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Letter Game buddies

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Miss T

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Apologies in advance if this isn't the place to post it, but it didn't seem to fit in Exercises, Prompts & Whimsical Pursuits...

I'd like to find someone (or hey, lots of people) interested in playing the letter game! My only request a character-era-situation combination where letter-writing is plausible, but otherwise I'm down for pretty much anything (including giving more interests if you want inspiration or specificity, of course). And I think within two weeks is a good reply-by timeframe for each letter?

If you're interested, you should message me-- either for my email address so you can send a letter, or with some of your own interests and an email address so I can start.

Cheers!
 

tedi.s

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This would be a great opportunity for LARPers to add another level to their character. What exactly would the end result of these letters be?
I think that you don't necessarily look to the past but you can look sci-fi and future to a world that was destroyed by its inhabitants or a culture on another world that is just in the cusp of its evolutionary shift toward human. You know when the people began crating and recording history.
 

Miss T

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Theoretically, if each person has a plot in mind (adapting and integrating things based on the other person's letters), there should be a natural conclusion at some point. Books have been published from this, but I'm looking to it as a writing exercise.

And you're exactly right-- it's a very open structure with so many possibilities!
 

dragonangel517

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Could you explain how this works a little more? I have never heard of this, but it sounds interesting.
 

tedi.s

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I think of it as Pen-pals writing to each other and they are recording history through their letters. You can think of the things we learned from the Civil War through the love letters shared with couples.
 

Miss T

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Well, it's less historical recording and more developing a character and co-developing a greater narrative. I'll do my best to explain!

Alright. The game begins with one person writing a letter, in character, that sketches out the situation. (Because we don't want too much info-dumping-- and because it's more fun to allude than explain!-- they'd know each other and the same things. Less pen pals, then, and more temporarily-separated confidants. The characters could have a perfunctory or chilly relationship, but I'm not too personally keen on playing the letter game with unreliable narration.) After that, the characters have their own plots in their own locations, which they'd discuss and tell each other all about in their letters. Of course, the two plots may well overlap, interfere with, or even end up related to each other-- all through writing you'd be modifying your future plans based on the letters you get and any possible world information, character relocation, or random inspiration they might bring!

For convenience, this would be done via email, and either played to conclusion or to a mutual petering-out (as I'd hate to accidentally trap someone in a writing exercise).

Sadly for me and for this explanation, I haven't actually played before. I'm familiar with it primarily through Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, which is a revised result of one such game. The afterword takes a bit longer explaining the process and might help-- it's free to read it with the search-within here.
 

tedi.s

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Just wanted to let you know that I you have inspired me to do some writing exercises at least with this idea. I just have not really figured out all the where and whys of it. hmmmm . . . .Maybe some day I will be begging you to beta read :)
 
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