Some Helpful Roleplaying Guides

[{ b l u e }]

Below you will find various guides and links for those interested in improving their writing and roleplaying skills. I highly recommend everyone, regardless of skill level, to at least skim over these guides. I found them all very helpful, which is why I am posting them. Please note that I have not written any of these guides; I'm merely posting them here for easy access to anyone interested in reading them. This post is subject to editing.

A Simple Guide to Role Playing
Written to help you become the best possible writer you can be.



Character Creation and Development

Basics
The stats of your character may not seem important at first, but the simple things such as the name, age, and face will determine how other characters receive your own. More importantly, it will determine whether or not the administrators want to accept you or not.

[/b]: Choosing a name can be a daunting task. You want the name to be original, something that stands out, something that will make others want to write with you. So you choose something like Rain Marie Starshine. Please avoid names like this; people will just shake their heads at you thinking that you just want attention. Also avoid names with crazy, modified spelling such as Breyawnah Mystyck Fynnleigh. That was exaggerated, but I’m sure you get the point. Also try to avoid names with bland simplicity like Mary Lou Smith, and avoid names with numerous repeating letters such as Kerry Katrina Kaliko. Can someone say, overkill?

- Face: Finding a play by, probably one of the most important things to creating your character. I have run into a lot of writers who will only join a site if their preferred celebrity is open. They normally run into problems because they are unwilling to compromise. Now there is nothing wrong with wanting a particular face, but you should try and keep your options open. Try to have a few different and diverse celebrities in the back of your mind. Don’t pick the entire cast of High School Musical only. Mix it up a bit.

- Other Stats: The most important thing about the other stats ( age, height, weight, appearance, etc ) is be realistic! A 13 year old girl would not be 5’10” and weight 100lbs. Firstly, because thirteen year olds are just beginning puberty at this time; they wouldn’t be at their peak height yet. Secondly, because someone who is 5’10” could not be 100lbs or they would be dead. There are numerous resources on the web to calculate healthy heights and weights according to age and sex. Also be sure to be true to your play by. Try finding out the celebrity’s true stats and just using them. IMDB is very helpful along with other fan sites.[/ul]

Writing Histories
When thinking up and writing out your character’s history, you must be as realistic as possible. If a significant event happens in their childhood, be sure that it affects their later life. It is better to have one or two major events or a few smaller events, instead of a ton of dramatic events. This may attract the wrong kind of negative attention to your character. To get ideas about your character’s history, try to think of your own history or a friend’s history. Now I’m not saying copy it, but just take notice to significance in your early life and how it affected you. For example, a son who lost his mother when he was young may have later issues of attachment, loneliness, problems with women. He would not be walking around unaffected, happy as can be without a care in the world. Don’t be afraid to contact the administrator for help if you are stuck.


Personality
The cornerstone of character creation. The most important part of development. Your character needs to be real. There is no such thing as a person who runs around happily ever after. Everyone has skeletons in the closet. Everyone has issues. If there were no problems in life… well, it would be ridiculously boring.

[/b]: The easiest of them all. What is your character good at? What makes others like him or her? Normally this doesn’t require a lot of effort, because most people go into character making with a general idea in mind. If an application has a requirement (ex: list five) , don’t just fire off the first five things that come to your mind. Really think about it, and if you want, go over the requirement. Write as many strengths as you need to. The more the better!

- Weaknesses: Okay, now its getting more difficult. A weakness is something that causes a character’s strengths to falter. It can be a personality trait or an outside stimulus, either will work. It can also be something the person dislikes or even something they fear, either of which would potentially cause them discomfort. You can virtually use anything as a weakness. The only catch is that it must make sense to the character and their personality. For example, one of your character’s weaknesses is being shy. But then you have her be the most popular girl in school with lots of friends. Doesn’t really make sense does it? What would work better in this situation is that perhaps she is insecure, and therefore makes it a priority to be friends with everyone so she feels better about herself. Then you can expand that to maybe saying she is a totally different person socially. Maybe she is shy deep down, but is too afraid to show it because of her insecurities. See? Now we already have a great developing character.

- Faults: The hardest part. A lot of people skim over this because of its difficulties. You need to really think about what is wrong with your character. Like I said before, no one is perfect. Everything that happens in your life, makes you who you are today. So this should be the same for your character. Consider the way that your character was raised. What were the parents like? How did any significant event negatively affect your character? There are such things as ‘fake faults.’ Its as if you are afraid that no one will like your character if they have something bad in their personality. In reality, they won’t like your character if they are perfect. Its just plain boring to be perfect. A fake fault would include something like: a little bit shy, doesn’t feel like they fit in, nervous about the future. All of these things are really basic, vague, and something that pretty much everyone goes through in their life. A few real faults are: indecisive, rash, bitter, resentful, insecure, spiteful. These are faults that the character has to deal with every day. They should affect almost every single decision your character makes, always in the back of their minds.

- Secrets: Every character has their secrets, whether it be something from their past or a piece of the personality that they feel the need to hide. The important thing here is knowing how to incorporate them into your role playing. Something that is profound enough to hide, is always going to be in the back of your character’s mind. This needs to affect their choices, making them feel anxious if they are in a situation that might reveal this secret to others. I know a way of bonding is by sharing secrets with other characters, but a word of warning, don’t give it up so easily. You might give up some interesting role playing if you start out like this: “Hi my name is Mary Sue and my mommy died.”[/ul]

Creatively Writing

Show vs. Tell
You may or may not have heard this phrase before, but it is extremely important in writing. When writing a post, especially a lengthy one, it might get really boring to the reader. And if your post gets boring, your role playing partner isn’t going to really feel like replying. What makes a post interesting is when a writer knows how to show what is happening instead of telling. Here are some examples.

[/b]: “Harry Potter was afraid when he heard the prophecy.”[/ul]

This first example was a bland statement. Boring and matter of fact. There is no detail or development, and it is hard to figure out just what is going on in the situation. Readers would definitely get bored if the entire post sounded like this.

[/b]: “It was as if his entire world had stopped, and this moment was all that existed. But in this moment he was safe. For the prophecy stated that Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort could not live while the other survived. The bleakness of his future weighed heavily on his shoulders. His heart faltered, not wanting to waste away the precious beats that were now numbered.”[/ul]

This example has much more substance, and can help the reader feel what Harry is feeling. When it was simply told, one could only guess what Harry was going through. But here, it is easy for a reader to project themselves into Harry’s shoes, making the reading experience exciting. And in turn, the role playing will be more fun to write.

Another example:

[/b]: “She walked into the courtyard and sat on a bench. She opened her book and started to read. She didn‘t like Potions, but she had an essay due tomorrow and needed to study. She looked up and wished she could just go back to bed.”[/ul]

Notice that every sentence began with ‘she.’ This is the first give away of a weak post. Its boring and only describes what happened. There is no personality and no feeling. You might even feel like yawning at the end.

[/b]: “The crowded common room forced her to find an alternate place to study her least favorite subject. ‘Advanced Potion Making’ glared up at her as she briskly walked. Her arm swung purposefully and in time with her fast stride which brought her into the frosty courtyard. The chilly wind bit at her face, almost pushing her down into the stone bench. The binding of the pristine looking book fought against being opened, but Lily knew that this essay would determine her final grade in the class.”[/ul]

This is a much better example. It creates a vivid picture in the readers mind, as if they were right there next to Lily. They can see in her annoyed walking her clear despise of Potions. By using a person’s senses, you can clearly draw a picture of the scene you are trying to describe.


Ask “Why?”
When I get stuck writing a post or creating a new character, I ask myself this simple, three letter question. Why? Why does Harry want to search for the Deathly Hallows alone? Why does he feel like he is putting his friends in danger? Even try asking other questions. What makes Harry Potter seem like such a martyr? How would going off on his own be helpful to him? Does his reasoning really make any sense, or is he blinded from the truth? Asking questions can really help move your writing along and make your characters seem more developed. Remember, your readers and role playing partners don’t know everything about your character, so it is up to you to properly show them.

-----

In closing, don’t lose sight of who your character is. Remember to use your application as a tool to help you. Things such as secrets, habits, weaknesses, etc will affect your character’s every single move. Use action verbs to help move your writing along, and avoid over usage of he/she did this/that. Don’t say that a character felt angry. Show how their vein pulsed out of their temple, how their ears burned a fiery red, and how their fists trembled with fury trying to escape. Help your readers paint a picture in their minds.

Written by Niamora of CAUTION 2.0
The Administrator of SAVIOR, James Sirius Potter

Do not steal or remove the credits.
I will Avada Kedavra you.

Helpful Links~

x IMPROVING and 'ADVANCING' RP Skills ~ by Roxx of RPGC
x Writing Bios ~ by Asianna of RPGC
x Lost Muse [/Writers Block]? ~ by Ninja Pie of RPGC
x CHARACTER MAKING 101 ~ by bree of CAUTION 2.0