Real Writing in Virtual Worlds

By Dario Ciriello

Part of the Indie Authors Series 

Second Life as a support system, social venue and marketing tool for indie authors

Back in the mid-oughts, before Facebook and Twitter became synonymous with the term, “Social Media”, Second Life was the happening thing. A 3D virtual world comprising some 25,000 regions or sims, Second Life, or SL, is like an active massively multiplayer online roleplaying game without the game element—there’s no goal. Hence the “life” bit.

Before the millennium, when the web was still young and hadn’t yet turned into something horribly like TV on steroids, the words “Virtual Reality” (VR) were big and our collective vision for the online future was quite different. From the 2003 founding of Second Life to its peak around 2008-2009, individuals, corporations, and institutions were scrambling to stake out virtual territory. Companies held virtual conferences in SL, and the military used sims to train personnel in bomb disposal techniques.

Making the Switch From Writing in a Game World to Writing a Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

When I was a freshman in high school, one of my best friends wanted the Dungeons & Dragons Red Box Set for her birthday. I'd always wanted to try it, so I bought it for her. It took one game for her to decide she didn't like it, but I was hooked.

I got to be part of the fantasy worlds I loved reading about. Even better, I got to create my own worlds and characters and tell my own stories. This unwanted birthday gift turned into a lifelong love of games for me. Especially role playing games (RPGs).