RPing advice. Or making FanFiction advice.

[nichinichisou]

You won't like this.

You're going to absolutely hate this, but when you do it, it will definitely be the best thing you've ever fucking done. Okay? Here it is.

Don't edit.

Retype.

And this is mainly for High Casual or Advanced RPers, never edit. Retype. As in, print the first version out, and copy it, almost word for word. Compare the retyped version to the edited version. And then, if you don't like it, retype it again. Retype it again and again until you make the best fucking set of paragraphs that you can fucking make, and then post it. I can imagine you guys screaming, 'DUDE THAT'S FUCKING INSANE', but soon, it will become the best thing that you've done since the beginning of time.

Also, this is just me. But it's something that I love to do.

Make yourself the narrator.

Remember, the narrator isn't your character, unless you're typing in 1st person. If you're typing in 3rd person, then YOU are the narrator. YOU are the one who decides what goes into the narrative, with YOUR thoughts on the situation at hand. Soon, you're going to fucking make 4000 character posts all the time with, like, 10 paragraphs because YOU'RE the narrator.

If YOU are the narrator, your posts will soon be more in-depth, funny, and better than your posts ever were.

But that's just me.

[Dervish]

This sounds like an excellent way to burn out on participating in any decently moving roleplay and begin to loathe it. I roleplay for fun, not to have my posts reach the same quality as a college dissertation.

Also, I can't help but notice the irony that you edited your post about not editing anything.

[nichinichisou]

Dervish said
This sounds like an excellent way to burn out on participating in any decently moving roleplay and begin to loathe it. I roleplay for fun, not to have my posts reach the same quality as a college dissertation.

Also, I can't help but notice the irony that you edited your post about not editing anything.

fuck
i messed up
rip in pieces not editing

[idlehands]

This is...the dumbest thing I've read in a long time.

[Drakel]

Drakel's Highly rated, Fucking Magical set of REAL *Edit* advice:

You won't like this.

You're going to absolutely hate this, but when you do it, it will definitely be the best thing you've ever fucking done. Okay? Here it is.

Don't Retype.

Always Edit.

And this is mainly for ALL RPers, never Retype. Just edit. As in, After you post and you notice a mistike in it, just either ignore it or edit that shit out 50+ times and before you finally fix it. Nobody really cares and Editing is far more easier than completely retyping your posts. Retype it again and again is a hassle and will make you run out of steam to continue the RP and in the end fucking sucks unless it's an honest to goodness college level paper/story. I can imagine you guys screaming, 'DUDE THAT'S FUCKING INSANE', but soon, it will become the best thing that you've done since the beginning of time.

Also, this is just me. But it's something that I love to do.

Just play your character the way YOU want.

Remember, Your character is yours and, unless you're letting other people use it, it must be played your way. If you let other people play your character, make sure they don't fuck it up.. YOU are the one who decides what to do with your character, with YOUR thoughts on the situation at hand. Soon, you're going to fucking make 4000 character posts all the time with, like, 10 paragraphs because YOU'RE having fun with your character.

If YOU love your characters, your posts will soon be more in-depth, funny, and better than your posts ever were.

But that's just me.

[nichinichisou]

Its mainly for things that you're actually serious about, or you want to put effort into.

If its an rp that looks like it won't go to that much depth; edit.

If its for a seriously in depth RP, I use this.

And its explained here: http://madlori.tumblr.com/post/85787733825/writing-advice-youre-not-going-to-like

[Drakel]

LowKey123 said
Its mainly for things that you're actually serious about, or you want to put effort into.If its an rp that looks like it won't go to that much depth; edit.If its for a seriously in depth RP, I use this.

You see... This is the type of shit that people actually need to be using as their opener.

If you said THAT... things would've gone down different...

Now Edit >:D

[nichinichisou]

Drakel said
You see... This is the type of shit that people actually need to be using as their opener.If you said THAT... things would've gone down different...Now Edit >:D

i r stoopid

[Drakel]

LowKey123 said
i r stoopid

I won't deny that but still.. You should probably say that in your OP so people understand what you mean.

[nichinichisou]

Drakel said
I won't deny that but still.. You should probably say that in your OP so people understand what you mean.

I didn't think of it, really.

[Rilla]

For an RP, I'm not going to do that. I don't care if it's covering the very depths of the human soul and its potential transcendental properties to the Uluti Gods in the distant cosmos. Sounds like a bunch of unnecessary stress in my life.

Now if for a paper or something that needs to be perfect, because I'm floating between Dean's list and "haha you're smart, but kinda dumb so the Dean doesn't like you", then yeah I can see that being useful...

if at first editing doesn't work.

[jennifer lost the war]

This is great advice

if you're writing a novel =)

[Disciple Cain]

Retyping a novel sounds harrowing. I just type the whole thing, then edit as I read. Usually that's just to pick up grammar and spelling errors, but every now and then I might think if a way to expand or improve upon the first draft. One run through, then post.

[OutlawTorn]

Here's a genius idea. A gem cut from the mysterious depths of the cosmos:

Know what you want, how you want it, and then write it, how you want it.

Take 10-20 extra minutes prior to even stroking the first key, and plot out each scene (or post) inside your head. Know what you want, and you'll write what you want.

[nichinichisou]

OutlawTorn said
Here's a genius idea. A gem cut from the mysterious depths of the cosmos:Know what you want, how you want it, and then write it, how you want it.Take 10-20 extra minutes prior to even stroking the first key, and plot out each scene (or post) inside your head. , and you'll write what you want.

this

[axleonex]

This is actually really good advice. I'll start doing this for fanfics, any advice on how often we should rewrite things?(after every 1 or 2 paragraphs/pages?)

[nichinichisou]

axleonex said
This is actually really good advice. I'll start doing this for fanfics, any advice on how often we should rewrite things?(after every 1 or 2 paragraphs/pages?)

maybe after about 2 paragraphs

[Kestrel]

You don't get the message at all...

Alright; this is how it is. The article in itself isn't a bad advice... If you're writing a novel or are this super-ambitious (and slightly delusional) RP'r and have the time on your hands to rewrite posts constantly without annoying your co-players that you take too long. However, the point of working with multiple iterations is trying multiple approaches, rather than assuming your first idea is best (it rarely ever is). Through writing the same thing twice over, you're actually learning from your first attempt. If you wanna sell a book without jumping on the vampires-are-hot train, this is pretty good advice.

However, the lot of you posted some seriously stupid shit. If you change something after 2 paragraphs, your iterations are far too short and your writing style will likely suffer from inconsistency because you lose the same flow over the course of writing. Too many breaks = bad. Also this isn't about planning, it's about re-imagining and gaining new perspectives through experience. Even if you plan what you want to write (and yeah you should plan ahead probably) this method doesn't lose an inch of it's usefulness. If you think it does, you're either arrogant or stubborn.

Also, here's an edit, because I couldn't help myself.

The purpose and practice of novel-writing are completely different. As Dervish touched on, roleplaying is an activity you do for fun. Or well, most of us. The majority of RP'rs uses it for escapism. Rewriting can be a chore, which means that you're now spending the time you are trying to have fun or escape RL doing something you don't like. Kinda counter-productive, no?

[nichinichisou]

However, the lot of you posted some seriously stupid shit. If you change something after 2 paragraphs, your iterations are far too short and your writing style will likely suffer from inconsistency because you lose the same flow over the course of writing.
The purpose and practice of novel-writing are completely different. As Dervish touched on, roleplaying is an activity you do for fun. Or well, most of us. The majority of RP'rs uses it for escapism. Rewriting can be a chore, which means that you're now spending the time you are trying to have fun or escape RL doing something you don't like. Kinda counter-productive, no?

Pretty right.

[Brovo]

Or like, just, do the completely sane and rational thing, and detatch yourself from what you've written.

If you're aiming for a college-level piece of work, or if you're just hoping to nail a novel page down with a throwing knife, here's what you do.

Step 1: Write what you are going to write down. Just spitball it. Get it down, physically, because if you don't, you'll probably forget it. Our brains suck like that.

Step 2: Walk away for a couple days.

Step 3: Return. Read it. Realize how fucking stupid you sound. Edit, edit, edit, edit, edit, edit, edit, edit. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until work is satisfactory.

This is how one does high level college research papers. I would assume it's probably the most efficient method for attempting to reach perfection, as rewrites might cause you to miss something you wrote earlier, causing you to have to rewrite again, all the while your tone will go schizophrenic because the tone of an author naturally and gradually changes over time...