"Make it real."

"Make it real." We hear that a lot in the game. "Make it true-to-life. No fantasy. No science fiction. Make this a real world."

But I don't know how. It's outrageous that I'm even trying.

What am I doing, creating characters who are kick-ass fighters with bitchy attitudes & few cares for tomorrow? Real? Hardly--how would I know? I've never held a sword much less fought somebody with one. Hell, "I've never" describes an awful lot about me. Never hit somebody in anger or defense. Never fired a gun. Never watched someone I know die violently. Never...well, that's enough. You get the picture.

So how do I explain that I seem to be good at it, describing these kinds of actions & bringing scenes to life? I can choreograph a fight-scene with the best. I can torch a city & make you see it burn. I can fight & die & make you feel you're standing right there watching.

I don't think being a professional writer is a good enough answer. I don't write for Hollywood or Broadway. I'm not a novelist with books in the "fiction" or "fantasy" section of all the local bookshops. I write speeches. I write annual reports. I write press releases & brochures & tech manuals. Not exactly fertile ground to grow the kind of writing I'm doing in-game.

Maybe it's enough that I've been a student all my life. Watching people...listening, learning, loving, losing, letting go. It's not that I have no experience, because I do. When I write, I try to feel what a scene demands & hopefully find something inside me that resonates with it somehow. Besides, I do know what a 17-year-old girl feels... even if it was a bit ago. And you can get fight-scene tips from watching "Xena Warrior Princess" or the latest kung-fu movie.

Wherever it comes from, I seem to fulfill that "make it real" command more often than not. So do my fellow players, from wherever they get their inspirations. Maybe we just all have imaginations that can make anything possible? And maybe I should just stop questioning & have fun with it?

Sure...why not. -Chyna