World of Warcraft®

This is a direct copy of my article Life Into Letters: Making Writing and Role-play Come Alive, located at http://soe4rp.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/life-into-letters-making-your-writing-and-role-play-come-alive/. Feel free to stop by the SoE Community WordPress Forums, which are an extension and repository of what can be found here on our Official boards.



Even though your efforts in World of Warcraft (WoW) can and will only be described by some as a hobby, this is your hobby. This is what you like to do. If you restored cars, you probably would not take a junker, slap a bit of duct tape on one fender, color it with a permanent marker, and call it fully restored. As much, you should take pride in what you craft with regards to the fan fiction you create and to your role-playing. One way of doing this is to keep your writing - both in and out of game - alive and inviting for other participants as well as audience members.


Breaking It Down

The Twain

For all practical purposes, there are clear, hard definitions about what constitutes both writing and role-playing.

Writing in and of itself is simply a means to an end to convey thoughts and ideas of any subject to anyone who would take the time to read the material. Writing fiction, you are in control of various characters and settings. You decide what characters will do when interacting, how they will fill out the plotline, what the scenes and settings are, as well as all sorts of other nifty details. You, as the lone storyteller (should that be the case), are responsible for creating a world and having little beings live out a story within said word for a particular purpose, whatever that might be.

Role-playing, by definition, is where you step into a character’s shoes, shouldering the responsibility for not only concocting but acting out that character’s life, describing its actions and reactions, and plotting how and what it will do next. Since things tend to be happening at that very moment in your character’s life when it comes to “live” role-play, things are generally performed in present-tense and all events streamline. There is rarely a defined "end" at the start of things, and often, your actions are governed by a story-teller (ST) or a game master (GM).

C-C-C-Combo!

As role-players in a live-action, web-based realm such as WoW, we are the crafters of our characters’ lives using a strange amalgam of writing and acting. When we reach to outside resources such as message boards, journal sites, and the like, we can actually bend the time constraints, pushing things out of chronological order to facilitate an overall story process with mechanics such as flashbacks or just pockets of memories collected in a stand-alone piece. As well, we cross from simple role-players into the territory of writing alone.

While are responsible for breathing life into Betty BloodElf or Gnuton Gnome, we do not own all of what exists or goes on around them. Even though you are not the inventor of Azeroth or the lore base, you write within the confines of those "laws" when you role-play and when you take things off-site to journals and forums with the characters you create within the game. This, in essence, fits the definition of writing “fan fiction.” As “fan fiction” writers, things we write will probably never be published or see recognition beyond our realm or even the game forums, but the stories matter to us, regardless. These are our creations.

How We Roll

In a piece by Williams, et al (Williams et al, 2006), the authors state that, within World of Warcraft, “…people on RP servers are playing another game entirely” as compared to PvE and PvP realms. In large part, this is because the focus of the game changes from one of gaming to one of playing. Like any MUD, LARP, or table-top, we role-play within the Blizzard-created confines of Azeroth and beyond, breathing life into imagined characters of our own choosing.

In such a closed atmosphere as compared to other mediums, it can be a bit of a struggle to maintain the freshness of expression and writing. Lore is more strict than forgiving, and stepping a toe outside its boundaries can be frowned upon in certain role-playing circles. Most certainly, it can be a challenge to put the proper information into /emotes and /says without relying too much on the standard backslash commands. Even more so, transitioning a character role-played in-game to written in another medium such as a forum or blog can be a tricky dance.

How, then, do we as character creators keep our writing alive and entertaining while mastering this odd mixture of composing and performing?

Getting a Pulse

Show, Don’t Tell

Very few people will ever list school texts as favorite books to read in their leisure time. I would be brave enough to guess that this is because most textbooks (literature courses aside) simply give the audience cut-and-dry instruction housed in large swaths of statements and examples. When it comes to both fiction and role-playing, we should be careful to avoid a "textbook style" approach to our writing. No one really wants to sit through a steady stream of statements of fact; they are there to be entertained. One way to carry out this is to show your audience what is occurring instead of spewing detail at them.

Though it can be a challenge in the tiny space of an emote, the small change of showing your audience what is happening and not simply telling them can make a huge impact. Consider the following:

Jane crossed the room, giving a dirty look to the rogue that sat on the couch. She opened the shutters by pulling the cord, and then took a seat in her chair. She wished the smarmy rogue wouldn’t just show up unannounced.

Now, compare it to this:

Jane’s lips formed a thin line as she tugged at the shutter cord, resisting the urge to make ill use of it on her unwelcomed guest. “Sorry for letting myself in,” smirked the rogue as she sprawled across the couch. “Not as sorry as I am,” Jane replied with a tone and expression both sour as she cut eyes at the woman.

Both examples are the same thing in essence, providing the audience with the same overall information. The difference, however, is that in the second example, the audience is shown what is going on without the actions being simply stated. This allows for a bit of imagination on the reader - even in live role-play format – and can lead to a deeper immersion on their behalf.



Action Plus Words

In some cases, all that may be required during a particular turn in role-playing and collaborative writing is dialog. However, role-plays conducted primarily in /say tend to be devoid of depth. When this happens, it can not only make others in your RP lose interest, but it also can convey that you as a writer are not putting much effort into creating the scene.

Let’s take a look at an exchange in three ways. First, as if in-game and using only /say (or written as a dialog-only piece):

[Jane]: I don’t have time to waste tonight. Did you procure the documents like you were supposed to?
[Sue]: Of course. They’re sitting in a lockbox right now.
[Jane]: Why didn’t you bring them? That was part of the deal.
[Sue]: I want my money, Jane. No money, no documents.

Let’s take a look at simple writing mechanics:

“I don’t have time to waste tonight,” Jane said as she glanced to the shutter cord once again. Turning her attention back to the rogue, she asked, “Did you procure the documents like you were supposed to?”

“Of course,” Sue replied, her lips curling to a smirk. “They’re sitting in a lockbox right now.”

“Why didn’t you bring them?” Jane hissed as she lurched forward, elbows pushing into her knees. “That was part of the deal.”

“I want my money, Jane,” the rogue replied airily as she glanced towards the ceiling, her fingertips toying with a single blonde curl that dangled at her temple. “No money, no documents.”

Now, going a step further to in-game RP, let’s take a look at possible emotes using the /e function:

Jane glanced to the shutter cord once again, brow arching. “I don’t have time to waste tonight,” she said, refocusing on the rogue. “Did you procure the documents like you were supposed to?”

Sue’s lips curled to a smirk. “Of course. They’re sitting in a lockbox right now.”

Jane lurched forward, elbows pushing into her knees. “Why didn’t you bring them?” she hissed. “That was part of the deal.”

Sue glanced towards the ceiling, reaching up to toy with a single blonde curl that dangled at her temple. “I want my money, Jane,” she said airily. “No money, no documents.”

The same basic information is conveyed in all three types of exchanges. However, looking from a /say-only to the written/emoted forms convey a good deal of information in just a few lines. This breathes life into what you are writing, and it will keep people interested.

Don’t Be So Passive

The liveliness of your writing both in and out of game depends greatly on the energy you put into it. If your writing consists mostly of slow, tame words, your energy isn’t going to be conveyed. To keep it fresh, reach out for the proper word to show your audience exactly what you intend with the material.

Let’s take a look at an example:

It was a warm day in Eversong, so the Sin’dorei decided to lay down for a nap once he took a break from clearing woodland debris.

Now, compare it to this:

The sun pushed through the canopy of trees, the soft wind tickling at the beads of sweat that coated the Sin’dorei’s exposed skin. A victorious grunt barked from him as his axe splintered the remains of the decaying trunk, the ranger heaving the tool aside as a weary sigh escaped him. His lanky form spun and slumped against the charred remains of the fallen tree, the sting of sweat that trickled into his eyes prompting a squint. A gust crawled through Eversong then, rustling the leaves that hung high above and cooling the elf’s warmed flesh. The yawn he gave blended to the sound of the wind as he slouched down, slumber crawling over him as the sounds of Quel’thalas beckoned the elf deep into sleep.

It’s a gentle passage, but even then, there is a good deal of activity within it. It’s something that is alive, and will work to capture a moment that exists only in your head. While the gist is the same for both paragraphs, a simple use of energized words (both soft and forceful) can paint an entire picture for a reader.

As for using this with in-game roleplay, it can be acted out over several emotes, and in smaller chunks. As well, you can blend what is happening with dialog, creating an overall picture (see Action Plus Words).



Use Sense

How we as people connect with our world depends largely on our five senses. In that moment when you as a reader connect something in text to something you can experience with your senses, you become drawn into the story. This, as a writer and role-player, is one of your goals for your audience and those with whom you collaborate. You want to be able to evoke images for your audience, but not force-feed them what they “see” within your story.

An example:

Sue was late for work because of a traffic jam caused by wintry conditions on I-20.

Now, lets take a look at that in a diferent way:

A fog of breath escaped her as she sighed, the dashboard clock’s harsh glare announcing yet another minute had been lost. Outside the thin panes of frosty glass, bright crimson streaks surrounded Sue on all sides, and a constant pulse from waiting engines played along to the sound crackling from the lone working speaker. She focused her eyes on the nearby sign that served as both announcement of her location on I-20 as well as a measuring stick on her vehicle’s progress; nothing had changed since the look she had given it several songs ago. Rigid fingers curled around the mug in the cup holder, the woman stiffly hoisting it and wincing as the bitterness of the chilled, murky liquid met her tongue. Holstering the mug and giving a shake of her head, a shiver gripped her as the chafed skin of her palms met the unyielding plastic of the steering wheel.

When we begin to paint a picture with a use of carefully placed adjectives and words of energy, we draw our audience into the story itself, inviting them to take part. While this may not seem possible in the short spaces of emotes, it can still occur; you would simply need to break the message down over several emotes or thin the description by editing out a few lines.

Jane shivered as a fog of breath escaped her, the leather reins in her stiffened fingers rigid. Watery eyes focused on Sue as she inched a half-turn to face the other woman, tugging up the thick scarf. “Ride on,” she growled through the layers of fabric, her kick to the horse's ribs sharp.

Here, we see in a sample of an emote how things are effecting the character, specific words making the environment pop to life. Not once is “ice” or “snow” mentioned, nor is it stated that Jane is more than a tad bit miffed. However, all these things are implied, carved out with description. It isn’t quite as intricate as it would be if written in a passage of static text, such as on a blog or word processing document, but in a live-action realm such as with WoW, it can lend to deeper role-playing sessions and help evoke feelings through the triggering of senses.

It's Alive! ALIVE!

As you go forward and practice these techniques, remember that it will take a bit of time to adjust. I’m sure that even the examples I have provided above could use a bit of polish. Writing is an evolutionary process; if everyone was perfect at it, there would be no such thing as an editor. In writing fan fiction and realm-side role-play, things can be less forgiving and have less wiggle room for description and depth. Don't let this discourage you, however. Allow yourself time to get used to the new style of your writing, and soon you will be adept at swapping action words for dull ones, painting pictures of what is happening rather than just stating what is going on around your characters, and delivering more than just /say.

In altering a few words and reaching out with the tools you already have, you can help plumb the depths of Azeroth even further, breathing new life into your creation and the world Blizzard has given us for our setting. With a bit of determination, a keen eye observing what you are producing, and working with others in your efforts, you can gift new life to your writing and role-play and share your creative genius with our community. It's already within you; you simply have to polish it up and show it off to the world.





References:
Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., & Nickell, E. 2006, ‘From tree house to barracks: The social life of guilds in world of warcraft’, Games and Culture, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 338-361.

Beautifully written. *Sticky request*

04/19/2011 03:09 PMPosted by Ellorah

Beautifully written. *Sticky request*

Ditto. :D

Elly and Cathall (and anyone else!)...

What kind of examples can you give for how YOU make things "come alive" in your role-play? How do you weave words to make things "pop" from the screen?

I definitely wouldn't claim to have mastered the art of popping yet. (At least when it comes to writing. Popcorn on the other hand...)

But I've read a few "How to Write Well" types of books, and found one piece of advice that seems to ring true for all of them: see the important, vivid details in your mind, and focus on writing those.

Don't worry about how it sounds or comes out on the page, and for the love of Lloth or whatever god you worship, don't edit as you write. (I used to do that all the time, and never could get a blasted thing written. Wonder why?)

So what I do when I write a story (not for most of my blog posts - those are just kinda silly), is I'll first write something like this:

Cathall sees a sheep and eats it.

Now this is a very rough idea, so I've got to figure out how to get from Cathall SEEING said sheep to actually ingesting it.

Basically, in terms of "popping" details...

I see a picture in my head of Cathall with a blood-rimmed mouth and wool-caked hands.

I'd still have to get from Cathall leaving the inn to eating the sheep, though, so I'd think about the things you could hear, smell, see, and touch.

"Cathall's steel-shod boots clopped down the steps of the Slaughtered Lamb. He could still hear the raucous, hen-like voices of the crowd inside, echoing in his mind like a pack of demons."

Let's say Genevieve happens to be trotting down the street, and he catches a scent of the fresh-baked bread she's carrying.

"The scent of fresh-baked bread filled his nostrils like the heady scent of a woman's hair." (Cathall's something of a playboy so this connection would naturally form in his head.)

But then he sees that darned SHEEP and just has to have a bite of it.

"In the end, the overpowering urge to devour mutton was greater than the smell of Genny's bread. He tore into the lamb with his teeth and hands."

(I think I've been reading too much Nozz lately.)

So from there, the reader might draw some symbolic ties to Cathall eating a sheep - maybe it's his subconscious way of dealing with his anger about the Slaughtered Lamb and its hedonistic crowd.

And wow, that turned out way longer than I'd intended.

TLDR: Get in your character's mind. Think about the world from THEIR perspective. Then write the world as they see it, focusing on tangible, smellable, audible details.

AND DO NOT EDIT AS YOU WRITE. Get it out first. Then go back and edit.

Oh, I should add: that's just for stories. In terms of RP, I would emote what other people could see Cathall doing when he leaves the Lamb, and try not to give too much away (since psychic emotes can be a little jarring), but still try to focus on those important details.

So I'd emote:

Cathall steps out of the Lamb, huffing tiredly, hands on his hips.
/say Quiet night.
Cathall takes a deep breath, sniffing at the air. (Or you could just /sniff)
/say Something smells good. Like bread.

Then I'd have Cathall walk somewhere, maybe add a little flavor...

Cathall swaggers off the Slaughtered Lamb entryway, grinning at his attractive female companion.
/say You in the mood for mutton?

I tend to separate emotes and says because of old habits ingrained in me from a previous RP guild I was in, but if you wanted to combine emote and /say, you could do that as well. The point is just the same, though: think of those "buzzwords", things that make your character come alive.

Like: swagger, grin, deep breath, huffing... things that are dramatic. Don't be afraid to make your character get a little over the top sometimes. Drama's what makes it interesting. And dramatic writing is the result of using action words.

First to Bells: Yet another fantastic piece. Thanks.

Now on to my issue:

AND DO NOT EDIT AS YOU WRITE. Get it out first. Then go back and edit.

This. It's probably my single biggest problem with writing. I'll write a couple of sentences, then keep editing those. By the time I get them to read the way I want, I've completely forgotten what else I wanted to say.

I think I'll try to force myself NOT to edit as I go. Maybe I'll get more than a paragraph written this way.

*scuttles off to write without edits*

First to Bells: Yet another fantastic piece. Thanks.

Now on to my issue:

AND DO NOT EDIT AS YOU WRITE. Get it out first. Then go back and edit.

This. It's probably my single biggest problem with writing. I'll write a couple of sentences, then keep editing those. By the time I get them to read the way I want, I've completely forgotten what else I wanted to say.

I think I'll try to force myself NOT to edit as I go. Maybe I'll get more than a paragraph written this way.

*scuttles off to write without edits*

Man, Sari, yeah. I know. I still do this, sometimes - it's like a bad habit.

I picked up a trick that's helped recently: a friend of mine suggested typing fast. Like, as fast as you can, so that you don't have time to go back and edit as you're writing. He said he got weird looks from people in his house sometimes, who'd accuse him of being a writing maniac when he'd get up in the middle of watching TV or something and sit down at his computer to start writing at 10000 WPM. But he also got a lot more stuff written.

Another thing I like to use is music. When I'm listening to fast-paced music (rock and roll, for example, or club music, or whatever - just something with a repetitive, fast-paced beat)
I've found sometimes it's easier to get into the "zone" of writing.

This one's a little weird, but you can also try writing in the dark. If you can't see your hands, sometimes it creates some kind of subconscious effect that connects you entirely to what you're writing.

04/20/2011 03:41 AMPosted by Bellamuerte

What kind of examples can you give for how YOU make things "come alive" in your role-play? How do you weave words to make things "pop" from the screen?

I'm pretty intricate with wording, but I try not to make it more than one post. You want to get the idea of what your character is doing across without being too meticulous, though for one-on-one RP in a quieter area, I think entertainment value of those posts are more valued. Adjectives and similes are your friend. I only use a more simpler post if there are several people around and lots of conversation going on. It's really hard to keep up with everyone if you're reading long emotes.

- Example of a "simple" post: Ellorah fixes her spectacles.

- Example of an "intricate" post: Ellorah presses her spectacles up the bridge of her nose, fel- ridden eyes adjusting upon the knight as she spoke as she nodded matter-of-factly.

- Example of a "meticulous/wordy" post: Ellorah's well-manicured fingertip pushed the falling spectacles up the bridge of her nose, fel orbs re-adjusting to the irate knight as she spoke of the horrid acts. In encouragement, she nodded very matter-of-factly in her knowledge and understanding of the subject.

04/20/2011 04:41 PMPosted by Cathall

and for the love of Lloth

D'oh!

That reminds me... have to drop those off later!


On a more serious (and far more important) note, thank you! What you wrote there - in that tiny space - made it all come alive. :3 It lets the reader feel what's going on more than just "this dude ate some mutton." It also helps you learn how the character is, and in an overall storyline, can help you understand why actions are taken. You get to know Cathall (or any other character) that way, and that's when stories matter to us.

I also agree with the "typing fast" thing. Don't stop to edit. Some of the BEST things can be born from that (like a certain line when Genna and Char were arguing, which still makes me lawl).

Watching what you're typing and editing as you go can trap what's tearing around in the cage, scratching to get out. Let the beast out to dance; you can clean up after it later.

*rereads her last sentence*

I... think I've been reading too much Nozz, too. >_>

Or King, perhaps.

You have no idea how much I love this thread. I wish every Role-player would read this. Srsly. Kudos to your writing, it was AWETASTIC.