by Jessica Goldberg

Created on: May 05, 2008

Contrary to popular belief, there are no rules for text-based role-playing, but there are generally accepted guidelines to ensure the smooth juxtaposition of story lines from multiple parties. These guidelines fall into several categories to include point of view, tenses, setting the scene, and general tips. Let's start with point of view.

POINT OF VIEW

The point of view that a role-player will write in is dependent on what the author is intending to do. Before going into the settings, let's explain the different points of view.

In literature, storytelling, and for these purposes, role-play, what is described are the experiences of the narrator, not the author. There are three classifications of POV: first, second, and third person narrative.

First-person narrative is a literary technique in which the story is narrated by one or more of the characters, who explicitly refers to him or herself in the first person, that is, "I." For example: *I exited the bar and was met with the cold, crisp kiss of a wintry gust.*

Second person narrative is a literary technique in which the narrator is supposedly the reader, and refers to itself with the second person pronoun, You.' This is the rarest of the points of view because, though theoretically possible, it does not work very well. For example: *You exit the bar and are met with the cold, crisp kiss of a wintry gust.* This point of view is seen most commonly in bar threads especially in the first post where the scene is set. Why doesn't this point of view work well for role-play? Because you're committing the cardinal RP sin of directly impeding the story-telling freedom of other participants. I have seen on many occasions (and admittedly committed myself) the following: *You enter the bar and see the nice white napkins on the round tables.* Now, while it may be true that your bar has nice white napkins and round tables, consider this possibility: *The nice white napkins lay waiting on the cozy round tables, big enough for two.* As the bar owner you've still set the scene, and described what your patrons will see, while making a much nicer setting, and having the description flow like a well-written story. Some people may call this a petty nitpick, but small changes like this can affect the quality of patrons your thread will have. Think about it in a realistic light. If a thread starts with *You walk in and your jaw drops at the beautiful polished bar.* Basically this is telling another character what to do, and impedes on

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