The Los Angeles Times recently surveyed writers participating in the L.A. Times Festival of Books about their path to literary success. The result can be seen the creation of a unique board game that lets you play along.

The board game cites interesting results along the way, including:

• the age respondents decided to be a writer
• 51 percent kept a diary
• 25 percent who got an MFA in creative writing
• most influential books in youth (Grapes of Wrath and Portrait of a Lady)
• 58 percent of writers make a living from writing
• how respondents published, whether with a major, traditional publisher; independent publisher; or self-publisher
• 64 percent had books rejected
• age in percent that they had their first best-seller
• percent who teach creative writing

The game itself awards points for writing or winning a contract or agent, but deducts points for falling into a social media hole that keeps you from writing to losing points in a computer crash. I played the game and scored 33 points, which translated equates to: “You’re Ernest Hemingway. You’re celebrated, but not by everyone.”

Hmm, I’ll take it.

Give the game a try. (But subtract 10 points for allowing it to keep you from writing.)