Creating A Quality IC Post
From An Evolution in RP :: Database
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Creating a believable character sometimes isn’t as easy as it sounds. For some it comes natural, for others it takes a bit of work, but either way it takes effort. Creating a character takes more than just filling out the questions on the bio application. It takes more than just a history and facts. It takes knowing your character inside and out. For some, that comes later, after the application process, letting scenarios and interaction with other players help build the character.
When the epiphany of your next character hits you, think about it a few days before jumping the guns and throwing an application up. The first thing that typically comes to you is the history, how your character grew up. Here, we try to stay away from cliché’s. The ‘Empire killed all my family so now I want revenge’, though over played everywhere, can’t really be put into effect here anyway because of where we are in the Story. But there are still plenty of cliché’s a writer can fall into if he or she is not careful. One thing that could help is trying to create something different. Yes, everything’s almost been done one way or another, but trying to be unique helps the character come out less “cliché”.
Once the history has been fleshed out a bit, personality plays a role. Typically, the history comes first because from the history you’d be able to gage what kind of personality your character would have after enduring whatever it is he or she endures in what life they’ve lived so far. Again, stay away from an all powerful character. Even military characters have weaknesses, but be careful not to fall into a trap here as well. A lot of players will make their character weaknesses piloting, drinking, women, sex, arrogance. . . while they are all good, they are all over done. They are cheap ways out of really thinking of some distinct weaknesses. And ‘tricks’ to get your character as powerful as possible while still providing the BAC with some weaknesses. Yes, it’s probably been done in the past. Doesn’t mean it’s expected or okay to do it now.
Lastly, put yourself in your character’s shoes. Simple, every day questions like: What makes them the most angry? What makes them happiest? What was their proudest moment in life? What do they love to eat? Favorite hobby? A site that could help with this kind of character creation thinking is http://www.pgtc.com/~slmiller/characterdevelopment.htm
What is show versus tell? Sometimes it isn’t so easy to pick out, nor is it easy to define. I will do my best. Readers typically prefer “show” writing, versus “tell” writing. Though “tell” writing is needed from time to time and is completely okay to use, it must come in moderation.
“Show” writing brings the reader into the story as if they were there. For instance, instead of telling the reader:
It was cold outside. A torch was the only form of light. Betsy felt angry. All of these, you are telling the reader. Showing would be more like:
'*' A brisk wind frosted her breath, sending the flames of the single lamp post dancing. Her fists curled, jaw set and eyes ablaze with fury.
Sometimes it isn’t so easy to see the difference. Typically, if you find yourself reading a bunch of action by pure command and nothing else, it’s typically telling. Descriptions can fall into this trap as well. Not only does it turn out to be “tell” writing, but you start throwing in Infodumps. For example:
An over stuffed chair sat to the right of the room. A few pictures hung on the wall. A messy bed lay in the center of the room over an ornate rug. To the right of the bed, a nightstand. There was only one window, shielding the outside with its ivory curtains. A bench rest at the end of the bed, several piles of clothing strewn over it. The entrance to the washroom was near the dresser, which sat across from the large holo-tube hung on the wall.
While this can sometimes be okay it is usually looked as ‘bad’ to put in one large paragraph. What is typically suggested is to move the descriptions around while you’re writing your story.
'*' Laura gazed out her singular window in the cramped room before letting the curtain fall back into place. She sighed. “Another dreary day.”
Adam shrugged, throwing himself on the messy bed behind him. “It’s been raining for days, what did you expect?”
“I don’t know. Some sun would have been nice,” she said, moving to the small bench at the foot of the bed and pushing off a pile of dirty clothes. Laura sat down fiddling with fingers, a frown curling the corners of her lips. This was not how she wanted to spend this day.
“Maybe some holo-vision will cheer you up!” Adam sprang to his feet, flipping on the over sized holo-tube hung on the wall.
Laura glared at the ornate rug below her feet, following a golden thread woven around in some strange design. “Not really.”
So, just an example, not all details are necessary. Pick and choose what is the most important. What can the reader live without knowing? What must it know for the story to make sense or be intriguing? Also, notice in the example, instead of saying simply: “Laura was frustrated.” (which is telling, but again using this isn’t always bad . . .) I used a different way of “showing” she was frustrated. ‘Laura sat down, fiddling with her fingers, a frown curling the corner of her lips. . . “
Again, it can sometimes be a fine line between the two, and “tell” writing isn’t necessarily bad. You must learn to know when to use which, remembering that “show” writing typically makes the story more interesting and grabs not only the readers attention, but emotion as well. I’d much prefer to read:
'*' Billy snarled at Adam, waving an angry fist. Rage consumed ever ounce of him. He could feel the sweat on the palm of his hands. His own heartbeat throbbed in his throat. With pressing strength, Billy launched himself at Adam with a feral growl. Though Adam tried to duck, Billy slammed into him, sending them both sprawling to the floor.
Versus
'*' Billy was pissed at Adam. He glared at the other, ready to pound him to the ground. He ran at him, and they started to fight.
While I did my best to come up with some examples, the following link provides some more information and even better examples. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/showing.htm
'*' These are just examples which may not do the point justice.
Punctuation can be a tricky thing until you've got it down. At least, it was for me. When do I use a comma with dialog? A period? And what is it with the question mark?
The best way I can teach any of this is really just to give you good versus bad examples.
Bob smiled and said, "Hi, how are you today?"
Here, you have him doing an action but than state he says something. Notice the comma. I didn't have a period there, because you said he's about to say something. Anytime you have something like "He said, replied, answered . . ." or any variation that means he's speaking, you will have a comma between that and the dialog.
Bob smiled. "Hi, how are you today?"
This is where I always got confused. Just because you have something written before dialog does not mean you use a comma. Here, I did not use any sort of "voicing" word (like 'said). I simply have an action, which is followed by a period before the dialog.
The same thing works if dialog is first.
"Hi, I'm Bob," said Bob, smiling.
Yes it may look funny with two comma's, but that is the correct way. If you state the character is saying it, there is always a comma that separates the dialog from the statement of it being said. ALSO very important is the fact SAID is not capitalized. This works even if the dialog ends with a question mark but you still say "said" afterwards. Example:
"What's your name?" he asked.
See how 'he' is not capitalized as if starting a new sentence? Even though you use a question mark, you treat it as if it were the comma since you stated he asked or said or shouted, etc. Now, take note a question mark is really the only form of punctuation other than a comma you can use when following the dialog with a 'he said, she shouted, he whispered, she replied'. You would not write it like this:
"Holy smokes!" shouted Dan.
If you want an exclamation point to make it known to the reader how excited the character is, just don't put a 'he said' after it. You could simply do an action, or nothing at all. Some writers forget you don't need to point out who is saying what every single dialog line. This tends to happen:
Jenny walked up to Chris. "Hey, what's up?" she asked.
Chris whispered, "Not much, you?"
"I don't know," said Jenny.
"Ok. Want to have lunch then?" he asked.
Jenny shrugged. "Not sure."
"Well, you leave me no choice then," shouted Chris.
After the first few "Jenny said, Chris said's" you could just go back and forth, instead of spelling it out to the reader. Not only does this way make the reader feel like the writer thinks they're too stupid to follow along, it reads much better.
Jenny walked up to Chris. "Hey, what's up?"
"Not much, yourself?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"OK. Want to have lunch then?"
She shrugged. "Not sure."
"Well, you leave me no choice then."
Take notice of the way punctuation is used with action and without action in the above example. Now one thing I did not mention was if you have the characters name after the dialog. Obviously, their name would not be lower case. It would be like this:
"Hey, I know you," Jenny said.
Versus:
"Hey, I know you," jenny said.
Another good place that also explains how to write thoughts properly is here: http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/page25.html
typos, spelling errors, there, their, they're...
Here are just a few things that we expect you to follow at all times while posting "in character" at SWE. It is not a complicated list, and should be something simple enough for even a novice writer to follow.
Although we do not really want to impose a minimum posting length, we do ask that you make your in character posts at least 2 paragraphs long (minimum of 6 full sentences in each) There is nothing worse then spending loads of time writing a good post to have a one-liner in reply. Sometimes this is not always possible; however repeat offenders will be limited in adding characters and with some involvement within the story.
Here are just a few things to consider when actually writing a post. Just writing a speech response and a few actions never makes for a very long or interesting post. However including some things from the list below, you should be able to create a more interesting post.
Take into account the characters surroundings. It doesn't matter if they are on a ship, in the woods, at their home, or walking down the street.
Here is a brief over view of some considerations about surroundings:
- Where are they?
- What are they doing there?
- What can they see around them?
- What part of the day is it?
- What is your characters reaction to their surroundings?
- Is there any weather affecting their actions or mood?
- What is the populace like around them; lots of people, few people?
Is there anyone else around? What do they look like? What are they doing? What are they wearing? What is your characters reaction to the people around them?
What are they wearing? What are they doing there? What is their current mood?
Who is your character there to talk to? How would their reason to be there effect the way they interact? Is their mood going to change the way they might interact?
