Mike's RP School 2: Setting, Style & Tone

Now that you've cultivated your characters and know them, its time that you learn how to write for them and piece them together perfectly with the world around them.

First off, its the setting. Take stock of everything in that area your character is in and how he feels and interacts with that environment. Is it strange to him/her? Is he/her familiar with that place? Does he like it? Does it evoke memories? Would that character even hang out there?

Most people get by with over elaborating the area their in. Most new RP'ers start off their RP's with a kind of layered approach, in the sense in which first you read about the town, then the specific street, then the place their in, then the room their in... And so on and so forth. Some people actually write wonders with that style and I do like it because its got a nice peeling effect to the RP's. But I don't recommend it to guys starting off or anyone unestablished, in that matter. It sometimes takes up to two paragraphs before anything ever happens, and at the end of it, at times, your just mostly treated to monologue.

Skip all that. Skip it and get right into the story. The moment you get the readers pulled in by action over description, you're in. You've quickly got your readers attention- there's something going on, carry that and take it. You have them in now and all they want is to experience your story.

Don't over describe the area, we don't need to know every single little detail. Write what your character see's and what he feels about that place... Move on.

Style is very important. Its the way you, as writer, take everything you see in your head and put it into writing. There are different ways to write you RP. You can write in the first person, third person, first person-perspective of the third person. The way you write is only limited by your imagination.

The best way to develop a style is to read. Read everything you can. RP's, novels, short stories, articles, poems... Read everything. Find a writer you like and learn from him. I developed my style from the works of Elmore Leonard. He has such an amazing and simple approach that pulls you into his stories and into the heads of his characters. In fact, his characters are often so well rounded that its almost impossible to hate the bad guys. He hangs out with his characters, and even as he writes in the third person, he can still get into the deepest recesses of his characters head.

Writing that way came so naturally for me. Write with what ever feels comfortable for you. If you're comfortable writing like that, write like that. If writing in the first person works for you, do it.

Be yourself and be your characters, and then you will develop your tone. Tone all depends on how you ferment everything into a writing voice. Be cool.

Now that you're developing your style, move away from the norm and add little garnishing's that set you apart from the rest. Play around and experiment. Not all RP's have to be the same. Distinct yourself in your storytelling and the way and manner you tell them.

There are so many ways to be different. Instead of a monologue, write a sonnet (I'll leave it at that for the monologues, there's more to come on the third installment), use different forms of art to complement your story; music, pictures, paintings... Whatever. Experiment with font styles. Again, the only limit you have is your imagination.

This is where being in the Development Center works, because its all about having fun, learning, and experiment with different styles. Have fun, play, and learn. The more you do this and the more you try and the more you free your mind, the closer you get to the being WFWF World Champion.

Have fun and keep on writing!