Describe Your Style

[Rudolph Quin]

Although rping lends itself to a versatile approach to writing, we still base it upon core tenants of storytelling. Tell us about your style of writing in a role-play.

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I've been told before that my writing is very direct with just enough description to set a scene and focusing more on action, expression, and dialogue/tone of voice, like a movie being played. I think that rings true as flowery language doesn't come naturally to me and I get much more caught up in narrative. If I ever describe anything, it usually revolves around how people are positioned, expressions using body language and facial features, and the sounds people make to express mood and intent.

Describe your style of role-playing and writing.

 

[Sleepingskill]

I'd have to say I like to "paint the picture for the rp" as I like to call it lol I write descriptive lol

 

[Mr Quixotic]

My writing tends to be direct, rather than flowery, or containing a lot of metaphors, and focused more on characters and internal motivations than external environments or visual imagery.

I have been told by a couple of people that "I feel like I am brought to that specific scene, you write as if you were standing there as a third party, witnessing the events unfold." Those comments initially came as a surprise, as I just write how I write, and don't deliberately attempt anything distinct, but then when I thought about it, they made sense, as that's the way I think and view things. In a big-picture, 'observer' way, where a contextual overview, and understanding of a situation as a whole, is of more import than the individual details that make it up, and I believe that may naturally be reflected in my style.

 

[Star Pupil]

I don't know how to describe my style, to be honest. I know recently it's gotten to be much more focused on thoughts and feelings of a character rather than physically descriptive. I save my descriptions of things to set a mood rather than waste them on fluff.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

I totally get what you guys mean. Like, sometimes, I really pine and love authors who can rattle off these apt descriptions and metaphors for the atmosphere of a room, anthropomorphize the lighting, so that you really feel the mood they're going for but I just can't. I simile the fuck out of things but the characters are usually my focus above all else. It sounds like we have similar styles, and now that I think about it, a lot of rpers might? Because being subtle about mood and atmosphere, hoping your partner picks up on your clues as you describe the setting, is rolling the dice; I know that partners and I in the past have repeated a lot of previous stuff, referred to stuff that already happened over and over as a subtle way to remind each other of what we're talking about when explaining a character's motives. Plus, most people look for someone to move the scene forward and generally, whoever puts the most action down does indeed get to choose where things go for the time being. So, stopping to describe the field of flowers, the gravel walkway, the heated air sucking out their souls for the god of summer, etc. can slow down the movement of a scene.

 

[Erit of Eastcris]

I'd consider my style a confused hodge-podge, a chimera sampled by the likes of Robert Jordan, E.E. Knight and a bit of Jim Butcher. I set scenes and describe actions while alternating between a birds-eye perspective of things and something I'd liken to an over-the-shoulder view, aware of a given character's thoughts and actions and surroundings even if they themselves might be oblivious. I'm given to understand that this is very off-or-on, as some people find it dry and boring to read while others tell me it makes them understand my character in a way that they otherwise couldn't. So... yay, I guess?

 

[Chai]

I'm an extremely visual person, so my writing has a lot of imagery and visual detail. If I feel like the scenery is important to what's going on, then I'll spend some time writing about it. Sometimes the setting can be symbolic to the story, and I think it's fun to include little nuggets like those for my partners, who usually pick up on things like that.

On the other hand, I'm also super emotional, and the main appeal of writing a story with someone else (roleplaying) is that the story is told through two different perspectives. What I enjoy the most are the moments in the roleplay that make me laugh, cry, smile to myself, and embed themselves in my memory. Because of that, I put a lot of effort into writing about the thoughts and feelings of my characters.

I like to think I definitely have a distinct author's voice when writing, though, and I personally think that's the most important part. I try not to make things sound so formal, especially if it's a modern setting with lots of comic relief in the story. It makes for fun reading!

 

[Sugo]

Rambling details that aren't really needed.

Deleting the rambling.

Rambling again.

Trying to bring together all combinations of rambling into a decent post.

 

[Rudolph Quin]

On the other hand, I'm also super emotional, and the main appeal of writing a story with someone else (roleplaying) is that the story is told through two different perspectives. What I enjoy the most are the moments in the roleplay that make me laugh, cry, smile to myself, and embed themselves in my memory. Because of that, I put a lot of effort into writing about the thoughts and feelings of my characters.
-snip-

That! I like that you bring up emotion because that is especially what I'm drawn to in stories as well. Like, the drama between characters. I love conflict in stories and rps, the emotional turmoil of decisions and especially dialogue having an impact. There isn't a whole lot of my writing that doesn't involved character interaction.