the greatest general under the heavens
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Post by Egao, Egao Everywhere on Jun 29, 2013 11:32:46 GMT -8
So a quick topic in a cbox brought my attention to how rpers write their post. I've heard of people writing their post from the start and end first, middle last. Some begin at the end, some prioritize dialogues then add narrative later? I never really thought of it this way. I've always thought people go from top to bottom and it really enlightened me knowing how they really think.
I have to write the first first. If I'm the thread starter, title must be accomplished first. Titles give me inspiration. Without one, I feel like I'm writing for something completely pointless. It's how I do when I write stories and make sites. Title must come first. It has to be catchy and interesting and I think it's what motivate me to write the rest.
When writing a respond, I write it as I imagine how it would play out in TV (I don't do sweatdrops or anything though. Semi-realistic TV). So I take in everything that's been written and write a respond to that overall. I describe, I include thoughts. When I see the opportunity, I make some sort of connection with the narrative the person wrote in my post. Not necessarily meta-gaming. More subtle than that. I don't respond to the person's post paragraph per paragraph. I focus on its highlights and try to mention the rest of the more trivial details on the passing just to "emphasize" that it happened.
What I always do though is respond to dialogues as a whole unless it's impossible to. I don't like having two conversations at once because I think it's really awkward. It's not as if people can respond to every line directed at them anyway. Sometimes, they take it in first and bring it up later. I usually do this when there's a subject I would like to go back to but didn't want the flow of the conversation to become messy. Or I just respond to the dialogue through thought. Silence is a common respond and not necessarily a long-awkward silence one.
And I actually follow the dramatic structure never thought it would come in handy, tbh. When I finish a post, I sometimes switch, remove, add stuffs around. I'm careful of putting too much dramatic thoughts because, while they're not said out loud, I think it affects the mood regardless. And I like saving the angst in the middle of the thread xD so I guess at the beginning, I write to build up to that. I reserve the good lines I have in mind for later.
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Post by Gungnir on Jun 29, 2013 19:46:59 GMT -8
I do things in order from beginning, middle, then end. I can't really write any other way 'cause then I'll just be all jumbled and messed up. lol If I'm starting the thread, it's the same way: I go from top down. For dialogue, I guess that flows pretty easily. I usually don't think about it unless it's like, a life or death situation. But most of the time, I take my chances and say what my character would actually say on that spot/moment. I try to include stuff the other person added into the thread because I find it more fun when everyone's included in a post unless someone's hiding. To me, it's really boring reading a character's inner monologue and they only do like, one thing. I'm left with the question, "Well. What now?" xD There's only so much I wanna do before I feel like I'm pulling the donkey. :B
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Post by gojira on Jun 30, 2013 3:49:29 GMT -8
i read the other post. i leave it to steep for a bit if i don't understand what's going on at once.
as soon as i figure out what the other party is saying, i start writing. whatever comes to my head, i put it down. then i hit post.
this is why sometimes my characters sound the same. at times i put myself into my character's pov, at times i don't. it mainly depends on who i'm writing at the moment -- there are characters whom i can write in any situation, and there are the characters that i need to immerse myself into before i can write them.
p/s: if you guys are curious which character i need to do immersion for before i write, just ask lol
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Post by meg on Jun 30, 2013 3:49:50 GMT -8
my steps: 1) read reply 2) make notes of what is most important to react to ---> this ends up being a list like: "greet - be surprised, defensive reaction to ___ comment" 3) write the full reply 4) post
sometimes i get lazy and just read and reply without really thinking about anything though. this was my fool proof way to write back in the day when i was making 1000+ words and such. sometimes i end up writing a post and starting in the middle of it then going back to write the beginning (sometimes i do that before i missed one of my points).
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Post by HIMA on Jun 30, 2013 4:55:34 GMT -8
wow um i really don't make plans at all... i just read the reply, remember the key points of what the other character did to my character, think about how my own character would react, feel, and how they'd respond and just write the post lol
lately i like to concentrate on the dialogue and make that interesting, lol. and maybe put more emphasis on the surroundings rather than the thoughts but heck that's just me
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Post by redox-kun on Jun 30, 2013 7:27:28 GMT -8
I told myself a long time ago that I would start planning posts but then I get too lazy to actually do it lmao
honestly I just start myself off somewhere and don't shut up. exposition is my friend. when I write, advancing the plot is often my second priority. first priority goes to trying to show the other person who my character is in a post by relating everything that they do/say to their motivations and what gets them out of bed in the morning. which is why my posts tend to err on the messy side I guess. meta is fun, and I've never gotten complaints about it?
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Post by spring on Jun 30, 2013 7:42:38 GMT -8
i used to do dialogue (or monologue) at first, so i knew what my characters would say, and then narrate it all. but then i began narrating first, adding dialogue after-- but idk, i guess i'm just lazy now 'cause i write my posts as i go, reading replies carefully so i don't miss anything.
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Post by darth vader on Jun 30, 2013 7:46:38 GMT -8
i usually just get drunk and start writing
the order you read it in is the order it comes out (unless you're reading it backwards or smth in which case: no)
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Post by GMOT on Jun 30, 2013 7:47:15 GMT -8
wow um i really don't make plans at all... i just read the reply, remember the key points of what the other character did to my character, think about how my own character would react, feel, and how they'd respond and just write the post lol lately i like to concentrate on the dialogue and make that interesting, lol. and maybe put more emphasis on the surroundings rather than the thoughts but heck that's just me my waifu and i are on the same page!!
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Post by pebble on Jun 30, 2013 11:08:49 GMT -8
I never really thought about this lol.... I've been trying to type without putting way to much thought into it, since I find myself keep going back and redo the same sentences over and over again if I look back. i used to do dialogue (or monologue) at first, so i knew what my characters would say, and then narrate it all. but then i began narrating first, adding dialogue after-- but idk, i guess i'm just lazy now 'cause i write my posts as i go, reading replies carefully so i don't miss anything. ^ i do this too
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Post by OJOUSAMA on Jun 30, 2013 22:29:30 GMT -8
^ yep. i'm always like that. course if i can't come up with absolutely anything then i just end up stealing the name of the song i'm listening to.
i'm a beginning - middle - end person, but it isn't uncommon for me to know what i want at the end, so the beginning could actually be the most difficult for me to write xD
basically i just try to respond to the other character's dialogue, one after the other, and will fill around the dialogue of my character so that it isn't some wimpy short post with some dialogue lines.
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Post by Zozma on Jul 1, 2013 10:33:44 GMT -8
I don't plan and sometimes, I'm all over the place. Before I actually hit post, sometimes I rearrange the sentences to fit better (or delete whole paragraphs because meh, they were dumb). As for thread titles. lololol I usually just use the song I'm listening to if something doesn't come to mind quickly. Which is pretty much always. Case in point, was listening to SHINee's Ready or Not so I named the thread I was writing Ready or Not. Kinda fits, given that it's about a guy bringing his boyfriend home to meet the parents. READY OR NOT HERE I COME.
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Post by SEADRA on Jul 1, 2013 12:34:12 GMT -8
i never plan posts, i write as i go. sometimes, when it's not just a random thread but an actual plot, i plan the whole thread out with the other person. i have to have some drive to get to, otherwise it feels like nothing is happening. but actual individual posts, nah man - it just happens. that's how i write essays too. everybody tells me to structure it first, but i end up writing full sentences in the outlines so i just write everything at once and go from there.
but, when replying i have to psyche myself up first, listen to music or something. a lot of the times the music that i'm listening to ends up as the titles, haha. that's about it.
[/justify]
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Post by birdie ♕ on Jul 1, 2013 13:31:11 GMT -8
i used to do meg's way and get my 1000+ posts but i am lazy now so i literally just uh keyboard smash i guess, i mean i just write it start to finish after reading the previous reply once or twice idk
if it's a thread i really am excited about or i'm posting with someone i want to impress, sometimes i edit and rearrange things but usually i'm too lazy for that and queen bee so who is there to impress i mean right? and just post it as it yup
i also have mixes for most of my ships and so if it's a thread that's like a ship thread and i have writers block i just listen to the mixes for a while and can usually spit out rambly and weird posts pretty quickly
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Post by pascaline on Jul 6, 2013 14:28:32 GMT -8
It depends on a number of things. If it's the opening post, then I try to think of a really interesting opening line and how to do dive right into the point of the post, then end the post in a really open-ended way geared towards the person who will be posting after me.
If I'm replying, then I write dialog first in response to what the other person's character said before. Usually I try to just write posts beginning to end, though sometimes I write dialog first and work around that.
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