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Rehab for Roleplayers

"Rehab for Roleplayers" is series of articles intended to help dedicated roleplayers more easily cross the divide to writing fiction.

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Rehab for Roleplayers - IntroWelcome to Rehab for Roleplayers, a series of articles aimed at helping roleplayers more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Introduction: How to Spot a Drow Illusionist

I can identify a habitual roleplayer from fifty paces. Those who've been spooked by my asking whether they're a roleplayer within ten seconds of reading their fiction will know what I'm talking about.

"But how did you know?" they gasp. When I'm done chuckling, I explain that I know they are a roleplayer, because they write like a roleplayer.

There's usually a pause, then, while the writer decides to what degree they're going to feel offended by this staRehab for Roleplayers - Intro

Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 1Welcome to Rehab for Roleplayers, a series of articles aimed at helping roleplayers more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Part One: Your Syntax Has Been Eaten A Grue

The term 'syntax' pertains to the rules of grammar and sentence construction in any given language.

I'm starting this series with a discussion of problematic syntax because passively constructed sentences and/or wrenched and unnatural sentence structure are the number one signpost which will identify a writer as having spent a lot of time in the RP world.

Wrenched or passive syntax is also the number one 'crime against fiction' committed by the average rRehab for Roleplayers - Part 1

Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 2Welcome to Rehab for Role-players, a series of articles aimed at helping role-players more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Part Two – If It Walks Like RP and Quacks Like RP, Then It Is Probably Not a Novel.

As I have already discussed in other parts of this series, fiction and roleplay are two very different things.

Here, I'll be discussing those differences as a means of illustrating why the bulk of roleplay-style writing is not conducive to selling your work to an editor as fiction, nor in many cases providing an enjoyable reading experience for anyone unfamiliar with your personal RP.

Primarily, this segmentRehab for Roleplayers - Part 2

Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 3Welcome to Rehab for Roleplayers, a series of articles aimed at helping roleplayers more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Part 3 – Echolalia Jones and the Thesaurus of Doom

As we've seen, one of the most significant differences between RP and fiction is that RP is an interactive process. Aside from issues already discussed, there are several related aspects of writing styles in RP that can become problematic when employed in the realm of fiction.

The bulk of RP occurs within the context of a 'gameworld' or a pre-set environment into which player's characters are inserted. This can be anything from a fRehab for Roleplayers - Part 3

Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 4Welcome to Rehab for Roleplayers, a series of articles aimed at helping roleplayers more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Part 4 - The Epic Adventures of Level 9 Druid

Have you ever attempted to explain RP, particularly your own RP, to somebody who isn't involved in it? Most of you would have experienced something like my last conversation of the sort:

PERSON: So, what's this RP thingy about, anyway?

YOU: Well, you see, I play a character who's a 326-year old vampire, only she's not one anymore, because of… well, long story, but anyway, she's in love with this pirate who's also a werewolf, because he was dying, Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 4

Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 5Welcome to Rehab for Roleplayers, a series of articles aimed at helping roleplayers more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Part 5 - Level 99 Druid Saves the Day (and Mary Sue, too)

Our old friend Level 9 Druid has been a really fun character, so his player has decided to feature him in a novel. Good for him! However, Druid's Player has never quite understood that other people don't much like his character, and for very good reason: Level 9 Druid never, ever loses.

He's handsome, of course. Extremely handsome (even with that strategically-placed and charmingly rogueish facial scar) — oh, and smart, and brave and ofRehab for Roleplayers - Part 5

Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 6Welcome to Rehab for Roleplayers, a series of articles aimed at helping roleplayers more successfully make the transition into writing fiction.

Part 6 – "Where's Ruth?" Tom Cried, Ruthlessly

Throughout the rest of this series I've explored various 'roleplay-isms' which are fine in the RP environment but don't automatically translate well into fiction. This article deals specifically with 'attributions', which are the 'he said' / 'she said' part of dialogue.

It's a generally accepted practise in fiction writing to keep attributions in dialogue simple and to not overdo it with synonyms for the word 'said', like 'shouted', 'whined' and 'Rehab for Roleplayers - Part 6

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~Phoenixchi Aug 11, 2011 Hobbyist General Artist

Quote: "Okay," says Druid's Player. "Fair enough. I'll give my character some flaws. How about an allergy to wheatgrass, and a large (but roguishly attractive) facial scar?"

Sigh. /Quote

Made my day [: May I add that Mary-Sueism tends to make the reader's blood boil if they are not an ignorant with the brain of a troll?

Reply

`salshep Aug 12, 2011

Heyhey now, no slandering the trolls! Poor old Hagorth would object!

Glad it gave you a smile.

Reply

*Lit-Twitter Jul 30, 2010

Chirp, great guides, it's been twittered. [link]

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