Advice For New SRPers

[PrettyLilPussy19]

Hey!
I'm new to this forum (though God know I run my mouth enough elsewhere). I've been watching a bit and I think I'm getting ready to play but....

What advice would you give someone new to this forum?
Any unspoken rules I need to watch out for?
Keys to success?

Thanks in advance!
PLP

 

[Veroe]

Be ready for disappointment and to perservere past it. Cowriters on great thread ideas will flake on you. Eitiher something out in the real world will happen causing them to be unable to come onto Lit and write for it anymore or the character itself is just proving to be too difficult for them to write, or...well there's lots and lots of excuses.

Some people get mad about this fact of life here on Lit-they don't last too long here. Those that do take it in stride. They go: "Well that thread idea fizzled out. Let's see how this one does next."

Perseverance is king here.

More advice I would give is:
1.) Always have more ideas percolating in your brain. They can be variations of the same theme. There's no jailcell for those with repetitive ideas here.

2.) Finding ideas is easy. You can: a.] just do threads based on the couplings in popculture franchises you personally ship. b.) Or go to your bookstore and look on the backs of the romance novels there. Read the synopsis...just the synopsis and ask yourself what if you flip the genders where the girl is the swashbuckling hero and the guy is the Prince in distress....What if you did this story but with vampires mixed into it...or what if you did this story but the vampire taken out of it...etc...etc...etc.

3.) As a SRP writer description is the greatest weapon in your arsenal. Learn to use it with the skill of a hero out of mythology. Study your favorite writers that do this sort of writing. How do they describe the act of fucking or the act of making love (the two are not the same) what are the emotional hooks you found touching about their writing? How do they describe the actions and technique involved in the scene? Learn as much from them as you can, but develop your own style from those lessons.

 

[Obuzeti]

Your peace of mind is paramount. It helps to set firm boundaries ahead of time on what you're comfortable with and how much time you can commit, because, honestly, here on SRP we deal in the business of fantasy and few people respond well to having theirs interrupted by reality. More uncomfortably, there's people out there who confuse SRP and the Personals, and will relentlessly press for personal details or more of your time. You owe no one here anything.

On a brighter note, communication is very important to writing out good threads, so in the process of finding a thread you like writing, you often find yourself with a new friend in the bargain, which is how it's worked out for me, and I've been awful glad of that.

I wrote a post here about roleplaying etiquette some time ago, and here's another about the actual process of writing and some tips on how to make the reading of it a little more interesting. Hopefully they're useful!

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

Thanks ya'll. These are great pointers! I appreciate it.

Communication seems to be key.

 

[Homerun2611]

Well, you have been fortunate to receive the advice of two of the very best here, I have had the pleasure of writing with one, and have admired the writing of the other. I would offer a few extensions on what they said.

Try to think about the intensity of the posts and writings you enjoy. Do you like long detailed posts, or short and more back and forth? Do you like detailed characters and scenes, or more about the passion and sex? It can be both. How often can you write, or want to? Ask a potential partner for some examples of the stories they enjoyed writing most, and see if you are compatible. Some writers are fine modifying their style to suit you, others get frustrated. And, yes good communication and expectation setting from the beginning leads to the best stories.

Lastly, if you need to leave, please have the courtesy to quickly tell your cowriters, just because we are anonymous here, good manners are always highly appreciated.

Good luck, this can be a lot of fun!

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

One more thing, is this a pretty kink friendly zone??

 

[Veroe]

One more thing, is this a pretty kink friendly zone??

There's other boards on this website that are more focused in this area, but generally speaking. Yes, it is a 'kink friendly zone'. If you wish to start a more kink or fetish related SRP then this is still the place for you. If you seek advice on the writing of such things you can ask for it here in this thread as well. If you have questions on the minutiae and details of say flogging someone or getting flogged by someone (Like how exactly does it feel) then you should probably ask that question in the BDSM forum here on Lit where people who actually live that lifestyle may answer it for you. Direct experience always trumps the general experience most have here in the RP forum.

That said there's plenty of fetish and kink oriented RPs on this forum you just have to be specific in what you're looking for and open to the other person's own kinks as well. It's all part of that communication aspect that's all important here on the RP forum.

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

I guess what I mean...

I'm a good writer and I'm very kink knowledgable but I was curious about the reception. We've seen kinkier threads that would embraced in BDSM have a negative reaction in the PG. I guess if someone doesn't like then they don't have to read. Just seeking to be respectful.

 

[LucianDevine]

As much as the threads are for the readers and the posters, ultimately it is the story you and your partner(s) is/are telling. Tell the story that you want to tell, within the bounds of the lit rules of course.

People will click the title if they find it interesting, and if they don't like what they read, they'll stop reading, simple as that. Write what you enjoy writing and let the rest take care of itself.

~LD

 

[Obuzeti]

I guess what I mean...

I'm a good writer and I'm very kink knowledgable but I was curious about the reception. We've seen kinkier threads that would embraced in BDSM have a negative reaction in the PG. I guess if someone doesn't like then they don't have to read. Just seeking to be respectful.

Copypasting this from the forum guidelines:

~*~

2. You may not post sexually explicit pictures or stories featuring anyone under 18 years old. Literotica does not allow the posting of underage or animal sex pictures - or links to such - on the forum.

"Because there is no difference between reading about fictional underage sex and reading about fictional people pretending to be underage, we do not allow underage sexual role-play stories just as we don't allow underage sexual fiction. In other words, we do not post stories in which a character speaks and acts under the age of 18 - even with a "All characters are over 18" disclaimer."

We don't allow

2a) underage characters from RL or published fiction and/or artificially aged characters (taking characters that are underage in the source material and calling them 18 or over);

2b) Any J.K. Rowling adult fanfiction, as she's publicly that she is against it. Beyond any legal issues, we have no wish to be disrespectful, especially since the source material is aimed mostly at non-adults.

. . . (these rules have no content restrictions and are mostly about not being a dick.)

13. No sexual activity involving bestiality (you can write stories about supernatural beasts like ghosts, unicorns, werewolves, etc.).

14. No Snuff

~*~

Aside from those few rules, anything and everything kink goes - it's all your business and no one else's.

Everyone I've dealt with has respected thread autonomy; no one invades anyone else's threads or complains about what they're into. I have had a random troll invade one thread to shitpost, but the board mods removed it as soon as I got them word. There's another user that I've had vitriolic disagreements with, but neither of us have ever bothered each other's threads, though there's been some clashes in lounge topics.

So, while other people will read what you write, it's almost universally silent viewership, and the few times I've been contacted by someone else about my threads and posts it's been very positive feedback.

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

Well there goes my Hermione, Moaning Myrtle, Luna Lovegood threeway...

 

[LucianDevine]

First and 3rd could work in their last year or after school, but I don't thin anything with Moaning Myrtle could work.

~LD

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

First and 3rd could work in their last year or after school, but I don't thin anything with Moaning Myrtle could work.

~LD

I morer referring to 2b. As they will always be the property of JKR.

 

[Obuzeti]

First and 3rd could work in their last year or after school, but I don't thin anything with Moaning Myrtle could work.

~LD

Well, in the books she's explicitly a voyeur, on top of inviting Harry to live with her in her toliet, so . . .

I morer referring to 2b. As they will always be the property of JKR.

It's one of those statements you need context for. To quote the Christopher Little spokesman (her publishing agency):

~*~
The spokesman for the Christopher Little literary agency said: "JK Rowling's reaction is that she is very flattered by the fact there is such great interest in her Harry Potter series and that people take the time to write their own stories.

"Her concern would be to make sure that it remains a non-commercial activity to ensure fans are not exploited and it is not being published in the strict sense of traditional print publishing."

He said writers had to ensure that the stories were not obscene and were credited to the author and not to JK Rowling.

He said: "The books may be getting older, but they are still aimed at young children.

"If young children were to stumble on Harry Potter in a an x-rated story, that would be a problem."
~*~

In practice, Rowling is very much a supporter of fanwriters, and her main objection is that the audience for the Harry Potter books, at the time of writing, was aimed at pre-teens and teens. The quote is from 2004, though, and that original audience is much older. In combination with the fact that Lit-E explicitly requires users to be over 18, you could probably get away with it so long as you place the events post-canon, such that all the characters are of age.

That said, Lit-E is so light with its restrictions I'd rather prefer not to put them in that sort of legal quandary, but whatever messages or documents you trade with other writers off site is entirely your own business.

 

[LucianDevine]

Well, in the books she's explicitly a voyeur, on top of inviting Harry to live with her in her toliet, so . . .



It's one of those statements you need context for. To quote the Christopher Little spokesman (her publishing agency):

~*~
The spokesman for the Christopher Little literary agency said: "JK Rowling's reaction is that she is very flattered by the fact there is such great interest in her Harry Potter series and that people take the time to write their own stories.

"Her concern would be to make sure that it remains a non-commercial activity to ensure fans are not exploited and it is not being published in the strict sense of traditional print publishing."

He said writers had to ensure that the stories were not obscene and were credited to the author and not to JK Rowling.

He said: "The books may be getting older, but they are still aimed at young children.

"If young children were to stumble on Harry Potter in a an x-rated story, that would be a problem."
~*~

In practice, Rowling is very much a supporter of fanwriters, and her main objection is that the audience for the Harry Potter books, at the time of writing, was aimed at pre-teens and teens. The quote is from 2004, though, and that original audience is much older. In combination with the fact that Lit-E explicitly requires users to be over 18, you could probably get away with it so long as you place the events post-canon, such that all the characters are of age.

That said, Lit-E is so light with its restrictions I'd rather prefer not to put them in that sort of legal quandary, but whatever messages or documents you trade with other writers off site is entirely your own business.

We are also just talking of what can be posted here in the SRP forums. If she wanted to do such a story idea, it could be done in private chats or via email exchanges, just likely not here. Moaning Myrtle is a ghost of an underage girl, but is also naturally older than that in a way, because of how long she's been a ghost. So it would be quite a gray area, and risky for the lit mods to allow.

~LD

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

(It was just a joke, fellas)

 

[Obuzeti]

Oh I absolutely get that, but I get my jollies riding jokes to death, instead of other people.

 

[PrettyLilPussy19]

Oh I absolutely get that, but I get my jollies riding jokes to death, instead of other people.

Ahh.... one of those!

 

[Veroe]

Getting back to the topic of advice for new SRPers.

Formatting your posts. We all have different tricks on how we like to format our posts in a SRP. So I'm going to use what works best for me.

First I always start my posts with:

IC: Character's name

This stands for In Character as Character's name. I find this helps me get into my character's mindset so I do this with all of my posts.

Then I take the last line from my last post and copy and paste that as the first line of my new post. Then how my partner's character responded to that. Then I write how my character responds to that response.

The benefits to this I find is it gives a sense of continuity and flow to the posts as well as helping me overcome any of the dreaded writer's block I may be feeling at the time.

Also I think as a general rule of thumb It's best to end your post with something provocative. Something like having your character ask a question that needs, begs, to be answered by your partner's character.

Example: He walked up to her pulled out a chair at another table and sat down in it. He stared across the table from her asking, "You thought those meatheads with guns was going to stop me?"

This gives an easy avenue for your partner to go down when writing their responses. Great SRPers always think about helping their partners out to keep the story going at full-steam like a train down the tracks.

Also when juggling several characters in separate scenes at once I find what works best for me is breaking down a post in this way:

IC: Character A

Blah blah blah said, "Blah blah blah."

etc....

then a scene break to tell your partner where the first scene ends and you're transitioning to the other character's scene.

----------------------------X

IC: Character B

Blah blah blah said, "Blah blah blah."

etc....

If you're writing two characters in the same scene you break it down like this.

IC: Character A and Character B

"Blah Blah Blah," Character A asked Character B.

Character B answered, "Blah blah blah." Then turned to Partner's character for help asking, "Blah blah blah?"

Disclaimer: There's dozens of ways to write these. This is just the ways that make the most sense to me. Also these are more guidelines than hard and fast rules. Rules are meant to be broken after all and a great SRPer knows when to use them and when to ignore them.

 

[The_gladiator]

You have some really great roleplayers in here giving you advice. I think it’s important to communicate with your partner on whether the story is more of a coauthorship or more of a traditional roleplay. In the former I may forgive some things that I will not tolerate in roleplay. In more traditional roleplay for example you should not move my character, assume thoughts or reactions for them or why am I even playing, but if it is more literary based sometimes for story flow it might be necessary and it can often be discussed out of character via pm or IM or something so that it then will be ok.

I always like to keep in communication with partners. Though, real life happens. We strive to be polite but sometimes life happens, the successful writers here generally don’t hold that against others.

 

[Veroe]

Yes, Communication is the most important skill you can learn, with tolerance of others and their own issues is a close second.