Writing lab section for the author's section?

Jemini

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I was just in the middle of writing up the second section on my guide to writing improvement, when I realized that something that helped me a great deal in my ability to form characters and have them really feel natural and like real people in their environment is that, in the period where I was practicing my writing skills, I spent a fair amount of time in the role play section on forums sites.

At the bare minimum, having a role play section in the author's section is something I think could be a big help. Most forums do this sort of thing just for fun, but it actually can be a valuable exercise to improve a writer's skill in my opinion. If we had a section like that and could gear it a little more toward the direction that actually would help a writer improve then I think it could be a definite benefit to the community.

The RP category is the only real forum-appropriate writing lab subject I can think of unfortunately, wish I had a little more to the pitch in order to make this section seem like something harder to mistake for some kind of game. (although, gamified teaching actually is the best way to learn.)
 
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I was just in the middle of writing up the second section on my guide to writing improvement, when I realized that something that helped me a great deal in my ability to form characters and have them really feel natural and like real people in their environment is that, in the period where I was practicing my writing skills, I spent a fair amount of time in the role play section on forums sites.

At the bare minimum, having a role play section in the author's section is something I think could be a big help. Most forums do this sort of thing just for fun, but it actually can be a valuable exercise to improve a writer's skill in my opinion. If we had a section like that and could gear it a little more toward the direction that actually would help a writer improve then I think it could be a definite benefit to the community.

The RP category is the only real forum-appropriate writing lab subject I can think of unfortunately, wish I had a little more to the pitch in order to make this section seem like something harder to mistake for some kind of game. (although, gamified teaching actually is the best way to learn.)
+1 I support this. I've tried role-playing (from anpther writing community). It was fun, the main story has a specific forum and we set up the plot on an rss feed or just a different forum. I found out after that it helped me a lot. So I wish this good luck. Tony will have more work to do.
 

Jemini

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Just thought of another possible improv game for a writing lab section. A "continue the story" game. Write 5-10 paragraphs, and then someone else picks it up from there. Normal forums and forum games stop there, but in addition we could probably run multiple stories and lock them on genre in the OP, specifying that writers need to stick to genre.

Perhaps the OP could, instead of being the story start/prompt, make it a list of the genres included, as well as a basic quick synopsis on the characters, thus keeping this improv game a little more on track and coherent than it is in your typical forum game. Just a little. It will definitely still be wildly incoherent. However, if we get participants who actually have it in mind to at least try and make the story make sense then we could see some interesting things come out of it.
 

Piknos

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Just thought of another possible improv game for a writing lab section. A "continue the story" game. Write 5-10 paragraphs, and then someone else picks it up from there. Normal forums and forum games stop there, but in addition we could probably run multiple stories and lock them on genre in the OP, specifying that writers need to stick to genre.

Perhaps the OP could, instead of being the story start/prompt, make it a list of the genres included, as well as a basic quick synopsis on the characters, thus keeping this improv game a little more on track and coherent than it is in your typical forum game. Just a little. It will definitely still be wildly incoherent. However, if we get participants who actually have it in mind to at least try and make the story make sense then we could see some interesting things come out of it.
I'm going to preface this by saying I have no idea what in the world a role-playing section is. I'm assuming it's exactly as it sounds and I wonder, if this is going to happen in any serious capacity, what if someone commits and cannot continue. Either due to becoming extremely busy, bored or whatever. Would the character be taken over by someone who wants to take over? Or would the entire thing be dropped? Of course, if it's done purely for fun it'd be easy to abandon and start over, but for people to learn from this they would need prolonged exposure to a particular character to get a feel for them, no?

The only problem with the "continue the story" idea would be the disagreement that is bound to happen. If a lot of people get invested into it there's definitely going to be some conflicting opinions on what should happen and what is and isn't within the characters "limits". Of course, this is only in a situation where people are invested enough to care about the story which may or may not happen.

Though despite the few doubts I have about the whole thing it'd definitely be good for there to be an option for it nonetheless.
 

Jemini

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I'm going to preface this by saying I have no idea what in the world a role-playing section is. I'm assuming it's exactly as it sounds and I wonder, if this is going to happen in any serious capacity, what if someone commits and cannot continue. Either due to becoming extremely busy, bored or whatever. Would the character be taken over by someone who wants to take over? Or would the entire thing be dropped? Of course, if it's done purely for fun it'd be easy to abandon and start over, but for people to learn from this they would need prolonged exposure to a particular character to get a feel for them, no?

The only problem with the "continue the story" idea would be the disagreement that is bound to happen. If a lot of people get invested into it there's definitely going to be some conflicting opinions on what should happen and what is and isn't within the characters "limits". Of course, this is only in a situation where people are invested enough to care about the story which may or may not happen.

Though despite the few doubts I have about the whole thing it'd definitely be good for there to be an option for it nonetheless.

Of these two concerns, I actually see the role playing concern as the more likely issue. The "continue the story" thing is meant to be an improv game, which always have inconsistency issues like that. The point is not to have a neat finished product, it is 100% to learn how to roll with what the other person offers no matter what they offer. Really, if anyone gets mad, it's the person who got mad that's really doing it wrong.

For the role playing, that one's slightly more difficult. All I can say is that it will have to be managed on a case by case basis. It is my opinion though that the only people who should be playing multiple characters are the writers who are the most experienced in the group since it will actually harm the learning experience for the less experienced writers who are there to learn. So, one possible solution is to always have a more experienced writer involved in the RP, maybe setting a view count for the story in the main area of the site as a pre-requisite to act as the GM of the role play. That way, it's guranteed there is at least one strong writer able to manage scenarios like that.
 

Arexio

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I actually got into the writing scene by playing NUF's (SH's sister site) roleplaying forum games.

I, of course, 100% support the idea of having some sort of roleplaying section, and I know these people in this thread would as well.

@Lukha, @NiQuinn, @OddJamm, what are y'all's thoughts?
 

Lukha

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I actually got into the writing scene by playing NUF's (SH's sister site) roleplaying forum games.

I, of course, 100% support the idea of having some sort of roleplaying section, and I know these people in this thread would as well.

@Lukha, @NiQuinn, @OddJamm, what are y'all's thoughts?
Yeah, same! I actually honed most of my skills through role play! I was going to try to setup something here on SH but then I got busy irl and couldn’t do it. But I definitely support there being a place to RP!
 

OddJamm

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I actually got into the writing scene by playing NUF's (SH's sister site) roleplaying forum games.

I, of course, 100% support the idea of having some sort of roleplaying section, and I know these people in this thread would as well.

@Lukha, @NiQuinn, @OddJamm, what are y'all's thoughts?
I would love to try! It sounds like so much fun! :blob_aww: 101% support from me!:blobthumbsup:
 

Tony

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I was just in the middle of writing up the second section on my guide to writing improvement, when I realized that something that helped me a great deal in my ability to form characters and have them really feel natural and like real people in their environment is that, in the period where I was practicing my writing skills, I spent a fair amount of time in the role play section on forums sites.

At the bare minimum, having a role play section in the author's section is something I think could be a big help. Most forums do this sort of thing just for fun, but it actually can be a valuable exercise to improve a writer's skill in my opinion. If we had a section like that and could gear it a little more toward the direction that actually would help a writer improve then I think it could be a definite benefit to the community.

The RP category is the only real forum-appropriate writing lab subject I can think of unfortunately, wish I had a little more to the pitch in order to make this section seem like something harder to mistake for some kind of game. (although, gamified teaching actually is the best way to learn.)
+1 I support this. I've tried role-playing (from anpther writing community). It was fun, the main story has a specific forum and we set up the plot on an rss feed or just a different forum. I found out after that it helped me a lot. So I wish this good luck. Tony will have more work to do.
I actually got into the writing scene by playing NUF's (SH's sister site) roleplaying forum games.

I, of course, 100% support the idea of having some sort of roleplaying section, and I know these people in this thread would as well.

@Lukha, @NiQuinn, @OddJamm, what are y'all's thoughts?
Yeah, same! I actually honed most of my skills through role play! I was going to try to setup something here on SH but then I got busy irl and couldn’t do it. But I definitely support there being a place to RP!
I would love to try! It sounds like so much fun! :blob_aww: 101% support from me!:blobthumbsup:

Sure. Why not? What should I name it?
 

Jemini

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Sure. Why not? What should I name it?

Ok, staff response is in. We're on the spot now, it's no longer kicking around ideas, we're responsible for coming up with a name now.

Hmmm... I would offer "Writing lab and improv games" as a suggestion. I am sure if we wait for more name suggestions then someone else can come up with something better.

For organization, RPs usually get a lot of attention, so it should probably be organized with sub-headings within the section. 1 for RPs, 1 for other improv games, and a third for discussions of things that are in both sections. The discussions are not a normal part of these things on most forums, but if we want this to actually be a useful writing lab then we are going to need feedback between the people participating as well as possible members of the reading audience who also have some feedback to give to the participants.

Since the thing was my idea originally and I've got something of an idea of how these things can be formed, I might also volunteer to write a rules post for each section introducing how these sections are a bit different from their equivalents on most forums that just use them for fun and how to best utilize them in a way that will get maximum improvement of writing skill. (Of course, just for fun is also an option. That will have to be decided by the participants of the proposed thread on the outset though. Whether it's learning focused or fun focused, both will naturally improve writing skills. It's just that one will be more dedicated toward rapid improvement.)
 
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