Role Playing Assistance

Creating a character:

• Do not name it after pop culture's current orgasms. Horses with names like "Pirates of the Caribbean" with catchphrases straight from the movie scream of unoriginality. True, sometimes people can make these creations their own, but it's much harder. Same goes for song names. If you want to name your character after a celebrity/song title/book/movie you can, but at least pick a lesser known one (example: I played a horse named Aqualung. Aqualung is a little-known song by a little-known artist Jethro Tull, and I loved him).

• Going on names, don't use something really well known, like Fallen Angel or whatever. Be creative: look at baby name sites, mythology websites, stuff like that.

And now, general stuff

• SPELL CORRECTLY. There is no excuse for a post full of misspellings and poor grammar. The best way to do things is to have folders on Microsoft Word (or some similar program) for your posts, and check your spelling there with the handy-dandy spell check. Plus, if you write them in Microsoft Word, your posts are saved for later use, as is your HTML. Don't have a program with spell check? There are spellcheckers on email and livejournal and other such sites.

• DO NOT MISUSE WORDS. Just because you see a word on one of those so-called RP dictionaries, does not mean it is "advanced". Some examples: horse hooves are blunt, and never sharp (therefore, not blades, knives, etc). The head & ears are not always the highest point of the horse (therefore, not the apex or zenith). Many of the "advanced" words do not actually exist. If you're unsure of a word's definition, check it out on dictionary.com.

• USING BIG WORDS DOES NOT MAKE YOU ADVANCED. Do not make every other word in your posts a seven-syllable adjective. It's tedious, and hurts the reader's eyes. Honestly, does the sentence: The enterprising and indomitable yet precarious female wandered precipitously into the basking, overawed boundary with her sculpted head held skywards, kissed by a blustering, plumed zephyr. See how it gets tedious? Use one or two adjectives for the things that need describing. That being said, don't oversimplify either. Learn the word meanings, and use them when it fits. Don't strip everything altogether and end up with this:
  The mare walked into the land. It was windy.
  Find a medium. Be eloquent, but not too much. Be simple, but not too much. Strive for something along the lines like this:
  She walked easily into the land as a breeze passed by, shifting her dark forelock over daunted eyes. She seemed outwardly intrepid, this girl, yet there was a fragility she cradled that was endearing. See how it's much more pleasing? It gets the point across, but also offers the reader some insight about her.

• BE CREATIVE. Honestly, it seems that every mare that parades about is more stunningly beautiful (and sometimes she is aware, and sometimes she is not) and every stallion more muscular. And there's so many fallen angels with bleeding wings, so many spawns of the devil. Give your horse some quirks! Make it -gasp- average looking! Give it some scars! Question its sexuality! Do something! You can draw ideas from books and movies. Make these horses significant and memorable.

• LENGTH IS NOT EVERYTHING. Yes, sometimes long posts are eloquent and capture you for their entirety. But more often long posts are drab, drawn-out things with too many adjectives and paragraphs about how the sun kisses the sky that no one besides you actually READS. If you find yourself straining to think of things to add to meet some word count, STOP. If you think all has been said in your post, it probably has been. I know this is not always the case, but it is the majority of the time, kay? On the other hand, don't think fifty poorly spelt words will cut it. Write nicely, using enough description so the post isn't devoid of feeling but not enough to drown the reader in words like "pulchritude". And that, my friend, is enough.

• And finally? READ. I get the most muse from reading. I like to think of my character's lives as my own little stories - sometimes they're short stories and sometimes they're epics. But really, read. These are professional writers, and you must idolize them. You don't have to read 800 page classics, just ANYTHING. The flow of it rubs off on you.
  Proof: I'm a good writer. I've won a short story contest, and been told I'm a good writer by countless people. Plus it's in my blood (my dad was a columnist for a paper before I was born, and is still a fantastically funny writer). And I read like a madwoman. Anything I can grasp. I KNOW, absolutely KNOW, that it was reading that helped me. I try out the styles I see in books, sometimes the ideas - and from those styles and ideas I sow my own original plots and schemes. It's amazing, really. If you want/care to know, some of my top authors are:

  • Stephen King (I, personally, consider this man a god. He is an amazing writer. He's not just horror - several of his novels have had me in tears [when no other book save for one ever has, I might add], and he's written an absolutely fantastic seven book fantasy-ish series. I suggest you read something of his.)

  • Fransesca Lia Block (She is the most lyrical writer I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Her descriptions are beautiful, and I never tire of them)

  • Michael Crichton (Not as eloquent as the above too, but his plots are damn cool)

  • Marion Zimmer Bradley (She is not outstanding, but a good writer nonetheless)

  • Anne Rice - SOMETIMES (it's love it or leave it with her books. Some of her books are quite nice, while others... ugh)

  There's many others, but that's just to know.

Back