enjoy them! there’s no wrong way to use them. whether you want to use the sentences as they are, or use them as a mood/aesthetic/jumping off point, create graphics based around them – just have fun! (reblogs are always nice though!)
i might also make a spotify playlist…
song: gough (introducing)
There are always reasons - how long have you got?
song: pigeons in the attic room (introducing)
When you left me standing gasping that afternoon
And I never had the courtesy to thank you
song: following my own tracks (undeniably)
You can find heaven if you can handle hell
song: end of your world (undeniably)
Well I know with all the plans we had it was gonna be hard to succeed
You’re on a plane to the end of your world
You never thought it was a crime to be so sad and lonely
song: pass the flagon (undeniably)
And now the only thing left to forget is that picture of her
song: shining (undeniably)
I can see you again in my dreams: you’re starring, my lost and lonely friend
Why did you leave before our time was through?
song: no aphrodisiac (eternal nightcap)
A letter to you on a cassette, ‘cause we don’t write anymore
Truth, beauty and a picture of you
Bare feet like a tom-boy and a crooked smile
song: buy now, pay later (charlie no. 2) (eternal nightcap)
You’re killing your soul, with an audience looking on
If you don’t believe me, I don’t believe in you
Here’s a girl going crazy about you, and I’m not far behind
song: you sound like louis burdett (eternal nightcap)
I couldn’t be serious in a room full of jack-knife eyes
And all my friends are fuckups, but they’re fun to have around
The moment the night wears off, the bomb site reappears
Hey you, lose that friend before we go anywhere
What? Someone might see you alone?
Terror, like charity, begins at home
Chris don’t like madness, but madness likes him
song: melbourne (eternal nightcap)
If I had three lives, I’d marry her in two
Walking ‘round the rainy city, what a pity there’s things to do at home
song: charlie no. 3 (eternal nightcap)
He’ll need some time to get over this, but a moment is all he can spare
We go out, we don’t always come back
There’s a half-eaten moon in the sky
See him offering himself to the world, staring down
song: charlie no. 1 (eternal nightcap)
You might be unworthy, but you remember what I remember: and that’s enough to care you don’t fall off the rails
I had my dreams for both of us, for both of us
song: up against the wall (eternal nightcap)
New love on the doorstep isn’t it funny there’s nothing on how it works
Go on have a look inside – you won’t know what you did without it
Some say love it only comes once in a lifetime, well once is enough for me
She was one in a million, so there’s five more just in New South Wales
song: thank you (for loving me at my worst) (love this city)
Can we be crazy for a few more years? Have I got them in me?
song: god drinks at the sando (love this city)
He drinks slowly like it’s holy, from a glass that always looks half full
song: blow up the pokies (love this city)
And I wish I, wish I knew the right words to make you feel better, walk out of this place
There was the stage, two red lights and a dodgy P.A
song: cries too hard (torch the moon)
Torch the moon, burn the schools
How can she forgive, when we know well what we do?
She was born to feel it all, to see it all
She laughs too easily and cries too hard
song: i will not go quietly (duffy’s song) (torch the moon)
You can all say I blew it, you’ll be talking bout me for years
And I was the best, you all knew it, on the days I cared at all
song: best work (torch the moon)
After the fall things will never be the same
Some of my best work was you
song: year of the rat (little cloud)
Creeping into town with all these changes in my head, funny how my old haunts all look new
It’s easy being famous in Sydney – cos everyone’s a star. But its gotta be deepest, darkest night for you to see them all
song: keep the light on (little cloud)
I’ll always keep the light on for you, you try so hard to be alive
You can’t see the beautiful way when you’re burning so bright
song: fondness makes the heart grow absent (little cloud)
And I thought, if that’s where it all ends, I should get home again, with you
When fondness makes the heart grow absent, I gotta find an orbit a little closer to the ground
A note from the demons is lying accusing at my feet
Yeah, when fondness in my heart is absent, I’m in awe of the sabotage within
An overcoat slips to the ground like the Angel of Death is playing on Prince Street
They’re falling and not making a sound
song: second best (little cloud)
Don’t you hesitate to call me, when only second best will do
song: second best (little cloud)
I don’t have my name in lights, I’m just a simple boy
Don’t you hesitate to call me, when only second best will do
song: fancy lover (little cloud)
She’s the winter that’s so bitter you’ll cut wood all summer long
Fancy lovers, they need fancy lovers of their own, you’ll camouflage your soul for them
song: the curse stops here (little cloud)
Ghosts dont drag you towards their light, they make it brighter here for you
Leave the gallow humour for the gallow people that it finds
how do i know when to use -, –, or —? i know the short one is for between words (like twenty-two) but i’m not sure how to know which length to use when writing it into the sentence (i hope i phrased that right??). are there rules? does it matter?
One thing that can really weigh down a starter is information that isn’t vital to the scene; key word being scene not the plot entirely. That in depth character analysis might be great writing, but a writing partner can’t really reply to meta. It’s not something their muse can interact with or use to further the scene. I know sometimes our writing gets away with us, and I have often times taken parts out of replies and then later expanded on it in another separate post because it was more suited there The same thing can be said for backstory; while I am always a fan of backstory, I’ve noticed a trend where people try to summarize their entire plot in the first starter, both for their partner and for any one outside reading it. It’s always good to set up SOMETHING in a starter, but keep it focused on that specific scene. A partner cannot reply to just meta and backstory, you need to give them something to respond to.
2) “No really, do you really need this part?”
I cannot stress this enough; your starter needs to set the scene… so it really needs to be focused on that scene. If your starter involves one or two ( or more ) scene changes before you even reach the part where your partner’s muse comes into play; than odds are, you need to step back and focus on what really matters. Ask yourself what the purpose of this interaction is, what is it your muse wants from mine specifically. Are they an obstacle? A goal? Scene direction and focus is very important in both starters and replies.
3) ALWAYS CUT 10% BEFORE FINISHING
This is actually something I learned in a writing class and have heard echoed by authors and filmmakers, and various other content producers for years. While ten percent is the arbitrary number, what that’ll look like will vary from starter to starter. What this does is force you to focus on what actually is important to your scene, and help you remove anything that might be nice writing but doesn’t contribute anything.
4) Establish, thoughts, action
A starter should always be equal parts establishing information, what your muse wants, and an action to react to. It doesn’t need to be in that order, and there might be times where you need to outweigh one over the other due to the unusual nature of the scene; but 90% of the time, regardless if it’s a short para, proper para, or novella, you should always keep these three balanced.
Establish what is vital information for your partner to know right off the bat, you can always flesh things out in replies later both in character speech and in narration; give your partner some idea of what’s going on in their head. How they feel about the situation, what they want. This doesn’t need to be expository, you can convey this easily by describing the others. If they are speaking pleasantly or angrily, if they view the location as a nice or bad place. Things like that help make these things feel more organic. And of course, actions. This covers things such as speech, physical actions or anything in your reply that’s observable to the other writer for their muse to respond to.
5) Remember you do not have to establish everything
While it’s important to give your partner something to work with, do not get carried away or think the sole responsibility of fleshing it out rests on you. Let your partner’s reply add more to the world, add in details and give it colour. It’s way to easy to accidentally god mod in starters by setting the scene as if you are expecting a certain response. Leave some of it to them. Its your shared scene, you both are responsible for giving it life.
6) Watch out for accidental god modding
When we think of godmodding, we often imagine someone writing out our character’s actions or feelings or outright telling us what to do. The thing is, it’s easy to do it accidentally in more subversive ways. If you write a starter that’s clearly angled for a certain type of response or end goal, plotted or not. It can make your partner feel trapped, like their just going through the motions of your fantasy, and not your shared one.
If you haven’t plotted, ask questions like “is it okay if I say this?” if referring to their muse or past events that would involve them both. If you have plotted, than try to stick firmly to what was already discussed. Don’t embellish beyond that. You can allow things to grow naturally in the scene and continue to discuss things ooc with your partner as the thread continues. Adding things without discussing them first, and they aren’t strictly locked to your own muse, that’s another way of godmodding without realizing it. You are eliminating your partner’s ability to decide and choose things for themselves.
6) Communicate
Regardless if you plotted or not, it’s okay to admit it if you are stuck. Sometimes some scenes are fun to plot but don’t lend themselves to writing as a thread as easily. Sometimes you need to talk a little more to get creative juices flowing. Do not be afraid to reach out.
7) Accept that not all starters will be knockouts.
Sometimes, a starter just won’t take. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer. It doesn’t mean their rude for not answering. Sometimes things in that set up, just don’t click. Sometimes you can fix this by taking a new approach, but sometimes you’ve gotta cut your losses and try again. It’s going to happen, and accepting that this isn’t a reflection on you can be the biggest challenge yet.
8) BE FLEXIBLE
Roleplaying is a mix of writer’s craft and drama/improv; the writer’s craft part is obvious but there are key stage rules that apply as well due to the back and forth nature of RP. Sometimes you’ll set a scene, and your partner might see a starter and take it in a direction you weren’t thinking of when you wrote it. That’s okay ( as long as it’s within both of your comfort zones ). The rule of improv is Yes, and… meaning, if you expected your partner to say x but the end up saying y, don’t go ic or ooc and say no it’s x. This isn’t so much about writing starters as it is accepting that once you’ve written it, you have to let it go. It’s someone else’s to be creative with. It might not go the way you want it to, but that’s not a bad things inherently.
9) ACCEPT FEEDBACK AND GROW.
Let your craft develop by opening yourself up to notes and suggestions. You’ll become bored with writing if unchallenged and your partners will become bored of the same thing constantly. This doesn’t mean pull a Madonna and rebrand yourself a million times, but let yourself grow.
Things most of your audience will never experience
The small details that help make large emotions
The biology and culture of aliens and magical creatures (though this might just be my personal taste, I have seen it asked about extensively in every author Q and A involving an author that writes about aliens or fantasy creatures.)
The tiny gestures that make relationships what they are. This is not limited to romantic relationships
Events that you want your readers to perceive as taking a long time
DO NOT ADD MORE DESCRIPTION TO:
The setting (unless you forgot to put a decent one there in the first place. Most authors err in the direction of too much description, though, so it’s better to not add words if you don’t have to.)
The exact nuances of every character’s eyeballs
Concepts that most readers will already know about. There’s no reason to describe what a plague is or how to play Scrabble
Drawn-out negative emotions. Though realistic, they can be tiresome to read about
Things that happen within seconds of each other – the extra words feel like extra time
have a muse you’d like to play as an attorney but only know what law and order has shown you ? have a muse who’s committed some crimes but you don’t know what to google to find out how long they’d actually be in jail ( or prison) for ? overall just clueless about these areas ? i got you !
if this helps at all, even a li’l bit, consider dropping a like or reblogging this post c: also consider going to the black lives matter tag on my blog and maybe signing a petition or two !
In the roleplay scene, it can be hard to handle the task of writing a starter or a greeter for someone else. Especially when your partners have different preferences, and you just aren’t sure if you can handle it. When you have a lot of starters to do all at once —— it can be quite daunting. So, with my years of roleplay experience — I gathered a few of my own tips that help myself when writing starters ( although, now I need to get over the obstacle of laziness ). I figured, hey — maybe someone else can get help from this.
1. Consider aspects of their muse. It sounds lame, but you need to kind of look at someone’s muse ( whether you know them well or not, canon or OC ) and figure out answers to questions such as “what kind of first impression do they give off?” and “how would they react to a stranger walking up to them?”. It’s best here to avoid topics that you feel may grow REPETITIVE. To you and your muse, a topic such as “who/what are you” or “why are you here” may be new, but to your partner it may not be. Try to avoid something as bland and repetitive, and try to find a new edge that makes a conversation or greeter all the more exciting that kind of grabs your partner’s attention more so than a thought like “oh another starter like this??”.
2. Think of how the starter will carry onward in a thread. Some people like shorter things, while others like to expand more. You want to try to fit a starter with your partner in this sense length wise, but all in all we should all agree we’d want a starter that could get your muses somewhere. Whether it’s knowing each other better, or developing a whole new plot on the fly — it all matters on the topic. Whether it’s a one-liner, single-para, multi-para, etc., it’s your responsibility as the one writing the starter to get something going, not your partner you’re writing the starter for. Avoid starters that makes them step up and get things going — or something too vague that no one knows what’s going on. Be clear, be interesting, and find something that can expand longer than just 2 or 3 replies. So you may write something like “hey, im lost. can you tell me where i am?” which could be quickly solved by your partner responding with directions or something — instead, aim for something more like “you’re lost too?? lets try sticking together to find our way back!” which will allow the muses to have potential bonding. Bland example, but it’s an example nevertheless.
3. Grab your partner’s attention. Try to write a starter that you feel will excite your partner ( but make sure you’re excited for it, too ). If you check out their blog // wishlist // etc., you may get a better idea of what they’re looking for in new roleplays. It can help avoid the problems in the two tips above, as well as giving off a good first impression as a roleplay partner that you’re excited, too! If you read their rules and see they enjoy plotting, you could always hit them up! But always pay mind to rules concerning everything.
That’s about all I have, since other posts cover other basics here!
Remember that not all antagonists are villains. Being an antagonist simply means that a character makes it harder for the protagonist to reach their goal. They aren’t necessarily evil or malicious in any way. In fact, they could even be the protagonist’s friend.
Give them a solid motive. Unless your antagonist is a demon, god of chaos, or something similar, chances are they aren’t causing the protagonist trouble just for the heck of it. While the reader doesn’t necessarily need to sympathize with the antagonist or believe they’d go about achieving the antagonist’s goal(s) the same way, the reader should at least be able to understand why the antagonist wants to achieve their goal(s).
Give them positive traits. This will make them more interesting and help the reader understand why they have friends/allies/minions. Nobody wants to work for someone who is constantly screaming at everyone and throwing people into volcanoes if they so much as sneeze at the wrong moment. Besides, unrealistically over the top evilness makes characters more comical than threatening. Unless you want your antagonist to be cartoonishly evil to the point of being hilarious, give them a couple positive traits such as charisma, honesty, and/or genuine interest in the wellbeing of their allies.
Consider having them share traits, personality or otherwise, with the protagonist. That’s a great way to create a foil. By showing how two characters are similar, you also emphasize how they are different. For example, if both the protagonist and the antagonist are orphans who had a tough upbringing, then the fact that they react differently to similar situations will emphasize the protagonist’s virtues and the antagonist’s flaws as well as what the protagonist could have been like if they reacted to certain things differently.
Don’t make everything they do revolve around the protagonist or vice versa. Having any character’s life completely revolve around one particular character or event makes it hard to give them depth. The antagonist and protagonist should both face multiple obstacles as they try to achieve their goal(s), not just each other. Besides, chances are that the antagonist has plenty of things going on in their life besides trying to achieve that one goal. Maybe they’re going to get married soon. Maybe they’re working on a cool new invention. You get the idea.
Give them people they care about in some way. No man, woman, or talking cat is an island. Antagonists, even ones that could be called evil villains, typically have people they value for one reason or another. Do they love their kids? Are they friends with the guy who owns the tavern (who might also be friends with the protagonist!)? That’s not to say the antagonist needs to see a lot of people as friends or family. They might just see other people as tools who are only good as long as they are useful. However, it’s safe to say that most antagonists do tend to have positive relationships with at least a few people, at least to begin with.
Remember that the protagonist isn’t the only character who can grow as a person. This is especially true for longer works such as novels. Don’t be afraid to give the antagonist their own fleshed out character arc. Even if they only change a little bit, seeing the antagonist develop over time will make them more interesting to the reader. Of course, they can change in major ways too, even to the point of undergoing a redemption arc. However, like with any other character, make sure there are reasons for any major character development they undergo and don’t rush things too much. Having them alter their behavior too drastically and/or abruptly could damage the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Let them develop naturally at their own pace.
