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MLV WritesBlog of Monica Valentinelli, Writer & Content Consultant

Posts Tagged ‘gaming fiction’


Posted on November 12, 2009 - by Monica Valentinelli

Why Your D&D Game Doesn’t Make a Great Novel


Have you heard the line, “Your D&D game won’t make a great novel?” If you’ve heard me speak on panels before, or if you’ve read several submission guidelines from agents or publishers, you might have. I’d like to tackle why.
First, let’s get all the bad mojo out there on the table by saying something completely [...]

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Posted on March 14, 2009 - by Monica Valentinelli

Genre Fiction and Why I Can’t Look at a Piece of Pie


As a writer, I’ve found that I really enjoy experimenting with different themes in fiction. My personal preference is to write in the horror, dark fantasy and science fiction genres because of the freedom and flexibility they provide. The settings I create (or write for) offer me the chance to explore heroic and villainous characters in new and interesting ways. You won’t find me writing a lot of gore or stories about “abuse.” I’m more interested in that little bit of light that resides in all of us — even the characters you least expect to see it in.

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Posted on August 2, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Writing Notes for Tales of the Seven Dogs Novella


I’m happy to report that Flames Rising featured a preview of Tales of the Seven Dogs Society, my soon-to-be-released novella that I’ll be selling in less than two weeks at GenCon: Indy.
In 1969, Jericho Usher disappeared without a trace, never explaining the otherworldly nature of the annex. Jericho Usher spent his lifetime investigating anomalous phenomena, [...]

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Posted on April 24, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Gaming Fiction Day Four: Inferred Plot and Metaplot


Game fiction can sometimes have an “inferred” plot because of its popularity like many popular movies. Most people know Darth Vader is a bad guy. Writing about the rebels running from Darth Vader may seem like plot to you but really? That’s just a standard detail nowadays. Instead, those same rebels might be running from [...]

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Posted on April 23, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Writing Game Fiction Day Three: Plot your Plot


So now you’ve decide you’re going to write this really awesome story based on the video game Final Fantasy X. You love the character of Yuna, so you’re going to sit down and write a story about…but wait? What is your story about? Okay, you’ve figured out that Final Fantasy X is based on the [...]

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Posted on April 22, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Game Fiction Day Two: How to Fit your Story to the Theme of the Game


If I gave you a list of well-known movies, I bet that you’ll quickly identify what the theme of the movie is. For example, we know Indiana Jones is pulp, we completely “get” that Army of Darkness is a comedy, and we understand that X-Men III was supposed to be an action movie where Phoenix [...]

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Posted on April 21, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Writing a Story Based on a Game? Day One: Who are You Writing For?


This week is going to be pretty intense for me; I am rounding the corner on a novella based on the game called “Altheia.” Unfortunately, mapping out the story took a lot longer than I thought, so I’m a bit strapped for time. So for most of this week, I’m going to focus on my [...]

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