The subject line of each email post must contain each of the following items:
- Ship Tag: [USS_Merlin] - This, quite simply, identifies the ship you are posting to.
- Mission Title: "The Quality of Mercy" - The title of each mission is the first item to add to the subject line of the email post. It must be the correct title for the current mission (as assigned by the ship's Commanding Officer), and be in quotation marks (" ").
- Sub-Title: Each post is to have a sub-title that reflects the content of your post.
Example: Mission #1: The Quality of Mercy, "The Big Decision"
In the example, it may reflect a rather 'big decision' has to make in that particular post. Just make sure you adhere to the 'Time Stamp' in each post, even if you have to backtrack a bit to make it fall in line with the rest of the story. Creating a unique and interesting title for your post can be great fun, so be creative!
So, if you put all of these together, your finished product should look like this:
[USS_Merlin] Mission #1: The Quality of Mercy, "The Big Decision"
#2 Beginning Your Post
The post always begins by starting with an ON:. This means that what you're saying is in character and is part of your post.
The next thing that comes is a Location / Time Marker (see next section).
After this is the post introduction. It will contain such things as a description of the setting, the characters present, and the actions currently going on. There is no real limit to this Introduction, as some posts may contain just this.
#3 Location/Time Marker
You always put locations and times in your post. They are always contained in [ ].
(Ex. [USS Merlin, Main Bridge, 1230 hours]). Keeping track of time and place is very important in keeping all of the events in order (and making sure you're not in two places at once!)
Any time that the location or time changes dramatically in your post, you need to put in a location / time marker to keep everyone on track with where you are.
#4 Posting Style Types
There are two major types of variation that you can use when you write -- script style and novel style. To maintain continuity and to allow for more detailed posts, the Merlin strongly prefers the Novel Style.
However, one requirement is that you must write your posts in third-person. This is for the sake of simplicity so that people can easily follow your posts. It's much easier to read a post in third-person than a post in first-person. The following example shows the Novel style as well as the preferred method for describing dialogue over a comm system, using the 'Comm Symbol' =/\=
Novel Style Example:
=/\= Bridge to all senior staff, assemble in the briefing room immediately! =/\=
From inside the Jefferies tube McCabe heard a muffled "Bloody hell."
Re-emerging from the tube, Bishop muttered, "Cinderella, Cinderella, all I HEAR is Cinderella!" He looked to his assistant with a sardonic smile. "Can you handle this yourself?"
"Yes sir," said McCabe with a chuckle.
Bishop nodded once and jogged to the turbolift, grabbing a PADD along the way. As he headed for Deck 2, he tried to think about what he would need for the meeting. Logic would dictate that it concerned the disappearance of the Commander, so Bish tried to think of anything Engineering-related that could be of value. After a quick check of the manifest, he found that the shuttle in question was a Type 11, specifically the Santa Fe, so he made sure the shuttle's specs were loaded into the PADD's memory. As the Engineer arrived on Deck 2, he had just finished attempting to determine the effects of the local gravimetric disturbances on the shuttle's systems, using the ship's sensor logs as a guide.
#5 The End of the Post
At the end of the post, you always close with an OFF: section.
This signifies that you are no longer talking in-character. You may include any messages that you need to make out-of-character (OOC): comments, etc.
Don't abuse the OFF section -- it's only meant for brief notes. There is an OOC mailing list for larger thoughts and ideas.
#6 Signature
Finally, you end your post with your character signature. You are required to put your character's name, rank, and position, but you can make it more detailed.
Required:
Lt. Commander Matthew Drake
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin NCC-84401
Optional with more detail:
Lt. Commander Matthew Drake
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin NCC-84401
http://www.geocities.com/kclench/index.html
http://www.obsidianfleet.net/
E-mails:
[email protected]
Instant Messengers:
myrddinclench (AOL IM)
#7 Before Sending Your Post ...
Before you send your post, always go back and re-read it to make sure you don't have any corrections that you wish to make to it, or that you didn't make any major mistakes. Also, make sure to spell-check your post! There's nothing worse than trying to read a post where every other word is misspelled.
After doing all of that, click the send button. Congratulations, you've posted!