InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I promise youll remember this1"

the bee charmer from alabama (colloquialisms) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2010-08-23 05:04:00

Biographies vs. facts
Depending on the game, I think it could go either way when it comes to a character. Sometimes, I even think facts are better than a full biography mostly because people don't really have the attention span nowadays to sit and read a really in-depth biography, not that this is an excuse. We as people have definitely become a very ADD and lazy society.

My real question here, however, is when a comm asks for "detailed facts," how detailed is too detailed? What's an acceptable detailed fact sentence and detail-wise?

Edit: The character journal I'm working with in this particular situation is ~zifang, which I'll more than likely comment on this post quite a few times when responding to others. I'm a mult-tasker, so sometimes I forget which journal I'm signed into when responding to comments.

Edit again: There's a new post up in ~zifang which is the write-up containing the bullet point facts that are in the post below it. Feel free to comment and give me pointers!

(Post a new comment)

mary_greenman
2010-08-23 10:24 am UTC (link)

I like writing full biographies because it helps me with my issue with length. It also forces me to put more effort in the rest of the profile, so it's up to par with the biography, which is one of my strengths.

I think too detailed is when your biography is more than two pages. One and a half is usually a good aim. Sometimes its best to write down important ages, or look at a chart and see when a childs development most changes, and make a list of events that affect your character as who she is today. I usually like to give a brief description of the parents, how that affected the home life, and a few details on how the character grew up.

To me an 'acceptable' detailed fact could be something along the lines of...

'She was the product of a revenge affair between the two parents', or 'her childhood best friend was like this (and go and list the traits of a friend and perhaps why they got along so well)'.

However, I don't think there is a 'right' way to do it. Biographies shouldn't' be read as a list, but as a sort of mini-story that has more fact than narration. It really depends on yours and the moderators personal preferences.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

zifang
2010-08-23 10:38 am UTC (link)

The way I was "taught" to write biographies on AOL was to make it more of a short story, as you've said, rather than a biography you'd pick up in the library. For example, I'd take a mundane life situation for that particular character and in that story, describe their history as it pertains to the setting, their lifestyle, their habits, etc.

However, when I started branching out from AOL roleplay a few years back, I ran into many situations in which biographies like the ones I wrote weren't acceptable to moderators. They wanted the library book rather than the short story, which I honestly think is a much more interesting read and gives more insight into what playing with the character would feel like.

Currently, I've been wanting to use a particular face for a character, and I've really ran into some trouble trying to come up with a biography for her. I've done at least five revisions, each one much different than the one before it, and for each revision, I even wrote an alternative facts post. At some point during the writing process, I'll feel very satisfied with it, but when I sleep on it, I find that I'm not satisfied with it at all. Perhaps I'm being too picky? I really don't know. I've tried using the various sources listed here, but this is driving me nuts. I'm hoping today's English class will kick my ass for me and get me back in gear.

As for the charts and such that you use, are any of those web services available to the public? I'd like to take a look at them and see if that'll help me.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mary_greenman
2010-08-23 10:55 am UTC (link)

I actually use a book for my chart. Later today I can go through and transfer it to the computer if you want. The book I use is called 'writers guide to character traits'. It's really helpful for people like me, who have a hard time explaining personalities.

I, personally, think both methods are fine. It's more fun to read more detail with one, but other than that, you get the same sense of the character. It's just written out in bullets rather than a paragraph.

I know how it goes with the revision and rewriting of a character. I once had a character whose biography took me two weeks to write! Usually I get it done in at least a week! Sometimes its a matter of being picky, sometimes it's a matter of having someone else look over it, and other times it's just that the character doesn't agree with what you've written. Sometimes you have to listen to the muse, rather than the logic in your head. Would you like some help with it? Maybe if you have someone look over it, you'll feel more settled.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	colloquialisms 2010-08-23 12:17 pm UTC (link)
	I wish I had more time to respond to this, but I'm about to run out the door to class. I'd absolutely love it if you'd looked over ~zifang. There isn't much there, but be my guest! And I'd also love it if you transferred that document. Perhaps post it to ~rp_tutorials for everyone? (Reply to this) (Parent)

withintent
2010-08-23 12:05 pm UTC (link)

I'm not sure if I'm the best person to respond to this question, but I'm not the biggest fan of using detailed facts in place of a biography. For me, biographies give me a chance to really flesh out my character in ways that I may not otherwise be able to portray right away when playing them. Of course, I'm the kind of person who doesn't want to feel like they're leaving out any little tidbit. I think that every little detail in a bio helps other readers get the same grasp on my character that I have.

Facts can be fun, though. If anything, they can definitely help give you a head start when writing a bio. They're not useless at all, and I can see where some people would prefer them, but they're just not my favorite way of detailing my characters.

My judgment may be a little biased, though. I don't exactly write short biographies or histories. For the longest time, I was convinced that they had to be pages upon pages long.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	colloquialisms 2010-08-23 12:19 pm UTC (link)
	Just look at ~vyshaanti. She's my first and oldest character with a big-ass biography. I wrote it sort of in a short story style, lol. (Reply to this) (Parent)

tryslora
2010-08-23 01:07 pm UTC (link)

Speaking as both mod and player, I like information in the biography that's pointed and tells me about the character, but I don't like it to necessarily be long. I don't need it to be in a perfect story format, I just need to know the information, and sometimes if the information around the details is too well, descriptive? Not the right word. Anyway, it's possible to lose the important bits in the prose.

I usually try to focus on the important things. If the character has a massive fear of death, either why, or when did it first come up. Turning points in the character's history, where if things had gone differently they wouldn't be the same person. Moments of realization or great change.

Also, as a mod (and as a player) anything that has no bearing on the current game isn't necessary to me. I don't need a list of pets the character had when he was seven or their first best friend if those aren't either in their life now, or impacted their life in some irrevocable way.

But I also know I'm a LOT more minimalist than a lot of people out there, and some of it has to do with my style of play (develop in play, rather than develop ahead of time). And because of that, sometimes I fear as a mod, if I see a truly over-detailed character, that the character won't be changing during the game. And part of what I love to run is a game with strong character arcs for plot.

Not sure if that helps at all, but I figured I'd give the other viewpoint. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

zifang
2010-08-23 09:50 pm UTC (link)

Honestly, that seems a lot like my writing style now, but I do love writing in detailed prose. I not only like to describe the main aspects of my character as you've listed here, but I also like to showcase my writing so that people understand I do have the ability to write some pretty epic posts.

At the same time, I do recognize that some of my characters seem over-detailed. Characters like ~vyshaanti and even ~toriniti are so because I've had them for so many years. With them, I've played much more one-on-one, so they've been exposed to a certain group of characters that helped to write the biography that's in their histories now. As a writer, it's very important to me to continue that continuity with those developed characters.

However, when I write, I keep in mind that I want these character's to change in some way, and sometimes, it may not be their whole person. I always make it a point to write the character opposite of what I want them to become at some point during the game.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

midichlorians
2010-08-23 01:55 pm UTC (link)

I think it depends on the game. If it's just your average, run of the mill town/apartment/etc game where there isn't anything specific going on plot-wise, facts are fine because it's just a 'whatever happens, happens' kind of place. A detailed, 12 paragraph biography isn't really necessary and facts will provide the basics for players and moderators.

But if it's a genre game or a plot-based game (like scifi, mafia, zombies, etc), I think a biography is more important. You have to include lots of information like how and why they're connected to mobsters or where they were/how they handled an outbreak, etc. That sort of thing lends itself to a biography better than just 'everyone lives at Sunshine Apartments!!'

Personally, I prefer biographies over facts because I really enjoy creating characters and fleshing them out. I use bulleted fact points as a way to guide myself through a bio, so I always feel as if my character is left unfinished when I just list out a few sentenced facts. When I DO have to use facts for applications, each of my facts are 3-4 sentences. :/ I can't help myself. I'll be like "He has a tattoo of this in this location. He got it when he was this age because of this reason. While he has to keep it covered up at work, he likes to flaunt it whenever he has the chance because he thinks he's bad ass." Or something like that.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

zifang
2010-08-23 09:56 pm UTC (link)

I agree with you about "slice of life" games. While you want to be serious about the writing, in the end it's all fluff. People play in these games because they want to be able to write a piece without having to treat it like it's a mini-series rather than a daytime drama.

With that said, I also agree with you about specific genre games. When you have a history that's set in stone, you really need to elaborate on time, places, and events because it shows how your character is connected to it all.

When it comes to facts though, I've never written just a pure facts entry. I've always written a biography and maybe sometimes included a set of facts, mainly trivia or random quirks that don't relate to the personality or biography. I tried doing facts with this character, but I keep getting massive paragraphs that I end up not feeling satisfied with. Right now, I'm using a system of bullet points for specific events.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

hammertech
2010-08-26 11:08 am UTC (link)

I've seen a mixture of the two - a mini-biography and facts. I personally love reading character biographies. I don't really think there's such a thing as making it too long so long as you keep it interesting. I've seen a good paragraph done and a couple sentences. As a mod, I really like seeing people do more than meet the bare minimum.

My default is pretty much 3-5 sentences.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	zifang 2010-08-26 08:53 pm UTC (link)
	Like yesterday, I stopped adding bullet point facts and actually started writing. I'm about to open up the write-up to the public so people can comment. I'm not finished writing it, but I'd like some feedback on what I should and shouldn't elaborate on. (Reply to this) (Parent)