S.A.A (Story Addicts Anonymous)

[Hollyday]

Is there anyone else out there who considers themselves to be a story addict?

Any story I'm consuming (be it game, novel, film, tv series etc) I become completely obsessed with. I have to see it through to the end, thinking about it constantly. Often, especially with books, I can't bear to go to sleep so read through the whole night. When I'm into a good game I often forget to eat, or simply put hunger-pangs to one side because questing is WAY more important. Once I finish a story (especially a long one like a good RPG, multiple seasons of a show or a book trilogy) I'm absolutely heartbroken. What can I do to plug the gap? Throw myself into the next story on the rebound!

Because of this I have to be very careful about what stories I allow myself to start: No American TV shows (lots of seasons, and up to 24 episodes each season - that's way too much of my life to give up!), nothing I've heard numerous bad reviews of (Even if the story is crap I still have to watch/read/play it in it's entirety), nothing where there's a significant chance there won't be a ending (I won't go near MMORPG's if my life depended on it!).

Yes, this makes me sound like someone with absolutely no life, who has to live through characters to give their life some meaning. I don't think this is the case - I really do believe that I have a good life. I just can't shake this need to constantly be part of an engrossing imaginary world.

So, hands up who else feels the same

 

[thesilentman]

Oh yep. I've famous for staying up past midnight when I was a kid to finish any book that I had in my hand. This extends to the anime I watch an the video games I play, too.

 

[FalloutJack]

I've got it one step further: WRITER ADDICT.

Strictly speaking, I get ideas all the time. I can't STOP creating. Funny situations, action-packed thrills, evil plots, dramatic moments, grand-standing victorious good times, etc. I have to KEEP GOING.

 

[Joccaren]

Here here. I waste most of my time making up, reading, watching or playing through stories. Its pretty much the only thing that keeps me playing games seeing how boring the gameplay aspect has gotten these days, though TBH the story in a lot of places isn't much better. I remember in primary school I was known for walking into trees all the time because I had my head stuck in a book and had no idea where I was going. Kinda impossible to stop me looking for a good story.

 

[DoPo]

Because of this I have to be very careful about what stories I allow myself to start

Hi, my name is DoPo, and I'm exactly the same.

*insert group greeting*

Yeah, I cannot not finish a story. At most, I can give myself a break (so watch/read/whatever something else in the mean time) then come back and finish what I started. I watched Heroes and damn the thing went downhill after season 2-ish. I still went through all of it. I'm even worse with books - I can quite happily wade through a book in a day or two. And then I'm left with nothing to read for quite a while. Books don't have that restriction of having a fixed length, like movies/episodes do, nor the play time required for a game. And I'm a fast reader. I finished pretty much all of the Harry Potter books over a weekend (well, a couple took me longer but not more than 1-2 days longer), while Discworld books I can do two a day...but I tend not to because I feel sad afterwards for going through them so quickly.

 

[Hollyday]

...while Discworld books I can do two a day...but I tend not to because I feel sad afterwards for going through them so quickly.

Absolutely nothing (no emotion I have ever felt for anything in my life) compares to the feeling of utter despair I felt when I finally finished reading the discworld series. It took months, simply to track them all down in local libraries/book shops/friend's attics, and I loved every single one (well, Eric was pretty 'meh', but...). When I finished the last one I think I spent two days in my room not talking to anyone or doing anything, just trying to work out where my life could go from there.

Discworld books are definitely a pleasure to be savoured.

 

[Ishal]

I was that way with basically 4 universes

KOTOR story
Dragon Age story
Mass Effect story
Halo story

All of them are fantastic and there are certain things about them that I haven't been able to find anywhere else.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I've got it one step further: WRITER ADDICT.

Strictly speaking, I get ideas all the time. I can't STOP creating. Funny situations, action-packed thrills, evil plots, dramatic moments, grand-standing victorious good times, etc. I have to KEEP GOING.

Don't know about writer addict (which makes me wonder if I'm just kidding myself sometimes calling myself a writer), but my love of stories is what has influenced my decision to go for a bachelor's degree in English, specifically with a literature concentration. I would love to get a job as a tech reviewer for a website or magazine.

Then I could combine my love of technology and computers with my love of writing, and publish short stories, novels, and travel in my spare time.

 

[Vault101]

.

So, hands up who else feels the same

yes, but in a different way, I'm fine with drawing my expereinces out (unless its near the end and I'm truly hooked)

when I think about it 99% of my spare time is spent in imaginary worlds..weather or not its consuming fiction or drawing...

but yeah, I'm an addict in the sense that I'm always after the next story (in whatever form)

 

[Padwolf]

I'm a terrible addict for it. I love stories so much. I wont' go near any that don't have any ending, I need the ending or I just become more obsessed. I need to have stories constantly, if I finish one book I have to move straight on to another. I love them so much. Though I was devastated when I finished the last A Song of Fire and Ice book, I spent hours wondering what to do with myself now, wondering what book to go to from there, I felt sad for going through them so quickly.