When Writing...

[TripTripleTimes]

So, there are things that bothers me when I am writing. This is to say about RPing and English in general.


1) When I respond to a person's rp, is it better to write my character reacting to the other or should I write the character's verbal responce first? Or does it not matter how I write my post for someone?


2) This is for English in general. When my character is talking, I usually write like


" -character talks-" Character says, or Describes an action that may take couple of sentences.


and


" -character talks-" Character says, or Describes an action that may take couple of sentences. "-lets character says something, udually final thought."


But is it ok to have a dialoge, description, and then dialoge with a short action cutting between the dialoge? Like for an example,


"I already told you," Kris says to the figure in white. The man walks up to the shadow, each steps trailing closer to misery. He stands in front of the person. "We are not," a hand lifts to the person's shoulder, "friends." He shoves his friend out of the window.


Random example, I know, but the dialoge. Can I do that? Of course the talking can be a little more longer, but oh man, writing is hard sometimes.


I tried using novels as examples, but they're not really much help sometimes, especially for rping. So yeah


3) Oh, and how do I handle a responce where their character talks about one subject and couple of paragraph down their post, the character is talking about another subject and a couple minutes passed between the two chat? Do people just responce to the last talking or do people write to catch up with the rp partner?

 

[CoconutLeaves]

1) When I respond to a person's rp, is it better to write my character reacting to the other or should I write the character's verbal responce first? Or does it not matter how I write my post for someone?


It doesn't matter. It's usually a writing preference when either description first or verbal first. I always feel what is important is where your strengths lie. If I think my dialogue is really good, I use that first. But if the description is better, then that goes first. The impact will be decided upon which you think is more effective for the reader.


2.) But is it ok to have a dialoge, description, and then dialoge with a short action cutting between the dialoge?


It's normal to do the following these days:


"I already told you," Kris says to the figure in white.


The man walks up to the shadow, each steps trailing closer to misery. He stands in front of the person.


"We are not," a hand lifts to the person's shoulder, "friends."


He shoves his friend out of the window.


---


However, this is not often the case with everything. V.S. Naipaul had written in the style you would describe and is considered acceptable.


The general rule in my opinion is that the writing must not be made in a way to confuse the reader, hence the stylistic choices for writing. So do write in a way you're comfortable with, but format it to make it clear to the reader, it is they who matter.


---


3) Oh, and how do I handle a response where their character talks about one subject and couple of paragraph down their post, the character is talking about another subject and a couple minutes passed between the two chat? Do people just respond to the last talking or do people write to catch up with the rp partner?


Depends on the conversation and its importance. When I see that kind of post I will answer it line by line. I use descriptions to mark the passage of time and the shift in topic, before answering. Some would even respond with the last subject before making their way to the first subject.

 

[TripTripleTimes]

1) When I respond to a person's rp, is it better to write my character reacting to the other or should I write the character's verbal responce first? Or does it not matter how I write my post for someone?
It doesn't matter. It's usually a writing preference when either description first or verbal first. I always feel what is important is where your strengths lie. If I think my dialogue is really good, I use that first. But if the description is better, then that goes first. The impact will be decided upon which you think is more effective for the reader.


2.) But is it ok to have a dialoge, description, and then dialoge with a short action cutting between the dialoge?


It's normal to do the following these days:


"I already told you," Kris says to the figure in white.


The man walks up to the shadow, each steps trailing closer to misery. He stands in front of the person.


"We are not," a hand lifts to the person's shoulder, "friends."


He shoves his friend out of the window.


---


However, this is not often the case with everything. V.S. Naipaul had written in the style you would describe and is considered acceptable.


The general rule in my opinion is that the writing must not be made in a way to confuse the reader, hence the stylistic choices for writing. So do write in a way you're comfortable with, but format it to make it clear to the reader, it is they who matter.


---


3) Oh, and how do I handle a response where their character talks about one subject and couple of paragraph down their post, the character is talking about another subject and a couple minutes passed between the two chat? Do people just respond to the last talking or do people write to catch up with the rp partner?


Depends on the conversation and its importance. When I see that kind of post I will answer it line by line. I use descriptions to mark the passage of time and the shift in topic, before answering. Some would even respond with the last subject before making their way to the first subject.

Thank you CoconutLeaves! Ah, there is too many choices. The freedom is throwing me of guard, but thank you for clearing things for me.

 

[ehmygirl]

When I am writing dialogue and action, I write it like a story in a book. For example:


Orran watched her pace about the confines of the tent. She was safe. The relief he felt hearing her complain about her treatment during the past week amused him. "Callie."


She stopped mid stride and turned to face him. "What?"


"Come here, just come here." She approached, slowly, not entirely trusting him. He laughed when she stopped a full foot in front of him. Grabbing her, he pulled her close and just held her. He inhaled deeply but the scent he had grown accustomed to was not hers. He sighed. Even so, it felt good to know she was safe. "You had me worried."


Also, if you want inspiration on how to go about writing dialogue and action, go to some of the RPs in the hosted project. Many of the RPers there are advanced and they are very good to read. I would suggest a few people to follow as examples: Grey, TehFrixz, Captain Hesperus, Sherwood, myself, and a few others I can't think of at the moment.

 

[Zilla]

Remember that you're not writing a book, you're not writing to an audience, you're writing with others. And to do that you also need to give their character something to respond to. Splitting up dialog is very natural, because it gives you an opportunity to describe how it's being told. And that can give as much context as what is being said. It also gives more to be responded to in turn.


As for what to respond with/to first, that is much more subjective and dependent on the post in question.

 

[ehmygirl]

you also need to give their character something to respond to

This. It's one thing to have dialogue and action but if your post is something like this:


I walk in the hallway and say hello to my friends then I go into the classroom and I sit down in my desk and then I pull out my binder and a pen and I think, I really hate this class, why couldn't they have given me a different teacher? But then the bell rings and the teacher starts to talk about things I don't even really care about.


Then you are offering nothing for other people to respond to.


However, if you write something like this:


It was cold when I left home for school and it seemed even colder when I got there. I was just glad for my travller's mug of coffee, and my down coat. I wish I hadn't forgotten my gloves again. By the time I make it to the hallway, I've warmed up some, but my hands are still cold. All that is forgotten however, when I see my friends gabbing by their lockers.


Though there is no dialogue, you are giving a good accounting of your character's actions, even your character's thought process and by giving details, the people you are role-playing with can pick up on the lack of gloves and comment on that, the coat, or even the coffee. I write like I'm writing a character in a book, but I always make sure that there's something for other people to respond to.

 

[TripTripleTimes]

This. It's one thing to have dialogue and action but if your post is something like this:
I walk in the hallway and say hello to my friends then I go into the classroom and I sit down in my desk and then I pull out my binder and a pen and I think, I really hate this class, why couldn't they have given me a different teacher? But then the bell rings and the teacher starts to talk about things I don't even really care about.


Then you are offering nothing for other people to respond to.


However, if you write something like this:


It was cold when I left home for school and it seemed even colder when I got there. I was just glad for my travller's mug of coffee, and my down coat. I wish I hadn't forgotten my gloves again. By the time I make it to the hallway, I've warmed up some, but my hands are still cold. All that is forgotten however, when I see my friends gabbing by their lockers.


Though there is no dialogue, you are giving a good accounting of your character's actions, even your character's thought process and by giving details, the people you are role-playing with can pick up on the lack of gloves and comment on that, the coat, or even the coffee. I write like I'm writing a character in a book, but I always make sure that there's something for other people to respond to.

Sometime for my partners to responce to, I try RPing kind of reminds me of the old drama classes I took. I have to keep making an opening for my partner to act to, or else the (improv) play will get boring and stops, or something simple to that.


Thank you for responding and telling me of the how-tos. And thank you for the recommendations. I think theirs and your posts will help with my writing.


And thank you @Zilla for the help also!

 

[Saturnity]

Generally, I tend to base my format for writing on the formats already established in the roleplay.


For example, if there is a shorter posting requirement that's a little more relaxed, I tend to write out my characters dialogue, observations, and actions like you would see in a novel or story book. I feel that when text is broken apart by different speakers and when starting a new idea or observation, it's easier to read.


When I'm writing to meet a particularly large quota or paragraph requirement, however, or when actions and observations need to be divided for a particular reason at the request of the GM, I write in paragraph form, like you would see in an essay. It's not as easy to ready, but I do think it's easier for the GM to monitor paragraph count as well as displaying the division between action and observation.


In the end, it's up to your preference and writing style. Speaking from my experience actually reading YOUR posts from Simple Slumber, I think your writing style is perfectly readable and easy to understand, so I wouldn't worry about it so much

 

[TripTripleTimes]

Generally, I tend to base my format for writing on the formats already established in the roleplay.
For example, if there is a shorter posting requirement that's a little more relaxed, I tend to write out my characters dialogue, observations, and actions like you would see in a novel or story book. I feel that when text is broken apart by different speakers and when starting a new idea or observation, it's easier to read.


When I'm writing to meet a particularly large quota or paragraph requirement, however, or when actions and observations need to be divided for a particular reason at the request of the GM, I write in paragraph form, like you would see in an essay. It's not as easy to ready, but I do think it's easier for the GM to monitor paragraph count as well as displaying the division between action and observation.


In the end, it's up to your preference and writing style. Speaking from my experience actually reading YOUR posts from Simple Slumber, I think your writing style is perfectly readable and easy to understand, so I wouldn't worry about it so much

Thank you Saturnity!~ All the different style of writing always gets to me and it can get confusing, especially with different styles thrown in different rps. But I think that is what's fun about rps. It is reassuring that my writings is understanding to other people