Being a DM/GM in roleplaying - it doesn't work like a book or movie

I tend to respond to actual people rather than second guess problems - and then I end up responding to them somewhere other than my blog! So here's a responce I prepared earlier for new GM/DM's (whatever you wanna call it!)

My tip is books and movies are NOT a good model for how gaming works - in them the single author of the book controls the world AND the main character, making the main character do exactly what he wants him to do.

You don't get this luxury in roleplay - the characters run by players are run by players. They are essentially co-authors - and unlike the main character in a book that does what they author of the world wants, the players PC's wont do exactly what you want. You have to be able to let go of having an exact idea of how you want things to go, because it doesn't work that way. You have to have a hazy idea of how the world works and what is happening in it, and the players engage that as co-authors (where equally, the world doesn't always do what the players might expect it to do).

I've seen too many gamers who came to roleplaying with the idea that as GM, they'd be the sole author of events. For many, it was the innocent mistake of thinking it works like a book or movie and no one said otherwise (and for a few others, they are just that controlling and selfish). This ends in a train wreck.

Running a successful game of a straightforward nature is as simple as not being wrapped up in thespian ideals - make sure money or XP is gained by the players every real life half hour or so.