Creating Diverse Narratives: A Millennial’s Tale of Storytelling and Gaming

As a typical millennial growing up in the 90s, I got swept up in playing many video games. Sonic, Mario, Zelda, Tomb Raider, even Ms. Pac-Man—you name it, I most likely played it. Funny enough, playing video games made me fall in love with storytelling.

I loved the creative input of worldbuilding, the power of the characters, and the crazy, sometimes convoluted plotlines. Video games were a fun escape from homework and playing outside. I enjoyed tapping into imaginative worlds that were nothing like mine and thought, “What if I could create new people and places, too?”

As a teenager, I tried my hand at writing short stories. I loved letting my imagination roam freely, whether it was about a pirate struggling with abandonment or a girl with a talking book. Gradually, I started creating longer stories with characters that looked like me since even the imaginative games I played didn’t have Black characters. I longed to see a face that resembled mine.

When I became an educator, part of my writing journey was to inspire students to find their voice through writing. I wrote many stories alongside them and encouraged them to express their creativity without their writing needing to be an “A” paper. I found fun projects like National Novel Writing Month and taught my students that their imagination starts at their fingertips. Over the years, I’ve read the best stories from my 4th and 5th graders—some reflecting their lives as students, while others were silly, creative, and meaningful.

I am glad to have been part of their journey of creativity. It inspired me to start writing middle-grade stories myself. Every year, I come up with an idea and think, “Would my students like this character? Can they relate to them? Does the dialogue sound realistic enough?” I hear their critiques in my mind as I add Gen Alpha jargon to my stories and laugh—they keep me honest.

So, what genre do I write? Honestly, it depends. I love a good story. My writing leans towards fantasy, romance, and middle grade. Currently, I’m working on a middle-grade novel called Gamer Girls. It’s about five Black girls entering a video game tournament at their middle school and how they deal with new friendships and competition in a male-dominated sport.

As a Black writer, I must include our perspectives and storytelling in this space. As Toni Morrison said, “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” We must write it because others are waiting to be inspired by a video game or a story they haven’t read or imagined. That inspires me to keep putting ideas on the page and writing.

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Krystina Sweis

Krystina Sweis is an African American writer and educator.  She is also a part of the Inland Area Writing Project (IAWP) which supports writing practices for students.  She loves to write genres like middle grade, romance, and fantasy.  When she is not writing or teaching, she plays tennis, reads, and plays video games with friends and family. Krystina's publications include:

“Oreo is Not My Color” Femme Literati Mixtape 2019

“Dear Basketball: A Mentor Text” Write Here with IAWP Magazine March 2019