Roleplay Writing Guide

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Introduction

This is by no means a guide to grammar, spelling and diction; those, you've got to learn on your own. However, this might help those who are not used to roleplaying understand how roleplay differs from solo writing, and how they can adapt their technique for the game.

Leading Your Partner Forward

A big difference in roleplay versus normal prose is that you're collaborating with another person or several individuals. These individuals do not know where you intend to take the thread, nor do you know their intentions (in most cases), so context clues are necessary to let your roleplay partner know where you would like to take the story.

If you want the other characters to notice something, describe it in detail. By pointing it out specifically, you make sure that they know it's important to your story in some way. If you would like your partner to notice a painting hanging on the bedroom wall, describe the frame, the picture, even how it hangs.

Writing about the scene, or your own character, objectively can be a good way to cue your partner in to what you're thinking (as opposed to what your character is thinking). If you want your partner to know that your character is paranoid, mentioning this fact or showing it through actions might lead them to take advantage of that fact in-character.

Writing from a Character's Point of View

Although this game is third-person in almost all cases (with the exception of dream sequences or other experimental, non-RP literature), we use the Third-Person Limited approach to roleplaying. You, as the narrator, know only the feelings and thoughts of one, single character - yours. (The exception would be in certain cases with greenshirts, but in general, you use should convey their feelings and thoughts only through actions and words.) In all of your posts, your character is the main character and all the focus goes to them.

However, that doesn't mean you can't step outside of their viewpoint sometimes and write objectively. This is exercising your Author Voice. It's all right to admit when your character's logic is faulty, when they fail to notice something, or when they're acting contrary to their nature. It only helps to expand the character, and it lets the reader know that your character's traits are intentional.

Character Portrayal

We strive to make the Thorns community a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. One element of making this a safe space is to ensure that characters are not being portrayed in an insensitive, ignorant or offensive manner. While this applies to every character, it is particularly important with characters who are part of a minority group, be it based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, age, disability, or class status.

You need to do research to be able to play any character realistically, but research is particularly important when you are portraying someone from a different background than your own. Understand what stereotypes exist, and try to avoid them if possible. It can be difficult to understand the nuances of complicated issues involving minority status, but even basic fact-finding on the subject will help.

Even if your character is acting in a manner that perpetuates stereotypes (and sometimes this happens for justifiable reasons), the Author Voice should be knowledgeable and sensitive. For example, a common stereotype of bisexual people is that they are promiscuous. If you have a promiscuous bisexual character, you have created a situation where what you write could easily become offensive. Be aware of this, and counter it by educating yourself about what it's like to be bisexual; write your character as a real person with real emotions. Whatever you do, don't exploit their minority status as a gimmick, make it the character's entire identity, or use it to consciously perpetuate a stereotype.

Please note the distinction between playing a flawed character who happens to be a member of a minority group, and playing that character as an offensive stereotype, tying their character flaws in with their minority status. The way you narrate your character's journey through the game is important. If you come across as judgmental or ignorant, you run the risk of alienating readers, spreading harmful stereotypes, and hurting the Thorns community.

This is not to say you should avoid playing characters who are part of a minority group. We encourage players to tackle tough subjects. You shouldn't be afraid of offending anyone as long as you take the time to educate yourself, and approach the character with an open mind.

Dialogue and Diction

The first thing to understand is that while we do like players to put time and thought into their posts, there is no desperate need to fill space. If you don't have anything you feel you need to say, it's fine to write a short post and wait for the opportunity to say more.

Because this is roleplay, one has to give one's roleplay partner a fair chance to respond to your character. Posting a lot of dialogue in one post is, as mentioned in the Roleplay Etiquette page, confusing and sometimes perceived as rudeness; you are not giving their character a chance to be realistic and respond naturally, and the dialogue might seem stilted and nonsensical as a result. Be concise enough with your character's dialogue so that it does not flood the other poster with too many things to respond to. If you get into a quote-fest, this is an indication that you are writing too many lines of dialogue that require responses!

Written-out phonetic dialects should be used very carefully. It is a good idea to restrict these to minor characters who would get no real description otherwise. If you use this for your main character, you will become trapped into the odd spellings and apostrophes, unable to stop even when you are quite tired of it. It's also very laborious to read dialogue where the author has decided to be phonetic. Keep it simple!

Remember to use period-specific diction; choose your words carefully. People don't usually speak like they write, but in this time period speech is often more formal, even in very casual, lowbrow communication. You are more free in dialogue to use sentence fragments and incomplete sentences, even run-ons, for effect. Avoid modern terms and turns of phrases that might not exist in this world setting.

Don't get too caught up in descriptions. Your character is described in your character sheet, so there is really no need to mention their physical appearance any more than once. Referring to your character as "the blue-eyed girl" or "the tall, stocky man" in every post will start the eyes rolling.

Internal Dialogue, Thoughts and Emotions

Sometimes your character doesn't have a lot to say or do in a single post, especially posts which are essentially utility posts - they move the action along so that another character can continue speaking or acting.

It might help to see these posts as opportunities to be more long-winded and explore your character's thoughts and emotions more than you might in other posts. For example, in an action-filled thread, it might be too unweildy to shove all of your character's action and all of their thoughts into a single post. Consolidating your exploration of your character's thought process might allow you to write cohesively and establish a specific point in a single thread - rather than meting out self-analysis in every post, where it might be swallowed up by action and dialogue.

Write about how your character feels about this situation, their specific thoughts, memories that crop up, their analysis of the action or another character, their opinions, desires and fears. Take time to explore what's going on in your character's head.

Actions and Emphasis

When your character is acting, try to be specific without describing every single little movement. It is not necessary to know that your character stood up, walked to the counter, lifted the milk jug, fetched a glass from the cupboard, carefully poured in some milk to the half-way mark, put the jug down, lifted the glass and brought it back to the table; it is sufficient to point out that they poured a half-glass of milk. Dwelling on an action's specifics in roleplay will lead the other writer to think that the action is significant, and they might mistakenly think you intend the detail to be important.

Don't try to do too much in a single post. A few individual actions over a relatively brief period of time is a standard post, giving your partner adequate time to react with their character to any action of yours that would have certainly inspired a reaction. (For example, don't take a swing at another character and then go play the piano.)

Motivation

In the sense of game continuity, is important to be able to explain and justify your character's major decisions. Why did he decide to become a spy? Why did she leave the big city for the small country town? These decisions will impact your future roleplay and the storylines you create with others.

But small, in-thread decisions matter, too. You never know when one small action will change the course of someone's storyline. Make sure your character has adequate motivation when engaging in any actions that affect outcomes; it may be called into question later on.

Have High Standards

It might go without saying for some, but - proofread your posts. Good writing is its own reward, but on Thorns we especially appreciate those who take pride in their craft and strive to improve themselves. Please don't think that because this is a role-playing game that we don't care about quality writing!