InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "make him a big garlic-y omelet"

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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	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)

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