Any tips

[Beoreson]

Does anyone have any tips for stretching out the RP sample. Thank you for responding.

[Llau]

Use description...describe what you see, do, hear, feel, etc, and not just dialogue. You should be fine. Feel free to look through other people's profiles that have been accepted and read their rp samples to get an idea. Just don't copy what they did.

[Deleted]

Detail, detail, detail. Describe battles, describe your characters emotions, etc.

[Samuel Murray]

As the others said, detail is really important, just like anything you write it's good to describe and show how your character reacts, talks, fights, etc. Instead of telling, I have a thread somewhere with writing links that can really help if you'd like.

[BasedGoody]

What Llau said is straight truth. I can't count the amount of other people's samples I read before making my first character(s).

[☯Wᴏʟғε (ง︡'-'︠)ง]

I love doing fight scenes because of the amount of detail you can add in. You have the lead up to it, the fights themselves, and then the after effect. But you mix that with adding in characters feelings, environment description, ect. and your RP sample can pretty much be as long as you want it to be.

[Cheddar]

I'll just throw my two cents in here and echo some things people before me said.

Detail detail detail. Even though everyone already said it, I hope everyone keeps on saying it, lol, because it really is that important. Im sure you know this (you'd better by the time you scroll down this far ) but I just want to reiterate.

Another thing I've found helpful, just for writing in general, is research. Whatever the topic is, there is always more information to find out about it. Whether you find it by reading through Approved Profiles to see what they did right, or by hitting up Google and searching around a bit, knowing more about what you're talking about can't hurt.

For instance, say you're writing a hand-to-hand combat scene? Look up some MCMAP stuff. Writing a scene where someone is at a bar ordering drinks? Look up bartending terms or different mixed drinks. I just find it to be extremely helpful to have ample information on hand when I write. I may not use it all but at least it's there.

Hope that something I've said will be of some small use to you, catch you around - Alex

[SPARTAN-A120]

I got plenty of tips. Q-Tips, Fingertips, tips from the waiter and waitress, tipsy bartender, T.I.P., gaming tips, drawing tips, dating tips.

All jokes aside...

Everyone who responded provides the essentials.
On a personal matter, I would structure my posts as if I were to write an essay. Yes, I actually outline my posts so sue me.

My structure:

-Topic: Self explanatory

-Insert any of the 5 senses that are applicable. E.g. I saw blue plasma, I smelled burning flesh, I heard gunfire, I tasted blood on my lips, I felt the heat from the plasma grenade, etc...

-Dialogue: Is your character being interacted by a text that is colored like this? Do you have any thoughts? Interact with PCs and NPCs. Make the responses agreeable.

-Actions: Are you under fire? Taking a break? Sitting down? Gazing at the stars? Etc...

Write whatever is at the top of your head at first. Then go back and delete or add to your ideas. Build the bulk of your paragraphs with whatever necessary. Details. Be analytical and visualize it in your head. You could even write a paragraph just about what your character is thinking for a clearer explanation of the situation. His battle plans, what he plans to do. Running scenarios throughout his head.

Sometimes you won't be able write long posts consistently. But that's not bad. Short can be simple and powerful.

On top of this, let the creativity flow freely. And if you're stumped, ask questions. Like you did in this thread.

[David]

Details, as many have said.

Research: Do research on what you want. It shows resourcefulness as well as effort on your part.

Don't be afraid to ask questions: Need a question answered? Ask! We are here to help.

[SuperCommando]

One strategy you can use for drawing out an RP sample is to imagine it like a writing a chapter of a book. It depicts an event (or multiple events in sequence) that as a whole forms its own short, self-contained story. Now, all stories include a beginning, middle, and end, so make sure you use each of those three parts. The beginning should have some sort of hook that gets the reader interested in the forthcoming RP sample, the middle should contain the bulk of events you want to describe, and the ending should have a conclusion that wraps it all up.

By planning out your RP sample as an entire "chapter" or short story, you gain more space to fill with content instead of simply making the RP sample be one little scene.

As an example of how to do your RP sample like that, here's one I'm particularly proud of that I wrote for a profile a long time ago:

yappashalorpg.proboards.com/post/82903/thread

[HollowSaber]

Saying detail is nice, but what kind of detail?

Well, close you eyes or look out a window. Stand outside and let your senses tell you where you are. Feel the heat of the sun, inhale the scent of the air, and take in the colors of the world. If you want to increase your detail, use all five senses as a basis for what your details are going to be. What does your Character hear, see, and feel?

You also want to describe the world around them. Put us into their mind, tell us what they're thinking or what they think of something they've seen. If your character sees a Grunt explode, describe the sight, and then give us a look at what your character thinks of the sight. It's difficult to fully relate to some things, so use yourself as a foundation. If you saw someone blow up in front of you or get shot, what would you do? It's easier to do this and get into the player's head if you flush out their personality.

If it's a fight, describe what your character does, how they come to the conclusion of that decision, and how they view their opponent.

Write your posts as if you were describing a movie to someone who can't see. Paint a picture.

[Dufflepud]

Feb 21, 2015 18:14:41 GMT -6 HollowSaber said:

Saying detail is nice, but what kind of detail?

Well, close you eyes or look out a window. Stand outside and let your senses tell you where you are. Feel the heat of the sun, inhale the scent of the air, and take in the colors of the world. If you want to increase your detail, use all five senses as a basis for what your details are going to be. What does your Character hear, see, and feel?

You also want to describe the world around them. Put us into their mind, tell us what they're thinking or what they think of something they've seen. If your character sees a Grunt explode, describe the sight, and then give us a look at what your character thinks of the sight. It's difficult to fully relate to some things, so use yourself as a foundation. If you saw someone blow up in front of you or get shot, what would you do? It's easier to do this and get into the player's head if you flush out their personality.

If it's a fight, describe what your character does, how they come to the conclusion of that decision, and how they view their opponent.

Write your posts as if you were describing a movie to someone who can't see. Paint a picture.

Absolutely one hundred percent this. Even if you think you've done this enough, rather than adding more content to the end of your RP sample, read back through each scene and think of ways to add more descriptive detail. Only add more actual events when it would be ridiculous or gratuitous to add more description (this is a very rare occurrence on a first draft).

Examples:

Lets say I started with this paragraph:

"Major Vuros Katolai descended from his phantom dropship via its gravity lift, his lance landing soon after as he took a moment to asses his surroundings. Forest sprawled out all around, obscuring vision in all directions, but the sounds of intermittent battle could be heard nonetheless. Their objective was in the north; a human base that had defied the might of the covenant for some time. Even so, Vuros was confident that it would be purged that day under the weight of their holy onslaught. His first subordinate, a Sangheili minor by the name of Ashoka stepped forward to stand beside his commander.

"Major, what are your orders?""

Now, that isn't terrible (if I do say so myself xP). However, if I've written 250 words in this manner, and I need to bump it up, I should go back to scenes like this and add as much as possible rather than trying to fit in more plot points. Adding more events isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you should only do it if you're also going to flesh those out too. 

Here's how I would make the above paragraph much, much better.

"Stepping into the gravity lift from the tight confines of his phantom dropship, Major Vuros Katolai instantly experienced the sweeping jolt of simultaneous freefall and weightlessness that never ceased to set his blood ablaze. Even so, the softly incandescent field that guided him gently to the planet surface, as if by the hand of some ever vigilant deity, was the last comfort he would experience before the grueling efforts of war would begin. As his hooves touched down onto the vegetation-strewn forest floor of the garden world onto which they had been deployed, Vuros took a moment to assess his surroundings. While he had heard the dull pounding of human artillery grow steadily louder as their vessel had approached, now it had become a crackling roar that split the heavens themselves. Underneath, one could hear the staccato chatter of Human small arms mingling with the pulse of plasma fire, intermittently piercing the deathly silence that permeated the grove within which his lance was now beginning to array itself. In every direction stood towering, tree-like monoliths, not unlike those of the vale of Vuros' homeward, with leafy branches spiraling outward to block all vision beyond a few dozen meters. Their bark-like surfaces and green, leaf-like plumage were yet unscarred. As he breathed in, he was overcome by the gut churning stench of death. Aside from the sterile smell of the corridors of a starship, it was possibly the only scent his nose had detected over the past several months of their current campaign.

Their objective was in the north; a human base that had defied the might of the covenant for some time. Even so, Vuros was confident that it would be purged that day under the weight of their holy onslaught. His first subordinate, a Sangheili minor by the name of Ashoka stepped forward to stand beside his commander. He was of slight build, just under eight feet and still quite young. Even so, his armor and hide displated their fair share of battle scars, and Vuros had come to trust that the Minor's piercing golden eyes missed nothing. He would make a fine major, and beyond if the gods favored him.

"Major, what are your orders?" he asked, his tone one of utmost difference."


It starts and ends in pretty much the exact same place, but I've managed to get a lot more across, both about the setting, the NPCs, and arguably most importantly, the voice of the character who's perspective I'm writing from. It's not the best bit of writing I've ever done, and you by no means need to make your characters and RP posts perfect, but you should shoot for a couple of things:

1) Give people details to work with and expand on. It's much easier and (more fun) to RP together when everyone's envisioning the same situation.

2) Actually develop your character and their voice. Don't just use them as a mindless robot to advance the plot.

3) Use description to make your character/post interesting to read. As I said, it doesn't need to be of exceedingly high quality, but if every RP post was written like the first example, it would be a lot harder to get through a huge thread full of posts to get the information needed to write one's own. This also makes mods more likely to invest the time in reading your profile in one sitting, therefore making it have a higher chance of getting accepted quickly xP.

I hope that's helpful! :-)

[Beoreson]

Thanks everyone for the tips, my Sangheili minor is on the way to having a Backstory.