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How to Get the Most Out of RP


by Martha Wainwright

1) Take advantage of the power of little connector scenes.
2) Pay attention to the details.
3) Go for realism.
4) Get deep, get creative.
5) Send your characters on unique adventures.
6) Get your friends involved.
7) Remember that just because your characters are apart doesn't mean they can't still interact on a regular basis.
Conclusion



1) Take advantage of the power of little connector scenes.
 Life is more than a series of big events. Some of the most interesting discussions and interactions in life come in between the big events. Scenes become deeper and more realistic when you don't skip things like elevator rides, standing in line, dinners, and car rides from place to place. When you break up characters' days and jump from scene to scene, you eliminate the chance of mood changes and little conversations that make relationships more intricate.

EXAMPLE: Your characters are in New York and have just had lunch. They are riding the subway home, and they see a woman sitting in front of them who hasn't noticed that the windy day has displaced her perfectly-styled hair. It is sticking up in all directions and looks more like a parakeet perched on her head than any hairstyle ever found in a salon. They sit back quietly and whisper to each other, making jokes and sniggering mischievously until their stop. When they arrive back home, they are cheerful and have established a feeling of closeness from sharing the private joke.

Life is sometimes what happens in between ñscenes,î and playing the in-between can bring your characters closer.


2) Pay attention to the details.
One of the hardest things about writing is finding a way to demonstrate mood. When we write a character saying something, we don't have the benefit of hearing tone of voice, which sometimes makes it difficult to capture the feeling of a scene. Detail can help.

EXAMPLE: Two characters have spent the day together and are saying their goodbyes at the door. One character says, ñI really enjoyed our day together.î Without detail, we have no clue what the tone is. Consider how the words would change meaning if you added the following descriptions:
(a) ñI really enjoyed our day together.î She leaned into him slightly, eyes searching his as they stood on the windy street, a shy smile curving her lips as she looked up at him through dark-lashed eyes.
(b) I really enjoyed our day together. *averts eyes and stands with hands in pockets, looking up to glance down the sidewalk at passers-by as he chews his lip, slight frown furrowing his brow*
Sometimes description can say more than speech.

Creative description of scenery can sometimes add to the plot of your RP. Don't forget the setting (time and place) where your characters are interacting. For instance, if it is autumn and your characters are taking a walk, they should be seeing some fall colors. If they are walking along and notice a raked pile of leaves that you take time to describe, it could lead to a fun romp in the leaves that otherwise may not have occurred if you pay too much attention to their conversation and not enough to their surroundings.


3) Go for realism.
In real life, bad things sometimes happen. Strangers say hurtful things unintentionally, people can be klutzy, food is spill, flights are delayed, cars get flat tires, restaurants have waiting lists, open purses can be dropped, credit cards can be declined, you can step in chewed gum, unexpected rain showers occur, miscommunications happen, people oversleep, wallets can be stolen, heels break, condoms break, and worst of all: guitar strings break. When you ignore these little challenges that life can throw you, you miss out on interesting opportunities. A perfect world would be boring; if you create a dream world for your characters where nothing ever goes wrong, it is easy to fall into a rut where lack of conflict makes their interaction uninteresting. Remember the primary element of fiction: conflict is everything. It is what drives plot.


4) Get deep, get creative.
You don't have to limit your characters' conversation to things you know about them for a fact. Just because you don't know what their childhood was like doesn't mean you can't make up stories about sleepovers or relationships or milestone events. Similarly, if your character is, say, on a movie set filming day after day, just because you don't know what is going on there doesn't mean you can't make up on-set hijinks to write about in his or her journal. Also, think about where your character is in their life. Would they be happy about their position? Would they be content with their job? Would they be missing their family? Don't be afraid to fill in the blanks when it comes to conversation or interaction. If someone talks to your character about how they are fighting with their mate, your character doesn't have to respond with bland, non-specific responses.

EXAMPLE: One character mentions that they had an argument with their mother over the phone that day and is upset about it. Your character doesn't have to respond with a generalized comforting response like, ñSometimes parents and children don't see eye-to-eye, but it is comforting to think that they will always love one another regardless of what happens.î He or she can say something like, ñI understand what you mean. When I was a teenager, my mother and I fought all the time for a few years. I used to get so angry with her, but I always knew that deep down, she would always love me no matter how badly I behaved. I'm sure your mother feels the same way.î Push to make your character more deep, and you will find they have more to talk about and will have more interesting things to play, both you and your RP partner.


5) Send your characters on unique adventures.
There are more places to hang out than bars, restaurants, and houses. There are more activities to do besides eating, drinking, and having sex. Try to take advantage of whatever city your character is in. If they are in Seattle, have them go to the market and watch the fish-tossers. If they are in London, have them go to Trafalgar Square to climb on the statues. If they are in Japan, send them to a teahouse. If they are in New York in the winter, send them iceskating in Rockefeller Center. Activities don't have to be dictated by location either. Have them do mundane, everyday activities together, like grocery shopping, cleaning the house, buying birthday presents for friends, baking cookies, or going to an amusement park or museum. Send them skiing or to the beach or fishing on a lake or on a hike. Don't get caught in an activity rut.


6) Get your friends involved.
Group RPs can be fun. Sometimes adding more people to a scene can add more ideas and take conversation in directions that you may not have thought of. If you find yourself bored and struggling for conversation ideas for your characters, getting other people (with different lives and different experiences) involved can bring interesting experiences and conversation into your character's life.


7) Remember that just because your characters are apart doesn't mean they can't still interact on a regular basis.
When playing a celebrity, we are locked into certain schedules that sometimes keep friends and lovers separated for a long time. Don't let this stop you from playing! Try playing out phone calls and describing what each character is doing while they are on the phone. Have your characters mail presents, postcards, or letters to one another when they are apart that will keep them feeling connected to loved ones they are away from. Sometimes you can even bend reality. If you are desperate to have your characters see one another, have someone take a red-eye flight to surprise another character by showing up on their doorstep at dawn with breakfast. It isn't generally advisable to repeatedly ignore your celebrity's real-life obligations (like shows or tapings or public appearances) or to ignore realistic life stations (like having them buy plane tickets to Australia over and over when they don't have the money to do so). Every once in a while, it can be fun, though, and it can give you something to play to tide you over until the next time your characters can be together again.




The most important thing to remember is to try to make your character's life reflect real life. Unexpected and unusual things happen in daily life all the time, so don't be afraid to embrace these events and write them into your storyline. It will make your character more interesting, and it will make your RPs more fun in the long run.



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