Viewpoint Things you can do in RPs that you can't do in solo-stories (and vice versa)

[Crow]

Title says it all. I want to hear 'em.

I oftentime browse this section and see people talk about stuff that could lead into this. For example, I see people mention that players might change the way a character acts so that this other character gets spared or has a chance to be spared, so that the latter's player won't be angered. You know, stuff like that.

Stuff which stems from the need for teamwork, cooperation and for everyone to get a chance in the roleplay jacuzzi, something that just doesn't happen when you're writing your own story by yourself.

Also include things that could be in RPs that are also in solo-stories, but you'd prefer them not to be.

 

[Becker]

One of the major turns off for me in group RPs is the pacing, especially when people are extremely protective of their character and don't want to be constricted into a certain situation. I've spoken about this a few times before, so i'll use the same example to illustrate my frustration.

Imagine a SWAT or Police themed RP, where all the characters are members of the same team/squad. They need to enter a building and clear it.

#1 writes about stacking up on the door, waiting for the others to join them.
#2 writes about stacking up on the door, waiting for the others to join them.
#3 writes about stacking up on the door, waiting for the others to join them.
#4 writes about stacking up on the door, indicating to #3 that they're ready to breach.
#3 receives the signal from #4 and passes it onto #2 to say they're ready to breach.
#2 receives the signal from #3 and passes it onto #1 to say they're ready to breach.
#1 receives the signal from #2 and breaches, moving to the right.

Might sound a little over the top but I have been in such a situation where everyone is completely unwilling to work together and allow some control over each other's characters for the sake of the pacing.

Rather than that complete cluster, sometimes it's easier to communicate OOC'ly about certain movements other characters may take in your post. I've found that you don't need to be in complete control but to simply place them along a path and then let the other person populate their journey as to keep the flow going.

#1 writes about stacking up on the door, waiting for the team to join them. Once in place, #1 kicks in the front door and quickly takes up a position on the right side of the room, scanning for hostiles. Seeing that the room is clear, he gestures for #2 to follow and for #3 & #4 to take the stairs on the left and clear out the floor above.

 

[Crayons]

One thing you can do in fiction that you can't do in RP is have a solo protagonist. Exception being if it's a 1x1 and one of you is playing the villain. No one wants to be in that group RP where the GM has decided their character is the MC and you all are just their sidekicks.

 

[Stale Biscuit]

Eh, I think something for me would probably be character archetypes. Like there are some archetypes that I do not grasp, and so it becomes near nye (the science guy) impossible for me to write them into a solo-story. When I RP I see a lot of characters I have trouble with writing myself and see how other interpret them. It's also helpful to see how my characters would interact with these type of character for later reference. Plus, in the case 1x1, I don't have someone to work with to provide me with new ideas to write when my ideas are shitty, and half the time they're staler than a potato chip left under the bed for four years. *Goofy noises*

 

[kikuQ]

Taking a sharp story turn, suddenly killing off a character, doing something absolutely ridiculous for the purpose of maintaining the will to write a story. It can sometimes be done in RP, but usually requires quite a bit of planning that might even kill your will even further.

Also, a weirdly specific one, describing a character through the eyes of another character rather than a lengthy blurb of narrative. Once again, can theoretically be done, but only in so many circumstances. I find it so fun to put my characters through the filters of other character's perspectives. Some characters can also appear very different outwardly than they truly are inwardly, and another perspective is really helpful to showcase that juxtaposition.

 

[Lorsh]

Conflict between characters in a group RP has a higher chance of developing naturally, rather than just be a planned thing.

 

[natsukashii]

Conflict between characters in a group RP has a higher chance of developing naturally, rather than just be a planned thing.

I disagree. I think, depending on how much patience players/writers have, then okay you have a point, but if all that one wants to do is get to the destination without enjoying the journey, then there's a lot of in-between stuff that will be skipped over. In my experience, that's the least natural thing that could happen. Of course, I am speaking from my own experiences and my experiences have made me cynical. But because of this experience, I know that I can control the flow of relationships and include as much as I feel is needed for the story. Sometimes in groups, either too little of a scene is shown or it gets to the point where it starts to drag.

 

[Grey]

I can't really think of anything I do in my own fiction that I can't make work in an RP, and vice versa. Structurally there are big differences, and obviously you don't exert the same authorial control over an RP, but nothing immediately springs to mind which would be precluded in either format.

But there probably is, so I'm going to ponder the question awhile longer.

 

[Crocmon]

One thing I've been able to do in fiction that doesn't always work in RP is employ nuance. Or, if you do employ it, you need to spell it out in the OOC posts to avoid the fairly decent chance it is simply glossed over. Not for any fault of the players necessarily, just due to how many voices are involved some things can get missed.

In a book, that nuance can be expounded upon in a way that makes sense in-character. The author controls all the details of a scene, and can set something up in a description the reader and the characters can see at the same time. However, in an RP, you need to outline where things started and what details can be seen to everyone in the group, or Character A can't see the way Character B reacts to a statement if the player of Character B does not elaborate on it fully. The eyes of the character(s) and eyes of the author(s) see differently, ultimately, and in a work of fiction this can be fixed with proofreading/editing while a roleplay can have all manner of factors getting in the way from IRL issues distracting to a miscommunication of how important a particular action is. Add in multiple authors with multiple viewpoints, and the importance of one person's tightening throat and stammering reply can be totally missed.

I guess in this case it's just more difficult to employ nuance? I also might be mislabeling something here, so feel free to catch me on it. x.x

 

[Grey]

I sometimes have to clear things up bit OOC, but I find generally players can be trusted to pick up on nuances and roll with subtleties or intentional gaps. Although I personally am very fond of intentional ambiguities to mess with characters or plant ideas in players' heads.
But you make a good point about then necessity for that extra clarity.

 

[BackSet]

It's admittedly much easier to keep track of things when I only have to write one or two characters compared to the 40+ characters I'm going to need to keep track of in my current project.

 

[Psyche]

Write with another person

 

[BackSet]

Write with another person

 

[Crayons]

Write with another person

There are loads of books with author team-ups. Good Omens for one. Also there are a number of writers who write with a partner under one pseudonym.

OK so I thought of some things you can do in RP but not fiction writing:

Go on massive tangents following personal goals/projects of side characters.
Write scenes that are purely characters hanging out and interacting that do not contribute anything to the plot but are enjoyable for their own sake.
Write self-indulgent characters or scenes (like romantic fluff for example) that you couldn't get away with in published fiction.
Have bad/sloppy research about time periods/cultures/languages etc.
Not bother having a plot at all.
Piggybacking on worldbuilding that has been done already in other works of fiction/Be completely unoriginal with your setting.
Describing things that you wouldn't bother to describe in a piece of fiction.
Write about things you want to write about regardless of if they are considered overdone and not fashionable therefore not publishable.

Fiction writing has to be tight and to the point, whereas RP can be meandering, wandering and flower-sniffing. And it's fun that way!

Edit: I guess you can do most of this stuff in fanfiction too.

 

[BackSet]

Write scenes that are purely characters hanging out and interacting that do not contribute anything to the plot but are enjoyable for their own sake.

I freaking love this. It's my favorite thing!

 

[Grey]

Fiction writing has to be tight and to the point, whereas RP can be meandering, wandering and flower-sniffing.

There's an editor at Vintage Books shrieking and weeping at this very thought.

 

[BackSet]

There's an editor at Vintage Books shrieking and weeping at this very thought.

Can you explain this joke? I know it stops being funny when you have to explain it but I want to understand.

 

[Grey]

Vintage Books published 50 Shades of Gray, which is uh, distinctly not tightly written or to the point.

 

[Crayons]

Vintage Books published 50 Shades of Gray, which is uh, distinctly not tightly written or to the point.

It was also fanfiction, which was in my disclaimer XD

 

[rainywrites]

yes but it's published sooooo

 

[HowlingWoods]

Personally this isn't something I'd do, but you can't write one-liners in a solo story. I mean, I suppose you could...but it'd end up being a pretty short story. ^^;

 

[BackSet]

Vintage Books published 50 Shades of Gray, which is uh, distinctly not tightly written or to the point.

Oh god...

 

[Crocmon]

Personally this isn't something I'd do, but you can't write one-liners in a solo story. I mean, I suppose you could...but it'd end up being a pretty short story. ^^;

I certainly disagree, short and snappy dialogue segments can be construed as one-liner posts if you really want to get technical. Those segments can be fantastic if used correctly.

 

[Grey]

Is uh, is a novel not just a succession of one liners, if you think about it?
It's not constructed in posts, afterall.