How Minecraft changed my approach on writing
by EmTheMinecraftTurd

Hi! I'm Emily, I'm fourteen and I've been on here for about 9 months. The first thing I did when I got the message asking me contribute was to squeal, then feel sick, then immediately look up what I was being asked to do (Always read the small print. Even if there is none, find some). I was curious to see what others who had been selected wrote, so I checked out what they'd done. And my goodness, they're so deep! (I have a lot to live up to. Also please excuse the very English use of language). That's why I'm super grateful for this chance to be in such good company!

My fandom is Minecraft Story Mode. Yes, I can hear you asking "What is this? Is it a game, aTV show, abook series?" It's a game where you make decisions that change the plot line, which can alter the course of the story itself. Some popular YouTubers such as DanTDM, PopularMMOs and Stampycat have played it and posted videos online. (Yet again, I can hear you asking 'Who are these people?')

I got into this game when my parents bought it for me for Christmas. I immediately fell in love with everything about it: the characters you can relate to, the adult and thought-provoking themes hidden behind childish-seeming villains and an overall dynamic plot. It has some heart-wrenching moments that can make you cry, intensity that makes you want to smash your head against the nearest surface in frustration and difficult decisions to make in a short period of time.

It was inspired by the game Minecraft, which was top 5 in most played games on the planet in 2009, the year of release. Telltale released a game based off of it (including a Season 2). It has no canon ships as you make decisions to change the plot based on your own personal opinion, including picking the gender and variant of the main protagonist, Jesse.

After I discovered this game, I spent hours watching playthroughs on YouTube and replaying the game so I could make different decisions each time to see how it would affect the plot, yelling at the computer screen when the players didn't make the choice I wanted and refusing to eat pork for months due to emotional impact (This'll make sense when you play it. If you play it). Every time I saw some fanart, or even something vaguely related to it, I'd have to stop myself going into full-on fangirl mode (In the middle of English class, no less, much to the chagrin of my teacher).

I joined here a couple of months after I started writing fanfic (Unpublished, of course, as I was nervous/self-conscious and didn't show anyone). I wanted to find like-minded people who enjoyed the game just as much as I did. And I found them. I even made a couple of friends (This is a miracle as I find making friends really hard).

Before I discovered this game, I didn't know what I wanted to do as a job. I mean, I was good at writing, science and sport, but I didn't know what my calling was. I didn't want to be bored out my mind in a job that in no way challenged me to think, like my parents are. And the second I played this game and joined the fandom, I knew. I wanted to become a writer. With people who loved my characters as much as I did, with funny quotes such as 'No fire, no squids, no squids on fire.' I was imaginative, but I couldn't really put that imagination to USE, because I didn't have anyone to share it with apart from my close family and friends. That's where Wattpad came in.

The game inspired me to write, the people kept me going and writing and publishing. The characters were relatable, with arguments that reflected real life. It was an escape from harshest aspects of reality. The characters become our tools of sanity. They help us. They inspire us to be better. Like what Jesse does. She/he (I'll go with she for now) saves the world with nothing but her own mind and the help of her friends, faces death bravely and is the constant moral support of her gang. She helped inspire me to be a better person (I'm not sure if it worked, but I can always hope :D).

Games, TV shows, books, whatever you love, can inspire creativity. Characters you relate to, like how I relate to Jesse. The loss of a loved one. Peer pressure. You know, I got an idea for one of my fanfiction books from reading a series I enjoy (Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Highly recommend it!), and my book now has a sequel! My friend got an idea for what she wants to do when she's older from a TV series. My other friend was inspired to start drawing thanks to Stranger Things. Fandoms can inspire you to improve your own work to better credit the characters you love, to draw better, to find ideas for your own work.

The supportiveness of the community on Wattpad has really driven me to aspire to my goal of becoming a published writer. I may be young, but I can definitely dream big. The support found here can make you realise people can love you for who you are and what you write/do. You can find friends on here, through your fandom. And you don't have to have lots of reads, or followers, or votes to do it. As Petra says in Season 1 Episode 1 (If the circumstances dictate it,) "If at first you don't succeed... succeed later than originally planned!". The inspiration is the redstone to your circuit, if that makes sense: it makes everything function. And fandoms provide that.

So, here's the big question, the whole entire point of this: Can you actually learn anything from fandoms?
Yes. Yes you can.
I learnt that fandoms can inspire anything. Art, to future careers, to book ideas. Mine inspired me to write books. I learnt that you can inspire people with your own work, make friends through common interests. I learnt that fandoms can give you the drive to achieve what you want. I learnt that everyone can inspire in their own ways (And also make people want to throw their phones across a math classroom in outrage).

How does your favourite fandom inspire you?