Other Writing

Race and Monstrosity in Dungeons & Dragons grew out of my article "The Monstrous Races of Dungeons & Dragons." The article version provides a succinct history of the monstrous race tradition and considers orcs and drow as reflections of that tradition. The collection it appears in, Roll with Advantage: Creative, Collaborative, and Critical Responses to Dungeons & Dragons collects both creative and academic writing about the game.

"Gamifying Writing Center Design" explains how the online platform Roll20, used to play tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, can be used to design writing center spaces. Treating writing center design as a collaborative game enhances agency—a key value of writing center practice.

In "The Writing Consultation as Fantasy Role-playing Game," I consider how academic writing and the writing center consultation are both forms of fantasy role-playing. Applying the social scientific study of role-playing games to the writing center helps us understand the pressures acting on student writers who often have to perform an identity that may not be authentic to them. Approaching student writing as an attentive Dungeon Master can reveal how the writing consultation itself is a game...