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Tips on progression

T

TheGameMaster

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I have a question for some of the advanced players on here (or anyone with knowledge on the subject)

I have a lot of fun game-mastering roleplays in person via tabletop. I love weaving a good story. The problem is that I'm having trouble translating that to written roleplay. Namely, I'm having trouble keeping a good pace.

This isn't difficult in person where the energy of the room keeps things moving forward, but online I always seem to get bogged down. Does anyone have tips on how to keep a plot moving?
 
[size=-2]When you come up with a plot for an rp, leave room for your potential partner to add their own twists and turns to it. Don't make the plot all about sex, fighting, etc. Balance is key. Read plenty of books, comics, to help with inspiration. Role-playing online is a two way street not a one way street. My point is, you might have an idea of how to move things forward and they might have one as well, instead of forcing yours down their throat, find a way to mix the two of them together. Communicate with your rp partner and bounce ideas off each other. Even the smallest of ideas can grow into something big.[/size]
 
Those are good points, and I've run into my share of people who could benefit them. My problem isn't that, but more that the momentum to move the story forward isn't there. I often get bogged down in dialogue.
 
Have a reason for dialogue. When it comes to role-playing, we tend to think that the whole point is character interaction. We want our characters to talk and interact with each other, and in doing so we will create interesting character studies. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to do. The best stories that are character studies have something to hang off of. Unless you have one hell of a conversation, there needs to be events to put it all in context. So, instead of just having conversations, focus on those conversations having a point. When you engage another character in dialogue, have a clear goal in mind.

What is the point of this conversation?

One you have that in mind, then seek to reach it. Once you feel the point has been made, then you need to move things forward. You can move things forward with a scene break, or introduce something unexpected. That unexpected should even be thought of beforehand. If you don't want the conversation to go on too long, then have something in the oven. That way your character can tend to whatever they are cooking to end the conversation. They can then finish the dinner, and the conversation could even continue over food, before they retire for the night with full bellies. So you've immediately given the characters two reasons to break up the conversation with some writing about something else. In an adventure role-play, something can spring out at the characters. A conversation could be interrupted by brigands on the road, or an ambush of space pirates.

I feel like this is more of a problem of having an uninteresting role-play. Sometimes the things we think are interesting aren't very interesting. Like I mentioned before, we think the raw character interaction and the sex is interesting. However, if there is nothing to frame it on then we have something very one-note. People perceive vanilla as being a bland, boring flavor. It isn't that vanilla is actually a boring flavor, but that we have become so used to it that the complexity of the flavor is perceived as being one-note.

You are getting bogged down, because your role-play is boring. Nothing is happening.

The biggest issue with this is everyone's overwhelming preference for role-plays that are centered around everyday life. The problem is that everyday life is very boring, unless you are out doing things. We go to clubs, go to bars, and attend sporting events, because just sitting around in a room talking can get old fast. Even alone we play games, watch YouTube, binge Netflix, and role-play the things we wish we could be doing. Don't you find it odd that in a medium about wish fulfillment we're just typing the most ordinary, trivial things we can do? We could just talk to people over Skype, or in any random chat room. This board could be filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of topics like this one actively discussing various things. Instead we seek out something more, and we think we can find it in role-playing. We often don't, because we are always looking to do the same old thing, the very thing we seek to escape or enhance.

If you want to have a conversation, go talk to someone. If you want to role-play, go on adventure, or do what you cannot do. A lot of people like smut, because it's everything they cannot do. They cannot just go around fucking anyone. There's a massive appeal there, but we still get bored. How can we get bored of it? We do it over and over and over.

We write dialogue over and over and over. We write thrust, suck, lick, and fuck over and over and over.

They have become vanilla, no matter how un-vanilla your kink list is.

So, instead of worrying about getting bogged down in dialogue, consider the overall scope and plot of the role-play. Consider what is actually interesting. Is talking about a conflict, and shooting witty banter back and forth interesting; or is a lively conversation in a tavern/bar that spirals into a dynamic and wild brawl interesting? Is two characters fucking interesting; or is it more interesting for those two characters to pull off a daring heist, and then in manic glee, fuck each other until they've reached their euphoric limits?

So again, if you are bogged down, then you just aren't in an interesting role-play. Either you or your partner isn't very good at writing, or at the very least, lacks creativity and an adventurous spirit.

Consider your favorite stories, and really think about why they end up being interesting. Harry Potter isn't interesting, because Harry, Hermoine, and Ron talk to each other. It is interesting, because they are solving a mystery set in a magical world.
 
You're completely correct. It's poor planning, and now that you mention it it's incredibly obvious to me.

I tend to focus quite a bit on the overarching theme and where we want to end up, but neglect thinking of how we get there beforehand. This is practical in tabletop gamemastering where plots should be a little loose to account for wildcard players who can surprise you by doing something completely left-field of what you had planned. That doesn't translate well to one on one writing where you and your partner feed off of one another to keep the progression going.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious Mitsu. I'm a dunce for not thinking of that myself.
 
No problem. Sometimes you just have to make things happen. Accomplish small goals, and introduce new ones. The goals build into a story that has you on an adventure with words. Don't be afraid to make things that aren't ideal happen. Create problems, interrupt what the characters are doing, and change the game. If your partner cannot get with the flow, or dislikes anything outside of the ordinary, then you don't have a good partner. Cut them loose, and find someone better.

Questioning the validity of the plot direction is good. Insisting on the mundane is not. Be careful to discern which practice your partner falls into.
 
Great responses have already been posted.

Just in case it helps, I'd add another approach, too. Would be interested to know what you think.

I like to think of three levels being involved. Sure, you've got the direct level interaction with the other player(s), and this often means dialogue. But there's another inner level of thoughts and feelings that can be written. And there's the third level of the character's place or action in the world itself.

All three levels are good to take a shot at in a turn.

MC is driving to meet the hottie at the bar. (A paragraph can be done on his aggressive driving of his BMW, showing some things about him and how he's acting in the world.)

On the drive over, he wonders if she's as fun or cool as she is hot. (Inner thoughts and conflict.)

He arrives and teases her. "Where's my drink? You mean you haven't ordered it?" (Interaction leaving the tease for the other player.)

Three levels. Three opportunities.
 
Hey there!

I know exactly what you mean about the pace of tabletop not translating well to written roleplay. A lot of the issue here is thatwritten roleplay just isn't as immediate. Often times, we're kept waiting days, weeks, and sometimes months for a post. When you add in dialogue to this, the momentum of the RP can really slow down, especially if you're writing reactionary posts.

When it comes to dialogue, I've found that the best solution is to write consistently shorter posts until the conversation is over. You can even write the coversation as individual posts so that the momentum of what's actually happening never stops. When you try to retroactively write a conversation through reactions, it just drags the scene out. It's common to think that you need to reply to everything that's said in a post, but that's not true. Only write what is necessary and relevant to the story, especially when it comes to dialogue.

Another thing to consider is that, much like a real story, there should never be "filler" in a roleplay. That's what makes it boring. You can have slow scenes (i.e character development conversations) or fast scenes (i.e fighting and action), but the scenes must mean something to the plot. Let's say you want to make a two-week transition from one major event to the other. Rather than writing out all or just some of the two-week filler, just time skip it and say, "Two weeks had passed since..." blah blah blah. Writing and reading filler just seems kind of bland and pointless, right? So no matter what setting your RP is in, even if it's just a normal slice-of-life, as long as you transition well from scene to scene, it should never get stagnant.

Hope this helped you!
 
Insanely helpful, Mella. In fact the part about "filler" hit the nail on the head.

I was exhausting myself trying to fluff up each response to meet some arbitrary length standard. Alot of the things you had to say were things I had thought about before and it was nice to get those ideas reinforced.
 
Good point.

If it doesn't build the story, the character, or the setting, then skip it.

Some posts will be two paragraphs, others ten paragraphs.
 
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