rpanons | the masses thirst for the smallest drop of wank

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Not really? My characters do really well in games and not to boast but the feedback I get is highly positive about writing and characterization, being fun and consistent. Things like that. It’s only when I try outside of the structured environment of a game.

def a skill issue

yeah and they're trying to figure out what the missing skill is

imagination isn't a learnable skill

Maybe I really do have poor imagination. I don’t have trouble in games but maybe my plots benefit more from the existing structures in games. Thanks, you’ve given me a lot to think about.

well... not totally unlearnable? read books by people you admire, see how they create scenarios, live a bit more in your imagination, take some time away from the internet, feed that part of ur brain. it's not impossible.

maybe take a break, come back to dwrp with ideas that you can show and enjoy with other writers?

adding to this... rp partners often are a source of inspiration. you sometimes do get fortunate enough in this hobby (because it is a writing hobby and fundamentally does have some very creative folks), to meet people who genuinely inspire you.

anon comms aren't the place for it (usually), but there's some insane creativity and originality in this hobby. we're very lucky to be around some of the people who love this hobby! you might just not be finding compatible people. keep looking, you never know who you'll run into.

no, no. other anon said it's unlearnable so ayrt is just a lost cause. they should probably set themselves adrift on an iceberg now so as to avoid further burdening society with their failure.

being adrift on an iceberg could force some imagination! leo had a door and a dream

I disagree
imagination is a muscle

+1

there's a reason why a lot of writing advice from professional writers is "get into a routine and stick with it even on the bad days". use it or lose it. and you can definitely train it to be better through reading widely and experimenting with style.

and there's lots of ways to exercise it, too. Hell, that's part of why plurk memes like "your character and mine are stuck in an elevator for 4 hours, what happens" become so popular, is cos... it's like a little stretch exercise for your imagination. Practicing really does help your imagination.

honestly it takes different skills to be good in a game format or good in a meme/psl format. games you have structure and easy cross-canon opportunities that help framing writing around it much easier. also characterization in games can be variable in that you're there to have your character change and grow through cr/plot. it may be that what makes you great in a game is what's not connecting on a psl/meme. i'm not sure the solution in your case but maybe think in terms of how you'd be playing one on one and if your characterization matches up to that specific person rather than a whole game.

hope it works out for you, anon!

my advice as a frequent psl-er: you have to exercise your setting/premise writing muscles. because you don't have a preset worldbuild (game premise and mechanics) to fall back on, one or both of you will have to do the heavy lifting of padding out the environment. your characters need something to react to and interact with.

for example, you're playing a space romance psl. how are your characters meeting and where? what circumstances have happened before your characters even meet that brought them together? you can either preplan the broad strokes or just build things out as you go, but you both gotta do it if you want your threads to go somewhere.

also a psl only rper who scoops up meaty new threads pretty regularly. setting and atmosphere details, blocking and movement and action become so much more important in one on one threads esp without the game & events setting the tone and the inability to pop into inboxes for quickie 'text' threads. otherwise, you just end up with 'talking heads in the void' thread syndrome

back to that space romance psl - where does this take place? a spaceship? bar in a spaceship? is it a fancy retro-jazz bar with plush upholstered chairs and a holo-singer on stage where your character orders a martini from the android bartender? is it a junky dive bar where it's shots or nothing, all the chairs are overturned cargo boxes, and the spaceport dock workers all give your characters the stink-eye?

just to be clear, you don't have to wax lyrical about Every. Single. Setting. Detail. in all your tags or anything, but the difference in atmosphere between these two settings alone would create a huge difference in the vibe of the thread and the way different characters feel or act (comfortable in luxury vs. comfortable among blue collar workers, only wants to drink a fancy cocktail versus here to pound down shitty moonshine). and what's important is using setting, vibe, and background to highlight the interesting parts of your character's personality and give the other person hooks to work with. it also allows you to throw in new hooks relating to the setting - the android bartender spills wine on one character, other character needs to mop them up, etc.

all of this! you generally only need one to a few expository tags where most of it is just developing the environment, after which you can switch over to the usual character-focused tagging. you've already set the stage, as it were, now you can get to the meat of the psl

good luck to OP, hopefully this helps /gen

the masses thirst for the smallest drop of wank

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ayrt