Thread Starting / Reply Help
Feb 26, 2013 19:55:46 GMT -5
Post by WARDOG on Feb 26, 2013 19:55:46 GMT -5
I mentioned to East I had this, and she suggested I post it! So here it is. I hope it helps. <3
So everyone knows how much of a pain it can be to start threads. You don't know what to do, how to bring your character into the situation, or even what situation to make! Don't fret, we've all been there. Good news is, I can help.This can be applied to anything!- Making Threads
- Making Open Threads
- Replying to Threads
- Replying to Boring Threads
Before we get started, you need to think about your character. You need to consider what it is you like about them, what makes them exciting to roleplay. It could be a personality trait, or a habit they do, or anything about them! Find the reason you like playing them, and think about what they would do.There are three different parts to a post:- Physical
- Mental
- Environmental
A good, enjoyable post of any sort will have a decent balance of all three things. What the character's thinking, how they are physically reacting, and what's going on around them. This helps others understand and visualize what's happening.
When you start a thread, especially an open one, you want to be exciting. You want to draw people in, to make ideas pop into their heads and have them need to put them down.
Look at these two examples:"Bill walked down the street slowly, thinking about Lucy and how awful things had ended between them."
"Joe sprinted down the street, not daring to look behind him. He skidded around a corner and fled through an alley, knocking things over behind him as he went. Mind in full flight/panic mode, he didn't notice the brick in the darkness until his foot hit it, making his momentum his the floor. He landed with a thud, skidding a few feet."
Which one sounds more exciting? Which one leaves more room for people to enter? With the first Bill, you would have to initiate the contact. We've all had threads like that, where there's very little to go off of. With Joe, however, there was much more action, the flow more dynamic. Maybe Joe knocked into your character as he was running. Maybe you character was in the alley and saw him fall. The second one leaves you to say what Joe was running from, and with open threads the ideas can go anywhere.
The key here is to balance the three aspects I mentioned earlier. The mental part of the post is for the readers alone. It helps them get to know your character, and it can be really interesting. But unless your character is thinking out loud, there's nothing in the mental part another person can reply to.The environment and the actions of your character are what the other characters will see and react to. It's almost always easier to react than to act, especially when it comes to writing posts. If your character is being active in your post, the other readers can see it in their heads and think of the reactions of their characters. If your character is being passive in their post, then the readers have to find a way for her character to interact, and suddenly they are being active and you are reacting, despite you being the initiator.
Think of it this way. In every movie genre, from sci-fi to romance to action, there's something going on. There is some type of action that prevents the movie from being solely speaking. Think of threads as movies. It's up to you to make them exciting.
To summarize (because this is rather long), try to balance your threads between mental, physical, and environmental. It ups the word count and makes it more interesting to read. If you're at a loss as to what to start a thread with, or how to reply to one, do something interesting. Something physical, like being chased or jumping off of something or poking your nose where it shouldn't belong. You're directing the movie of your character's life, and you want people to watch it.