Post by Lali on Oct 9, 2006 6:16:26 GMT -5
Examples are in yellow.
Things to check before you post:
Are all formatting tags both opened and closed properly? Try previewing it to make sure.[/size]
Beware of posting: He knew[/] there had to be a way out of here somewhere. See the effect of that?
When what you really want is: He knew there had to be a way out of here somewhere.
Spellcheck
Read through it again and watch out for typos. Read it slowly so that you don’t miss anything. I’m guilty of not catching some of my typos, and it can be bearable, but it is irritating, especially when you find them later and feel extremely embarrassed.
In “On The Run” for example, there is a post of mine that contains the line: “After all, he control of the image-globe hadn't been too bad.”
Of course, that should be “After all, her control of the image-globe hadn't been too bad.”
Formatting for emphasis, naturally. So yes, I missed that in my quick read-through. It’s not a drastic mistake, but I do hate getting things wrong, and I should have caught it before I posted.
Grammar – does it all make sense?
Be careful that your post isn’t too confusing. When you’re reading through on the look out for typos, make sure that all the information you present is clear. If it’s not, then edit it until it is. If the person (or people) you’re RPing with have to guess at what you mean all the time, then, as well as getting annoyed, they might get things wrong.
Have you repeated yourself unnecessarily?
Oh yes. I’ve done this. Particularly if you try and edit a post, adding in bits earlier on to make it longer or clearer, READ THROUGH AGAIN and make sure you haven’t doubled anything.
Again from “On The Run”, quite by accident and most embarrassingly, I posted:
Biting the inside of his lip, Calypso read the note, unaware of the magic on it. But reading it hurt. Jared really was gone.
He sighed heavily, and handed the note back to Shira, murmuring, "Alright. Thank you," then looked away to his other side again, blinking a little. He hesitated, then said softly, "I guess there's no point in hiding who I am any more. I am Calypso." He didn't look at her, but hurried on, "Don't tell anyone else. I don't care if it's all that obvious, but if nobody can prove anything I'm hoping they won't want to turn me in anywhere."
Bound by a dead man's request, he turned back to face her, and held out the note, saying, "I'll train you."
Oh, the shame. Did you see that? Calypso “handed the note back to Shira” at the start of the second paragraph, and then “held out the note” in the final line. Except that he can’t, of course, because he gave it back earlier on. If I’d taken the time to read through this again before posting (I read through it once and then edited things in without much thought) I’d have caught that. Unfortunately I didn’t, and look at the result.
Have you missed anything out?
This is important as well. If your character has been asked a direct question by someone, but has overheard someone else’s conversation, and they only respond to what they’ve overheard, you’ve missed out a response. You should acknowledge that there’s another situation requiring your contribution, although this doesn’t have to be by a character’s action. It’s perfectly acceptable to avoid answering (to continue this example) as long as you make some reference to the other person’s post in your reply. In this case, something like, “Calypso, too busy eavesdropping on the others, didn’t even hear Laligin’s question” would be a reasonable response. If you completely ignore the other post, though, it seems to indicate to the other RPer that you either haven’t seen their reply or didn’t bother to read it.
Is it possible to reply to your post?
This is difficult. A general rule of thumb is that, somewhere in your post, there should be an action. This can be dialogue, or character movement, or background movement.
“How are you?”
He shot her a smile.
There was a rustle in the trees behind them.
All of these allow another player to react. It is acceptable, in an RP with multiple players, to make your action so exclusive that only one person can respond, as there are ways around this.
Calypso, ignoring the others, turned to Laligin and muttered, “I hope you’ve got something planned.”
While it is much easier for Laligin to reply than the others (“Of course,” she told him, with a withering glance) it is also possible for the other players to respond in some way. They can react to the fact that they’re being ignored (“We’re still here, you know,” Ashan interrupted) or to the dialogue, even though it wasn’t directed at them (“Actually, I had an idea,” Taari said quietly) or to the movement (Sighing as Calypso turned to sort out their plan of action, Attori sat down by a tree and folded his arms to wait) or in any other way they please.
However, you should bear in mind that being exclusive for any length of time in a multi-player RP can (and will) lead to the other players beginning to struggle to find an acceptable response, and losing interest and enthusiasm gradually. Be wary.
Have you godmoded or powerplayed at all?
Godmoding is a term used when one player takes control of another player’s character without their consent. This can be as simple as writing that “Calypso lashed out with his staff and knocked Laligin’s sword from her hands”, which may seem perfectly alright. But it’s not. Calypso’s player is not Laligin’s player (in this example, anyway) and so cannot decide whether the blow actually hits. Unless the two players have previously agreed that one can take temporary, minor control of the other’s characters, that’s up to Laligin’s player. “Calypso lashed out with his staff, aiming to knock Laligin’s sword from her hands” is alright, and Laligin’s player can decide whether “Taken by surprise, Laligin stepped back as her sword went flying, suddenly left defenceless” or “Quickly, Laligin dodged aside, avoiding the blow and turning to slash at Calypso’s side.” Either is acceptable, though it should also be noted that there is a danger of powerplaying if this situation continues for too long.
Powerplaying is when a player refuses to have anything bad happen to their character. Miraculously, they dodge every blow and strike back with lightning speed, despite the fact that the other player’s character has an advantage over them. No matter how many “Calypso risked a strike at Laligin’s neck” or similar situations are employed by the one player, the other will inevitably respond with some variation on “The strike missed.” This, while perhaps fun for the responding player, whose character has such wonderful powers, is no fun at all for the other, and is also unrealistic and irritating. Characters aren’t perfect, much as we’d like them to be (or perhaps not, they’re so much more fun with flaws) and shouldn’t act perfect either.
Another way of powerplaying (similar but not quite the same) is when a character develops new powers to overcome (with ease) any difficult situation that may arise. It’s not fun for other players, and this is a collaborative writing style, so be considerate. Limit your characters to the powers you first mentioned that they had, and be more creative with what you’ve got. Let other people take some of the limelight, and try and work out ways around problems within the limitations you have.
Are all your characters in character?
This is very important. If you’re playing an evil, cruel character, would they really go running over to help that poor little girl who’s tripped and grazed her knee, or would they point and laugh? If you’ve got them running over to help, then you should have a very good reason for being so out of character. It is possible to do so, but as I say, you need a good excuse.
That’s a fairly extreme example, but you should do your best to keep your characters true to their personalities (in character) as much as possible.
Aesthetics and variation – do all the paragraphs in your post look a little different from each other?
I have been known to do a few posts like this. This isn’t as serious as the others (and no, I’m not just making excuses for myself! ^_^’ Honest!) because it’s more of an aesthetic (appearance) thing than content. I’m a great fan of variety in posts – if every paragraph is the same length once, then that’ll amuse me. If Ru’Thor and I start every section with “Seven in the morning…” for one sequence, that’s amusing and clever (hurrah!). But if every paragraph for the next eight posts is two lines long, there’s something wrong somewhere. If I’m starting every single paragraph with “He …” then I’m not using enough different constructions. If done rarely, it can be amusing and clever, as I’ve mentioned, but if it’s a constant thing, it’ll get wearing. Don’t worry about it too much, but be aware of it.
And now look at how many sentences start with “If…” or “But if…” in that paragraph. Slightly too many, no? That’s what I mean.
Quite possibly the best solution to all of these problems is the lovely little “Preview” button next to “Post Reply” at the bottom of the reply screen. This shows you your post as it will appear on the thread, and is a quick and easy way to check the aesthetics and formatting. There is also a Spellcheck button to help you with spelling (but not grammar) which I dislike intensely because it’s set to American spellings (sorry guys) and, being English, I’ll stick to colour over color unless I have to use the second for formatting tags. Alternatively you could copy and paste your post quickly into a program like Microsoft Word, which is good for spellchecks and basic grammar, but can get confused (bless it) over anything much more complicated than a misplaced apostrophe. Yes, I am a grammar snob, but I don’t care.
In the end, by far the best thing to do before posting is to read through what you’ve got, edit anything that needs changed, and read through again before you post. And I’ll do my best to try and remember that too.
And if anyone spots any errors in this post, please PM me so I can change it. It'd be embarrassing to make such mistakes in a post telling you how to avoid them.
Things to check before you post:
Are all formatting tags both opened and closed properly? Try previewing it to make sure.[/size]
Beware of posting: He knew[/] there had to be a way out of here somewhere. See the effect of that?
When what you really want is: He knew there had to be a way out of here somewhere.
Spellcheck
Read through it again and watch out for typos. Read it slowly so that you don’t miss anything. I’m guilty of not catching some of my typos, and it can be bearable, but it is irritating, especially when you find them later and feel extremely embarrassed.
In “On The Run” for example, there is a post of mine that contains the line: “After all, he control of the image-globe hadn't been too bad.”
Of course, that should be “After all, her control of the image-globe hadn't been too bad.”
Formatting for emphasis, naturally. So yes, I missed that in my quick read-through. It’s not a drastic mistake, but I do hate getting things wrong, and I should have caught it before I posted.
Grammar – does it all make sense?
Be careful that your post isn’t too confusing. When you’re reading through on the look out for typos, make sure that all the information you present is clear. If it’s not, then edit it until it is. If the person (or people) you’re RPing with have to guess at what you mean all the time, then, as well as getting annoyed, they might get things wrong.
Have you repeated yourself unnecessarily?
Oh yes. I’ve done this. Particularly if you try and edit a post, adding in bits earlier on to make it longer or clearer, READ THROUGH AGAIN and make sure you haven’t doubled anything.
Again from “On The Run”, quite by accident and most embarrassingly, I posted:
Biting the inside of his lip, Calypso read the note, unaware of the magic on it. But reading it hurt. Jared really was gone.
He sighed heavily, and handed the note back to Shira, murmuring, "Alright. Thank you," then looked away to his other side again, blinking a little. He hesitated, then said softly, "I guess there's no point in hiding who I am any more. I am Calypso." He didn't look at her, but hurried on, "Don't tell anyone else. I don't care if it's all that obvious, but if nobody can prove anything I'm hoping they won't want to turn me in anywhere."
Bound by a dead man's request, he turned back to face her, and held out the note, saying, "I'll train you."
Oh, the shame. Did you see that? Calypso “handed the note back to Shira” at the start of the second paragraph, and then “held out the note” in the final line. Except that he can’t, of course, because he gave it back earlier on. If I’d taken the time to read through this again before posting (I read through it once and then edited things in without much thought) I’d have caught that. Unfortunately I didn’t, and look at the result.
Have you missed anything out?
This is important as well. If your character has been asked a direct question by someone, but has overheard someone else’s conversation, and they only respond to what they’ve overheard, you’ve missed out a response. You should acknowledge that there’s another situation requiring your contribution, although this doesn’t have to be by a character’s action. It’s perfectly acceptable to avoid answering (to continue this example) as long as you make some reference to the other person’s post in your reply. In this case, something like, “Calypso, too busy eavesdropping on the others, didn’t even hear Laligin’s question” would be a reasonable response. If you completely ignore the other post, though, it seems to indicate to the other RPer that you either haven’t seen their reply or didn’t bother to read it.
Is it possible to reply to your post?
This is difficult. A general rule of thumb is that, somewhere in your post, there should be an action. This can be dialogue, or character movement, or background movement.
“How are you?”
He shot her a smile.
There was a rustle in the trees behind them.
All of these allow another player to react. It is acceptable, in an RP with multiple players, to make your action so exclusive that only one person can respond, as there are ways around this.
Calypso, ignoring the others, turned to Laligin and muttered, “I hope you’ve got something planned.”
While it is much easier for Laligin to reply than the others (“Of course,” she told him, with a withering glance) it is also possible for the other players to respond in some way. They can react to the fact that they’re being ignored (“We’re still here, you know,” Ashan interrupted) or to the dialogue, even though it wasn’t directed at them (“Actually, I had an idea,” Taari said quietly) or to the movement (Sighing as Calypso turned to sort out their plan of action, Attori sat down by a tree and folded his arms to wait) or in any other way they please.
However, you should bear in mind that being exclusive for any length of time in a multi-player RP can (and will) lead to the other players beginning to struggle to find an acceptable response, and losing interest and enthusiasm gradually. Be wary.
Have you godmoded or powerplayed at all?
Godmoding is a term used when one player takes control of another player’s character without their consent. This can be as simple as writing that “Calypso lashed out with his staff and knocked Laligin’s sword from her hands”, which may seem perfectly alright. But it’s not. Calypso’s player is not Laligin’s player (in this example, anyway) and so cannot decide whether the blow actually hits. Unless the two players have previously agreed that one can take temporary, minor control of the other’s characters, that’s up to Laligin’s player. “Calypso lashed out with his staff, aiming to knock Laligin’s sword from her hands” is alright, and Laligin’s player can decide whether “Taken by surprise, Laligin stepped back as her sword went flying, suddenly left defenceless” or “Quickly, Laligin dodged aside, avoiding the blow and turning to slash at Calypso’s side.” Either is acceptable, though it should also be noted that there is a danger of powerplaying if this situation continues for too long.
Powerplaying is when a player refuses to have anything bad happen to their character. Miraculously, they dodge every blow and strike back with lightning speed, despite the fact that the other player’s character has an advantage over them. No matter how many “Calypso risked a strike at Laligin’s neck” or similar situations are employed by the one player, the other will inevitably respond with some variation on “The strike missed.” This, while perhaps fun for the responding player, whose character has such wonderful powers, is no fun at all for the other, and is also unrealistic and irritating. Characters aren’t perfect, much as we’d like them to be (or perhaps not, they’re so much more fun with flaws) and shouldn’t act perfect either.
Another way of powerplaying (similar but not quite the same) is when a character develops new powers to overcome (with ease) any difficult situation that may arise. It’s not fun for other players, and this is a collaborative writing style, so be considerate. Limit your characters to the powers you first mentioned that they had, and be more creative with what you’ve got. Let other people take some of the limelight, and try and work out ways around problems within the limitations you have.
Are all your characters in character?
This is very important. If you’re playing an evil, cruel character, would they really go running over to help that poor little girl who’s tripped and grazed her knee, or would they point and laugh? If you’ve got them running over to help, then you should have a very good reason for being so out of character. It is possible to do so, but as I say, you need a good excuse.
That’s a fairly extreme example, but you should do your best to keep your characters true to their personalities (in character) as much as possible.
Aesthetics and variation – do all the paragraphs in your post look a little different from each other?
I have been known to do a few posts like this. This isn’t as serious as the others (and no, I’m not just making excuses for myself! ^_^’ Honest!) because it’s more of an aesthetic (appearance) thing than content. I’m a great fan of variety in posts – if every paragraph is the same length once, then that’ll amuse me. If Ru’Thor and I start every section with “Seven in the morning…” for one sequence, that’s amusing and clever (hurrah!). But if every paragraph for the next eight posts is two lines long, there’s something wrong somewhere. If I’m starting every single paragraph with “He …” then I’m not using enough different constructions. If done rarely, it can be amusing and clever, as I’ve mentioned, but if it’s a constant thing, it’ll get wearing. Don’t worry about it too much, but be aware of it.
And now look at how many sentences start with “If…” or “But if…” in that paragraph. Slightly too many, no? That’s what I mean.
Quite possibly the best solution to all of these problems is the lovely little “Preview” button next to “Post Reply” at the bottom of the reply screen. This shows you your post as it will appear on the thread, and is a quick and easy way to check the aesthetics and formatting. There is also a Spellcheck button to help you with spelling (but not grammar) which I dislike intensely because it’s set to American spellings (sorry guys) and, being English, I’ll stick to colour over color unless I have to use the second for formatting tags. Alternatively you could copy and paste your post quickly into a program like Microsoft Word, which is good for spellchecks and basic grammar, but can get confused (bless it) over anything much more complicated than a misplaced apostrophe. Yes, I am a grammar snob, but I don’t care.
In the end, by far the best thing to do before posting is to read through what you’ve got, edit anything that needs changed, and read through again before you post. And I’ll do my best to try and remember that too.
And if anyone spots any errors in this post, please PM me so I can change it. It'd be embarrassing to make such mistakes in a post telling you how to avoid them.
