Post by Admin Courtney on Feb 12, 2012 20:31:26 GMT -5
Hey everyone. So since some of us are new to role-playing, and since we can all use some improvement with our writing (even the best writers can -- there's always room for improvement, after all), I've put together this mini-guide to roleplaying.
I would very much like Facaded to be a fully literate forum.
Why am I posting this in the rules section?
Our literacy is a rule. I was not going to make it one, but I could not bring myself to do that.
So here are some tips to keep your posts literate
[/li][li] The structuring of each post: Remember that you don't want your post to look like one huge paragraph. I'm not sure how best to describe this, so the best way would be for me to tell you to open a book. Open it to a page with some dialogue. See how there are paragraphs of description and also some dialogue? See how all of the dialogue and paragraphs do not run together into long page of a paragraph?
(Wow, I'm hoping this makes sense)
Try to do that. Space out some things.
The enter key is there for a reason.
And now I'm just hitting enter to show you what I mean.
It's fun, no?
Moving on...
[/li][li] Read over your post before you post it. Always do this. This allows you to make sure that what you have written makes sense, and also enables you to check for any spelling errors or missing punctuation. Typos happen, but this helps ensure you don't miss many as well.
[/li][li] Thoughts versus speech: When roleplaying your character, you might find that you want to post your character's inner thoughts as well as what they are saying out loud. Do not post your characters thoughts in quotation marks, as that looks like speech. Your best bet is yo place your character's thoughts on a separate line using italics.
Just like this, so we know your character is thinking this, and not saying it.
Add 'he thought' afterwards too, if you'd like.
[/li][li] Description: Posts with just dialogue is boring. It's dull, and it does not tell us much about your character, and sometimes it's not even much to reply to.
Use the five senses.
What does your character see? What do they hear? Can they smell anything? Taste anything? (Remember, they don't have to be eating to taste anything. Maybe the air outside is cold and they can taste that. Ever smell something so bad you could almost taste it in your mouth?) What do they feel (emotionally AND physically)? And what are they saying?
The best posts include at least three of these senses.
Keep in mind that I am not looking for posts like this:
"Character walked into the bar. The bar smelled of alcohol. Character could almost taste it on his tongue. He sat down at the barn. The stool felt hard beneath him. He placed his hands on the table. The table was smooth."
That's too tell-y and forced. A better version would be:
"Character walked into the bar, unable to contain his excitement. He practically bounded onto a hard stool and lifted a pale hand to attract the bartender's attention. As he waited to be served, he adjusted his position on the bar stool, wishing they were made to be more comfortable. Eventually, he gave up. Once Character had enough to drink, he would not feel the stool anyways. Placing his hands on the cold, smooth surface of the bar, Character smiled at the bartender and ordered his favourite: rum and coke. He could practically already taste the sour but sweet liquid cascading down his throat as he waited for the bartender to pour it."
[/li][li] Show, don't tell. *raises hand* I have trouble with this, but I try my best.
What does show, don't tell mean?
Don't tell me what your character is doing. Show me. Let me be able to picture it because of the description you use.
This site gives some good examples if you are unsure of what I mean: www.mariavsnyder.com/advice/showvstell.php
The above webpage is also great for examples of using description and the five senses.
[/li][li] Quality over quantity, but still quantity.
Short posts are sometimes necessary, but most of the time they leave the person you are role-playing with very little to work off of.
While quality is more important than quantity, there is still the rule of using at least five quality sentences per post. 'He laughed.' is not a quality sentence.
You won't have to worry about the length of your posts as long as you remember to show, use description, and remember the five senses.
[/li][/ul][/blockquote]
That's all for now.
I will possibly add more if I can think of anything else.
If any of you have any questions, please (I mean it!) post below or send me a private message.
I do watch for post quality and literacy and such, so I hope that everyone reads this and remembers it, because I will start picking at you if I notice you're not making an effort to follow Facaded's literacy rules. (Oh man, that sounds so serious, haha).
AND if you have anything you want to add to this post, also let me know (either through PM or replying below).
Feedback, comments, and additions are always welcome. Always.
I'm serious.
Anyways, happy role-playing!
I would very much like Facaded to be a fully literate forum.
Why am I posting this in the rules section?
Our literacy is a rule. I was not going to make it one, but I could not bring myself to do that.
So here are some tips to keep your posts literate
- First thing's first: spelling. If you are unsure of how to spell a particular word, your best bet is to look it up. Some internet browsers (such as Google Chrome) have built-in spell-check, so those are useful tools also.
- The next obvious is grammar. Try your best to use proper grammar. No unnecessary commas (although I will be the first to admit that I love commas. However, I try my best to eliminate unneeded ones), use correct punctuation, use the right word.
I'm going to elaborate on this:- Punctuation: When typing up your post, remember that you want your character's lines (what they are saying out loud) to be inside of "quotation marks". Remember to include periods in the necessary places all throughout your post so we know where a sentence ends and begins.
- Capitalization: Proper nouns. Capitalize them. Names, names of places, etc. Also the beginning of each sentence must be capitalized.
- Word choice: If your character is feeling a certain emotion, be sure to use the correct one. Sometimes people think one word means something, and will use it, when in fact it is the incorrect word. For example (and this is just a random example off the top of my head), I have noticed in some forums, people mistake words for eachother, such as bemused and amused. They do not mean the same thing. Your best bet is to quickly google the word you're thinking of to make sure it's the right one (Even I do this, just to be sure).
[/li][li] The structuring of each post: Remember that you don't want your post to look like one huge paragraph. I'm not sure how best to describe this, so the best way would be for me to tell you to open a book. Open it to a page with some dialogue. See how there are paragraphs of description and also some dialogue? See how all of the dialogue and paragraphs do not run together into long page of a paragraph?
(Wow, I'm hoping this makes sense)
Try to do that. Space out some things.
The enter key is there for a reason.
And now I'm just hitting enter to show you what I mean.
It's fun, no?
Moving on...
[/li][li] Read over your post before you post it. Always do this. This allows you to make sure that what you have written makes sense, and also enables you to check for any spelling errors or missing punctuation. Typos happen, but this helps ensure you don't miss many as well.
[/li][li] Thoughts versus speech: When roleplaying your character, you might find that you want to post your character's inner thoughts as well as what they are saying out loud. Do not post your characters thoughts in quotation marks, as that looks like speech. Your best bet is yo place your character's thoughts on a separate line using italics.
Just like this, so we know your character is thinking this, and not saying it.
Add 'he thought' afterwards too, if you'd like.
[/li][li] Description: Posts with just dialogue is boring. It's dull, and it does not tell us much about your character, and sometimes it's not even much to reply to.
Use the five senses.
What does your character see? What do they hear? Can they smell anything? Taste anything? (Remember, they don't have to be eating to taste anything. Maybe the air outside is cold and they can taste that. Ever smell something so bad you could almost taste it in your mouth?) What do they feel (emotionally AND physically)? And what are they saying?
The best posts include at least three of these senses.
Keep in mind that I am not looking for posts like this:
"Character walked into the bar. The bar smelled of alcohol. Character could almost taste it on his tongue. He sat down at the barn. The stool felt hard beneath him. He placed his hands on the table. The table was smooth."
That's too tell-y and forced. A better version would be:
"Character walked into the bar, unable to contain his excitement. He practically bounded onto a hard stool and lifted a pale hand to attract the bartender's attention. As he waited to be served, he adjusted his position on the bar stool, wishing they were made to be more comfortable. Eventually, he gave up. Once Character had enough to drink, he would not feel the stool anyways. Placing his hands on the cold, smooth surface of the bar, Character smiled at the bartender and ordered his favourite: rum and coke. He could practically already taste the sour but sweet liquid cascading down his throat as he waited for the bartender to pour it."
[/li][li] Show, don't tell. *raises hand* I have trouble with this, but I try my best.
What does show, don't tell mean?
Don't tell me what your character is doing. Show me. Let me be able to picture it because of the description you use.
This site gives some good examples if you are unsure of what I mean: www.mariavsnyder.com/advice/showvstell.php
The above webpage is also great for examples of using description and the five senses.
[/li][li] Quality over quantity, but still quantity.
Short posts are sometimes necessary, but most of the time they leave the person you are role-playing with very little to work off of.
While quality is more important than quantity, there is still the rule of using at least five quality sentences per post. 'He laughed.' is not a quality sentence.
You won't have to worry about the length of your posts as long as you remember to show, use description, and remember the five senses.
[/li][/ul][/blockquote]
That's all for now.
I will possibly add more if I can think of anything else.
If any of you have any questions, please (I mean it!) post below or send me a private message.
I do watch for post quality and literacy and such, so I hope that everyone reads this and remembers it, because I will start picking at you if I notice you're not making an effort to follow Facaded's literacy rules. (Oh man, that sounds so serious, haha).
AND if you have anything you want to add to this post, also let me know (either through PM or replying below).
Feedback, comments, and additions are always welcome. Always.
I'm serious.
Anyways, happy role-playing!
