III. How To Write
What follows is a brief discussion of good writing techniques.
Why should you care about this when you just want to RP (role play)? While following the guidelines above helps threads run smoothly, they will not make them fun or interesting. The responsibility for this lies with every player involved in a thread. It also depends on the quality of their posts. This is where writing skills come in. No matter how good an imagination you have, if your posts are boring, or your grammar and/or spelling are so bad that your posts are incomprehensible, then you will not be helping to make the thread fun.
1) Avoid Boring Other Players To Death
Consider the following post by player 1:
Alphonso:
*enters the room and shuts the door* What do you mean I owe you money?
This post follows all the basic rules of role playing, but it's about as much fun to read as the ingredient list on a box of All Bran. If this is what your posts look like then no one is going to enjoy role playing with you. Compare the above example with this alternative post, describing the same scene, by player 2:
Alphonso:
Slamming the door as he entered the room, Alphonso rounded angrily on Hawthor, the imperious looking elf sitting at the table. "What do you mean I owe you money?!" he shouted, waving the paper IOU he had received in the elf's face.
By including descriptive details, player 2 draws the reader into the scene, making it seem real, and thus making it interesting. Descriptions are the key, and every action, observation, or comment is an opportunity for you to make your character come alive. Use these opportunities!
Let's say your character, Alphonso, is shutting a door. Here are a few things you could describe through this action:
* how he shuts it * why he shut it that way * what sort of door it is * what notice, if any, do NPCs take of the door shutting
One caveat to this recommendation is that, unless you are just going for comic effect, do not go overboard on the descriptions. Too much describing will make a scene farcical rather than alive, and will make it difficult for readers to figure out what is taking place. For example, consider this post by player 3:
Alphonso:
Slamming the stultifyingly solid wooden door, decadently carved with figures of voluptuous naked women frolicking erotically with well endowed satyrs, into its cold steel frame like an enraged beast, as he swept authoritatively into the room; Alphonso wrathfully rounded upon Hawthor.
The almost frightfully tall, and diabolically imperious- looking elf was sitting sheepishly at the small iron table in the corner of the elegantly furnished chamber, and sipping prosaically from a fine bone china cup, upon which the arrival of the dark, slaughtering hordes of Hell upon the golden beaches of Illian was depicted in loving detail.
"What do you mean I owe you money?!" Alphonso exclaimed vociferously, his flushed face contorted into a mask of seething fury, while waving the paper IOU he had received that morning in the elf's pale, but excruciatingly handsome, dignified face.
Player 3's post is certainly not boring, but it packs in such a ridiculous amount of description that the character's actions are getting lost amidst the 'frolicking maidens' and 'slaughtering hordes'.
2) Pick A Tense And Stick With It
Pick one and stick with it in all of your posts. Not everyone in the thread has to use past tense or present tense. However, if you start with past tense, stick with it and don't use a different tense every other post.
3) Point Of View
What point of view should I write it in? Should it be first person or third person? It doesn't matter what POV you use, just pick one and stick with it as well. It doesn't matter what everyone else in the thread is using, just keep yours consistent.
A caveat for both of these points: If the thread has been predominantly one tense or POV, then it's usually more comfortable to pick those up and run with them.
4) Use Standard Formatting
You are part of a story, so it should be written as a story, not because the great Laffinnome says so, but simply because people will be reading this, including yourself. Using paragraphs and standard writing will go a long way to making a better RP. This is a clarity issue, not a style issue: you're communicating not only with me the reader, but also with other players, and you don't want them to misunderstand you. Clarity is more important in an RP than individuality.
5) Mechanics Of Writing
Icky things like spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation. No one expects perfection. No one expects anyone else to go out of their way to make sure everything is as good as it gets. The expectation is, however, that you try to use your best mechanics rather than just throwing something down and posting it. You aren't working 'real time' here. You have enough time to stop and read over what you've written to correct glaring errors. If you don't trust your proofreading skills, paste what you've written into a word processor and run a spell check on it.
* * *
You are writing a story, key word: story. What are stories? They are long strings of words arranged in an understood format to advance a plot and develop characters. A role playing thread is an ongoing story written by a group of people working together to create something that's enjoyable and interesting.
Now I've gotten that off my chest I have only one more thing to say: have fun!
What follows is a brief discussion of good writing techniques.
Why should you care about this when you just want to RP (role play)? While following the guidelines above helps threads run smoothly, they will not make them fun or interesting. The responsibility for this lies with every player involved in a thread. It also depends on the quality of their posts. This is where writing skills come in. No matter how good an imagination you have, if your posts are boring, or your grammar and/or spelling are so bad that your posts are incomprehensible, then you will not be helping to make the thread fun.
1) Avoid Boring Other Players To Death
Consider the following post by player 1:
Alphonso:
*enters the room and shuts the door* What do you mean I owe you money?
This post follows all the basic rules of role playing, but it's about as much fun to read as the ingredient list on a box of All Bran. If this is what your posts look like then no one is going to enjoy role playing with you. Compare the above example with this alternative post, describing the same scene, by player 2:
Alphonso:
Slamming the door as he entered the room, Alphonso rounded angrily on Hawthor, the imperious looking elf sitting at the table. "What do you mean I owe you money?!" he shouted, waving the paper IOU he had received in the elf's face.
By including descriptive details, player 2 draws the reader into the scene, making it seem real, and thus making it interesting. Descriptions are the key, and every action, observation, or comment is an opportunity for you to make your character come alive. Use these opportunities!
Let's say your character, Alphonso, is shutting a door. Here are a few things you could describe through this action:
* how he shuts it * why he shut it that way * what sort of door it is * what notice, if any, do NPCs take of the door shutting
One caveat to this recommendation is that, unless you are just going for comic effect, do not go overboard on the descriptions. Too much describing will make a scene farcical rather than alive, and will make it difficult for readers to figure out what is taking place. For example, consider this post by player 3:
Alphonso:
Slamming the stultifyingly solid wooden door, decadently carved with figures of voluptuous naked women frolicking erotically with well endowed satyrs, into its cold steel frame like an enraged beast, as he swept authoritatively into the room; Alphonso wrathfully rounded upon Hawthor.
The almost frightfully tall, and diabolically imperious- looking elf was sitting sheepishly at the small iron table in the corner of the elegantly furnished chamber, and sipping prosaically from a fine bone china cup, upon which the arrival of the dark, slaughtering hordes of Hell upon the golden beaches of Illian was depicted in loving detail.
"What do you mean I owe you money?!" Alphonso exclaimed vociferously, his flushed face contorted into a mask of seething fury, while waving the paper IOU he had received that morning in the elf's pale, but excruciatingly handsome, dignified face.
Player 3's post is certainly not boring, but it packs in such a ridiculous amount of description that the character's actions are getting lost amidst the 'frolicking maidens' and 'slaughtering hordes'.
2) Pick A Tense And Stick With It
Pick one and stick with it in all of your posts. Not everyone in the thread has to use past tense or present tense. However, if you start with past tense, stick with it and don't use a different tense every other post.
3) Point Of View
What point of view should I write it in? Should it be first person or third person? It doesn't matter what POV you use, just pick one and stick with it as well. It doesn't matter what everyone else in the thread is using, just keep yours consistent.
A caveat for both of these points: If the thread has been predominantly one tense or POV, then it's usually more comfortable to pick those up and run with them.
4) Use Standard Formatting
You are part of a story, so it should be written as a story, not because the great Laffinnome says so, but simply because people will be reading this, including yourself. Using paragraphs and standard writing will go a long way to making a better RP. This is a clarity issue, not a style issue: you're communicating not only with me the reader, but also with other players, and you don't want them to misunderstand you. Clarity is more important in an RP than individuality.
5) Mechanics Of Writing
Icky things like spelling, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation. No one expects perfection. No one expects anyone else to go out of their way to make sure everything is as good as it gets. The expectation is, however, that you try to use your best mechanics rather than just throwing something down and posting it. You aren't working 'real time' here. You have enough time to stop and read over what you've written to correct glaring errors. If you don't trust your proofreading skills, paste what you've written into a word processor and run a spell check on it.
* * *
You are writing a story, key word: story. What are stories? They are long strings of words arranged in an understood format to advance a plot and develop characters. A role playing thread is an ongoing story written by a group of people working together to create something that's enjoyable and interesting.
Now I've gotten that off my chest I have only one more thing to say: have fun!