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Topic Started: Jun 5 2009, 10:37 PM (70 Views)
weji
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I. Description (here) - a discussion of the uses for description, with tips for improvement.

II. Clarity and Pacing (here) - posting guidelines which help keep RPs alive.

III. Sentence Structure (here) - some things to keep in mind to avoid boring sentences.

IV. Building Mood Through Preconceptions (here) - a promotion of concise and functional writing.
Edited by weji, Jun 12 2009, 02:36 PM.
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weji
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I. Description

Description is the foundation for character interaction. Solid descriptions provide players with the confidence and opportunities to take action. The more players know, the more they can inject into their posts. Even the smallest detail is capable of helping to spawn an entire tale. A post containing a reasonable amount of description can provide for a wide variety of events. In addition, description adds flavor to a narrative. Well written descriptions can draw the reader in, allowing him to form a better picture of what is happening. In the same manner, good description can minimize the possibility of misunderstandings and contradictions in a roleplay. Conflicts are avoided, and time that may well have been spent on dispute is saved.

Of course, the advantages of description will not be fully realized if the writing puts its readers to sleep. The following are some tips for spicing up your description to avoid such a scenario.

  • Use your senses. Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch. Think about which senses are involved in whatever you’re writing about. Then take it a step further by drawing up the specifics. What in particular does your character smell? Exactly which sounds can your character hear?
  • Experiment with sentence structure and word choice. Having a lot of repetition in your narrative is a sure way to make your reader fall asleep. Try to articulate your thoughts in different ways. Don’t be afraid of tools like the thesaurus. Introducing variety into your narrative will make it that much more enjoyable.
  • Use imagistic language. Things like similes and metaphors will also help to make your narrative more interesting and sophisticated. This is not to say that you should spend a great deal of time pondering over your work, trying to come up with an appropriate figure of speech.
  • Consider your character’s point of view. Sometimes, you may find it worthwhile to ‘color’ your narrative with your character’s perspective. Not only does it aid in making your narrative less repetitive, it also helps the reader to better understand your character’s personality and thought process.
  • Don’t stress out. Don't try to force a good narrative out of yourself. It’s simply not productive. You’ll often find that, after taking your mind off writing for a bit, you’ll be much more refreshed and ready to tackle the narrative.
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weji
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II. Clarity and Pacing

Forum roleplays are very distinct from table-top roleplays, in that everyone contributes to the plot. Though the game may be run by a GM, the overall story is actively influenced by what each player writes into it. So, the content of each post will influence several things for the whole group:
  • The state of the action which the next poster would be using. Saying that the guard falls down in your post and reading the guard jumping up and down in the next post will definitely annoy you and will cause confusion for the next player to post. This might result in a temporary halt to clear things up or rationalize the action.
  • Whose turn to post becomes next. Depending on what we do in our post, it might create an opening for some other player that will be ideal for him/her to take advantage of, while other players' character remain incapacitated or simply unfulfilled by others' actions.
Controlling these two influences requires the mastery of two concepts, namely clarity and pacing.

Clarity
What is meant by clarity is that posts are easy to read, understand, and work off of. Clear posts are better than over-described dramatic ones, as clearer posts help more action along and thus help retain player' interest. Not to say that it is wrong to include details in RP posts, but caution should be exercised. A very effective way to write clearly is by paragraphing. It makes it easier for other players to pull the important objects, actions, and thoughts out of each post. A kick takes one paragraph (coupled with all the glorious description and dramatization on how the kick was done). Whereas, a kick, then a punch to the stomach, an uppercut , followed by a pile driver and a witty quip to top it off will look very messy in a single long paragraph. The post could be a little long, but if it is clear and easy to read, then it's worth its length. Clarity will ensure that everyone knows what is happening and it will make it easier for the next post to come up. Frequent posts generally keep an RP active and fun.

Pacing
Pacing refers to the speed in which you can forward the story of the roleplay. There are no set rules on how to pace the game properly. But there is a very important guideline: In each post, the game must move forward. Moving the game forward means introducing something new. Each post must prompt for at least one other player to respond. Often, a new NPC, the premise of a new quest, a new action, and even open ended dialogue will all take care of this. But each post must have something new, and cannot be just a response to something that was already introduced. It is necessary to be cautious and not move the game too far in a single post. Time lapses will make other players miss out on the action and will reduce their involvement in the game. The best method of pacing is to move the action just enough along to create an opening for another player to exploit. Good pacing means good involvement from the other players. And like clarity, pacing will yield a higher chance of more frequent posts for and more active involvement from everyone.
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weji
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III. Sentence Structure

Sentence Length
Sentence length is important, to make your work less repetitive, and you can also use it to capture certain moods in your writing; short, sharp sentences can capture a feel of breathlessness and haste. Sentence length can be increased by using conjunctions. Conjuctions are just small words added in that can be used to link two sentences together - 'and' is the most common, but you will find using others makes your work more interesting and detailed. Alternatively, they can be thrown in just about anywhere, for some added description. You will almost certainly need to change the word order, or add another words in for it to make sense, usually, you will need to make a verb an infinitive or into a participle. Sentence length can be boosted by sticking words adverbs in a single sentence.

Pronouns
Using the same word often will make your work sound incredibly boring. Try not using a name more than once a paragraph, and avoid using other nouns more than twice per paragraph.
Though nouns are the main culprit, verbs and adjectives can be overused as well. Try to find synonyms instead of recycling the word.
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IV. Building Mood Through Preconceptions

The majority of writers break down into two groups, neither of which produces ideal works, in my subjective opinion.
  • Minimalists, they avoid adverbs and also cut adjectives, simplify actions, reduce nouns, and produce very skeletal projects. The finished works are functional, yes, but very dull. An entire book in this style is horribly boring to read through, and roleplay posts, while shorter, are often too short, lacking, and interesting.
  • Dramtized, the use nouns that are padded with strings of adjectives; adjectives and verbs are modified by adverbs, active sentences are cushioned by passive ones, and the result is overly dramatic.


One problem with finding the middle ground is determining what is "bad" from the second group. The minimalists pretty much set the lower bound, but how is dramatize overly dramatic? A generally accepted rule is functionality. Every action, every adjective, every description, all need to either serve some purpose, or in the case of roleplaying need to be usable for some purpose later. Other players who plan to make use of the elements can just as easily describe them on their time. In solo works, if those details aren't on the agenda, don't toss them in. Another good rule for minimizing local fluff is to reduce the quantity of "ly" adverbs within any piece. any "ly" adverb modified verb can be replaced by a more applicable and descriptive verb. To convey information while giving a good image of the scene is by writing out the mood associated with the actions, while allowing for each reader to see the scene with their own details. Any details left out will be filled in by the readers' imaginations, each one differently, based on their general preconceptions of the detail at hand and the scene surrounding that detail. This allows for the reader to do much of the work describing static elements, giving the author the freedom to describe only the necessary and relevant dynamic ones.

Most pieces of writing can be broken up into scenes or even parts of scenes.
  • Set a goal. Some writers write first, and their goal comes to them, while others brainstorm to get to the goal. The brainstormers will have an easy task, simply come up with the end result for this particular snippet of writing. Stream of consciousness writers, at least those who decide to make use of this process, might need to write a draft, and will use that draft to develop their goal.
  • Take several steps from start to finish. The previous post or the previous scene set the starting point for this scene, and you have just determined a goal, which is the end to this post or scene. Now write out several actions, which will bring the situation from the starting state to the ending state. Play around with the actions, develop and order, determine the actors; your played character, any non-played characters, and the environment).
  • Get some context to smooth those actions out.Those actions need to get modified and where appropriate, those jumps need to become lunges. Imagine what is happening, and imagine it first from the point of view of the omniscient author. You know all, you see all, you know what is playing out and how. Now imagine it from the point of view of the actors, what do they see and how do they feel about the actions, and how do their perspectives differ from yours? Now imagine yourself an audience member, watching the action unfold. You don't yet know the goal, so how is the action making you feel at each checkpoint? Imagine yourself another player's character, seeing it all happen.
  • Smooth and refine the surface. The imagination exercise gave you more than just one perspective on your own scene, and it is up to you to determine whose perspective you adapt it to. If the scene is meant to change the mind of another player's character, include those details which might, based on that character's personality, influence him or her. If the scene is meant to instill awe or inspiration, or to simply give some background on your character, describe from the point of view of an audience member, focusing on those facets that you want associated with your character's personality.


The goal here is to have an image in your mind. However, every reader's imagination is different, so it is important to closely define only the most important features. These are the actions and their descriptions, more so than the nouns. However, for repeated actions, the particular elements of the mood need only be described once, simply mentioning a repeat of the situation will bring the same image back into the readers' minds.

Just as there are adverbs that produce excess dramatized, there are dull nouns and verbs and adjectives which produce no mental image whatsoever, or the wrong mental image. In dialogue, "she said" and "she announced" and "she prepared" are very dull verbs. Things like "circular room" or "in the castle" or "examining each man" are very dull adjectives/nouns/verbs. Yes, they convey an action, a location, and they do so adequately. However, they have no color or mood and thus produce no mental images. Every descriptive element should serve some purpose. So, with every detail, ask yourself if the detail accomplishes something new, or can be replaced with something both more condensed and more telling.
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