Players Are Cowriters

When drawing comparisons between prose writing and role playing, it's easy to think of the Game Master as the author. Therefore, the players must be the audience. But this is not always a fair parallel to draw.

Sure, the GM may be planning the story and telling the narrative, but the players are not passive. They're playing the game. More importantly, they are adding content. They create action. They make choices. They add dialogue. If the players did not make the decisions they did, the story would have been quite different. Therefore, the players are more like cowriters than audience members.

This makes the experience much more exciting to me. It turns every game into a collaborative process. Every person gets a say and can't be vetoed. Not every plan may be perfect or succinct, but they are part of a unique story that everybody gets to build. And that's what makes it worthwhile.