Thread: Tips on progression

Have a reason for dialogue. When it comes to role-playing, we tend to think that the whole point is character interaction. We want our characters to talk and interact with each other, and in doing so we will create interesting character studies. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to do. The best stories that are character studies have something to hang off of. Unless you have one hell of a conversation, there needs to be events to put it all in context. So, instead of just having conversations, focus on those conversations having a point. When you engage another character in dialogue, have a clear goal in mind. What is the point of this conversation? One you have that in mind, then seek to reach it. Once you feel the point has been made, then you need to move things forward. You can move things forward with a scene break, or introduce something unexpected. That unexpected should even be thought of beforehand. If you don't want the conversation to go on too long, then have something in the oven. That way your character can tend to whatever they are cooking to end the conversation. They can then finish the dinner, and the conversation could even continue over food, before they retire for the night with full bellies. So you've immediately given the characters two reasons to break up the conversation with some writing about something else. In an adventure role-play, something can spring out at the characters. A conversation could be interrupted by brigands on the road, or an ambush of space pirates. I feel like this is more of a problem of having an uninteresting role-play. Sometimes the things we think are interesting aren't very interesting. Like I mentioned before, we think the raw character interaction and the sex is interesting. However, if there is nothing to frame it on then we have something very one-note. People perceive vanilla as being a bland, boring flavor. It isn't that vanilla is actually a boring flavor, but that we have become so used to it that the complexity of the flavor is perceived as being one-note. You are getting bogged down, because your role-play is boring. Nothing is happening. The biggest issue with this is everyone's overwhelming preference for role-plays that are centered around everyday life. The problem is that everyday life is very boring, unless you are out doing things. We go to clubs, go to bars, and attend sporting events, because just sitting around in a room talking can get old fast. Even alone we play games, watch YouTube, binge Netflix, and role-play the things we wish we could be doing. Don't you find it odd that in a medium about wish fulfillment we're just typing the most ordinary, trivial things we can do? We could just talk to people over Skype, or in any random chat room. This board could be filled with dozens, if not hundreds, of topics like this one actively discussing various things. Instead we seek out something more, and we think we can find it in role-playing. We often don't, because we are always looking to do the same old thing, the very thing we seek to escape or enhance. If you want to have a conversation, go talk to someone. If you want to role-play, go on adventure, or do what you cannot do. A lot of people like smut, because it's everything they cannot do. They cannot just go around fucking anyone. There's a massive appeal there, but we still get bored. How can we get bored of it? We do it over and over and over. We write dialogue over and over and over. We write thrust, suck, lick, and fuck over and over and over. They have become vanilla, no matter how un-vanilla your kink list is. So, instead of worrying about getting bogged down in dialogue, consider the overall scope and plot of the role-play. Consider what is actually interesting. Is talking about a conflict, and shooting witty banter back and forth interesting or is a lively conversation in a tavernbar that spirals into a dynamic and wild brawl interesting? Is two characters fucking interesting or is it more interesting for those two characters to pull off a daring heist, and then in manic glee, fuck each other until they've reached their euphoric limits? So again, if you are bogged down, then you just aren't in an interesting role-play. Either you or your partner isn't very good at writing, or at the very least, lacks creativity and an adventurous spirit. Consider your favorite stories, and really think about why they end up being interesting. Harry Potter isn't interesting, because Harry, Hermoine, and Ron talk to each other. It is interesting, because they are solving a mystery set in a magical world.