Post by Konaha Staff on May 12, 2010 12:45:01 GMT -5
[/color][/font]Welcome everyone!
This tutorial is for those of you who are new to RPing in a forum, or need to improve your skills. Here, you will learn:1. How to type.
2. Using descriptive words.
3. Using Past-tense, third-person format.
4. Forming complete sentences.
5. Forming paragraphs.
Let's get started, shall we?
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How to type
[/color][/font][/size]How to type
I'm sure you're all familiar with "text-talk", or "AIM Speak". Text-talk is when you abbreviate your words to save time, such as 'love' is turned into 'luv' and 'for' into 4. While perfectly fine outside of the forums, this is NOT[/i] how you type when you role-play. To RP properly, you need to type out all your words like you would in English class. That also means that 'i' is not acceptable. When referring to yourself, you use the uppercase 'I'.
Here's an example of a bad sentence:
"i luv u." i say wth a smle.
Now, here's the correct way to type that sentence:
"I love you," he said with a smile.
Notice that instead of lower-casing everything and abbreviating words, the words are typed out. Also see that the sentence is in past-tense, third-person format. We'll get to this format a little later. Next, you will learn how to add descriptive words that make a picture in your mind.
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Using Descriptive Words
[/color][/font][/size]Using Descriptive Words
When you read a book, do you notice how it becomes more interesting if you can see the events in the book play out in your head? This is what you will learn to do. By adding descriptive words called 'adjectives', you can imagine what's happening easier than you would without them. Descriptive words add excitement to any thread, but be careful not to overuse them. Let's see an example:
This is a sentence without any descriptive words:
The clouds went by and the wind blew as a girl sat and watched under the tree.
Now let's see that sentence with descriptive words:
The fluffy white clouds moved by slowly with the wind as the beautiful brunette girl watched them pass by, sitting under the shady oak tree.
Doesn't that make a more vivid picture in your head? Using words like these will make your posts seem better and others will enjoy RPing with you. Next you'll learn about past-tense, third-person format.
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Using Past-Tense, Third-Person Format
[/color][/font][/size]Using Past-Tense, Third-Person Format
I'm sure most of you are wondering what the hell this is. Well, let's brake it down: Past-Tense is when you type something as if it already happened, opposed to just happening. In RP, 'I' becomes 'he' or 'she' or your character's name, except when speaking. Remember the correct example in How to Type? Let's see that again:
"I love you," he said[/i] with a smile.[/color]
That is the right way to type. 'Say' became 'said', which is past-tense. Now, for third-person.
Here's the sentence in first-person format:
"I love you," I said with a smile.
When you speak in first-person, you use 'I' to refer to yourself. In third-person, you use 'he' or 'she' (depending on your character's gender), or your character's name. Here's the same sentence in third-person:
"I[/i] love you," he[/i] said with a smile.[/color]
Notice how we replaced 'I' with 'he', which is third-person, but we kept the 'I' when the character was speaking. That's because it's fine to for the character to speak in first-person. You're almost done! ^_^
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Forming Complete Sentences
[/color][/font][/size]Forming Complete Sentences
Most to all of you probably had English classes, so this should be pretty easy. There's really no way to explain, so let's see some examples:
This is not a complete sentence:
Riku walked outside. She stretched and yawned slightly.
That sounds choppy and messy, and doesn't flow at all. Those are what are called 'fragments'. Fragments don't form complete sentences. Now let's see that example as a complete sentence:
Riku walked outside and stretched, yawning slightly.
That sounds much better and flows smoother. Fragments can often be combined by adding 'and', 'but', 'however', 'if' or a simple comma (,). Next, you'll learn how to make complete paragraphs.
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Forming Paragraphs
[/color][/font][/size]Forming Paragraphs
No one likes an RPer who only posts one sentence each time, known as "one-liners". One-liners are also against the rules here, as with many other RP forums. Two sentences aren't much better either. To be accepted as a decent RPer, you have to post with paragraphs full of details, though you don't want your post to be too long or no one will want to read it. To form good paragraphs, you will have to take everything you've learned from this tutorial to help you.
Paragraphs are generally 4-6 sentences long, though you can space them out however you like (without being to drastic!). Below is one of my opening posts for an example:
The sky was slowly turning a calming mixture of orange, yellow and pink with only a few clouds that brushed against the colorful heavens as the sun began to set in the horizon. A slight, warm breeze still blew through the leaves on the tree branches and the grass below, making them dance and sway with its rhythm as the crickets began to play their nightly song with a few of the birds chirping before huddling into their nests for the night. It was a beautiful scene; one often depicted in works of art or literature for it's peaceful and calming tone.
Tap.. tap.. tap...
Yet, there was one sound that didn't quite fit into the symphony. The soft footsteps of a kunoichi echoed quietly through the evening as she walked through Konoha's park on the way home from the hospital, though she did not seem injured. No, the hospital was the place she treated those who were injured, whether they were a high-ranking shinobi protecting the village or a small child who simply fell while playing. She was an Iryōnin.
The woman sighed softly as she walked, her sky-blue eyes directed up at the sky in a tired gaze. She was exhausted, both in chakra and physically. There was an unusually high number of people seeking treatment that day; most of which were shinobi with injuries. She was concerned that there may be a group of nukenin in the area causing the outbreak in patients, but not many of the ninja she treated would tell her much. It wasn't like there was anything she could do about it anyways. She mainly concentrated on medical jutsu and didn't have much to protect herself, let alone take down a group of nukenin. Sure, she did it when she was younger, but that was only one nukenin and he had killed her teammates.
She looked back down and out to the pond, shaking herself out of her thoughts, and stopped. The sunset created such a beautiful reflection upon the still water in filled her with a sense of peace that compelled her to stay a while longer. The breeze blew gently through her long black hair and she took in a deep breath, closing her eyes to enjoy the last bit of the day. After such a long day, this was heaven.
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That is a good beginning post. In the first few sentences of your post, you should describe what your character is doing or where they are, so the people who want to post with you get a good idea of the setting. During the middle of your post, you can have your character do something, and during the last few sentences, you can state something to end it. And, of course, it doesn't have to be as long as mine.
Of course, everyone has their own style of posting. ^_^
Be sure to use this as a guide to develop your own style!
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