Viewpoint RP vs writing?

[grimmmy]

In your opinion, what are the advantages of RP (group or 1x1, just based on your experience) over writing? In this case, writing is just any time you would sit down and put some words on a page without collaborating with anyone else.

The best argument I’ve heard is if you want to write a specific character without having to write a bunch of side characters—you know how stories rarely have only one character—but even then, I don’t see how it would be different if you wrote exclusively from that character’s perspective.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Collaboration honestly. I do best when I have another person to bounce ideas off and to react to when it comes to creating stories/characters.

Follow Through, having a partner forced me beyond the planning stage and to not get too bogged down in details.

 

[thefinalgirl]

Pretty much what Nerdy said. I find roleplaying to be similar to collaborative writing. Your partners are your co-writers in your story / roleplay.

 

[Crayons]

Collaboration and social interaction (as above), and encouragement. I'm one of those people who finds it hard to write a lot without becoming bored or discouraged, but in RP I only have to write a short amount and then someone else writes something - and it keeps stories moving.

There's no pressure to do your absolute best or be good at roleplaying. As long as you and your partners are happy with it, it's good to go. Writing for publication is like "can I write this?" "Can I write about this?" "Is this any good?" and it's stressful. You don't need to be accurate with your portrayals of anything. I love writing about Feudal Japan type things and I have er... a LOT of books ... and have been researching and reading about this stuff for years but I still wouldn't feel entirely comfortable writing an actual publishable book about it. :/

The unexpected is a big part of RP fun for me. You never know what your partners are going to do or where the story will go next. If I was writing just by myself I'd know exactly what I was thinking and that takes the edge off it.

I also love the creative hive-mind that forms in RP (or other collaborative stuff) which becomes greater than the sum of its parts. That hive-mind is a big draw for me.

But that's not to say I haven't written non-RP stuff or won't in the future but RP will always be more about the sheer fun and joy of it.

 

[dear katara]

Actively connecting to people through stories. Getting a lil boost of serotonin every time you press 'post' or read your partner's response. Anticipation. Learning from another person in a fun environment. Someone always looks forward to what you have to say, which is lovely, but also, you don't have to seek out people willing to consistently read your writing (if sharing it is something that brings you joy ofc!)

 

[grimmmy]

So far this thread seems to highlight how few positive interactions I’ve had through RP lol

 

[Araellion]

For me there is also a change in writing style. In an rp you have to be more mindful about leaving openings for the other person to respond to.

 

[Crayons]

So far this thread seems to highlight how few positive interactions I’ve had through RP lol

I'm sure you'll find some!

 

[salem.]

Haha lol just write alone lmao

For me its way easier (and better)to do it alone, since you get to develop your characters in a satisfactory, accomplishing way, you don’t need to wait for someone and can do it and your own pace, plus, no need for interaction at all babyyyy

man am I an introvert

btw this is just my opinion (and a very bad one lol)

 

[thefinalgirl]

Haha lol just write alone lmao

For me its way easier (and better)to do it alone, since you get to develop your characters in a satisfactory, accomplishing way, you don’t need to wait for someone and can do it and your own pace, plus, no need for interaction at all babyyyy

man am I an introvert

btw this is just my opinion (and a very bad one lol)

It's not really a bad take on it, tbf. It's pretty valid cuz you do get more control over characters that you want and pace is eay more chiller. Then again, no man is an island, so that's that. ;o

 

[Daisie]

One thing I've noticed over the years - in terms of the technical differences between writing and roleplay - is that roleplay is extremely linear.

When writing a novel, the standards are naturally much higher than with roleplay because of your non-linear perspective. You can plan out your plot, start writing a first draft, and whoops, if you make a mistake, you can just go back and fix it. No biggie. Sometimes it'll cause you to rewrite a small portion, and sometimes it's much more serious than that, but regardless, the only one who needs to fix it is you. This is what publishers expect you to do, so the expectation of the quality of your writing is far higher. You have the perspective of a god, to look at your work in every point in time, from any point in time. That's a lot of power.

Whereas with roleplay, you're stepping through the story chronologically. Most mistakes you can't just go back and smooth over. The entire story is a collaborative effort stemming from a hobby that's pretty casual for most people. All players would have to participate in, be affected by, and agree to the process of removing any previous plotholes. And they'd also all have to care about it enough to go back over previous progress. The easier option for everyone is to see if the issue can be worked around rather than fixed... Or even ignored entirely, if it comes to that. Going back just isn't easy in roleplay, and that can make a lot of really badly patched-over holes in the story. It's not always a dealbreaker, but you wouldn't judge it as critically as you would a published novel or film.

Mistakes will always happen, no matter how good of a writer you are. It's just that in roleplay, you're a lot less able to travel back in time and fix them.

 

[grimmmy]

Y’all do... Rp because you want to... not bc you’re not confident about writing by yourselves... right,,,?

 

[salem.]

 

[Syntra]

I enjoy roleplaying over writing on my own because another person being involved means that I am more motivated to write consistently. Also, it's more fun precisely because I don't have full control over what will happen-- I enjoy surprising my partners with new developments and being surprised in return That way, I get to write about situations I likely never would have thought of on my own.

 

[Doomevil]

Roleplaying I found makes a great load of ideas(some good and some bad at times) with people that can be used for future projects. You’re constantly learning other people’s writing styles as the game goes on and getting a different opinion. But as collaboration goes, not everyone will be on the same page and activity can wane down.

Meanwhile, I like writing on my own, it gives me a think tank to spitball ideas and worldbuild with confidence.

 

[Jannah]

Honestly, I think the biggest thing is collaboration. When you're writing your own stories and are struggling with how to proceed with a scene you can't exactly easily work it out with others. In RP you can. However, I guess one downside to all of that as well could be creative conflict. Partners may have very different creative visions. It has definitely happened to me and I have even dropped RP's over it.

 

[Redfork2000]

I love to write, and while I do think writing solo has its own benefits, there's definitely a lot of things to love about RPing. Here's my top 5 things I love about roleplaying over solo writing:

1 - Collaborating: One of the best things about RPing is that you have someone to collaborate with, to develop a story together. As many ideas as you can have, it's always best when you can work with someone else, someone with different ideas, different experiences, different sources of inspiration, and develop something beautiful together that neither could've developed alone. It also helps when the dreaded writer's block hits, because they can help you figure a way out.

2 - Motivation: When you're writing alone, it's easy to get lazy and just leave stuff half-done and never come back to them. When you're RPing, you know that your RP partner is counting on you to provide consistent replies, so that motivates you to come back. You don't want to leave the other person waiting, so that helps keep yourself consistent.

3 - Sharing: When writing, it usually takes a long time between when you start a story and when you finally get to show someone the finished story. Sometimes one of the best things about writing is to show someone what you've created, and see how the react to it. That's why I've developed a passion for online writing ever since I started doing it back in 2015. When you RP, you never feel like you're just writing something that no one will ever see. You know for sure that your RP partner will read it, and react to it with their own reply. Sometimes just knowing someone is going to take the time to read your work and reply to it is one of the most fulfilling things. And it's even better when you get feedback on it via OOC chat. Whether it's positive feedback over things they liked about your work,or constructive criticism on how to improve, I feel like having someone react to my writing is one of the biggest rewards there is.

4 - Anticipation: When you press that "Post reply" button, you're already excited, wondering how your RP partner will react to your post. You already know they will read it, and believe me, when you've posted for an RP you're really passionate about, you spend your time looking forward to seeing the other person's reply. There's few things more enjoyable than logging into RPNation, and seeing that your RP partner has replied to that RP you're so passionate about. It's almost like that joy of watching a new episode of your favorite TV show, or that excitement when someone gives you a present. It's fulfilling. And when you read their post, seeing how the story develops, it fills you with joy, with excitement, with inspiration to continue writing. The cycle repeats.

5 - Friendship: While some RP partners prefer to just RP, I love when my RP partner also becomes my friend. We can chat about things we like, we can get excited together over our characters and plots, and overall, it's just such a satisfying experience to bond with someone you're writing such a inspiring project with. When you write passionately, you put part of yourself into what you're writing. So having someone you can share that with and enjoy writing together is one of the best experiences I've had in all my years of writing.

 

[Crayons]

Y’all do... Rp because you want to... not bc you’re not confident about writing by yourselves... right,,,?

There's definitely a bit of that in it. XD E

 

[Onmyoji]

Collaboration, because it's fun and motivating. Can always discuss the ideas, and even when not actually roleplaying, talking about rp is as much fun.
I often compare rp to collaborative writing.

Emotional feedback. When I write on my own, I never get feedback. Even when I post my stories online I still never get any comments. So I keep thinking my writing is so bad that it doesn't deserve being read. While in rp there is always feedback because there is someone waiting for your writing and you're also waiting for theirs. There is always that emotional exchange that I lack so much when writing alone. When you can literally just cry or laugh over something you wrote for each other. Also, my rp partners don't say my writing is bad hahaha And actually READ what I'm writing omg! That makes me feel a lot better.

tldr; for me RP mostly has emotional advantages over writing on my own. While it's still writing and I can certainly write what I want alone, and as Daisie noted, can also go back and revise what is written, or write in any order I want to make the story flow better, I will never get the same emotional outcome from writing alone that I get from rp, it's the exchange of ideas and emotions that makes me prefer rp to writing alone currently.

 

[saniachan]

As for myself, I do agree with some people here who said about RP basically being a collaborative writing with the thrill of expecting surprises from your RP partner(s). Plus, I personally find myself easily stuck with solo writing but not with RP.

 

[grimmmy]

The only advantages I’ve thought of on my part: co-writing means less effort with an equivalent result; regular feedback. But I also don’t like this idea of being someone’s “dancing monkey,” personally, as in they would love to just write their own material but they’re not motivated enough, so they’re using me. Does that make sense? RPing because you don’t actually care about what other people have to say, only because you need to be creatively enabled.

I feel like that’s the trap I’ve fallen into where I never gave a shit about collaborating, I just wanted to write. And now that I have the mojo and discipline to write on my own, I’m starting to not see the point.

 

[AnonyMouse]

For me, the biggest advantage to RPing is motivation. Knowing someone else is waiting on my response helps me get my ass in gear. For example, I joined an RP this weekend. My character sheet was 3500 words. (Yikes!) I wrote, edited, and submitted that in two days. It took me two weeks to write the first chapter of my second novel, which clocked in at about 5000 words. It took two years to write my first novel, which I believe cam in at about 180k when it was all done and edited down. Why is RPing faster? because I knew I needed to get that character sheet in; people are waiting, slots are filling up, my ideas might get taken by someone else if I don't hurry up.

For me, that's the best thing about RPing. There's always someone to talk to, something going on. Solo writing takes a lot more willpower and self-drive, which I suspect is why so few people do it. I'm kind of shocked how little talk I see on this site about short stories, novellas, novels, etc. It's like very few people here are actually into writing. It's kind of troubling, to be honest. I think most of the people on this site are here to have some fun and toss around a few ideas. I'm not really the type of person who needs to bounce ideas off of people; if anything, I usually end up being the guy they come to when they get creatively stuck. But having others read my prose and give feedback on whether it's good or crap helps me grow as a writer. And, yeah, I do that with my novels, too, but it's a much slower process.

But, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Roleplaying means dealing with other people... people who can drop out at any time. I tend to not bring my best ideas to the table because I know there's about a 90% chance the RP is going to run out of steam and die before any meaningful plot or relationships develop and I don't want to see my ideas "wasted." I know that sounds harsh, and maybe even a little arrogant, but I can scroll through my post history on this site and others and see lots of amazing characters and story ideas just sitting there, dead in the water. And I can't put them in a novel because *gasp* posting things online is a form of publishing. If I try to shop this to a print publisher, I have already forfeited first-pub rights. So, if I want to publish anything I've used on this site, I need to either (a) heavily modify it, (b) hope the publisher really, really, really likes me and is willing to accept it, or (c) go the self-pub route and hope people don't find this site and connect the dots. So, no I'm not going to bring my A-game. At best, most RPs get a B or B+ effort out of me and even that is reserved for people who seem like they give a damn and are actually trying to build something. I usually don't even join an RP if it looks like the GM "just threw this together" or "saw this in a dream last night." Unfortunately, I see a lot of that on this site, which is why I join so few RPs.

 

[nerdy tangents]

grimmmy in my experience most role players don’t want to write solo tbh. It’s a combination of a lack of time and not really having a reason to write solo. Most people are in roleplaying primarily for the sociable aspects not necessarily to improve the mechanics of their writing.

 

[Trywing]

Writing on my own is fun on its own, but roleplaying with others allows me to read other people's excellent writing. And it's much easier to share my writing with others rather than writing it on my own.

 

[Mr. Sparks]

I like writing better because I know no one will see it and I don’t feel pressured to respond to anyone