Post by "The Divine Chaos" Galen Ronan on Feb 1, 2011 21:10:55 GMT -5
Galen Ronan's Brief Guide To Roleplaying
While I am a rookie to the e-fedding scene, I am by no means a newbie to writing or roleplaying. As well as that, I've been fairly successful in my tenure in various feds - presently a record of 5-2 overall, along with one title grab (the PrYde Independent Title,as it were) despite only being in the game for about three weeks now. As such, I see people with a lot of potential that just need a bit of fleshing out and spark in order to perform at their fullest level - as such, I just decided to write this on a whim. So without further adeu: let the roleplaying guide begin!
1. Find Your Style
By far the most important part of roleplaying is finding out how you like to write. Dialogue-heavy, narrative based, or an equal balance of both? Do you prefer quotations or '[Name]:' style dialogue? All of this is important to finding out exactly how you'll write - groping around for a bit is fine, but eventually you should find a style that just works for you and lets you hit your stride quickly. This is very, very helpful - it allows you to get into character better without worrying about how this roleplay's going to be written, it allows you to tell your story while letting it flow very well.
2. Find Your Character
This ties immediately into the above. There's an infinite number of characters out there - so why settle for your typical 'grr I'm a space-marine wannabe' or 'mmf I'm a sexy porn-star wannabe'? Make your character your own, one that you can either relate to or find empathy with - even if you hate them, you still have to be able to get into their mindset somehow. Or at least, it helps. You should always have a character that interests you - if it's interesting for you to explore and poke at, it should be interesting for others to see as well. So I suppose the second most important thing is to find what character you're roleplaying as... and then do number three.
3. Let Your Character Grow
Not as in 'let them go from 5'11'' to 6'1'',' but rather let your character grow as a person. Let events change their life naturally and slowly - no 'I'm a banker - no wait I'm a pirate - no wait I'm a banker again'. While that may fly in the WWE, you have to remember that here we're not going by gimmicks - we're going by characters and the gimmicks are simply a part of them and their development. Your character should constantly be learning, growing and changing in subtle ways - and by the end, you may have ended up with a character completely different than what you started with. That's fine, great even - because it shows natural character development over time. Just remember: it's all a ride, so enjoy it.
4. Boring Scenes
If a scene is boring to write, it's boring to read. If something you're writing is boring you, if it's completely not letting you hit your stride, drop the scene and replace it with something else. It's important to remember that it's very rare that it is your fault, as a writer, that you can't write this scene well enough - it's usually the fault of the scene. Try something else - it helps.
5. Spelling, Grammar, and Formatting
All of these things are very important, and they all fit under the umbrella of 'immersion.' A single spelling, grammar or formatting mistake can claw the reader right from 'immersed' and 'interested' to annoyed and drawn out - no longer interested in your character. It's not that bad if it's just one error, but if you're a bad speller, run it through spellcheck or a beta reader. Also, never use '1337speak' or stuff like 'lol'. It's bad. Very bad.
On the same note, don't, say, put bright yellow text on a black background. If you do I will drag you out and shoot you behind a barn.
6. For The Sake Of Itself
Inserting sex scenes or scenes of extreme violence is fucking awesome - when it's done right. When it's done for a purpose and isn't simply 'wanna fuck' 'oh okay sure *unf unf,*' or 'hey fuck you *headsmash headsmash*, both scenes provide an excellent part of a story. You should never write a sex scene or violence scene for the sake of itself, but rather, for the sake of character development and growth (see 3) or because it fits into the tone/setting of your roleplay. And most importantly, remember - it's only 'part' of a story. I've yet to seen a pure smut-RP that does anything but make me feel kinda awkward.
7. Have Fun
Above all, just have fun with what you're writing - don't worry about win or loss records, don't worry about title shots or this or that, just enjoy writing your character and let it all come naturally. Enjoy yourself! It's all a ride.
Feedback would be appreciated, and anyone may feel free to add.
While I am a rookie to the e-fedding scene, I am by no means a newbie to writing or roleplaying. As well as that, I've been fairly successful in my tenure in various feds - presently a record of 5-2 overall, along with one title grab (the PrYde Independent Title,as it were) despite only being in the game for about three weeks now. As such, I see people with a lot of potential that just need a bit of fleshing out and spark in order to perform at their fullest level - as such, I just decided to write this on a whim. So without further adeu: let the roleplaying guide begin!
1. Find Your Style
By far the most important part of roleplaying is finding out how you like to write. Dialogue-heavy, narrative based, or an equal balance of both? Do you prefer quotations or '[Name]:' style dialogue? All of this is important to finding out exactly how you'll write - groping around for a bit is fine, but eventually you should find a style that just works for you and lets you hit your stride quickly. This is very, very helpful - it allows you to get into character better without worrying about how this roleplay's going to be written, it allows you to tell your story while letting it flow very well.
2. Find Your Character
This ties immediately into the above. There's an infinite number of characters out there - so why settle for your typical 'grr I'm a space-marine wannabe' or 'mmf I'm a sexy porn-star wannabe'? Make your character your own, one that you can either relate to or find empathy with - even if you hate them, you still have to be able to get into their mindset somehow. Or at least, it helps. You should always have a character that interests you - if it's interesting for you to explore and poke at, it should be interesting for others to see as well. So I suppose the second most important thing is to find what character you're roleplaying as... and then do number three.
3. Let Your Character Grow
Not as in 'let them go from 5'11'' to 6'1'',' but rather let your character grow as a person. Let events change their life naturally and slowly - no 'I'm a banker - no wait I'm a pirate - no wait I'm a banker again'. While that may fly in the WWE, you have to remember that here we're not going by gimmicks - we're going by characters and the gimmicks are simply a part of them and their development. Your character should constantly be learning, growing and changing in subtle ways - and by the end, you may have ended up with a character completely different than what you started with. That's fine, great even - because it shows natural character development over time. Just remember: it's all a ride, so enjoy it.
4. Boring Scenes
If a scene is boring to write, it's boring to read. If something you're writing is boring you, if it's completely not letting you hit your stride, drop the scene and replace it with something else. It's important to remember that it's very rare that it is your fault, as a writer, that you can't write this scene well enough - it's usually the fault of the scene. Try something else - it helps.
5. Spelling, Grammar, and Formatting
All of these things are very important, and they all fit under the umbrella of 'immersion.' A single spelling, grammar or formatting mistake can claw the reader right from 'immersed' and 'interested' to annoyed and drawn out - no longer interested in your character. It's not that bad if it's just one error, but if you're a bad speller, run it through spellcheck or a beta reader. Also, never use '1337speak' or stuff like 'lol'. It's bad. Very bad.
On the same note, don't, say, put bright yellow text on a black background. If you do I will drag you out and shoot you behind a barn.
6. For The Sake Of Itself
Inserting sex scenes or scenes of extreme violence is fucking awesome - when it's done right. When it's done for a purpose and isn't simply 'wanna fuck' 'oh okay sure *unf unf,*' or 'hey fuck you *headsmash headsmash*, both scenes provide an excellent part of a story. You should never write a sex scene or violence scene for the sake of itself, but rather, for the sake of character development and growth (see 3) or because it fits into the tone/setting of your roleplay. And most importantly, remember - it's only 'part' of a story. I've yet to seen a pure smut-RP that does anything but make me feel kinda awkward.
7. Have Fun
Above all, just have fun with what you're writing - don't worry about win or loss records, don't worry about title shots or this or that, just enjoy writing your character and let it all come naturally. Enjoy yourself! It's all a ride.
Feedback would be appreciated, and anyone may feel free to add.