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EducationalMusings & MumblingsRated - Wholesome/All-AgesSITE ADMINSoloTutorialWriting - General
In roleplay, you will commonly find people stating that they are epic, or multi-para. Many say they don't work with one-liners. But for some of us starting out, we have zero idea what that means in terms of roleplaying in general, or which are most often used. Fear not, I'm here to attempt to clear the waters. (Or, muck them up a bit more, we can never be certain *grins*)
So. Let's start with common types, shall we?
We have, in order of complexity-
1- One liner/Semi-Para.These are an iffy thing for many. One liners are just what they sound like, one line per response. Semi-Para is where there may be two to three sentences, but there simply isn't a lot of muscle behind it. Sometimes it can simply be that you've been writing and can't think of anything else to say at that moment, so a one-liner fits perfectly well. Or the flow of conversation is such that the characters are talking as if they are standing together having a conversation. Those are appropriate uses, but they are normally discussed beforehand, or are just random conversation posts. When working with a partner in a roleplay though, these are both generally frowned upon. The reason for this is that there is no detail. Building a roleplay requires you to set a particular scene and to make the reader and your partner be able to visualize it. One-liners simply can't do this, and so it puts the burden of advancing the story and adding detail on the other person. This tends to wear on the one that is forced to do the bulk of the thinking, so it's highly advisable to use these only when agreed upon or for short conversation posts, or in between larger posts.
2- Para/Multi-Para.These are together because they are similar. A standard paragraph is anywhere from 5-6 sentences. Paragraphs that are too large tend to be distracting and be annoying to read, so always find a nice spot to end on when you can. If it begins to become a larger block of text than what can be comfortably read by scanning, break it into multiple paragraphs. Now, multiple paragraphs are simply blocks of paragraph text, broken into smaller paragraphs so they are easy to read. In general, multi-para roleplay is 4-5 sentences per paragraph, and 2-5 paragraphs per post. This is the "standard" form of roleplaying for many, and the universally accepted length for a good plotline and functioning roleplay between partners.
3- Novella.Novella is defined as a piece of writing that is at least 17,500 words in length. Any shorter, and it isn't considered a novella. For this reason, most roleplayers only achieve novella length when working with other characters. This can be in a large, multi-arc storyline, or in a writing group with an ongoing story that utilizes all group characters.
4- Epic. This is the big leagues, kid. Epic roleplayers generally have a large story arc. A lot of times these are the writers that are working on a book, or a series of books. Most times these are done in chapters, as the format is meant to be like a novel. If done in groups, this can be a highly entertaining way to watch a story morph from a main idea to a sprawling world, but it can be hard to do. A huge item is to format the posts, and keep the story how the original story writer wanted it to be. This is fairly rare, but can be successfully done with time, a great idea, and a good group of writing partners behind you. Some writers even take on their own characters and write them together in order to showcase the separate personalities of each character without another writer adding in parts that don't mesh with how the creator wanted things done.
For examples of one liners, semi-para, para, and multi-para, check out RPL's host group, the Darkside. Their storyline Repercussions showcases all of these
To see an semi-epic storyline, you can check out the 4 part series of the Dream Hunter chronicles. This isn't even really considered an epic roleplay, but it's as fairly close as roleplayers might get.
The Hunted, Part 1
The Hunted, part 2
Know Thyself, part 3
Aftermath, part 4
So. Let's start with common types, shall we?
We have, in order of complexity-
1- One liner/Semi-Para.These are an iffy thing for many. One liners are just what they sound like, one line per response. Semi-Para is where there may be two to three sentences, but there simply isn't a lot of muscle behind it. Sometimes it can simply be that you've been writing and can't think of anything else to say at that moment, so a one-liner fits perfectly well. Or the flow of conversation is such that the characters are talking as if they are standing together having a conversation. Those are appropriate uses, but they are normally discussed beforehand, or are just random conversation posts. When working with a partner in a roleplay though, these are both generally frowned upon. The reason for this is that there is no detail. Building a roleplay requires you to set a particular scene and to make the reader and your partner be able to visualize it. One-liners simply can't do this, and so it puts the burden of advancing the story and adding detail on the other person. This tends to wear on the one that is forced to do the bulk of the thinking, so it's highly advisable to use these only when agreed upon or for short conversation posts, or in between larger posts.
2- Para/Multi-Para.These are together because they are similar. A standard paragraph is anywhere from 5-6 sentences. Paragraphs that are too large tend to be distracting and be annoying to read, so always find a nice spot to end on when you can. If it begins to become a larger block of text than what can be comfortably read by scanning, break it into multiple paragraphs. Now, multiple paragraphs are simply blocks of paragraph text, broken into smaller paragraphs so they are easy to read. In general, multi-para roleplay is 4-5 sentences per paragraph, and 2-5 paragraphs per post. This is the "standard" form of roleplaying for many, and the universally accepted length for a good plotline and functioning roleplay between partners.
3- Novella.Novella is defined as a piece of writing that is at least 17,500 words in length. Any shorter, and it isn't considered a novella. For this reason, most roleplayers only achieve novella length when working with other characters. This can be in a large, multi-arc storyline, or in a writing group with an ongoing story that utilizes all group characters.
4- Epic. This is the big leagues, kid. Epic roleplayers generally have a large story arc. A lot of times these are the writers that are working on a book, or a series of books. Most times these are done in chapters, as the format is meant to be like a novel. If done in groups, this can be a highly entertaining way to watch a story morph from a main idea to a sprawling world, but it can be hard to do. A huge item is to format the posts, and keep the story how the original story writer wanted it to be. This is fairly rare, but can be successfully done with time, a great idea, and a good group of writing partners behind you. Some writers even take on their own characters and write them together in order to showcase the separate personalities of each character without another writer adding in parts that don't mesh with how the creator wanted things done.
For examples of one liners, semi-para, para, and multi-para, check out RPL's host group, the Darkside. Their storyline Repercussions showcases all of these
To see an semi-epic storyline, you can check out the 4 part series of the Dream Hunter chronicles. This isn't even really considered an epic roleplay, but it's as fairly close as roleplayers might get.
The Hunted, Part 1
The Hunted, part 2
Know Thyself, part 3
Aftermath, part 4