Metaphor, Writer’s Block, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Writing Process

Abstract

While many scholars have called for more attention to games, much of the work examining connections between video games and writing has been essentially metonymicin nature, drawing on comparisons between similar acts in related spheres. Typically, that is, scholars have investigated the potential for in-game reading, writing, and communication (such as chat boxes in the World of Warcraft series) to inform out-of-game reading, writing, and communication. ¹ As valuable as these literally literate connections are, in this chapter, I move beyond the metonymic to examine the metaphorical: the ways in which in-game actions and processes that do not involve communication or argument, acts such as navigating a dungeon or battling monsters, can nonetheless help us reimagine actions and processes germane to composition and writing.