How you feel about reading books after roleplaying

[Inuyasha]

How do you guys feel about reading books after you have become an avid roleplayer, in contrast to before you began roleplaying; how has roleplaying changed your view on books?

Personally, I cant read books anymore: why read the story as an outsider, when you can take part of it as a player? What do you guys think?

[NuttsnBolts]

Don't read books much anyway. Never have. But I will occasionally in order to follow a certain character or story.

I actually find it a bit helpful too as you can see how other people write and get ideas for structuring your story. For instance I read BB Murder case again (Death Note Novel) and found it interesting how the narrator starts off telling the story from his perspective at the beginning of the chapter before switching to the standard novel perspective. It's a move that flows really well and gave me a few ideas.

I believe the big difference is that story telling will always be fixed with plot twists and a certain outcome. Roleplaying will always have a lively atmosphere and can change through the players input.

[Phoenix]

I've never really read books before. When I do, I can get into them and my favorite series so far is that of Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

Though they have some similarities, I always think novels are mostly different than RPing and have always had a separate mindset between them. Sure, it can elicit similar emotions and senses, but reading another's work about an entire world and discovering it through their interpretation is much different than conversing about ideas with a group of people and constantly developing it as the RP goes on. There's an omniscience with RPing and an expectation that you don't get from reading a book. Characters aren't created by you, you don't know their background going into it. It's exciting, to that degree, to read a book.

However, I've yet to read a book or series since then and have always been in my own mind about creating my own world and story. I believe I'm getting into wanting to write a novel rather than RP (inactivity, lack of communication, lack of cooperation, lack of understanding, etc.). But creating a world with another person or other people when all are interested and passionate about the subject is just as exciting, it's just different than reading a book.

I don't know if my response sufficed as an answer to the question...I kind of ended up rambling >.>

[Ellri]

We have no trouble reading books. Never have had such. But we also enjoy both RPing and worldbuilding.

[Vilageidiotx]

I think it has helped me read critically by quite a lot. I can read and see why the author chose certain word combinations, or plot structures. In turn, I think being able to read professional work critically has helped me to improve my own writing.

[Kathia]

I had such a difficult time in my fifth grade year of primary school because reading and writing comprehension were always lacking and it severely showed in my progress reports, homework, and finally, our state tests to move onto the next grade. I had never been held back a year and because the teacher I had in that grade, I was so close to being in summer school but I escaped it by going to another elementary school.

During that summer, I tried going to the library and picking out "chapter books" from the Children's department but nothing caught my eye and I despised how much everyone was into Harry Potter because I just stared at the book and saw it was a lot of work. At that time, I got into anime when I stayed up late at night watching InuYasha (ironically, your username) on Adult Swim. So, after that I looked for people to talk about how much I loved Sesshomaru and Rin together and Sango and Miroku as well. I found a fansite (that is actually still around and I love to remember the memories that it brought) that had a chat room and there I noticed a lot of people used asterisks to write out something they were doing or would do. I met a friend named April who was a much better writer than me (during that time when Yahoo! Messenger was the "it" instant messenger). She would roleplay anime-inspired anime characters and I, always female until there was a year that we switched up the roles.

When I started off sixth grade, we had to write our introductions for a portfolio that we were going to fill up with more essays throughout the year and I still have it and I was a damn good writer because of roleplaying. April wasn't my only partner and never once did I pick up a book to improve my writing, I just read other people's posts when I got into forums.

I had very successful high school years until graduation and had AP English and in honors too all due to my love for fantasy worlds and writing out with my best friends.

There was a point during my sophomore year that I wanted to write a novel and I did but during that time, I lost a lot of friends (drama and all that) so the characters that were modeled after them, I gave up. So, after that it was many years of having constant of plot bunnies that I can now happily write out to people and see it play out before me like a movie.

Sorry, I went off in a long tangent there but the only books I've completed in all of my lifetime were the first two Hunger Games books, the first Twilight novel of the saga, and Fahrenheit 451 for my AP English class (which I hated at the time but revisited it when I graduated and fell in love with it).

I'm barely picking up Divergent to read and although I know I can do better than to read YA fiction, it's neat because YA is so simple that its plots and little universes can be easily created into a roleplay.

Honestly, I still think those types of books that have two authors in it are just two people who roleplayed together and sent it to their publishers!

[Vordak]

This is how i see it: roleplays are an interactive, ever-changing medium with plots, characters and settings molded by the players, with a focus on the process, not the end result (although a well-written roleplay can indeed be an enjoyable read). Books are wholesome and complete literary works that are most often written with the intent to convey an author's ideas and thoughts or fantasies through storytelling. I may be far from an erudite, but i can certainly tell that while sharing form, the substance of those two is somewhat different, meaning that one certainly can't replace another. So yeah, i both roleplay and read books.

[AlteredTundra]

Lol can't believe this is a serious question. Of course I still read books after I roleplay. Roleplaying and reading books has almost nothing to do with each other imo. Doing one or the other doesn't affect my ability to do one or the other. If anything, reading books helps me get back into any kind of groove that I might have lost, be it cause of writer's block or whatever.

[El Taco Taco]

I read like crazy. Not only is it fun, it's a huge source of inspiration for games and world building. #Books5ever

[potatochipgolem]

Read books to be inspired. Roleplay to apply that inspiration to good use. Write to inspire others.

[Sypherkhode822]

Reading books is so valuable to roleplaying well. Since forum sites are meant to have more longform posts, (at least, the good advanced roleplays do) it's important to be able to write well. And you only learn how to write by reading. A lot of my own writing has been influenced by what I read, I try to use the words that I find in Jack Vances writing, and when I'm playing a Cyberpunk RP, I'm going to be thinking more about what I read in Altered Carbon, Neuromancer, and Snow Crash.
Reading and roleplaying are both equally important, roleplay is a more freeform and social form of storytelling, while a book is basically a single person roleplaying by themselves... Which is a little weird, but that's okay, since what they write down is really neat, and the characters all interact really well, and rarely do they go off the tracks.
And roleplaying is like writing a book, a really gonzo, sorta batshit book where plot coherency often gives way to rule of cool, characters go off on tangents that are pointless to the main storyline, and oftentimes there isn't a main storyline worth following!

TL;DR:
Dont be silly. Both are forms of storytelling, and if you want to have an appreciation of one, it's advised that you have a basic understanding of the other. Those who have an appreciation of both, however, are doubly blessed, since they get to enjoy two amazing forms of storytelling.