player game when we write.

Some might argue that we are alone in our rooms, at our computers or a notebook and a pen, writing. Or that even in a coffee shop with all those people around us, we are still alone — we, and no one else, have to do the writing job.

Yes, sure, but aren’t the gamers playing online games often alone at their computers playing away and having fun? I have three gamers in my family, and I don’t see them feeling lonely when they play multiplayer games. Those other players are somewhere else in the world. Not all communicate at the same time with each other in their chat rooms, but the players know that they are there, in that “game space.”

We, writers, and authors have our game space too.

Writers, authors, and their games

Self-publishing authors have beta-readers, editors, cover designers, their readers. Traditional authors have their agents, publishing houses with all the personnel involved in their book project, and the readers. And there are many other players too.

Here is another quote by Stephen King demonstrating the connection between writers and their readers:

Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. ― Stephen King, On Writing

But let’s not forget our families and friends, who are proud of what we do as authors. Now, I don’t know how to call them other than allies in our writing games.

Allies or adversaries?

Writers might seem to be competitors of each other since we are all competing for the readers’ attention. But in truth, we are allies of each other. We read each other’s work, give feedback, celebrate, and support.

No, we are not in a single-player game here.

Writers have other writers offering them to write in writing sprints. If that is not a game, then I don’t know what it is! We meet and share each other’s writing and talk about it in the writers’ groups and clubs’ meetings. We share the laughs, the contemplations, and we talk about characters as if they were real people.

We play this game together.

Yes, we might be alone at each of our computers or with a notebook and a pen in our hand, but we are not alone in this game. We have teammates, which include our readers and fans. And we have friendly competitors who are allies.

But what about the “trolls”?

You might ask, “But what about the ‘trolls’? About those who spend their days trying to ruin other people’s day with unfair and unconstructive criticism?”

It’s up to you which role you give them in your creativity game.

But my advice would be, don’t invite them to play your game. Usually, this invitation is already issued in your thoughts by giving them attention. You can’t stop your thoughts and worries from appearing. But you can acknowledge these thoughts and then choose where to turn your attention next.

The “trolls” play a different “game” altogether, an unhappy one. I am reluctant to calling anything unkind a game because games are supposed to make us happy. They are supposed to be kind — also serious games. Those are created with the purpose of service, often for raising awareness and for education. Even if they are called “serious,” they are designed with kindness, compassion, and being of service in mind. More often than not, they are very much fun.

Creativity is a happy game

Creativity is a happy game — the game of joy to create something and express ourselves. However hard we might claim it to be, deep down, we know how fun it is.

Here are three more sentences by Stephen King, which he wrote right after the quote above.

It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy. ― Stephen King, On Writing

Play with those who want to play with you

One of the main four components of a game is voluntary participation.

Voluntary participation requires that everyone who is playing the game knowingly and willingly accepts the goal, the rules, and feedback. Knowingness establishes common ground for multiple people to play together. And the freedom to enter or leave a game at will ensures that intentionally stressful and challenging work is experienced as safe and pleasurable activity. — Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken

The “trolls” obviously don’t accept the goal, the rules, and the feedback in your writing game. Then you don’t have the “common ground” with them, and thus you don’t experience the “game” they play as “safe and pleasurable activity.”

But there are many people, who want to play your game and support you.

I call these supporters cheerleaders

I’ve been lucky to have many cheerleaders in my life, including my writing career. I wrote a little book for writers I called Cheerleading for Writers, intending to share how I was inspired and give the gift of cheerleading further to my fellow writers.

A new quote to change perspective and start a movement

In Cheerleading for Writers, I wrote a whole chapter called “We All Have Cheerleaders.” In it and other parts of the book, I shared many beautiful stories of how my family, friends, and even strangers brightened my path with their support.

Here’s one of them:

“When my husband listened to my worries about how my business would work out, he said, ‘Just look at the name of your company — Optimist Writer — and move ahead.‘ My husband and my children cheer me daily with their hugs and presence in my life.”

I must say, I am glad that I called my business Optimist Writer. It reminds me of my passion to uplift and empower others and to write.

So, I would like to finish this article by creating a new quote by Optimist Writer, which I hope will transform the perspective of looking at writing as a hard job and instead help you to see it as a game, which you don’t play alone but with many amazing others.

Here it is:

Writing is a multiplayer game. — Optimist Writer

I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Here are more stories on turning the process of writing, as well as anything else, into fun games.