What Shapes Your Imagination?

[Jsc]

If you don't want to read my musings then just stop and answer this one easy question,

Q: Think of a time when something you read on Chaos really resonated with you. As a new idea. As a new experience. Something that expanded your horizons as a writer. Something that you had to read twice and go, "Ya know. That's a really great idea! I want to take that and run with it. I want to build on that too."

What was it and who wrote it?


___

Imagine Greater

It's an old slogan I used to use. It encapsulated everything that drew me to writing. It was perfect.

Imagine Greater was first given to me by a martial arts master of mine as a way to free my own mind from the real disasters of my early and youthful educations. Preconceptions, self-limitations, fear, and pride. Everything that made up the way I thought about myself and the world I lived in. A box. Four white walls created to keep men safe. A disaster. Imagine Greater was an invitation from a old world master to wake up everyday and see the world in a new light. Nothing held back. Experiencing all that the world had to offer. Both good, and bad. Finding out for myself, that real harmony has nothing to do with being safe. And everything to do with seeking after new opportunities and grand new experiences. Not fate. Not a destiny. Just a life well lived on this god-given green earth. Imagine Greater is what drives me.

So, it is somewhat sad to me to see in our happy fiction here that people love limitations. They love control. They love their fictional "safety". Attempting so harshly to banish any attempt to interfere with their internet-invested "happy place". Resisting change. Defying new things. Attempting to control their characters, their factions, and their ideas; with an iron fist. Shouting to the heavens as loudly as they can, "Star Wars is this. The Force is this. Blasters are this. My character is this. Because I demand it be si!" ...When really. Disney can do whatever they want with the genre and it's still Star WarsTM . We, can do whatever we want the genre and it's still Star Wars. Believing in something desperately doesn't make it true. And I see this all the time when I RP here. People desperate for their fantasies not to change. When really? They already have. Many many times.

To foster an invitation to look inward now, rather than outward. I'll return you to the above question with older eyes. Since joining this website, think of a time when something you read on Chaos really resonated with you. Affected you. Both as a new idea and something that expanded your horizons as a writer. Something that you read and went, "Ya know. That's a really great idea! I want to take that and run with it. Full speed ahead." ...What was it and who wrote it? Why did you love it? How did it change your story?

In closing, I think that as we ponder the things we are grateful for about our ever-changing fantasies and 3000 posts of "happy places". (Lulz.) The more we will begin to open up ourselves to a love of change. To a love of new things. To the fostering of new ideas, new members, and a new brighter future for both the website, and for ourselves. They say the golden age of RP has come and gone. I say, imagine greater.

Now stop standing around and go answer the question ya nerdy shmucks. Jeez.

 

[James Justice]

*Wipes tear from eye* Its beautiful.

Now, to answer said question.

The most amazing thing that anyone said that has carried over here was in Theater class. We were covering improv acting in the best youth camp that I have ever had. The man who was hosting this camp was ((I am kidding you not)) nicknamed "Captain Justice." His full name was Eric Justice. Yes, his name I borrowed as part of this character.

Captain Justice was a great, creative guy. He was the kind of guy you all want to hang around; he was smart, funny, whitty, positive, and great in every possible way. To say he was the perfect teacher was an understatement. The biggest thing that he gave me as a walk-away was "never say no." That is a rule in improv acting, "never say no, say 'yes and'".

Do that.

Do it when you write.

Do it when you work.

Do it when you are fighting your way out of a box, or as I had to do in high school sometimes; fighting for your life.

Whatever it is you face, don't say "no" say "yes and." Its a mentality to go "I can work with this, I can change this, I can roll with the punches." It is a desire to always think, to be quick on your feet, to never get tied down to old ideas or your own ways. Life is constantly in motion, the one moment you think you have it down, you figure out.... you don't. Its only constant is that there are no constants. People will leave you alone. Money will come and go. Fame, health, and fortune will all be here and then pass on.

What do you do? You say "Yes and."

Cheers.

 

[Cloudburner]

It wasn't that simple to just say that something "built" my imagination. Some things helped develop it, but with the help of other things.

I have always been imaginative. In my schools I always was described as "bright" and teachers always enjoyed my writing, or at least, that's what they said. As a kid, I didn't embrace imagination. In my schoolwork I used it a lot, but I always was somewhat embarrassed by it. I didn't talk too often, and I just wanted to blend in.

Then as I went to my next school, I met friends who embraced RP, I started playing a lot of RPG games (Oblivion and Fallout 3 being my favourites) and I would talk to my friends constantly about RP.

I watched a lot of Star Wars, Star Trek, really nerdy stuff and I used to say the lines and "become" the characters. Drama was always one of my favourite activities because of this. I wanted to be the character. I wanted to be Darth Vader, Han Solo, Captain Kirk, Spock, a lot of characters. I would walk down the hallways saying the lines and be laughed at a lot.

Most of my time outside of school went to Skyrim and RPG games. I used to love being the character. I used to develop highly detailed characters whom I would play as for a long time, developing over that character and remaking them.

So most of my creativity comes from RPG video games and friends, so they "shaped" my imagination.

 

[Asemir]

Unfortunately, not much that I've read on Chaos has really inspired me, in the sense that you're describing. That has more to do with how I spend my time on Chaos than it does the quality or type of writing. It also has a lot to do with my development as a writer. Right now, I am past the stages of being easily inspired, in that my "impressionable" years were fifteen years ago.

But if I were to answer your question in a broader than Chaos sense? It'd be world building. I love world building. That built my imagination. Star Wars (and to a greater extent Battletech/Mechwarrior) were the two key pieces that really caused me to develop that love for world building. Environments, cultures, technology, society, that is what I enjoy doing and that is what feeds my imagination.

Alas, it takes far too much time to properly world build, so now I rarely do it. I just sit on Chaos, browsing OOC posts, and making random comments. And, if the opportunity presents itself, I sometimes will RP. Rarely.

[member="Jay Scott Clark"]

 

[Darth Prazutis]

[member="Jay Scott Clark"]

Personally anything I see, watch, or hear can give me ideas.

But I suppose one of the greatest experiences that broadened my horizons was roleplaying in a different place with a friend of mine, he's an english major and is an avid book writer. Whenever I'd roleplay with him our roleplays would be less combat oriented and more focused on human interaction between the two characters, and since It was me and him in his world he needed to know who my character was so he knew how to formulate a story. The first time I roleplayed with him many, many years ago he asked me the one question that I still ask myself today each and every time I make a character:

Who is he?

I'd often respond with "Oh well he's a Knight or a Lord" or something like that, and he'd respond by asking me the same question, I realized quite early that what I was describing were occupations attached to the name I had established. Essentially what I wrote was an empty shell with a name and rank attached to it. He helped me figure out whenever we'd write that when I made a character to figure out who that person is personally, their childhood, their motivations, desires. One of the best experiences you can have not only in spurring your muse but figuring out who the character is, is by describing that character to another person and getting them to understand him/her.

When you figure out who your character is in his core, and you can not only understand and relate to who they are but others can too, it'll eliminate a lot of the 'writer's block' or having trouble posting as your character because you've dug into the marrow of who that character is, you took the empty shell and filled it up. I've brought this up with people who have had trouble writing before not just on Chaos but other places as well, and they've found out new things about their characters they never thought of. Try this sometime and you won't be dissapointed.