Roleplay Advice - Blog Posts

the suffering never ends

I've been struggling with making my replies longer for a WHILE.

First thing you have to realize is that there are drawbacks to long posts:

they can feel repetitive (I'll explain later), they can make it hard to grasp every detail of what happened, they take much more effort to write, they make replies much slower. In a lot of ways, it's better to stick to what you can write, because progress is like everything, it comes slowly but surely.

now for the actual advice!

one thing I've found is that....either my character's not doing enough, I'm letting them do it too early, or....there's just no ball to bounce.

[HOW TO FIX "not doing enough"]

look for subtle shows of emotions, body language, etc, to throw in at any given moment. Not only does this help give your character quirks, it also helps make your post more buff. check this out for ideas!

don't just settle on dialog. Talking to someone involves shorter replies to avoid repetition and the spam of descriptors. How about adding a side action? why not keep on baking instead of setting everything down to listen? how about being half focused on petting a cat and still eyeing the horizon? why not knit while you watch the sunrise?

think about it twice. If you have no clue what your character would do in that moment, how about asking someone what they'd do? If nothing helps, ask whatever AI you have access to. Obviously, don't make it write for you. AI is only good as support. whenever I am entirely stuck, I often use: "I am writing a fiction in which [...] happens to [...]. Give me ten suggestions of actions my character could take in this situation." often, I don't even use the suggestions, the ideas just flow better once you snicker at a bad, ooc idea.

Don't settle at doing something, describe how your character feels about the thing. Is it a simple, daily task? Is your character bored? Why do you flip the table? Why throw the ball? Is it anger or grief that makes your character slam the door?

Give your character things to do that YOU like. There's no amount of "ugh stop you've been talking for five hours" that will make ME stop yapping about something I love, and that means you can bulk up replies with things both relevant...and enjoyable!!

[HOW TO FIX "Doing the action early"]

Simple:

your character's action, in a general sense, should be located in the middle or the end of the post. OF FUCKING COURSE, this is not an essay, you're not graded on your page layout!

But, for me, it helps to go like this, at least when I'm lost:

THE WORLD: description of the world, the environment, the "things". This is where you drop the appearance of things, how they feel.

THE INNER: here go thoughts! ever had one of the "huh, this thing is slimy actually", or a "what an asshole" or the classic "ugh, wish I could throw this innocent baby out of the plane's window"? yeah? well that's now. your character reacts to the previous reply. Feel free to throw in how visceral, light, playful, evil, sad, anxious, happy they are!!! Here's inspiration ;)

THE PHYSICAL: your character FINALLY does the thing. You draw it out or you don't, that's whatever you wanna do, man.

THE OUTER: don't forget: the world reacts to what you do. this is where you throw in the suspicious glares of the townsfolk, the wall that crumbles because you threw a bomb at it, the judgmental stares of the fishes in the fisherman's stall, the quiet lap of the sea on your now soaked socks.

[HOW TO FIX "There's nothing to bounce off of"]

This one is possibly the hardest one to fix. Because you're not the problem, lol.

It happens a LOT that uh....people don't realize that they're not bouncing back the ball. RP is a conversation. It's hard to reply properly, and be lengthy about it, when you're....bored.

"my character does this and leaves"

okay. where does that leave you? Is there an opening? Something to add? Maybe a clever description of a strange symbol on the wall to draw your character's attention? A rattling coffin somewhere? No? nothing?

" *insults your character, doesn't let them talk, cuts them off, leaves* "

Arguments are fun, but they're still two way street. Don't be that guy.

"my character ignores you"

cool. That's gonna get boring quickly, though.

Everyone has had the blank moment at least once- staring at a random reply, not even knowing how to START approaching that bitch.

my advice? talk about it to your partner....or change partners!

[DISCLAIMER]

Everyone approaches roleplay their own way. there's no ONE single way to reply or write. my advice is--- just that. Advice. You get to decide how you do it. You get to try advice on and scrap it if it's not the one.

FREE WILL, BABY!

guys help ….. when I’m writing a roleplay response how do I make it longer??? 😭😭😭 like, I put dialogue and abit of action in there, but I crave to put more sentences in, more words and more emotion, but I’ve got NO clue☹️☹️☹️

pls… any of u rp saints out there have any tips </3