April Lesson:
Tying everything together to make a good story

Last lesson we covered mainly ways to work together to make a successful role play. There are several things you have to consider when putting together a role play. The setting and plot line are very important in a role play just as with any other story. We have discussed how role playing is simply making a story together. Therefore we have to all have an idea for plot and setting. Setting and plot can both change throughout a role play.

Plot

Plot basically just refers to the series of events that give a story its meaning and effect. Plot is very important in both stories and role plays. Without a plot there is no point to the role play. Role plays with an interesting and not overdone plot are the most fun. Your first post in a role play will start the plot and it will go through the role play until the end. Many role plays never really have a real end so you may not always see all the elements of a well written story. However, other role plays will have an end. Your plot can change throughout the story in a role play but be sure to be thinking of what you want to happen. You can leave things a bit open ended so that others can add to it but you don’t want to post without a purpose. Every post that you do should have some sort of purpose. It is nice to leave your post in an interesting spot so that the next person has something to work with.

Setting

The definition of a setting is a story’s time and place. Just like when you are writing a novel in a role play you need to be very clear of the setting. You need to go into detail on where you are so other characters know how to react to you. We briefly talked about this last lesson when we discussed making a topic. When making a topic or perhaps on the HOL forum suggesting a topic it is important to give a clear time and place. Is it winter? Is it summer? Is it raining outside? Is it after midnight? Is it 3 o’clock in the afternoon? It is important that these things are clear so that others know how to make their character act. If it is raining outside it is unlikely any of them are wearing a snow suit. If it is after midnight it us unlikely they are singing at the top of their lungs in the hall.

Place is very important too. Not just a vague place but a more detailed picture of the place. If you are in the common room where are you? Are you next to the fire? Are you getting ready to leave? If you are in a classroom are you in the front row? Or the back? These things are important. I can’t possibly be talking to you if I am at one end of the great hall and you’re at the other can I? Having this clear from the beginning makes things less confusing as the role play goes on. If you change the setting for your character be sure to let others in the role play know. Some settings will not logically change though. If you were role playing and it was December in England it is unlikely you are going to go for a swim in the lake. Even if it was allowed. So changing the setting from inside in front of the fire to outside in the middle of the lake would just be silly. Think about what you are having your character do as you go along.

Creativity and other necessities

Though plot and setting are important if you leave bits of these out they can be added throughout the role play. However, creativity is not something you can do without. If your role play is not creative and your character isn’t doing interesting things no one is going to want to read it. Some things are way overdone which is one of the reasons they are not allowed. If everyone had the best quidditch broom then it would not be as fun right? If everyone had parents that were death eaters or everyone was nearly killed at birth it would just seem overdone. These things would make a role play dull if they were allowed. Not to mention if someone was nearly killed at birth it makes them the hero of the role play. In role plays we don’t want any heroes we want creative characters that mesh together in interesting ways.

We have talked about this several times. Though you want your role plays to be things that might happen so they are somewhat reasonable you don’t want them overly boring. Reading about someone doing their homework is not very interesting. In role plays we try to make the ordinary more interesting. If you are role playing a lecture make some interesting things happen. Things you wish would have happened when you were in school. You are witches and wizards come up with creative classroom distractions. Trouble is often fun. Accidentally drop something and make a huge mess, accidentally turn your homework into confetti, the sky is the limit to some extent. When writing your role play posts think of several things. Would anyone want to read this? Could this happen in the wizarding world? Am I breaking any role play rules? Does my post make sense grammatically? Can someone easily add to what’s happening? If you have considered all of these you are most likely well on your way towards great role playing