I wanted to be a fiction writer since High School. Like any inspiring writer, I have written many fictional stories in my mind. A few of them ended up on paper. A Xerox copier enabled me to share some of the simple stories with my friends in 1988 -- 1994. Most of what I have written was for myself only. My writings are still somewhere within our house. They have been packed in 1998. They have not been unpacked ever since.
Some of the plots were very simple while others were quite complicated. Only a few simple ones were written. Serious story lines were set in fictional Civilizations. In some cases, the story lines were less important then fictional Civilisations themselves. I have worked out these Civilizations in considerable detail. Given my knowledge in STEM, I have even worked out the limits and abilities of some fictional technologies.
Some fictional Civilizations were set in the past and had low technological levels. These levels were somewhere between Middle Ages and Industrial Revolution. Others were set in near or distant future. These Civilizations were spanning the Solar System or the Galaxy.
Some Worlds and Civilizations had Magic. Magical powers follow their own rules and have their own limits. Many ancient folk tales gave Magic unlimited powers, which is impossible in many ways. In my Worlds, Magic follows rules similar to Electricity. Any MMORPG has very clear limits of Magic. In Runescape, Magic is primarily a weapon as strong as Ranged and Melee weapons. Unfortunately I am too weak to quit Runescape -- my Strength level is 88 while my Range level is 106 and Magic level is 109. I have not used any melee weapons for a few years.
The building blocks of my fictional Civilizations were modern and historical Civilizations from the many books I have read and not so many movies I have seen. In 1980s, my hobby was reading History books. We had a DVD player only since 1989. Many Historical events taking place in Reality have been dramatized and modified in fictional Worlds.
Very little in the original fictional Civilizations I have constructed came from other fictional authors. More recently, I do use other author's characters in my fiction. My favorite is Mary Shelly's Igor Frankenstein.
Music played an important part in my mental ``work". From late 1980s to early 2000s, I would take long walks with my earphones on. I took these walks almost daily. During these walks, I was mentally in my own fictional Civilizations. I have sort of kept Sabbath since 1997, thus I walked with earphones several hours a day, six days a week. Thank G-d, I was never a pedestrian party to any accident!
I am certainly not alone in designing fictional Civilizations. Given the popularity of Fan Fiction, there may be millions or tens of millions of people designing fictional Worlds in USA. There may be tens of millions or hundreds of millions of people designing fictional Worlds globally. Relatively few descriptions of these Worlds are ever recorded in any form.
Since the beginning of Computer Age and Internet Age, an interesting transformation took place within my inner World and in hundreds of millions of inner Worlds of others. All the fictional Worlds were eclipsed by MMORPGs. Unlike Real World, Runescape is interesting enough and dramatic enough. I became an avid player, but I lost interest in fictional Worlds of my own. Once in a while I do write a fictional story, but these are just relics of my past inner Worlds.
On a lighter note, I have written many satires and comedies within my mind. In these satires, my real life friends and foes, especially my High School and University instructors played comical roles. None of these roles were positive. Most of my friends, foes, and instructors were also given nicknames. I shared these nicknames only with my close friends. Once again, the Real Life has been boring, while casting my friends, foes, and instructors in satirical light was much more interesting.
In the first decade of this Century, I have started spending much more time reading Social Media arguments. Sometimes, I participate in them. I can use very strong and harsh language, but I do not recall engaging in any unprovoked attacks. In any case, I am a very avid reader, a moderate writer, and only an occasional flamer. I have engaged in flame wars on unmoderated forums, but I am more likely to leave a forum for a few months. In online arguments and debates I find the excitement I lack in mundane life. Probably tens of millions of others find excitement in Social Media as well.
One of the many drawbacks of Social Media is its effect on old hobbies. Given that Social Media provides enough excitement, there is no need to design fictional Worlds and Civilizations. I never played board games much, but these are also displaced by Social Media and myriads of online games. This is not a positive development. The Social Media may have destroyed tens of millions of Worlds built in millions of minds.
In this decade I did find several offline acquaintances. None of them became prototypes for fictional or even satirical characters. Perhaps I did not become a fictional or satirical character in one of their inner Worlds either. Social Media provides all the entertainment we need, but it robs people of interest both in Real World and in their own Fictional Worlds.
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Originally Posted by Cotton1
