All play moves and has its being within a play-ground marked off beforehand either materially or ideally, deliberately or as a matter of course. [...] The arena, the card-table, the magic circle, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc, are all in form and function play-grounds, i.e. forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within the ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart.
We're not having nearly enough fun as writers. A staged performance of a drama is literally called a "play", and yet we're all working this thing like we're Willie Loman. Attention must be paid to such a man! No, not if it doesn't feel fun to. I imagine that all of our earliest experience with storytelling was playing make-believe with friends when we were little kids. It's hard to summon that spirit when writing, since your playmate is invisible to you. That's why I want to see if the theoretical framework of ludology, the study of games, can improve our instincts.
