nimi

“𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦

Ep 26 + Ep 43

"You know, like when we were kids?"

If I ever see any of you in public, the code is “I like your shoelaces”

that way we know we’re from tumblr without revealing anything

I’m just going to say this to strangers until i find a tumblr person

must keep reblogering!! Im going to be so suspicious if any one tells me this now!

Remember the answer is: I stole them from the president.

Just about everyone in the RPC has been to the point where they have lost all inspiration and muse for their character and usually abandon ship or reboot in an attempt to get that flame back. I know I’ve been there on many, many, many occasions, but I feel that, as Rpers that immerse ourselves into the minds of characters, we forget what we’re actually doing: writing narratives in which our characters interact with others. We are authors, and the same way that media you consume can become bland, repetitious or soul crushingly boring, so can the act of rping. Muses end up in ruts, plots die and we lose sight of what makes a character a character. So at the risk of sounding like I know what I’m doing, I’m going to give a little helpful advise as the title states: how to get that flame back based off of my own experience as an rper.

At the risk of sounding like a drowned out writing professor, a lot of who aren’t in any actual literary field forget a very basic thing in our writing: character motivations. Sometimes we pick up muses just because they’re the #fave and or #problematic fave, make a blog, stay on it for a week to a month and then hop off. When creating a blog, or re-sparking a blog you already have, you only need to ask yourself three questions: What? Why? How?

What: what is my characters motivations? What do they want? Why: why does my character want that? Why is my character like this? How: How is my character going to get that? How are they being deterred?

Again, this is coming from someone who’s abandoned about a million blogs, has never taken a writing class outside of high-school and main motivations for this post is a four hour binge of a youtube media critic. Take everything with a grain of salt. Of course, you can use the simplified version three step program above and do what you will with it, but if you need a little extra help, I’ve got a word vomit.

I’ll be using two of my own Rp blogs in two various states of existence, a rival Barry from D/P/PLT @aspearbarry and a many-a-time rehashed portrayal of Grimsley from Black/White/2 @casaunova, for the purpose of this post.

Without further ado, here’s the line break

Since I’ve been learning a lot from my beta readers, I’d thought I’d share what I’ve learned (and just some general writing tips) here. (Mind you, this is just off the top of my head so not everything from the beta notes is included.)

- Besides themes find the “glue” that hold your story together. For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the glue was the Fire Nation War (and trying to stop it). This main goal was present throughout all four seasons, including in the side-quests. All characters had different motivations for teaching Aang, but the war kicked off all the events and was why Aang was learning the elements to begin with.

- In order to help the characters feel more like real people, have them react differently to the same event. For instance, when a character dies, Person A could be sad about it while Person B could be angry.

- Don’t be afraid to extend out scenes for tension.

- Have your character asks questions. Especially if they’re new to a place/culture.

- If you want to do a twist, drop small clues leading up to it, so it won’t come out of nowhere.

- Don’t have the characters share everything with each other.

- For research, try to find a video/source with a first-hand experience. For example, for anxiety, try and find a video with a person talking about what its like to have anxiety.

- It’s always good to have a second pair of eyes on your writing.

- When it comes to descriptions, use the five sense to help draw the reader in. Namely touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste.

- Have the character’s choices impact the plot, not the other way around. For instance, Aang running off after learning he was the Avatar was what allowed the Fire Nation to succeed in the war. 

- Find the main theme of your story (see chart) and revolve everything (character arcs, chapters, etc.;) around it. This will help cut out fluff chapters and make the writing more cohesive.

What is a rules page?

A rules page makes it clear what you want from an RP, what you do not want from an RP, and what people can expect while interacting with you. It’s a document you should make available to anyone looking to interact with you that can be referred back to, and should establish the groundrules for interacting. You wouldn’t play soccer without knowing the rules first. The same is true for RP. :) 

Rules pages can be easygoing, or particular. It’s best to keep a friendly tone, be welcoming, but recognize you are laying out your boundaries for interactions. The content of rules pages should be respected and understood prior to RPing.

Things you should include on a rules page:

Your preferred writing style (banter/one-liners, sentence, para, multi-para, novella)

Ages with which you will RP (ex: 18+)

Your own age

Your gender/preferred pronouns if desired

What people should call you (pseudonyms are just fine)

Any content you are unable or do not wish to RP

If you are crossover friendly between fandoms/fandomless OCs

If you are OC/Canon character friendly

When it is acceptable to contact you and how (IM, Askbox, other forms of communication)

Who can send asks, reblog what content, or like what content

Your activity level and the level of activity you are looking for (weekly replies, only on saturdays, etc.)

Any triggers you may need tagged/warning for

What sort of stories you are interested in writing (adventure, action, romance, plot-driven, slice-of-life, romance, etc…)

Your policy for writing nsfw content and who you will write it with

Your policy for character interactions (how to ship, what sort of relationships you want for your muse - rivals, friends, mentors, etc.)

Any other hard limits that are not negotiable

What is a Bio Page?

The bio page should be about the muse. It should contain all the basic information about them, as well as a general overview of their backstories or character arcs. These help people get a feel for your character and how you’ll be writing them, as well as starting points for potential plots. 

Even if you are writing a Canon character, you should have a Biography. People write their own take on Canon characters, and your biography should serve as indication of the direction you want to explore in writing that character, and what aspects of the character you plan to write more prominently.

What should you put on a Bio Page?

Begin with the Basics:

Muse’s Name

Muse’s Age

Muse’s Sex and Gender

Muse’s Sexuality (as applicable)

Muse’s Height and Build

Muse’s Nationality/Origin/Race/Species (as applicable)

Muse’s Religious Beliefs (as applicable)

Muse’s Political Beliefs (as applicable)

Backstory (can be split by verse if you interact in crossovers):

Who is your muse in their starting world? What do they do, where do they come from, what does their everyday life consist of? Where can your muse be found, what sort of initial character struggles do they have to contend with? What are your muse’s opinions of their life.

How the Bio Page helps you…