I have previously expressed my love for video essays on YouTube, and I now have yet another great example in “Games as Lit. 101”.
Alan Wake is a game about creative creation, specifically writing.
Any writers who are reading this should definitely watch the video above, even if they have never played the game.
I loved the game when it first came out, but I feel like the subject-matter hits closer to home now that I have started intentionally writing more, both blog-posts and fiction.
I recognise the muse, The Dark Presence and the supportive characters in myself and other people in my own life, and that is not something I completely got before I started writing for real.
Who (or what) is your muse, and Dark Presence? Or even your Barry Wheeler?
In a game you have a say in how the story goes and its eventual conclusion.
True, one of the reasons why I like playing them 🙂
Or at least, good creators can trick you into thinking you have a greater effect than you actually have, giving you a choice that is no choice at all!