Authors note: This thread is currently not finished. However, the other day I had three pages of material, and it was all erased because I saved them over Word. Due to my frustration, I am going to be posting the rough draft (this draft) and editing it as a I go ensure that it is preserved as best as possible. I would highly suggest against reading this, because I myself have not gone back to edit. These are more or less NOTES as opposed to an actual post. You have been warned. I will title this as "Guidelines Complete" when it is finished. Thank you for your interest, hope to get feedback on this once it is complete.
Hello all! My name is Ordan..or at least, that's my username : P Among many other things, I am an amateur writer and a lover of the World of Fiction.
Admittedly, when I first began writing in school, I utterly hated it. I felt like everyones expectations were high, and if I didn't meet that certain style that my teachers so adored, it would be flung back in my face. However, as time went on, I realised more and more the delicate freedoms of writing, the worlds without number that sat on the end of my fingertips, waiting to trickle down from my brain onto paper. See, imagination was never a big deal for me. A rush of ideas is easy, but picking the ones you like and properly expanding on them so that others can appreciate the things you thought of is the difficult part. You might be able to picture a mountain, but can you draw or describe it?
To the point. No, I am not a master writer, or even an expert at this point. But I've been doing it for nearly half my lifetime and it's one of the few hobbies I've come back to time and time again, leaving dead interests in my wake. With the amount of hard lessons I've learned, I can only do what artists of all calibres do. To look back at my previous works, and realise how much I have improved since (from what i understand, this is what all artists of different mediums experience). Trial and error has been coupled with tips from amazing writers, who have taught me lessons here and there to itegrate with my own writing style. This being said, while I understand that those new to this have to write with other people in order to advance, and more importantly, while I LOVE the fact that people take an interest in probably one of the greatest age old activities since man first dawned (the activity being creation and storytelling), I would like to start writing quality posts with more experieneced writers. The greatest aspect of roleplaying is also the scariest. Unlike writing a book, a roleplay has more than one author of the tale. Bringing different people to the table means that more mindsets and viewpoints are used, resulting in stories that I almost certainly could never have thought of on my own. But while it takes several good authors to make a roleplay work, it only takes one to completely destroy it. Too many times have I seen a popular thread with dozens of ongoing pages destroyed by one less experienced author, killing it in with a few shorts posts like some kind of poisioned dagger.
With this in mind, I have decided to write these guidelines that must be understood in order to write with me. These are by no means site rules, and you will not be punished or banned for not following any of these guidelines. Just as important, if you understand these rules, I will not referee you on them. If you are in the mindset that the guidelines follow, there is no need for me to sit and lecture you.
Guideline #1
Connection and objectives, the most important part
A couple of years ago, I asked one of the greatest amateur (and possibly the best) writers I've ever met what the most important thing was. Granted, she told me a number of things. But one of the things she pointed out to me was probably the most simple. You have to be able to relate to the reader. When people think back on their favorite stories, whether it be movies, books, stories, T.V. shows, etc, ene of the greatest blunders I myself made as a rookie of the writing world (and the easiest to make if you are new) is to make everything that the character is doing seem like something that just has to be done so the story can progress. "I went into Ba Sing Se. I went through market and went down a couple of streets. I had my weapons on my back. I went into the Tea Shop". Even if you added details of how you got to the shop (which I will cover later) it wouldn't matter, because I feel like all I'm doing is reading something where something I'm supposed to "deal with" until I get to the good part. Let me give an example. Lord of the Rings, one of the greatest fantasies of all time, is about Frodo and a small band of humanoids attempting to destroy the evil Ring of Power. But when people talk about the movie/book later, they don't say "Hey, remember when Frodo went to destroy the evil ring?". Instead, they focus on specific places, things, ideas, characters. They talk about the beauty of the shire, the splender of the orchestra, the epic battle on the ancient bridge as Gandalf the Grey turned to battle the Balroc. These scenes capture our imagination, but why? Sure, the Balroc and the battle on the bridge was impressive, but was the shire "epic"? Was every second of the film crucial to the objective of destroying the ring? No, and it doesn't need to be. The reason we remember these scenes is simple. They connected us. We could picture being Frodo as he left the shire on his first adventure. We were lulled and drawn in by the orcehstra into the world that we were already enthralled in. We imagine ourselves amongst the warriros as they battle the orcs in the mines of Moria. I don't want to read about Frodo destroying a ring. I want to reading about ME, the READER, destroying the ring. I want to be able to imagine myself upon the walls of Helms Deep, to ride through the lands of Rohan, to be in the Halls of Kings. That is what fiction is, or at least that is what captures my particular tastes. It's a world that I can live in and experience, if only for a short time. A frontier that has not yet been explored, and it's up to me to discover it, to experience it.
Guideline #2
Objective
Yes, I know. This was part of the first guideline. While I can't talk about connection without explaining objectives, I can talk more about objectives without necesarily bringing up story/reader connection. Many times, amateur authors think back to their school days and how their teachers taught them.
"Xune walked up to the bickering couple. He put out his hand, moving his wrist in a forward, strong, fluid motion, putting his legs into a solid stance at about shoulder width. The Earth bent up as he directed it, swallowing the bottom half of the man in an instant".
Let's try it this way instead
"I was buying apples in the Ba Singe Se marketplace that morning when I heard that usual orchestra of sounds that signified something wasn't quite right. It was as if the whole world was taking a soft breath, a quiet moment to see if that odd noise would be made again. I couldn't help but join them and slow my breathing for a moment as I turned around. Through the small gaps amongst the many people, I could see on the other side of the crowd a woman on the ground, her arm wrapped in the large paws of what I could only assume was a butcher. He must have stood a good foot over my height. He sported what must have been at one time a white apron, but was now a new color, brandishing the stains that followed such a line of work. I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but the tone of his voice was that of a grunted command, which coupled with his face showed his emberasment that the scene was happening in public. The low sobs of the woman almost instantly made my entire body clench. My original reasons for being in the market forgotten, I walked through the crowd, who were all still bustling about as though nothing was happening, but the roar of the marketplace had undeniably hushened, a bit, listening for any development that could possibly involve them. I nearly walked straight into him before I popped out of the busy crowd and into the scene that lie before me, all of the sounds I could possibly make drowned out by the many people that surrounded me. What happened next was quick, and I hardly knew what I was doing. All I could think about was the woman on the ground, tears in her eyes, the mans strong, dirty hands wrapped around her cold, pale skin. I couldn't STAND bullies. Thwack, my bamboo pole quivered violently with the sudden collision as it knocked against the side of his head, my hands stinging with the force of impact. I could clearly see the look of suprise in his eyes, the woman forgotten as he turned to fully face me. The look in his eyes was skarred into my memory as I pulled my weapon back again. This time, the sound wasn't dulled as much by the crowd, which had gone considerably more quiet. It bounced against his side, my already numb hands stinging with pain. Thwack. I pulled my hands back over my head and aimed for his face, which towered above me. Tunk. The stick hit him flat along his chest, the end of the crudely smoothed bamboo scraping his chin and drawing blood. I pulled back in my frenzy for another hit, but he threw his giant hands up in some kind of defense that told me he'd had enough".
Do you see the difference here? In the sense of "objectifying", it makes no difference how many lines it takes for Xune to basically whoop some butt. But the difference here is that you can imagine yourself being in his shoes. I can't pick up two thousand pound boulders, so how in the world am I suppose to envision myself as Xune if that's what I start doing? This isn't to say that you can't make a character with the ability to do that (I loved the Avatar series, and I can't do ANY of the things they can do). But realise the need for details. Sounds, sights, smells, feel, touch, emotions, the environment. Without it, interaction is impossible for the reader.
Another common one happens VERY often in conversation. "Where are you from?". This question when asked in a casual setting usually gets me something like someones first name, and ocasionally their last. They usually proceed to ask me mine. Now, what DOESN'T happen (in real life or in fiction) is people telling me their life history, where they were born, what illegal activites they may or may not be a part of, how badass they are, their evil twin brother and how they are looking for him so they can kill him (or kill any other people they're looking for), etc. Now I don't have issue with such statements because they're unrealistic (after all, we are talking fiction). What gets on my nerves is the lack of fluid writing. I don't feel like I'm talking to a person anymore, I feel like I'm takling to a questline. Great, I pressed X, and now I'm talking to an NPC. I don't want to find the ring, walk to a mountain, and save the world. I want to explore the world, hear it throught he mouths of the writer, experience and explore it for myself. If I look at the house I'm in and was asked to describe it, I wouldn't start shouting price tags and where I bought things or what I plan on doing them. I would describe the room to you so that you can experience it for yourself as though you were there. You, as the writer, are helping me to explore something, with your character as a medium.
Guideline #3
Detail, the delicate ingrediant
Alright, I've already covered this in my previous two topics a bit. But that doesn't make this any less important to cover. Here's the problem I've come to learn about details. The problem is that you have to have just the right amount. If you put too much, you end up even forgetting what the heck the topic is. "I walked through the North gate of Ba Singe Se. Ba Sing Se is located in the North East of the Earth Kingdom, if you didn't already know. I headed down the south street, passing the bustling merchants, animals, vendors. The many residents of the city were going about, buying the different wares and goods that were being sold. Advertisements were being shouted about how one product could do this or how this product could do it better. The houses were of stone but had been painted many colors. Most of them either had shingle roofs or just stone. The road was made of tan granite that looked like it was porbably made my Earth Benders. I continued South, then turned West, then went South a few more blocks. I finally made it to the Tea Shop. The building was around 80 feet long by 60 feet wide. It had a chiminey with smoke billowing out of it and a small grass lawn, which a lot of the houses didn't have due to lack of space. I walked up to the door, which was green and probably about seven feet tall. I turned the knob and went inside". Phew, okay, that's too much detail (plus a bit of guideline #2 falls in their). Lets try this. "I walked through town. I went down a couple of streets. I found the tea shop after a while and headed inside". See, now, that's not much better. Let's try...."After several weeks of travel, I finally made it to the city of Ba Sing Se. Having gone through the checkpoints and filled out all the proper paperwork, I finally stepped out of the busy gate and onto the street. I had never actually been here, that slight buzz of electricity was in the air, the one that whispers to you that the day is done, but tomorrow will be exactly the same. Merchants were packing up along the sides of the road, taking down their stalls with tired groans but busy hands. Animals billowed and clucked ocasionally, some of the larger ones helping with the burden of closing shop. I started South down the along the street, the once tan stone now colored carmel by the setting sun. The shadows of buildings stretched long, attempting to catch the busy providence in a calming embrace. The cries of mothers for wandering children were carried through the air, and I noticed off in the distance a pack of young ones laughing as they chased after a bird in some pointless yet seemingly wonderful game. The weather by now was starting to cool considerably, the heat brushed from the ground by the ocasional breeze, taking the warmth to some far off place where it was needed. The sun was nearly set in the sky by the time I arrived at my destination, a Tea Shop I had never been to, summoned by a person I had never actually met. I probably wouldn't have passed it completely, but the cool green grass and a number of colorful trees immediately caught my attention in a place where room seemed an utter luxury. I walked along the winding stone path, admiring the rose blossoms and brightly colored magnolias that accompanied spring. Lost in the sweet scents that surrounded me, I nearly walked into the door, which was hidden by a flowering bush conviently located on a close corner. From here, the clatters of cups and platters and the hush of voices could be heard. Taking this as an invitatin, I went inside, a yawn announcing my presence" (work in process, DON'T SUE!)
Guideline #4
God modders
Alright, now I know that darn near everyone here knows what a G-Mod is. It's usually depicted as a person with abilities outside of a reasonable means. For example, "he picked up the Earth and threw it into the sun, killing everyone on it". Ok, extreme example, but the point is still there. However, the problem isn't in itself of the action you're commiting. God modding in my definition is "anyone that attempts to make through force people feel or think in a certain way without properly depicting the subject as such". End my own quote x D You don't have to utterly destroy the Earth to be a God Modder, you just have to try and make me feel a certain way without properly expressing the idea. Ok, you threw the Earth. How? I can't imagine you actually doing something like that, because I can't imagine myself ever being able to accomplish such a feat. I can hear you already. "Well, you probably can't bend Water or command Fire either". True, I can't. But I can imagine myself being able to accomplish such feats if they are described to me by the proper writer. "I flicked my wrists and there was fire". Nope, sorry, not feeling it. "I widened my stance and flicked my wrists, and flames popped out". Nope, still not feeling it.
"I wanted to show off to the crowd exactly what I could do. I widened my stance out so that I was firmly rooted to the ground, my blood starting to flow a bit faster at the thought of the fire that was within me. I lifted my arms, the muscles clenching, age old instinct warning me that this dangerous, and not something to be trifled with. Stomach clenched, my arms found the way up to my sides. I breathed deeply in, as though I could breath heat into my very body. A jab of my right fist sent a flicker of flames up into the air, the heat that had entered through my mouth finding its way out of my arm, my body a mere vessel for the energy to flow through, a means by which to release it back into the world. This was the way Fire Benders were taught to envision their gift. You could not create heat, you could only release it I flung my fists out in front of me, sending a spectacle of yellow and orange harmlssly into the sky above, the familiar sound almost like that of furling cloth..." (again, rough draft, DON'T SHOOT!)
Even though this person is showing off (which is something commonly related to G-Mod), this is not G-Modding, for the simple reason that the explinations and details make me feel like the action is physically possible (even though bending isn't).
Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:06 pm by FyrebirdEvo
Subject: Guidelines (incomplete) 
