Roleplaying
All right, so you have created a roleplay. Or, perhaps you haven't; that is fine, too. You may be wondering,
How do I roleplay?
If you have never been part of a rolpelay, or seen a roleplay, here is a simple example.
Before the roleplay could start, you would need to establish the characters. Let's say that You, (User1) play the character "Sauron," a one-eyed jeweler. There are two other people in your roleplay, User2 and User3, who play "Gimli," a wood craftsman, and "Legolas," a luxury shampoo salesman, respectvely.
Next, we must know the setting and conflict. In this case, all of the characters work in shops at the corner of Middle Street and Earth Way. Gimli and Legolas get along with each other, but Sauron has been trying to steal their business. You start the roleplay with Gimli and Legolas confronting him about this.
User1: Sauron scowled at the two men in front of him, but knew that he could not lay a finger on them in the crowded street. His one good eye searched around for a means of distracting them.
User2: Gimli frowned and crossed his arms, watching the jeweler's eyes dart around, apparently looking for an escape.
User3: Legolas cleared his throat and said to Sauron, "We know you sent those Orc thugs to smash up our supplies."
User2: Gimli added, "And we also found our cash drawers raided."
User3: Sauron simply smiled and said, "My good friends, you have nothing to link those crimes to me, do you?"
The roleplay would continue as such as long as the users continued to post.
Roleplaying can be likened to acting, writing, or simply playing around. To describe it simply, you take on a character and write out what they do. This can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Roleplaying generally is not difficult, but different roleplays require different styles and writing. Sometimes this is a personal preference of the user, but it often influenced by the requirements of the thread creator. Some things to keep in mind while roleplaying are your writing style, the story, and the characters. While each user has their way of playing out the roleplay, all of them will strive to propel the story through their character. A proficient roleplayer, as defined by most users, regardless of the roleplay, will do this without hindering other players. A big part of roleplaying is playing cooperatively and working as a team with your fellow users.
Writing Style
Everyone has a different writing style. This can be great for roleplaying, because regardless of your own style, there will almost always be a roleplay to fit it. Aspects of a person style can relate to the length, syntax, perspective, and complexity of their posts. Many users can switch between styles, but it's all right if someone can't. It is important to remember that a person who writes short posts is not necessarily a bad roleplayer, and likewise that long posts, even those that have perfect spelling and grammar, are not necessarily good. When it comes down to it, the content of the writing is more important than the style. That said, style certainly has an influence on how the story comes across.
Perspective: I-she-he-it-you-we-them
The perspective of a post can tell you a lot about the character, and is important to keep in mind when roleplaying. Some people like to write in first person, others like to write in third person. A few even like to write in second person. To put it simply, first person perspective uses "I" or "We" and any form related to those terms, second person is "You," and third person is "She/He/It" or "They." Here are some examples:
Some users will alternate between different perspectives, and often all users of a particular roleplay will try to write either in third or first perspective. It can be confusing to write, or read, a roleplay where one user writes in first person and another in second. Imagine a book written like this:
Talia raced along the underbrush, looking back over her shoulder occasionally. She was alone, for now. I reached into my pouch and pulled out some magic beans, then whispered an incantation into my palm. Talia threw the magic beans on the ground and watched in amazement as a beanstalk grew. I opened my mouth and yelled up as it grew past my head. Talia's voice carried out beyond the beanstalk, where a magical chicken heard her call.
It is a bit grating to read (and not just because I didn't have any ideas for a one-paragraph story), isn't it? If there were two people in the story and one of them was narrating in first person, it would make more sense. In a roleplay, this can be especially confusing, because we have multiple characters, but some of them may be speaking as "I" while others are referred to in the third person. You need to know when to use a certain perspective, you need to keep it consistent throughout the roleplay, and all of the users should use the same perspective if you want to be clear. The only common exception to this is when the thread creator is writing an introduction (sometimes those may be in first or second person, even if the rest of the roleplay isn't), or when a character is speaking or thinking.
First Person
First person relays a character's thoughts; it is written as you might write a letter. For example: I am an apricot. Most likely, you would not be placing this particular sentence in a letter, but you get the idea. First person is a way for the writer to get more in touch with the character, and for the reader to feel more connected to them. However, some users dislike using first person for a few reason. First, when you have multiple characters, as in a roleplay, it can be confusing to remember which character is speaking, as the narrating character will not usually mention their name. For this matter, most users will state the character's name above them in the post. Another problem with writing in the first person is that you can only write about what your character knows and sees. If an enemy character is invisible, for example, you can't say that the enemy is invisible unless your character knows that. This is more problematic in writing books than in roleplays, as book narrators often need to be more omniscient than roleplay characters.
Second Person
Second person is the sort of style you see in those choose-your-own-adventure type of stories. If you need an example, read the opening on the main page of magistream, or any of the quests. Second person is often used in roleplays by thread creators to give the general plot of the roleplay to the users without naming specific characters. If the thread creator chooses to act as a narrator, similar to Dungeon Masters in Dungeons and Dragons games, then they might choose to narrate in second person. Apart from plot exposition, second person is not often seen in roleplays, and only rarely in books.
Third Person
Third person is the most common perspective to use when writing roleplays. It offers the user the ability to control their character as well as much of the surrounding environment. There are two types of third person perspective: omniscient and limited. Third-person limited focuses on only one character. If you use this mode, you are describing many of the same things as a user writing in the first-person, except that you use your character's name rather than "I." Third-person omniscient switches between characters, describing aspects of the environment unknown to the main character. In roleplays, the third-person mechanism most often used is a combination of the two. Each user will usually write in third-person limited on their character, though if they have multiple characters they may switch between them. When using the third person, a user can often describe their own characters' feelings and thoughts, but not those of the other users' characters. Like with second person, third person perspective can have its faults. Third person writing is not as personal as second person, and the characters may sound fake or unrealistic as a result. Power-playing and god-modding are occasionally more common in third-person writing because users have more control over other characters.
Length and Description: Too Much, or Too Little?
Much of what makes a story interesting and worth reading is the description. Observe the following:
1. The cat was gray.
2. Pern was an old silver tabby with short, balding fur and half of her tail missing, yet whose bright blue eyes shined young in an otherwise drooping face.
The second one tells you more about the character, and gives you a better image in your head than the first. Description is like paint to a canvas; not much is needed to show the picture, but there is a skill in balancing the right amount to use. Using too little description makes a story generic and bland, but using too much is almost as bad. If a writer goes on for paragraphs describing trivial details, the reader will grow bored and possibly confused. In roleplays, a good rule of thumb is to write your posts short enough to keep things moving, but long enough to cover the essentials.
Of course, your own writing style, the plot, and the characters have an effect on the amount of description in a post.
Matching the Post to the Plot
One of the most important things to remember in roleplaying is that everyone has their own definition of how much description is appropriate. I personally like long posts that illustrate details about the setting and characters, but some of this may seem unnecessary to other users. In some roleplays, the bare minimum of detail is expected to keep the posts moving.
Match the length and description of your posts as much as you can to the other users in your roleplay. It is rarely fun to spend time on lengthy descriptions when the other users in the roleplay will just skim over your post and respond with terse posts in kind. Conversely, it is irritating to make short, frequent posts when the other users in a roleplay will take longer to write out their responses. In either case, think about shortening or lengthening your posts, if you can.
Also remember that some characters may be more descriptive than others. If you have a first-person perspective for a character who is by nature discrete in their words, you don't have to write them as an Elizabethan poet.
How Can You Add More?
A frequent plague of roleplay writers is the dreaded writer's block. This can occur when a writer cannot find the inspiration to write adequate descriptions or move their plot along as they would like. It can be attributed to many causes -- tiredness, stress, a busy schedule, or sometimes just plain laziness -- but in roleplays, one common cause is insufficient detail in posts. This is a particularly difficult issue, because if one user succumbs to writer's block, others often find it more difficult to respond, and eventually everyone in the thread may get writer's block. In the worst cases, the roleplay shuts down because no one can think of a means of propelling the plot.
Luckily, there are several easy ways to expand your posts. If you feel like you are getting writer's block, first take a look at your post. What happens in the post? Is there some event, or are you just adding unnecessary "fluff" (that is, description for the sake of making your post flowery, rather than accomplishing some plot feature)? Can other users respond to your post, or is everything that happens specific to your character? If there are issues, how can your resolve them? Look back at previous posts if you have trouble coming up with answers to these questions.
Here is an example of how you might solve a problem post. Say you have written this:
Drake was a shiny red dragon who spent a lot of his time looking at his reflection in the lake.
You have a bit of good detail here, and you have established the character. However, nothing is happening in this post. Another user can parrot back your description, or add their own character's opinion of Drake, but we can give them some more interesting options. First, try to establish what your character is doing.
Drake was sitting near the lake, admiring the shiny red scales in his own reflection.
This is a bit better. Now, another character can stumble upon Drake as he looks at his reflection. They can interact, and Drake can get more involved in the plot. However, let's say that two other characters are fighting nearby. You can add more detail to your post by having Drake acknowledge the other characters, even if he doesn't interact with them (this allows you more options for future posts).
Drake was sitting near the lake, admiring the shiny red scales in his reflection, when a piercing roar shook the air. He looked up and saw Blaze and Storm chasing each other above the lake, spewing jets of fire at each other as they raced in circles.
This looks much better than your first post, and if you want, you can leave it at that. Alternatively, you could take the opportunity to expand on your character. We already know what Drake looks like, and his actions speak a little bit about his personality. However, we can give a better impression of this by describing how he reacts to the other dragons. In this case, ask yourself how well he knows the other characters, what he thinks of them, and what he thinks of their actions. How would he respond? This is a great time to consult your character form.
Drake was sitting near the lake, admiring the shiny red scales in his reflection, when a piercing roar shook the air. He looked up and saw Blaze and Storm chasing each other above the lake, spewing jets of fire at each other as they raced in circles. Drake snorted and blew a lazy plume of flame at the other two, irritated by the noise they were making, but unwilling to do much about it. They would leave soon, he thought, and if not, he could wait for a lull in their fight to go in and give them a piece of his mind.
You may not always fall into this pattern when trying to expand your posts, but remember to put yourself in your character's proverbial shoes and use the resources your have (such as your character form and the other users' posts) before you give in to writer's block.
How Can You Cut It Down?
Sometimes the problem is not that you aren't posting enough, but that you have spewed forth a great big mass of text that no one else in the roleplay has time to read. This can be a problem because no matter how much useful information is in your post, or how much time you've spent to make it beautiful, if it is too long, other users will rarely take the time to look through it. (Keep in mind that this trend changes in roleplays where every user is posting large blocks of text; the issue most often arises when one user in a non-literate or semi-literate roleplay posts three or four times as much text as any of the other users.)
Luckily, there are easy ways to cut down your post. Let's take another example:
Katrina laughed brightly and fluffed her shimmering bronze hair up into the sunlight. She looked quickly back at Stephaun and Samantha, then sped off to the edge of the glade, kicking up clumps of dirt in her wake as she ran through the long grass. The gentle morning dew felt cool against her small toes, and she laughed merrily again, enjoying the light, crisp air, the sounds of the forest, and the beaming joy inside her that made her want to sing. She was thrilled for no apparent reason other than because of the beautiful, clear, warm day, and spending time with her friends. The dark shadows of the tall trees cast a mottled, speckled pattern upon the ground as Katrina continued to run, making the forest floor spotted like a jungle cat's beautiful fur. Once, she nearly tripped over a mossy fallen log, but before it caught her feet, Katrina leaped over it gracefully and continued on her way until the long, green grass thinned out and the moist ground became soft and powdery, like sugar. Katrina slowed to a gradual halt and spun on her pointed heels, her skirt twirling colorfully, as she looked back happily at her friends on the other end of the cool glade and shouted eagerly to them, "Are you coming?"
If you read that whole text, I commend you. If not, don't worry; the important thing is knowing how to fix it, so if you just skimmed, that is all right. As you can see, very little actually happened in this post. All the character did was run to the edge of a glade; everything else was filler and flowery description. Sometimes this is all right, if, for example, you want to give a clear description of the scene. However, an unnecessarily long post is irritating to read, even in literate roleplays. If you encounter this problem, the first thing you'll want to do is get rid of any unnecessary clauses.
Katrina laughed brightly and fluffed her shimmering bronze hair up into the sunlight. She looked quickly back at Stephaun and Samantha, then sped off to the edge of the glade, kicking up clumps of dirt in her wake as she ran through the long grass. The gentle morning dew felt cool against her small toes, and she laughed merrily again, enjoying the light, crisp air[/s], the sounds of the forest, and the beaming joy inside her that made her want to sing[/s]. She was thrilled for no apparent reason other than because of the beautiful, clear, warm day, and spending time with her friends. The dark shadows of the tall trees cast a mottled, speckled pattern upon the ground as Katrina continued to run, making the forest floor spotted like a jungle cat's beautiful fur. Once, she nearly tripped over a mossy fallen log, but before it caught her feet, Katrina leaped over it gracefully and continued on her way until the long, green grass thinned out and the moist ground became soft and powdery, like sugar. Katrina slowed to a gradual halt and spun on her pointed heels, her skirt twirling colorfully, as she looked back happily at her friends on the other end of the cool glade and shouted eagerly to them, "Are you coming?"
This cuts the post down a bit and gets rid of some of the useless descriptions. We can also get remove a few the adjectives and other modifying words. There is a fine art to using adjectives, and it takes some time to realize when you should and should not write with them. If the description is already implied in other words, or if the adjective is redundant, it should probably be deleted.
Katrina laughed brightly and looked quickly back at Stephaun and Samantha, then ran quickly off to the edge of the glade. The gentle morning dew felt cool against her small toes, and she laughed merrily again, enjoying the light, crisp air. The dark shadows of the tall trees cast a mottled, speckled pattern upon the ground as Katrina continued to run, making the forest floor spotted like a jungle cat's beautiful fur. Katrina continued until the long, green grass thinned out and the moist ground became soft and powdery, like sugar. Katrina slowed to a gradual halt and spun on her pointed heels, her skirt twirling colorfully, as she looked back happily at her friends on the other end of the cool glade and shouted eagerly to them, "Are you coming?"
This makes the post a lot easier to read, because your train of thought isn't interrupted every few words by another descriptive modifier. You do not have to eliminate all of the adjectives, but certainly try to get rid of any that don't add to the story. For example, we don't need to know that the grass is green, or that Katrina's heels are pointy. Eliminate any redundant words, like "speckled," when we already know the pattern is mottled. Adjectives are fun to use because they can paint such a clear picture, but use them sparingly. If, for example, you still want to convey in our example that Katrina is eager to have her friends follow her, you may try to use a different word than "shout" -- "called," perhaps.
You can rearrange some of the sentences or alter the wording to make the post sound better. That leaves us with this condensed paragraph:
Katrina laughed and looked back at Stephaun and Samantha, then ran off to the edge of the glade. The morning dew felt cool against her toes, and she laughed again, enjoying the crisp air. The shadows of the trees cast a mottled pattern upon the ground as Katrina continued to run, making the forest floor spotted like a jungle cat. Katrina continued until the grass thinned and the ground became soft and powdery, then slowed to a halt. She spun on her heels as she looked back at her friends on the other end of the glade and shouted, "Are you coming?"
You can go further, if you like. This is about as long as you would ever want to make a post describing a simple action, unless you add another even. Also remember that if you do want to include a lot of action, you can always disperse it over multiple posts.
In any case, what you choose to write is entirely up to you, but try to keep in mind that roleplaying is a group effort -- the most important thing is to treat your fellow roleplayers with respect.