Credit: The Character, The Plot and The Dialogue have been made using this guide.Four things you may want to avoid.
Below are a few things you may want to avoid while RP'ing:
1.
Godmoding. Giving yourself an unfair advantage, declaring other people’s losses and refusing to lose are all acts of godmoding.
Be realistic.2.
Bad behaviour.This is mainly directed at OOC etiquette.
Behave yourself, don’t flame if you think someone just godmoded you, but instead be
reasonable and point his/her mistake. Don’t be overly hostile towards criticism, because it are these things that will earn you a quick reputation. Also:
if your wrong, admit it. Don’t be stubborn. It’s a game.
3.
Unappealing format. There are posts that show no indication of its writer having an enter button, which is a shame because these walls of text are
unappealing to the eye and will often get skipped, no matter how brilliant it's been written. It’s been scientifically proven (Just take my word for it) that
dividing your text into paragraphs makes people more inclined to read your post, so use that enter button to its full potential.
■ Avoid one-liner posts, they're a dangerous road. Usually, you can always add at least a few lines where you describe the environment, your character’s behaviour and some details that could augment the experience.
■ Don't use bumps, some consider them spam.
Check grammar and spelling if you know you’re not a champ at it. No shame in the occasional errors, but don’t just write and post if you know you're prone to making lots of mistakes. Preview buttons are your friend.
4.
Losing interest. Responsible for the majority of RP deaths, ever. When an OP loses interest, the RP is just a train with no engine. It might coast for
a while, but eventually it’ll go slower and slower, to the frustration of the people that are still actively involved in it. Maybe they can push it onwards,
but without an OP it doesn’t stand much chance.
Inactivity is the bane of all RPs.
The Character
Characters are pretty important. They’re the writer’s personal playthings, allowing a whole variety of roads to walk down. Romance, glory, certain death, etc.
Your character determined by its opinions, which you have to define. While you create a character, you’ll invest time into carving out a whole three-dimensional sculpture from an otherwise bland marble block.
Who is your character? What does he/she look like? Where does he/she come from? Things like origin greatly determine a person’s characters. Here are a few things you might want to keep in mind:
Detail. Be specific and don’t be afraid to elaborate. Tiny details like your character’s view on the world, his personal ideals, quality of life and even his favourite food; all add detail and colour to your character and make him or her more human-like and less bland. Don’t be afraid to use symbolism here either. For example, a grey and sick king sitting on the throne of a corrupt and dying kingdom.
Character. Both behaviour and speech determine this aspect. The way he talks (rather shy, composed, very bold, etc.) and the way he acts towards other people depending on their own origins. A poor peasant possible lacks the vocabulary of a Lord.
Motivation. As mentioned in “The Plot”, each character has a personal agenda, with his own motivation for his actions. It’s unique to him, and one should especially remember that it is subjected to change from events that take part during the story. Perhaps a bold and daring man suddenly turns humble when he meets the love of his life? Some factors carry a heavier influence than others, but the influence is still there.
A few questions you might ask yourself about your character are:
- What is his/her origin/background? (Ethnic background, social class, parents’ occupation, civil status, intelligence/education, etc.)
- What does he look like? (Appearance, but also health and possible disabilities)
- What does he do? (Skills, occupation, hobbies, etc.)
- What are his values and beliefs? (Religion, politics, views on life/death, etc.)
- What are his personal qualities and preferences? (Taste in …, sexual orientation, sense of humour, ambitions, fears/anxieties, etc.)
- Are there any important events that define him? (both positive and negative)
Note: Avoid stereotypes and clichés, unless they fit into the situation or RP. Try giving a female character some decent clothes for a change, instead of pencil skirts or school girl outfits. With this I mean that you should give you characters the clothes that fit their personality, some actually do fit pencil skirts, but would they wear them themselves in reality?
The Plot
In most RPs, there isn’t just one plot, there is a whole mass of sub-plots that originate from the unique background and actions of your characters. They have their own agenda, their own reasons to do what they do. Make sure their actions make sense for your character.
These individual plots are modified throughout the story, and require improvisation because you can’t control other characters’ actions. Don’t fret – and especially don’t have a hissyfit – but rather adapt to the circumstances.
Adapt to changes in the plot.Avoid random events. When something happens, it should ideally affect the plot (or a subplot) - although it’s not always possible. Sometimes not in a very obvious manner, such as by using symbolism. It makes your participants think. It’s a great experience for someone to find out later that that seemingly irrelevant pedestrian you mentioned a long time ago was actually the serial killer they’ve been hunting all along! Basically, by mindfucking your audience you give everyone a great show. Everything holds a reason, or at least most of it does.
Ask yourself this question: Why this element and not something else? This applies to names, actions and even dialogue.
Foreshadowing is a great way to create suspense. Whether through an omnious warning or an ancient prophecy, it keeps your characters on the edge of their seats and curious as to what will actually happen when you push that shiny red button that’s called plot advancement. Don’t abuse it, though. Show people what’s coming through an opaque lens. They know something’s coming, but what, where and when is a mystery.
Apply counter-pressure. This is physics, people. Every actions induces an equal but opposite reaction. Turn on the fan and throw stuff at your characters, try to slow them down or even kill them, and those masochistic gremlins will be even more motivated to get to the goal. Play hard to get, but don’t make it impossible either, you might risk sacrificing your plot in the process.
The Dialogue
Dialogue comes in different forms, but when you consider adding one to your post you should ask yourself whether it actually sounds like speech, so try repeating your sentences inside your head or out load.
The function of dialogue is to convey information from your character’s point of view. This way, you can pass on information, build your character’s personality (eg. Passive-aggressive, calm and verbose, etc.), develop conflict and much more.
Note: Try your best to avoid chatter that doesn’t really serve much of a purpose. Also, it can sometimes become quite dreadful when you have you character explaining too much, especially if you have him or her say things that he wouldn’t know or are completely irrelevant. Additionally, dialogue should conform with the speaker’s background (eg. Having a biker gang member speak formal English), I cannot emphasize this enough. Make sure your character speaks naturally, as they would in reality.Words are often not enough to bring across the entire picture, which becomes especially obvious when you have a character that is in conflict with his own words.
His actions can betray what he’s feeling, and as we know people don’t always speak their mind, making the use of actions more imperative.
Also, when using dialogue, try and justify its use. Does your character reveal or advance the plot?
Some more tips:
1.
Moderation. don’t exaggerate things like dialect, addressing others and especially dialogue itself. Avoid ‘all speech’ posts.
“Hello, Tom” “Ah, Andy! How are you?” “I’m doing fine, Tom!” “That’s good, Andy.”
“Awrite! Far hiv ye been, min?”
2.
Variety. use common synonyms of ‘say’ – preferably those that carry across some kind of mood or sentiment from the speaker, like snarl or snap – and
maybe some other frequently used words, but don’t go overboard with words that sounds like you’re at a really fancy party full of barons and lords.
Sometimes, your characters will be so unique in their speech that you rarely have to use “he said” or “she said”
“I can speak for all of us when I say you should shut up” She averred, flinging an empty can in Earl’s direction, which rather irked him.
“Maybe you should shut your trap yourself?” He riposted.
3.
Paragraphs. Add a new paragraph for each new speaker, this is mainly to avoid confusion
4.
Thoughts. Many would suggest italics. To emphasize a word in a line of thought, don’t put it in italics (or use bold if you feel comfortable with that).
It’ll stand out.
The Art of Losing
Everybody likes to win, but sometimes you will find drawing the short end of the stick. So what will you do? Lose with dignity, or godmod until the OP kills your character himself? So what major benefits are there to losing?
Respect. There aren’t many people capable of taking a dive, which makes them like precious gemstones. You’ll prove that you can put your competitive nature aside to provide some proper RP’ing, and people will remember you for it.
Perfection is boring. Sure, people strive for it, but if you actually gain perfection there’s really not that much to it, and you’ll go bored with your omni-powerful character. Flaws make both people and characters interesting, adding a flavor to them as well as a lot more dimension.
It’s fun. Unfathomable as it may sound to some, losing is actually pretty fun. It opens up a whole new window to expand your RP’ing. To describe the demise of your character is usually a once-in-a-lifetime (in this chase, you character’s) thing, which means you can make it that extra special to make sure everybody remembers your characters as the one that died in a bloody explosion.
Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 6:26 pm