Starting and Ending RP's

[JLevinson]

Am I the only one who has a tremendously difficult time with the beginnings and ends of RP's? Sometimes I feel like it's flowing pretty good, but I generally will spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to "end" an RP right, with something snappy or clever or poignant, and I think, probably, it's a pretty big waste of time.

Anyway, just curious if I'm the only person crazy enough to waste a ton of time working on on the beginnings and ends of RP's a disproportionate amount compared to, y'know, the bulk of the RP.

 

[User Poets]

For me, it's not so much the words but the setting that trips me up. I think that's why I just stopped using settings.

 

[Biron]

I spend quite a bit of time closing a RP out. I always like to leave it on a strong note. If you pay attention, you'll see a good amount of the stronger writers (and characters) seem to do it.

 

[LQJT86C]

Depends on the character for me. I usually have an easy time creating a setting for Castor Strife because he's a more visual-based character than say, Layne Winters or Alex Austin, whose promos almost always happen in the street or on a grappling mat. I have a more difficult time beginning and ending with Strife than with those characters though, because they are more "shooty" and I feel like I have more room to maneuver with them.

Usually, if I'm really motivated to post an RP, the beginning is easy for me, but I put so much effort into the beginning/middle that I run out of steam and the ending sucks. So what I've started doing is saving the RP, taking a day to refresh, and finishing it the next day.

Makes sense though, because a film editor once told me the hardest part is always "the ending."

 

[Biron]

Billy has a good point there. Don't be afraid to stop writing and take a day or two off. I never write a RP in one sitting and taking two days is the norm.

 

[EpyonMarx]

I tend to think endings are the hardest part (except for Otaku and Mr Entertainment - I can always work something for them). I don't spend much time on them compared to the rest of the RP but I sometimes find myself cringing before I rework it, or it feels sometimes like the end just gets draaaaaaaged on way too long because the character is overly verbose. Intros, never had a problem with, I usually start with a rough idea from inspiration and carry through, but endings... oich!

 

[KING]

I guess I'm weird. Roleplays for me usually start with a "go home" line. Something I thought about while at work, or heard on the radio, or something, that gets my juices flowing. I usually have a hard time making the body of the post live up to that line, that's supposed to convey whatever my character's motivation was at that particular time.

Also, like Russo(!), as I've gotten older, it's become increasingly harder for me to figure out realistic places and settings for my character to cut those promos, and if I couldn't come up with the right location, it would drive me insane, to the point of scrapping the entire post, which I've done several times.

Lastly, like Billy said... sometimes you have to just step away. In my younger years, I managed to get halfway decent posts pushed out in 20 minutes... as I've matured, 20 minutes became two days. However, while this oftentimes helps, has anybody ever suffered from loss of focus using this method? I'll generally have a motive in mind when I initially sit down to post, and if I wait to long to get it complete, I'll forget it.

I think this is why I retired my character.

 

[User Poets]

I retired my character.

BOOOOOO!

BOOOOOOOOO!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

 

[jediPREZ]

I guess I've never had an issue in this regard...although I've only written one RP this year.

I tend not to overthink when writing out the content of an RP or show, just because I don't feel this should be treated as some intense calculation of rocket science -- but once I get into the revisions process is where I get brutal...if I have time to do that.

I've also gotten into the habit of reading my opponent's RP, but refusing to utilize or debate what they said as part of my RP. One of the things that can drive me crazy is the ongoing and overdone debate of he said/he said that goes on.

 

[The Great Eye]

When I'm Rp'ing I tend to think to much about matches and what I'd say so I generally have 2-3 ideas for an Rp at any given time. Starting them really isn't an issue, it's more just finding a line of debate to have with my opponent. As others have said the process takes a lot longer now then it does before. I find just tweaking and working on ideas over a few hours allows me to hit upon a thought or comment that I just didn't have in mind before.

To me it's really the middle of the Rp that's the issue because that's where I'm building to the big payoff in the end, I normally have an idea as to what my 'big finish' is but the question is 'how do I get there smoothly' because if you don't build the Rp properly to big finish, then the big finish feels forced, stuck on with a nail gun instead of just organically made from the statements in the promo.

Unless I'm Rp'ing Doc, then I just swear a lot, reference the insider politics of the league I'm in, and quote Garbage lyrics. New album out this year, Doc's coming baby baby! (Note: Is not likely coming back.)

 

[User Poets]

Doc actually retired because Shirley Manson's solo album wasn't released, so he had nothing to steal from.

Reading all of this, am I the only person who writes all of his RPs total stream of consciousness, with no idea where I'm going to start or end, and usually with (at most) only the barest hint of a theme?

 

[jediPREZ]

Doc actually retired because Shirley Manson's solo album wasn't released, so he had nothing to steal from.

Reading all of this, am I the only person who writes all of his RPs total stream of consciousness, with no idea where I'm going to start or end, and usually with (at most) only the barest hint of a theme?

That's pretty much how I roll, but that's more because of my characters and my brain not being able to think in a linear fashion.

 

[User Poets]

That's pretty much how I roll, but that's more because of my characters and my brain not being able to think in a linear fashion.

I should probably clarify my question to stress the fact that I've never been a big drug user, which puts me out of the JK category.

 

[JLevinson]

Reading all of this, am I the only person who writes all of his RPs total stream of consciousness, with no idea where I'm going to start or end, and usually with (at most) only the barest hint of a theme?

I try to have some concept of what I'm going to do ahead of time, even if the concept is, "I better RP before Garth makes me his b*tch." Generally, I end up doing a lot of stream of consciousness stuff. I tend to let it flow as it seems natural. Which, I think, is why I have a particularly difficult time at the end, because I have no idea how I got there or what the plan is, other than, try not to do anything too stupid.

 

[The Great Eye]

Being up against a deadline and feeling like your forced to Rp sucks. I think in those spots it's just good to go with whatever is on your mind, take like a 5-10 minute break and then look it over and see if there's any holes you can spot in it. If not then hit send.

 

[LQJT86C]

For matches I really care about, I usually go in with some rough idea of what I'm going to write, at least for the first two or three RPs. If/When it gets to the 5th RP, I'm just shooting from the hip.

 

[DBrunkGXW]

I write from off the top of my head almost exclusively, and I specifically avoid reading other roleplay or thinking about responses to roleplay until I'm ready to write what I need to write. If a great open hits me, I'll use it, but I don't depend on it, and usually the close hits me while I'm in the middle of writing the body of the piece.

I'm also fine with just posting a chick's boobs, like they do in VWF, and isn't done nearly enough over here.

That's off topic, but who cares?

 

[GARTHIsTheLaw]

The beginning of the RP is generally the easy part for me, because I very rarely come up with it after I sit down to write. Usually, the concept will pop into my head while I'm in the car or at the gym or something, and I can formulate something close enough to an opening line to start without much difficulty once I sit down at the computer later. The ending by itself isn't usually much of a challenge because I tend to set it up earlier in the RP -- if not at the very beginning -- but devising that setup can be a pain.

The biggest hurdle for me is getting from Point A to Point B. I can write the beginning and the end and have them both look fine, but as I write the stuff in middle, I'll revise each sentence a dozen times to make sure it fits with whatever narrative I'm working toward. My natural instinct is to just ride the stream of consciousness and see where it takes me, but I've built up Copycat -- who is the only character I've RPed since Cannonball Kidd's last run in 2001 or so -- as such a perfectionist when it comes to picking his words that I can't use my instinct to write for him.

 

[Justin]

It depends on the character. With Eric Dane I usually do some kind of a cold open, go right into him running his yap. I'm so far into his head that talking through him is my strong point, so I don't waste a lot of time on setting unless it's clearly needed.

For a character like Frank Dylan James, his entire appeal is the drop-in effect, as such I have to come up with a compelling situation that I can drop him into and watch the chaos ensue.

As for endings, they can be tough, so usually I just stop dead once I get to the point and hope I ended on something strong enough.

I smoke a lot of weed, and I don't put a lot of thought into this stuff anymore.

Just don't get me booking, that's where I pull my hair out.