Forward
To those of you who cant Role Play dont be scared, and if your not scared then good for you. This guide is for all, not just people who want to learn how to rp. Everyone can benifit from it. I wrote this guide becuase i have heard that a lot of people do not know how to RP. many people are the reason for this guide, but one person in particular put the idea over the top. this person has pretty much brought me back to Role Playing in the last weeks, making me want to RP more, and write better. So i say heres to you.
Thanks Katsu.
Chapter 1
What exactly is Role Playing? Playing a fictional role in a story? a lot of typing? Role Playing is Taking the role of a character in a Role Play, and turning it into something all your own. No one else will RP the same as you. RPing is all about Feeling, detail, and originality. Sure other parts might play a minor role, but these are the three major ideas. In this section you will see how to write an RP. Most people know how to do this, but very few can do it well. In the coming chapters a lot of other details will be explained, but the basics you need to know will be covered in the first two only. Enjoy.
The first thing you need to do when writing an Rp, is point out where you want it to go. An Rp can go many places: horror, romance, adventure, war, and so many more. You need to have a general direction when writing your Rp or you will find yourself going every which way with it. Every Rp is the same in only one way: they are all based off the same system of major points.No one will write the same rp as you, unless they are stealing your story, or you are stealing theirs. When writing an Rp, Make sure the opening Line cathes the readers eye. Make it very detailed, and very original. For example something like this..
" The soft white snow settled on the ground around the oak tree, covering the beauty of the crumpled brown and yellow leaves that lay on the rugged forest floor."
..It uses detail, while blending it together with the originality of the setting. If you catch your readers eye, they will continue to read becuase they like it.
As well as catching your readers eye, keeping them interested is also a big part of a successful Rp. Dont just stop using detail after the first sentence. Keep it going. This is where the direction of your story comes in, make a back ground for your story. Something to throw into the body of the opener of the Role Play.
Do not use your character in the opener. The opener, which is the begining part of writing your Rp the opening story which comes before you write all the rules and template of your Rp, is the most important part of your Rp. It is the background for you story, not your character. Writing your story is about puting your heart and mind into what you are writing, and having fun.
Use lots of detail in the important areas and little detail in the minor areas. This does not mean you need to take an hour to describe what your house looks like in the Rp. It simply means you take a litte time aside to describe a couple major things about the house, maybe old shutters with cracks in them, about to fall off the hinges from old age. Here is an example of what the opener would look like with everything i have talked about so far...
"The soft white snow settled on the ground around the oak tree, covering the beauty of the crumpled brown and yellow leaves that lay on the rugged forest floor. A cool wind blew the frosty winters air past the old house that lay on the forests edge. The front door slammed shut as a shaggy haired older man stepped through it's door. Home from a long day of work. birds chirpped in the dark front yard while the bright orange sun began to set over the dark green mountains in the distance."
Note: The old man in the opener is not a character.
Note: The old man in the opener is not a character.
..This of course is only the first paragraph of your opener. The second paragraph should be about the a little longer than the first and should include a cliff hanger ending, which is pretty much just leaving your story open for a lot more to Rp on.
In the next chapter i will cover templates and what not to do in an Rp. Keep a look out for it.