This past Monday, I was interviewed by Rivera Runs Through It. The topic was “First Book Love.” During the interview, I credited my father with introducing me to “The Hobbit” and starting for me a life-long love of books and reading. Go read the interview and then come back.
I’ll wait.
I can credit my father with much more than just introducing me to reading. In the third grade, a classmate brought to school a rule book and game module for a “new” game – Dungeons and Dragons. I say “new” because it was new to me. I didn’t know it had been around for a number of years already.
Get your geek on!
Within the pages of that rule book, I found a game that let me play in a world that was so similar to Middle-Earth as to be almost no different. I spent a Saturday afternoon at my classmate’s house and learned the basics of how to play the game and fell in love with it instantly. When I came home that day, I asked for my own set of D&D rules for Christmas.
Christmas came and so did my shiny new D&D game. My father, brother and I played every Saturday for quite a while. We collected more rulebooks, adventure modules, monster cards and figures. We played all the time.
Then my dad came home from work one day with this:
How very monochromatic.
It was an older version of the D&D rules that he had kept in his desk at work because he played it during his lunch breaks. Yes, my father had been playing D&D for longer than I had even known about the game. (I am now the owner of that old rule book and it’s worth some cash.)
Not only did my father introduce me to the fantasy genre, he encouraged me to play a game in which my imagination could run wild – a game that allowed my imagination to come to life.
When I tried to write my own stories, they weren’t very good at first – I think I was in eighth grade when I wrote my first short stories. Hang on a minute ….
Yep, found them. Eighth grade. Just found two of them – one hand written mystery story and one fantasy story printed on a dot-matrix printer (remember those?). Trust me, they’re garbage. However, the fantasy story I had submitted to a children’s magazine (stories written by children that is – I think it was called “Merlin’s Pen”) and it got to the second editor before being rejected. So, that’s something, I guess.
Getting back -
My dad didn’t show much interest in my writing at first. Not openly, anyway.
I can’t really pin point when it started, but he began to give me story ideas. Little germs that he would think of but couldn’t write down, because, by his own admission, he “stinks at writing.”
Over the years he’s given me many and many I rejected as unworkable for me (sorry Dad, I know you’re reading this). Other’s have been jotted down as something I felt I could do something with in an ever growing notebook specially for Dad’s ideas (didn’t know that, did you, Dad?).
Discussing the difficulties of "world-building"
That picture up there? I remember that day. We were talking about a story idea I had where giants would be the main characters. It was at my aunt’s house and asked her for some crayons or colored pencils and drew a rough sketch of a map for the world my dad and I were discussing.
I never wrote the story, but did adapt most of it into a D&D world that was used many years later.
Not really sure what we were talking about, but let's just say it was a story idea, ok?
He’s still coming up with ideas and still throwing them my way.
In fact, the book I’m writing now is based off an idea of his. A very cool idea that I don’t think has ever been done in the fantasy genre. Yesterday, I wrote over 2,000 words. Not much really, but it’s the most I’ve done in years. I’ll be writing more when I finish this post.
One of the books I abandoned that came from a talk with my dad I was bold enough to write a dedication to:
This book is dedicated to my father, Richard Storch,
who took me on my first trips to Middle-Earth,
the world of the descendants of Jerle Shannara,
the Land of Thomas Covenant
and many other places that exist in our imaginations.
I would never have done this without you Dad.
My current book has no title as yet. Titles come last.
What comes first is that Dad gets to read every word right after I’m finished for the day.
It’s the least I can do.
Trying again.
Linking this with YeahWrite 42 – I feel it’s important enough.
Drawing from different sources is great – stories are stories. My writing is heavily drawn from film and people often say my books read like movies. (I was/am a screenwriter first so I suppose there’s that.)
People say the same of my writing – that they very easily see it transposed to TV or movies.
Cool blog! I hear you, it’s not bad to also get some inspiration from TV or other kinds of books. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this, LOL!
Good luck on your writing! You can do it!
Thanks for dropping by!
You’re welcome
Loved. This. Post. What clear storytelling.
Thanks, Erica. Maybe this’ll be my submission for next weeks’s Yeah Write.
It should be.
This rings true. I remember the DM asking me to come up with stories for the gathering in our D&D ring too, especially since my character was a bard. It was a role I filled gladly. D&D definitely inspires the imagination. I, too, am a middle earth lover who has been lost in search of the elfstones of Shannara, and all the worlds in between. In fact, at some point in time, I’ve actually considered naming a child of mine Shannara.
I really enjoyed this post, including your dedication to your father. Good luck with that book!
Thanks for dropping by! My first book is going to be dedicated to my dad, no matter what.
Hello Mr Storch. Thanks for submitting some work to Love All Blogs – hope to see you next week!
I used to read lots of fantasy books myself actually. They were all in the Dragonlance series which was based around the TSR Dungeons and Dragons world of Krynn.
Me and some friends used to spend hours playing Dungeons and Dragons in my mates’ loft. It was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot during the summer. But boy was it worth it.
I read a good chunk of the Dragonlance books as well. They were entertaining, though compared to other books in the genre they’re kind of blah, in my opinion.
You caught me here, I love fantasy books. And you say it’s something new in the genre? I wish you all the best for finishing and getting your book out. You made me curious.
I think it’s new. I’ve read TONS of fantasy and I can’t recall anything like it. But I’m starting to get up there in years and the memory isn’t what it used to be. ;P
I love it when inspiration and parenting join forces. How wonderful for your Dad to introduce you to something that sticks with you, and then – later – encourage you and talk about it.
My oldest son is showing an interest in photography based on my interest. I love that I have introduced it to him – I hope we can become better picture takers … together.
Nice post.
I’m certainly trying to do the same with all three of my boys.
The first edition you got was maybe my favorite rules set, the creators gave so much freedom with the game play then. I have a Chronomancer character class expansion in that run that I have converted for every subsequent edition.
Heya Q!
In later years, I got hooked on the 3rd Ed. The whole D20 system seemed to me much more open to modification than any of the previous ones and I think I actually logged more hours of play time with 3rd.
As a matter of fact, I’m still playing – I’m running a game for my own kids.
Oh wow, I haven’t played D & D in years. I have that same book somewhere at my parents house I’m sure. It was definitely one of my favourite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. It’s so nice that you have good memories with your Dad playing it!
I’m kind of surprised at how many people are responding with “I used to play!” Puts a smile on my face.
My husband has a similar story about his dad reading The Hobbit to him at a young age – we still love it, and he’s a writer, too. I love hearing how much your dad has influenced you, and I hope he does, too.
It’s funny, but my dad and I don’t talk to each other about emotional things. I guess it’s a guy thing. So, yeah, he was surprised to read the post and called me the day I posted it to THANK ME. Weird, I was the one thanking him.
I’d never thought about D&D as writerly inspiration but of course — makes perfect sense. What a lovely gift for your father – even though of course guys don’t talk about, you know, FEELINGS. But this post has those mushy things, just nicely wrapped in a D&D wrapper. (And btw, I love love love those Thomas Covenant books. Can’t wait till my own kids are old enough to read them).
Feelings?! What are those?
Also btw – The next book of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is due out later this year. Can’t wait for it!
Your story here reminds me of my son…he’s in 7th grade now. I worry about him and his bookish, D&D-loving, highly-imaginative, fantasy-dwelling self, but look at how totally awesome YOU are! And so I can sit back a bit more comfortably and breathe a little easier in the hopes that he will follow a similar course
Your dad sounds so supportive and just, well, great!
What’s to worry about? Using one’s imagination is nothing more than exercising your brain, I think. I had a bunch of friends from my school days who read fantasy and played D&D and we have all become successful in our own ways.
I wrote a short post the other week and The Hobbit was my fav childhood book
never played D&D though. enjoyed your post.
Thanks for stopping by! Always nice to “see” a new face.
Dungeons and Dragons rules! I totally get how you can get inspiration from the most random places – oh I’m off to google for D&D pics now!
I hope you find some good ones! So many wonderful artists have done work for D&D over the decades.
I love my dad too. He has an incredibly special place in my heart. He is and does things to make a difference in my life, often he does it without me knowing. Having great family is important to our lives. I am happy your father is in yours and making such a difference. Good luck with your book! -LV
Both of my parents have had a huge impact on me without them even knowing. I was just talking to my mother about it last night.
Funny for me and my writing I almost have have the title first. Very rarely do I change it. Love the image of you and your father sharing a cold one solving problems of the world and book ideas!
I like to just do the writing first and come up with a title when I’m done. If I start with a title, I feel constrained to work within the parameters of the the title. I prefer to be much more fluid in my writing.
Not only is this a beautifully written tribute to your Dad, but it inspired me to write about my own personal inspiration. Loved this post so much. Thank you for sharing!!
Wow! I’m touched that I’ve inspired you. And happy. It’s one of the reasons I started this blog.
Thanks, Abby!
Well titles are way over-rated aren’t they?
However I must admit to getting my book title first before I wrote it. Sometimes it works. Other times it doesn’t.
Sweet post.
I love the photos of you and your dad involved in deep conversation about writing – those are priceless photos. Keep on writing. (-:
Thanks, Ado! My mother asked me the other day where I keep coming up with the pictures. I don’t think she knows I save all that stuff.
This was cool. I have a beautiful, large picture book of The Hobbit that my dad read to me when I was 9/10. We’ve started reading it to our kids, but it’s slow going when one of them is still only 6. Peter Jackson is working on 2 movies!
Yep, Jackson is working on two. The second movie is going to have material in it to tie The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings which didn’t appear in either of those books. But that extra is based on things Tolkien wrote which have appeared in Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle-Earth books.
Our parents and their belief in us play a very major role in who we become. My mother still expects me to write a novel some day. I don’t think I’ve got one in me, but I still love to write because she always believed I could.
Whether you have a novel in you or not, write for the joy of writing! You may surprise yourself one day.
Pingback: Can’t Fool The Blues – 1996 « scholarlyscribe