"Wait, wait, wait," you say, "Rygen, you do requests on blog posts now? Would you tell us why your such a studmuffin?"
To which I reply, "......"
For real though, this blog post is done per the recent request of @Quincolson, though I don't know which of her alts was asking for this. The truth is this; a lot of the time it can be really hard to make a long quality post. For some its easy, for others not so much. Then at times it really depends on the subject. None of these things mean your a bad RP'er; it just means you need to learn to say what you mean. And say what you think. How do you do this? I am glad you asked. I personally go through a writing process that takes a series of steps to make my posts two to three paragraphs at least in length. NOTE: it is advised you look at the links provided. They provide more in-depth answers to those that are brushed upon.
1) I think of the environment. Picture, it, envision it, smell it, lick it, think of it. See it from every angle. Don't just say "Bob walks into the cantina," nooo sir. Describe it for us. Tell us what the cantina looks like. Smells like. Temperature and humidity, anyone? I notice those things in a room. Give us lost of details on that.
2) I write in James' bad habits. Oh, yes, you know I went there. You know why James smokes and drinks in every post? Answer, its iconic. And they are his bad habits. Every one has them, and they are learned to correspond when you go through certain thought processes. So make your character chew their lip, pick their nails, fidget, shoot Gungans, whatever your bad habit is, do it. Ok, shooting gungans isn't a bad habit but you get what i am saying.
3) I give you the FEELS MAN! To be an organic being is to feel emotion. Joy, sorrow, happiness, anger, despair, oh yes we feel them all. You wanna try a fun exercise? Take a pen and notepad with you all day and just try to write down every time you feel an emotion what it is. You will be unable to get them all because it happens so much. What others do and say to you will affect you. And don't just say "Bob was sad." Come now, you are a great writer, do more! "A pang of sorrow ran through Bob." See how much better that sounds? Ok, I admit, I can be a bit of a drama king, but ham it up.
4) I look for better ways to say what I just said. Come now, there are a billion and one ways to say "cut." English is a complex language with many words meaning the exact same thing but with different emotional undertones or more vivid ideas. The I add adjectives out the wazzo! Because who on earth wants to read "Bob cut the man's body in two" when they can ready, "Bob's blade cleaved through his foe." Do it man, DO IT.
5) I take my time. Rome was not built in a day. And on average, my posts take over 30 minutes each. Considering that I am in like 12 threads right now...... you can guess how long I spend posting in one day. I know what your thinking: "Dang Rygen, you got a lot of free time!" Well, I don't post to each daily. I just mentally and physically cannot do it. Plus, I try to convince the world I have a real job by maintaining a 3.0 GPA. I go low, and I go slow. I enjoy the writing process and I enjoy the feeling of letting the words flow. I don't worry about the time it takes, I don't rush. Seriously, I even will look at what I have and save it to a word doc to say, "Eh, I can do better when I look at it later and have more time." DO NOT RUSH. Ever. Enjoy the process and, honestly, since it can be hours to till their next post, use that time up to make your post.
And the more you give them, the more likely it will be that you get more people to thread with you and the more likely it will be for them to read with you again.
Cheers, and happy posting!
To which I reply, "......"
For real though, this blog post is done per the recent request of @Quincolson, though I don't know which of her alts was asking for this. The truth is this; a lot of the time it can be really hard to make a long quality post. For some its easy, for others not so much. Then at times it really depends on the subject. None of these things mean your a bad RP'er; it just means you need to learn to say what you mean. And say what you think. How do you do this? I am glad you asked. I personally go through a writing process that takes a series of steps to make my posts two to three paragraphs at least in length. NOTE: it is advised you look at the links provided. They provide more in-depth answers to those that are brushed upon.
1) I think of the environment. Picture, it, envision it, smell it, lick it, think of it. See it from every angle. Don't just say "Bob walks into the cantina," nooo sir. Describe it for us. Tell us what the cantina looks like. Smells like. Temperature and humidity, anyone? I notice those things in a room. Give us lost of details on that.
2) I write in James' bad habits. Oh, yes, you know I went there. You know why James smokes and drinks in every post? Answer, its iconic. And they are his bad habits. Every one has them, and they are learned to correspond when you go through certain thought processes. So make your character chew their lip, pick their nails, fidget, shoot Gungans, whatever your bad habit is, do it. Ok, shooting gungans isn't a bad habit but you get what i am saying.
3) I give you the FEELS MAN! To be an organic being is to feel emotion. Joy, sorrow, happiness, anger, despair, oh yes we feel them all. You wanna try a fun exercise? Take a pen and notepad with you all day and just try to write down every time you feel an emotion what it is. You will be unable to get them all because it happens so much. What others do and say to you will affect you. And don't just say "Bob was sad." Come now, you are a great writer, do more! "A pang of sorrow ran through Bob." See how much better that sounds? Ok, I admit, I can be a bit of a drama king, but ham it up.
4) I look for better ways to say what I just said. Come now, there are a billion and one ways to say "cut." English is a complex language with many words meaning the exact same thing but with different emotional undertones or more vivid ideas. The I add adjectives out the wazzo! Because who on earth wants to read "Bob cut the man's body in two" when they can ready, "Bob's blade cleaved through his foe." Do it man, DO IT.
5) I take my time. Rome was not built in a day. And on average, my posts take over 30 minutes each. Considering that I am in like 12 threads right now...... you can guess how long I spend posting in one day. I know what your thinking: "Dang Rygen, you got a lot of free time!" Well, I don't post to each daily. I just mentally and physically cannot do it. Plus, I try to convince the world I have a real job by maintaining a 3.0 GPA. I go low, and I go slow. I enjoy the writing process and I enjoy the feeling of letting the words flow. I don't worry about the time it takes, I don't rush. Seriously, I even will look at what I have and save it to a word doc to say, "Eh, I can do better when I look at it later and have more time." DO NOT RUSH. Ever. Enjoy the process and, honestly, since it can be hours to till their next post, use that time up to make your post.
And the more you give them, the more likely it will be that you get more people to thread with you and the more likely it will be for them to read with you again.Cheers, and happy posting!
