Forums » RP Discussion » Improving RP after Years of Experience

Hello everyone,
I figured why not bring up a discussion, pick your brains if you will.

For those of you who have spent countless hours role playing with improving upon your craft more often than not at the forefront of your mind, this discussion is for you.

How do you improve upon good writing?
What resources do you use to inspire and motivate you desire to learn more?
Is there even a point to improve if all parties involved with the RP enjoy the story?

in my honest onion, one of the best ways to improve your writing is to read from the genres you want to write and pay attention to how they've been written, and find inspiration in other's writing styles
I think you can also improve regardless of story content. A romeo and juliet story is a romeo and juliet regardless of whether or not its written nicely, but nice writing is typically the writing we like to read. This is likely different for folks who have a greater separation between roleplay and just writing practice, but I don't seperate the two particularly far personally. If its moreso the content of the story that's just janky and all, that's fine, whatever, you know its silly but you're having fun and that's really the whole point of having a hobby at all

How do you improve upon good writing?
Seek out inspiration. Fiction, philosophy, any experience which makes you feel like writing. Then figure out why it inspired you.

What resources do you use to inspire and motivate your desire to learn more?
Everything and anything. Take inspiration wherever you can get it. Whether I'm reading a book, watching a show, or sitting in a lecture, I have a habit of jotting down facts or quotes that stand out to me. It could have been the content, the style, some way in which I could apply it to a setting or character. Even a play or piece of art can make you feel like writing something new. (I went to an art museum about a year ago and was so moved, I've been incorporating bits and pieces of what I saw into my writing ever since!)

Is there even a point to improve if all parties involved with the RP enjoy the story?
Don't try and change your writing style for other people. I've found the least stressful route to rewarding RP is to find like-minded RPers. If your plots or characters aren't what someone is looking for, it doesn't mean they're "bad" ideas, just not to their tastes! Our obligation isn't to entertain or impress others, but to have a good time. Find writers with compatible interests. Everything else comes with time, trial, error, patience, and a lot of self-leniency.

I've kept this quote close...

I think one must define what "improve" means before they can answer this question.

What is the ultimate goal of RP? Are longer posts automatically better? Are posts with more impressive words better? Are shorter but fast responses better? Are OOC check-ins at regular intervals better? What is the the thing we're comparing to to decide whether it's better?

Much like "highly evolved" just means well-adapted to a given situation (like thick fur in a cold climate) but could be terrible if the situation changes, "improve" can only be achieved when we clearly know what we're trying to improve. Some people love ten-dollar words, others find them a showy distraction to the thing they really love, which is plot.

I say: Always seek to improve, but only when what you are improving, why, and for whom has first been clearly thought through in your head.

The simplest answer?

Listen to your RP partners, be diligent with your responses, and simply be willing to improve yourself. You'd be surprised at how that little can go a long way. If everyone is enjoying themselves, then that's the point, in of itself, of a good story, right? I personally require bit more to immerse myself in a story, but not everyone is me.

If there's something with my writing I want to improve upon, I usually look it up myself as well. For example, seeing something that I'm writing and looking up why it's used like that, like what counts as a proper paragraph.

~~~~~Yes definitely! Sometmes when I stumble across another roleplay I am amazed by their style, or how they approach describing a scene in their own perspective.


~~~~~ Ooh, I wouldn't have though of the influence an art museum could be on writing. I mean, yeah it is not even a slight stretch to assume that all art influences other mediums. Perhaps that is why music inspires writing, too.


~~~~~ Without parameters being set and clear goals of what is actually "Improvement", then yeah, One has to start from there for sure. I wonder if then reverting to basic brainstorming on the notion of improving writing could prove to be useful. Goals, expectations, time frame and results.


~~~~~ You make a very good point here. What are traditionally well formed paragraphs? When you know the rules of writing then they can be broken and smashed to bits in fun and creative ways I think.

I'm not as consistent with writing detailed prose as I used to. Maybe I should read more Robert E Howard stories for inspiration like his works on Conan the Barbarian. They're filled to the brim with prose and metaphors.

You know, I haven't looked into that, yet. I need to make a list of what other people find inspiring so that if I need a book I can just go to a handy dandy list!

Personally, I typically try and do things I know I will absolutely fail at. If you are willing to try something, even if you know your going to fail, you are setting yourself up to slowly learn that new thing.

For instance, I am awful at roleplays that involve statistics or heavy RPG mechanics, however, I am currently in a Discord server with a long time friend doing them to try and learn them. At first, the roleplay would be so terrible we'd just drop it in a day or two, but now I can write somewhat enjoyable adventures in that fashion

Look for what your bad at, and don't shy from them. Get your butt handed to you a few times and just keep hacking away at it