Sage Advice

The LitRPG genre is asking the question: what happens when you combine literary novels and computer role-playing games (minus the controller). This genre has burst into prominence in the last few years, but what exactly is it?

Whereas traditional fantasy novels relies on ‘showing’ character progression through actions (moving boulders, learning new spells), LitRPG scratches a slightly different itch.

It allows us to see clear progression through numerical progression systems—think stats, levels and experience points. The quintessential ‘telling’… and yet it’s really satisfying! It’s like going under the hood of a writer’s mind, and seeing all their character sheets and world system rules as they write.

That’s not to say there’s no story. You will be hit in the feels (and they’ll give you a stat block for that), and the story comes before mechanics, but there is this cool fourth-wall breaking that occurs. Characters can see their own stats, and have this “on screen” guide to let them know how well they’re doing.

It’d be a handy bonus for real life, wouldn’t it?

If you want to dive into this genre, here are some things to consider:

• Don’t bombard your readers with numbers and stat screens.
• Curate your level-ups to happen in those gut-wrenching moments.
• Make any training montages interesting to read.
• Keep the emotional stakes high.
• Don’t over-explain the mechanics - your readers will get it.

And remember, it’s a story first, game second.

“Just write!” “Take a walk!” “Try some writing prompts!”

We’ve all seen those quick-fix articles promising to cure writer’s block in three easy steps, or the lists of ten generic “cures”. They pop up on our social media feeds, tempting us with their simple solutions.

But here’s the thing: If writer’s block was that easy to fix, would we still be talking about it?

A few months ago, I hit a wall with Only Dogs Left, the novel I work on stream during our office hours, that felt insurmountable. What started as a worldbuilding issue (having only three mechanics for a crumbling city) cascaded into questioning my entire first chapter, my story structure, and eventually my ability to write at all…

That sounds overdramatic, but I was live at the time, and had to pretend like the book I was working on shouldn’t just be thrown away.

One tiny crack in the foundation had turned into an avalanche of doubt.

Sound familiar?

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Let’s take a break from our protagonists, and give our side-characters a chance to shine. Why not write a chapter/short story from the mentor’s POV? Or use one of our fun scenarios below as inspiration for your writing:

• The local coffee shop barista who writes little prophecies instead of names on cups
• An accountant who balances karmic debt as a favour for death
• A food delivery driver who’s a courier for supernatural creatures in forbidden love scenarios