Evony

I just started playing this online game called EVONY. Now, I know some people will roll their eyes and call me a geek, but let me tell you why this game brings about a bunch of story points that would help in anyone's story.

One, it creates a beautiful fantasy world or old school setting. You can build a layout and visually see exactly where your characters could be running around.

Two, scenes of war. Having trouble writing about war and strategy? Because you have to literally build an army and go to war in this game, as well as create alliances and build loyalty and trust, this game makes it easy to understand what goes into fighting. It's easier to write something once you've experienced it in some way.

And Three, enemies. Some people, when writing, cannot rightly depict an enemy. When you get pissed at someone for attacking you in this game, that is your enemy. Remember the feeling you get of wanting revenge and hating that other person, and feed that into your story.

The game is free. Just go to to http://www.evony.com/ and sign up. It's a little confusing at first, but you catch on really quickly. And remember to build sawmills, quarry's and iron mines.