Post by Estyre Legends on Jun 28, 2013 22:24:49 GMT -5
This thread is for those of you who are new to play-by-post role-playing, or maybe just have a hard time writing long posts. These tips will help you learn how to lengthen your posts without making them into dull, rambling messes.
ONE. what is your character feeling?
Obviously, this is very important. Emotions are complex, intricate things, and they bring your character to life. Consider what has happened to your character so far, either on the site or in their history; now consider their personality. Think about how your character would currently feel about their past, and where they are now. Did something traumatic happen that stills haunts them? Or has their life been relatively happy so far? In the post you're writing, are they lost? Chasing butterflies? What is their current state of mind? Consider all of these things and express your character's emotions, because they can't do it by themselves. Not all of your posts need to be deep and mention your character's dark past, in fact, they'd get pretty tedious if they did, but you should mention current emotions in all your posts.
TWO. describe your surroundings.
Say you're in Sol-Arinate, the desert. We know it's a desert, and we have a vague idea of what it's like from the board description. But, we don't have details, and specifically, we don't have details about the exact location of your character. If you're way out in the desert, you don't want your partner stating that the caves are nearby. Describe your surroundings, the color of the sky, the look of the sand; are there dunes? You want to paint a picture for your partner, so they can imagine in their mind's eye where your characters are. Of course, you don't want to describe everything in one post; if you do, not only do you leave nothing for your partner to write about, but your post might end up being a bit too long. Use your first post to describe the area in general, and allow your subsequent posts to add little details.
THREE. use non-player characters.
Non-player characters, or NPCs, as they're more commonly known, are characters that don't have specific players. Anyone can create NPCs, and they're basically just characters you can make your character interact with if you don't have an RP partner yet. You don't need to use these all the time, or ever, if you don't want to, but if you're having trouble writing a decent post, throwing in an NPC interaction can sometimes help to fill it out. They can also be used to set up a mini-plot for your thread.
And most of all, keep in mind that everyone has off days, and your posts don't need to be 600 words long to be good. That said, please use these tips to ensure that all of your posts meet our 200 word minimum.
