Post by -- x panorama on May 7, 2007 5:39:55 GMT -5
[[Note;; This guide seemed very popuar and helpful on realm of Risk, so heck, why not post it here too. Spread the knowledge. And feel free to post it on your site too, just give me credit.]]
Writing A Post:
I tend to write my posts in three stages. Imagine you are building up a body. First comes the 'skeleton'. Write the very bare bones of your post, just the actions of your character, without any description e.g instead of using femme, audits, torso, simply use she, ears, body etc.
Next we have the 'muscle'; the adjectives and verbs that make the piece more interesting. Read over your post and replace the boring words with new, more descriptive and interesting ones, e.g whipcord rather than tail, and crest instead of mane. Tip: try to limit yourself for 4-5 words for genders, or it can spoil it. I tend to use mare, femme, wench and vixen for female, and brute, stag, stallion or lord for male. Try to never use the same term twice in a row.
Finally we add the 'skin'. I like to put a lot of detail into the backdrop of my posts, so read over them again (remember to check your spellings!) and add lots and lots of description into the scenery, the character's emotions, their surroundings, anything. This can really 'pad out' a post, and make it much more interesting to read.
So, a post would develop like this:
Skeleton:
She walked into the forest, looking for signs of movement, hooves leaving hoof-prints in the soft ground.
Muscle:
The femme stalked into the glade, orbs scanning for any sign of life, pedestals leaving imprints in the spongy loam.
Skin:
The lithe femme stalked silently into the moonlit glade. It was lined with verdant fronds of moss and fern, swaying in the icy squall that played around the vixen's pinnacles. Her orbs scanned for any signs of life among the foliage, jet pedestals pounding crescent-shaped prints into the spongy loam.
As you can see, the third stage adds a large amount of material to the post, and also makes it much more interesting. This method is also invaluable when it comes to writing claiming posts, where your post has to be over a certain amount of lines (something even I find very difficult).
Common Faults:
I see many faults in beginner role-players, many of which are simply bad habits, very easily solved. One of these is using first person, especially in humans. Let's see an example;
i walk looking for my friend that were supposed to be meeting me
Now, before I go further, I must say this was taken from a human RPG that I joined a while ago (Coastline). This was the entire post. I have not altered it in any way at all.[shudders] So let's see what we can do to improve this post. (I realize this is human not horse, however the same principles apply.)
The first thing we notice is the fact it is written in first person and the present tense. Used properly, this can work quite well, but I always feel writing in third person and past tense gives much more room for movement, as it were. Combinations of first person and past tense can also work very well, but again only if used correctly. So let's put it into third person and past tense, like I usually write;
she walked in looking for her friend that was supposed to be meeting her
Not much better, but a slight improvement. Next, I'm sure many of you are nearly crying at the lack of punctuation. (I know I am. I do find myself asking whether this person takes English lessons at her school.) So let's sort that out;
She walked in, looking for her friend who was supposed to be meeting her.
A big improvement. Now, this post lacks any description whatsoever. So I shall run it through the old 'skeleton, muscles, skin' method, and let's see what we get (for practical purposes, I shall call her Daisy [grins] my human charrie. I do not use 'wolf-speak' - see below - for human posts, but if this were a horse post it would be more 'fancy');
Daisy wandered into the small backstreet cafe. She was meant to be meeting her friend Jake, but he had called to say he was running late. Looking round for a table, she spotted one near the window and headed toward it. Sitting herself down on a grimy metal stool, she looked around the tiny coffee house...
I could keep on writing as I'm fulla muse today, but I must stop myself and get back to the point! You see what can be done with just a few lines? The post we started out with was simple laziness. Try to never post anything below 10 lines. It's just plain rude
Learning To Role-play:
Let's face it. We were all beginners once; you, me, even Silverkey and Tronde! ((Ahem. Since this post was written, I have been informed by Tronde that she was, in fact, never a beginner. So there...)) And we all have to learn. ((Unles you are Trondeypoo. Lol)) Unfortunately, there are some people out there who ignore younger or less experienced players, forgetting that the only way for them to learn is for better RPers to teach them. I myself was self-taught, simply by reading other people's posts, and constantly re-reading and modifying posts. If you are just starting out, I say; persevere, read people's post's pick up tips, and ask for opinions on your role-playing skills (though do not bug people!). Don't be offended if people say you are not very good - ask what needs improving, listen, and act upon it accordingly. If you do this, you will develop your own unique style. Remember - I have only been RPing about 3 or 4 years, and yet here I am, a reasonably experienced, seasoned role-player.
Some Final Tips:
Use the spell-check.
I cannot claim to be the best speller in the world. That is the reason these things were invented. But, however brilliant the spell-check is, it's not a patch on your brain. So always proof-read posts, and correct simple errors, such as mistyping, capital letters, and punctuation (especially if you have an old dodgy keyboard like me).
Re-read.
I have lost count of how many times I've said it, but always re-read your posts. Over and over again. Always! Fill in gaps, add more description, check spelling and grammar, add a whole new paragraph if you want!
Be organized.
I cannot claim to be that organized myself, but according to my luffly mate Tronde, organization is the key. File your old posts in a logical system (eg, have a notepad file for each year, and within that each month, then all your posts from that month in separate files.) I carry mine in a memory pen, as I sometimes write posts at school too. A notebook for scribbling ideas down is also very useful.
Role-playing Jargon:
Wolf-speak: This means a post that is written with extreme descriptiveness, and is disliked by many players (though still quite common on wolf, vampire, and some wild horse RPGs, not so much humans any more.) Some people have described it as 'like trying to read Latin', and I for one agree. Used in a milder form, however, for horses and sometimes humans, it can be quite effective. I tend to use a very mild form of wolf-speak, simply as it is so descriptive. ((Hello again. Yes, I know, many people learned to roleplay with this. So did I. However, I now hate it. Hate it, hear me? Hate it. It is impossible to read, and worse to write. - stalks off mumbling - ))
For any other descriptive terms you come across, I suggest looking in the words list, as it will usually say. If not, ask me and I will add them.
(Finally, I do not believe in tutoring people, as I believe it prevents the development of your own unique style. However, if you really wish to have a tutor, I am very happy to help. If you have any questions or comments, message me or leave a reply.)
Thanks for reading, now, go forth and apply these tips to your RPing. Have fun!
- 'Shanneypoo' xx (AKA Panorama)
Writing A Post:
I tend to write my posts in three stages. Imagine you are building up a body. First comes the 'skeleton'. Write the very bare bones of your post, just the actions of your character, without any description e.g instead of using femme, audits, torso, simply use she, ears, body etc.
Next we have the 'muscle'; the adjectives and verbs that make the piece more interesting. Read over your post and replace the boring words with new, more descriptive and interesting ones, e.g whipcord rather than tail, and crest instead of mane. Tip: try to limit yourself for 4-5 words for genders, or it can spoil it. I tend to use mare, femme, wench and vixen for female, and brute, stag, stallion or lord for male. Try to never use the same term twice in a row.
Finally we add the 'skin'. I like to put a lot of detail into the backdrop of my posts, so read over them again (remember to check your spellings!) and add lots and lots of description into the scenery, the character's emotions, their surroundings, anything. This can really 'pad out' a post, and make it much more interesting to read.
So, a post would develop like this:
Skeleton:
She walked into the forest, looking for signs of movement, hooves leaving hoof-prints in the soft ground.
Muscle:
The femme stalked into the glade, orbs scanning for any sign of life, pedestals leaving imprints in the spongy loam.
Skin:
The lithe femme stalked silently into the moonlit glade. It was lined with verdant fronds of moss and fern, swaying in the icy squall that played around the vixen's pinnacles. Her orbs scanned for any signs of life among the foliage, jet pedestals pounding crescent-shaped prints into the spongy loam.
As you can see, the third stage adds a large amount of material to the post, and also makes it much more interesting. This method is also invaluable when it comes to writing claiming posts, where your post has to be over a certain amount of lines (something even I find very difficult).
Common Faults:
I see many faults in beginner role-players, many of which are simply bad habits, very easily solved. One of these is using first person, especially in humans. Let's see an example;
i walk looking for my friend that were supposed to be meeting me
Now, before I go further, I must say this was taken from a human RPG that I joined a while ago (Coastline). This was the entire post. I have not altered it in any way at all.[shudders] So let's see what we can do to improve this post. (I realize this is human not horse, however the same principles apply.)
The first thing we notice is the fact it is written in first person and the present tense. Used properly, this can work quite well, but I always feel writing in third person and past tense gives much more room for movement, as it were. Combinations of first person and past tense can also work very well, but again only if used correctly. So let's put it into third person and past tense, like I usually write;
she walked in looking for her friend that was supposed to be meeting her
Not much better, but a slight improvement. Next, I'm sure many of you are nearly crying at the lack of punctuation. (I know I am. I do find myself asking whether this person takes English lessons at her school.) So let's sort that out;
She walked in, looking for her friend who was supposed to be meeting her.
A big improvement. Now, this post lacks any description whatsoever. So I shall run it through the old 'skeleton, muscles, skin' method, and let's see what we get (for practical purposes, I shall call her Daisy [grins] my human charrie. I do not use 'wolf-speak' - see below - for human posts, but if this were a horse post it would be more 'fancy');
Daisy wandered into the small backstreet cafe. She was meant to be meeting her friend Jake, but he had called to say he was running late. Looking round for a table, she spotted one near the window and headed toward it. Sitting herself down on a grimy metal stool, she looked around the tiny coffee house...
I could keep on writing as I'm fulla muse today, but I must stop myself and get back to the point! You see what can be done with just a few lines? The post we started out with was simple laziness. Try to never post anything below 10 lines. It's just plain rude
Learning To Role-play:
Let's face it. We were all beginners once; you, me, even Silverkey and Tronde! ((Ahem. Since this post was written, I have been informed by Tronde that she was, in fact, never a beginner. So there...)) And we all have to learn. ((Unles you are Trondeypoo. Lol)) Unfortunately, there are some people out there who ignore younger or less experienced players, forgetting that the only way for them to learn is for better RPers to teach them. I myself was self-taught, simply by reading other people's posts, and constantly re-reading and modifying posts. If you are just starting out, I say; persevere, read people's post's pick up tips, and ask for opinions on your role-playing skills (though do not bug people!). Don't be offended if people say you are not very good - ask what needs improving, listen, and act upon it accordingly. If you do this, you will develop your own unique style. Remember - I have only been RPing about 3 or 4 years, and yet here I am, a reasonably experienced, seasoned role-player.
Some Final Tips:
Use the spell-check.
I cannot claim to be the best speller in the world. That is the reason these things were invented. But, however brilliant the spell-check is, it's not a patch on your brain. So always proof-read posts, and correct simple errors, such as mistyping, capital letters, and punctuation (especially if you have an old dodgy keyboard like me).
Re-read.
I have lost count of how many times I've said it, but always re-read your posts. Over and over again. Always! Fill in gaps, add more description, check spelling and grammar, add a whole new paragraph if you want!
Be organized.
I cannot claim to be that organized myself, but according to my luffly mate Tronde, organization is the key. File your old posts in a logical system (eg, have a notepad file for each year, and within that each month, then all your posts from that month in separate files.) I carry mine in a memory pen, as I sometimes write posts at school too. A notebook for scribbling ideas down is also very useful.
Role-playing Jargon:
Wolf-speak: This means a post that is written with extreme descriptiveness, and is disliked by many players (though still quite common on wolf, vampire, and some wild horse RPGs, not so much humans any more.) Some people have described it as 'like trying to read Latin', and I for one agree. Used in a milder form, however, for horses and sometimes humans, it can be quite effective. I tend to use a very mild form of wolf-speak, simply as it is so descriptive. ((Hello again. Yes, I know, many people learned to roleplay with this. So did I. However, I now hate it. Hate it, hear me? Hate it. It is impossible to read, and worse to write. - stalks off mumbling - ))
For any other descriptive terms you come across, I suggest looking in the words list, as it will usually say. If not, ask me and I will add them.
(Finally, I do not believe in tutoring people, as I believe it prevents the development of your own unique style. However, if you really wish to have a tutor, I am very happy to help. If you have any questions or comments, message me or leave a reply.)
Thanks for reading, now, go forth and apply these tips to your RPing. Have fun!
- 'Shanneypoo' xx (AKA Panorama)
if you need any more tips, just PM me.