Does MCA feel any shame to prostitute himself like this?
Assuming that at each layover he spends some time educating the folks who actually do the writing, worldbuilding, etc., isn't this more like being a roving evangelist, a role consistent with his having primarily been a conference lecturer while at Obsidian? Like, maybe he made the judgment that the biggest contribution he could make to game storytelling was improving many game storytellers' craft in some marginal way, rather than telling a handful of great stories himself.
"He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches."
Agree or disagree, I think it applies to writers more so than most other professions. The old adage that you can't
teach creative writing is a fact, and anyone in Avellone's position would do better to lead by example, than to teach by principle. This would be the case even were we to ignore the fact that his various attempts to teach other writers have produced very few fruits, probably because he is simply too nice to be a proper critic. The industry does not need more arrogant writers who could boast that their writing was praised by Chris Avelllone. It needs more actual Chris Avellones.
