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Posting Ettiquette
Topic Started: Mar 27 2008, 12:15 AM (20 Views)
Princess Angela the Forgotten
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Okey dokey, guys. Sit down, relax, and beware my wrath, for here we go on my first official rant of Salems Untold Town! Please read this through, there's a lot of information here.

Post Length

This is not an uncommon problem, I think we all have it at times, and I'm frequently a sufferer of "aieeeeeeeeee-what-the-hell-can-I-write??" syndrome [AWTHCIWS].

However... I'm not going to be allowing any more one liners, or even two liners through. If you can't make a decent post, you probably shouldn't be posting, and this applies to mass-member topics in particular (more on that later..)!

But because I love you all, and I know how difficult it is... and how often I myself have done it... here's a few things I run through my mind when I think that Aayla is going to kill me for doing such a short and stupid post.

For example: [Meri's friend Adele is sick, she doesn't know how to react.]

What I'd write before getting stuck:

Meri stared at her, unsure of what to say.


If you're having trouble filling in lines in the posting box, consider these things:

1. What is my character feeling right now?
What your character feels is just as important as what they're reacting to, what they can see, and what they are saying. Let's add a little of that in.

Meri stared at her, unsure of what to do. The same sinking feeling was settling back into her stomach. Tears of confusion pricked her eyes, sympathy for Adele... hopelessness at her own stupid situation.

That's looking better... but wait! As Demtel says, "There's more!"

2. Why does my character feel that?
As with everything, it's entirely illogical to have a character who is angry, just for the sake of you writing it. Though these characters are fictional, the game is much better played at a semi-realistic level. Everyone has thought processes, try and go through a few with your character.

Meri stared at her, unsure of what to do. The same sinking feeling was settling back into her stomach. She'd never been this scared that she could lose Adele before, and that alone was terrifying. Adele had always been such a strong woman, so confident... Meri felt sorry for her. She didn't like being cooped up in stupid places like hospitals any more than Meri did. In here... they were helpless. It sucked.

Now we can see (even for those of you who haven't seen this sequence of posts, and yes it does exist) a little background information on Adele, and even more on Meri. As I play both Meri and Adele, I'm allowed to insert bits and pieces on the other character... remember, you're not allowed to make up someone elses history!

3. What does my character look like?
This is so important, and so often forgotten. A little description goes a long way...especially in the posting box. Just add a few minor details... what they're wearing, the colour of their hair... any special features. You should know these, as they were written at the time of your application! If you've forgotten, all accepted applications are now in The History Book.

Meri stared at her, unsure of what to do. The same sinking feeling was settling back into her rounded stomach. She'd never been this scared that she could lose Adele before, and that alone was terrifying. Adele had always been such a strong woman, so confident... Meri felt sorry for her. She didn't like being cooped up in stupid places like hospitals any more than Meri did. In here... they were helpless. It sucked.

She fiddled with a loose piece of hair, winding the dark brown string around and about her finger until the sections turned white, her grey eyes glancing back up to the bed every now and then, as if hoping to see her well again. She wasn't, of course. Meri went back to looking glumly at her rounded stomach.


As you can see, it's getting pretty lengthy already. It's at about the stage where it would be considered a "proper" post. It has description, interest, and it's of a quality size. Can we add more...? Sure we can!

4. Outside Influences.
Already in this post, Adele is a huge influence on how Meri is going to react. Most of what has been written before you should give you some clue on what is going on, and some ideas on what to write for your character. But what of the little things? The things that haven't been mentioned? Things like... weather factors, physical irritations, things your character might find funny, things that may bring up memories... there's a never ending list of these.

Meri stared at her, unsure of what to do. The same sinking feeling was settling back into her rounded stomach. She'd never been this scared that she could lose Adele before, and that alone was terrifying. Adele had always been such a strong woman, so confident... Meri felt sorry for her. She didn't like being cooped up in stupid places like hospitals any more than Meri did. In here... they were helpless. It sucked.

She fiddled with a loose piece of hair, winding the dark brown string around and about her finger until the sections turned white, her grey eyes glancing back up to the bed every now and then, as if hoping to see her well again. She wasn't, of course. Meri went back to looking glumly at her rounded stomach.

With one hand, she moved about in the wheelchair, nerves grating as she passed over the gap in the horrible green linoleum. Why have such a disgusting pattern in a hospital?? Was it supposed to induce vomiting or something? Meri shook her head, and pushed herself even further.. her arm hurt now. Bloody chair... wasn't worth the trouble, really. She'd be glad to get rid of it. And away from the air-conditioner... it was nearly minus zero... or so it felt.


5. Dialogue
Yes... finally here! The bit where you get to say something! Remember, you can say things without actually making your character speak! Body language is a huge factor here, tone of voice helps too... if you're having trouble with what your character does, pretend you are them for a moment. Pull a face that would be like them, speak in a way which you think they would. I pull faces at the computer all the time, I've been doing it as I write here! The more accurately you can understand your characters emotions and expressions, the better you can write them.

Meri stared at her, unsure of what to do. The same sinking feeling was settling back into her rounded stomach. She'd never been this scared that she could lose Adele before, and that alone was terrifying. Adele had always been such a strong woman, so confident... Meri felt sorry for her. She didn't like being cooped up in stupid places like hospitals any more than Meri did. In here... they were helpless. It sucked.

She fiddled with a loose piece of hair, winding the dark brown string around and about her finger until the sections turned white, her grey eyes glancing back up to the bed every now and then, as if hoping to see her well again. She wasn't, of course. Meri went back to looking glumly at her rounded stomach.

With one hand, she moved about in the wheelchair, nerves grating as she passed over the gap in the horrible green linoleum. Why have such a disgusting pattern in a hospital?? Was it supposed to induce vomiting or something? Meri shook her head, and pushed herself even further.. her arm hurt now. Bloody chair... wasn't worth the trouble, really. She'd be glad to get rid of it. And away from the air-conditioner... it was nearly minus zero... or so it felt.

Her eyelids flew up, completely open as the bruised (but not broken, the left was broken) hand moved slightly on the bed. Slowly but surely, the bottom lip slipped out from under the upper, and she bit it. Cautiously, Mer reached out onto the bed, and prodded Adele's shoulder.

'A.. A... Are you awake?' she gulped, her voice wavery.


Now look at that! It's beautiful! Well.. it would be if I took the time to edit out all the crappy D&M stuff I wrote. It is only an example, and hopefully will help you flesh your little posties out in future. I don't see the help of ranting to you endlessly on what needs fixing... let's learn to fix it! Anyone else who has ideas is welcome to post those below this rant.

Princess Angela's Tip: If in doubt... write shit! The important bit is that you write. Eventually it will make sense!

Posting Ettiquette.

There is such a thing... and as others will tell you, I'm the worst for this as well.

When writing in Mass-Member topics (ie... topics with more than two or three characters playing) it is polite to allow some time before you post again. For instance (and this happened, I'm afraid), in a staff topic at Yarra, we had:

April
Anna
Adelaide/April
Meri
Adrian
April
Meri
Adrian
Meri
Adrian
Meri
Adrian
Meri
Adrian....

Do you see what the problem here is? Not only have Meri and Adrian submitted some of their worst posts due to lack of time spent on them, but they've also forced April's player to read through their posts in order to find out what is going on. It isn't fair on the other players, and though "Posting Spree's" are all good and fun, they aren't easy to cope with in a topic that has several things happening at once.

Just try not to get over excited... and write decent length posts. Generally, for the activity that happens in 15-16 "spree" posts, you can usually write about two or three decent length ones.

Formatting.

This isn't huge.. it just makes posts easier to read. All I want, is a different paragraph for any talking. ie:

Bad Example:

Luke shifted in his seat, looking about the classroom in confusion. What they were doing, he didn't know... he hadn't been listening either, which was probably something he should have been doing. It wasn't his fault the teacher had a boring voice. He spotted a girl who seemed to know what she was doing. 'What are we supposed to be doing?' he asked, leaning over the table to check her book.

Good Example:

Luke shifted in his seat, looking about the classroom in confusion. What they were doing, he didn't know... he hadn't been listening either, which was probably something he should have been doing. It wasn't his fault the teacher had a boring voice. He spotted a girl who seemed to know what she was doing.

'What are we supposed to be doing?' he asked, leaning over the table to check her book.


In the second one, we can see what Luke is saying more easily. The first one hides what he's saying, and is more likely to be confusing to other players.

Angela's Pet Posting Peeves.

Remember your character is to be written in Third Person. Instead of:

I walked to the shop. Have He/She walked to the shop.

It is also in past tense. Rather than:

Meri walks into the shop and buys a bag of chips. Have Meri walked into the shop and bought a bag of chips.

Actions are to be written in words, not expressed as they would be in a chat room. Example, instead of writing:

*hits over head with concrete piping* Have Cedrick hit the man over the head with some concrete piping.

That's all I have to say today... you guys (for all my ranting) are really doing well. I just want us to be the absolute best we can be! Keep your eyes on the position counters at the bottom of the page, admire our greatness! We don't want visitors coming here, and thinking we're a place of one-liners... because we aren't.

Angela's Serious Warning: All one and two liner posts will be deleted without warning from now on.

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