As I promised earlier, here is a sample post and some other ideas for email RPG writing. We have members who are very new to all of this, and others who are (for a lack of a better word) seasoned. Some write only two or three paragraphs per post. Others are more verbose (not looking at anyone in particular <g>). As long as everyone makes a contribution to the story, moves it along a little, we should all be happy :-)
Please note that these are all suggestions to make posts the most readable - feel free to introduce your own style! (This isn't meant to be an English lesson, btw <g>)
Firstly, some basic pointers.
1. Take a look at some of your favorite authors - professional, fan fiction, whatever. Look at how they write. You needn't copy them down to the last detail, but just take a look at how they describe people, places and events.
2. Paragraphs. The best post is always difficult to read if it's all in one paragraph. If you look at your favorite author, you'll see that different ideas are always separated into paragraphs. So are speeches that are made by characters. Separating ideas, thoughts and speeches into paragraphs makes it easier for you to see where your ideas are going - and will also make it easier for other members of your team to see where your thoughts are going. This makes the game easier and more pleasurable for all!
3. Use a spell check. Most email programs - even Yahoo and Hotmail - have one. Again, it just makes for easier reading!
4. If you intend to include a character that belongs to the other player, it's always a good idea to shoot the player in question an email to let them know your intentions, and make sure that the character is available.
For example, say George has his character Neville in the swimming pool in the first post, but Sally wants to write a post with her character Miranda and Neville in the grocery store. Sally will need to contact George to find a plausible way to get Neville with Miranda in the grocery store. Having Neville just turn up at the store when everyone else just read that he was in the swimming pool is confusing for all - and you may be upsetting George's plans for Neville too, if you're not careful! Neville may actually have been going to get his hair cut! LOL
In other words, if we all work together like this, the story will *flow*, which is what we're aiming for. <g>
5. Have fun with your characters! We (the other members/readers) want to know what your character thinks, feels, and sees. Get to know him/her :-)
6. We're all learning here, and none of the writers on the list is perfect - least of all me! LOL We all make mistakes, but we all learn from them too. Let's have fun with this! If you have an idea, please feel free to step forward with it.
Sample post:
Lieutenant Sally Hutchins made her way to the briefing room. She was excited - her first mission! She felt as though she had been training for this ever since she first entered the Air Force, five years ago. Her new team sounded very interesting - they all came from different backgrounds. Some weren't even military!
Sally knocked at the door, and heard her new commanding officer tell her to come in. A quick glance around the room told her that the rest of the team was already assembled. Was she late? She hoped not!
"Lieutenant Hutchins reporting, sir!" she saluted.
"At ease, lieutenant," came her new CO's reply. She smiled at Sally and motioned for her to take a seat.
Once seated, Sally opened up the file in front of her and scanned the contents. Wow! It looked like they were going somewhere very interesting. She closed the folder again when her CO began to speak.
"Good morning, campers. In front of you you'll find a file outlining our mission objectives and details. Please read this through at your leisure. Now, if Captain Sanford would like to brief us on the weather on the planet we'll be visiting?"
Captain Sanford stood up, his file in his hands. Sally decided she liked the look of him - he seemed like someone who smiled and joked often.
"The weather on P3X595 is rather balmy this time of year, but we will need to pack our raincoats, as there are often sudden storms that hit in the area around the gate. Dress for the tropics, is all I can advise."
After a few more minutes, Sally's CO dismissed them and they went to get themselves ready for the mission.
Lt. Sally Hutchins
Astrophysicist, SG-12
Project Stargate
End of post.
Get the idea? Please email me if you have any questions, or suggestions you'd like to make yourself!
- Alexandra
Co-founder of PSG.