Post by Elindë on Sept 20, 2010 1:47:17 GMT 7
I don't know if it's just me but I think quite a lot of the RP threads have run out of steam and died a slow, painful death. Of course this is going to happen but here area few things you may wish to consider if your beloved RP is on its last legs:
- Come up with a plot
I know it can be hard to get everyone together what with timezones and so on but knowing where you are going with an RP is really important. And, considering the number of blurbs active versus the number of RPs active, this doesn't seem to happen very much. -holds up hands in shame; doesn't plan either-
If you think about it, having a plot for an RP is probably more important than having one for a story. In a story, there's just one creative mind at work whereas in an RP there are at least 2, and unless you're on the same wavelength, a plotless RP will soon lose direction. So why not ask for a blurb and type a sentence or two each about where you want the RP to go?
- Give all the characters a crucial trait and give them all equal weight in the RP as far as possible
Kind of obvious but if one person is always the one who moves the RP on then when they go on holiday, have school/work assignment, lose internet etc the thread's going to go stale.
- Wait for others
Again, timezones are to blame here. If there are a few of you online for ages and you just go for it, writing reams and reams of pages then it'll be great at the time; but are you writing out a crucial character in the process? If you find people dropping out of the RP like flies then set a limit on the number of posts two people on their own can make and then wait for someone else to come online. Of course, if no one does then that's a different story.
If anyone else has any tricks that they use, they are more than welcome to post them here and share them with fellow RPers.
- Come up with a plot
I know it can be hard to get everyone together what with timezones and so on but knowing where you are going with an RP is really important. And, considering the number of blurbs active versus the number of RPs active, this doesn't seem to happen very much. -holds up hands in shame; doesn't plan either-
If you think about it, having a plot for an RP is probably more important than having one for a story. In a story, there's just one creative mind at work whereas in an RP there are at least 2, and unless you're on the same wavelength, a plotless RP will soon lose direction. So why not ask for a blurb and type a sentence or two each about where you want the RP to go?
- Give all the characters a crucial trait and give them all equal weight in the RP as far as possible
Kind of obvious but if one person is always the one who moves the RP on then when they go on holiday, have school/work assignment, lose internet etc the thread's going to go stale.
- Wait for others
Again, timezones are to blame here. If there are a few of you online for ages and you just go for it, writing reams and reams of pages then it'll be great at the time; but are you writing out a crucial character in the process? If you find people dropping out of the RP like flies then set a limit on the number of posts two people on their own can make and then wait for someone else to come online. Of course, if no one does then that's a different story.
If anyone else has any tricks that they use, they are more than welcome to post them here and share them with fellow RPers.
