I've played in table top games since I was 14. I'm 25 now so that's 11 years of weaving stories with other people. And I have to say that the old adage is true. It's really unadvisable to turn your campaign into a short story, novel, etc. Now, that's not to say you can't do it for yourself or because you want to, but I've found there is little to no interest in the publishing world for that sort of thing.
This is in part because you're borrowing someone else's world and that has a whole rats nest of copyright issues cropping up right there. No publisher wants to be sued by Whitewolf, Shadowrun or D&D. And in truth, stuff that may be super awesome while talked about over a table while the dice are rattling and the imaginary world is coming to get you may not be as awesome when committed to paper.
I know I've talked about this before, but it was what was on my mind since I have played in so many games. Now, even though I'm not one who is crazy about fanfic or borrowed worlds, I think that role playing can be a very good exercise for a writer. It helps you get out of your own head and into someone elses.
Your character may not want the same things you do, or have the same moral code. I would never even consider breaking into an office building to steal a document, but some of my thief characters would. I don't know if I could follow through with shooting someone who tried to kill me or the ones I love, but characters of mine have and most likely will again.
Role playing gives you the freedom to explore the "not you" or even sometimes what you could be if you believed differently, experienced differently, thought differently. And it's the opportunity to do so in a controlled environment where everyone else around you knows that it is all a game. So you don't have to freak out the mailman by coming to pick up the mail in your sweet new Gothic Lolita dress (I do that any way, but that's just because I'm strange).
Here's a couple more pictures for you longsuffering readers.
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