First Step On The Road To Renewed Life: Breath

Οὒκ Ἀγησίλαος

Disciple: Teacher, why must we find out who our fathers are? It's never been important before.

Odysseus: If you don't know your father, how can you know yourself? ... If I do not know my father, and his father before him, and what these men were worth, what they lived for and were willing to die for, how can I know myself?

- From Ilium by Dan Simmons

It may not be apparent what Οὒκ Ἀγησίλαος means, let along how to say it, unless you know how to read Greek.  Transliterated, it says Ouk Agesilaos (ook ah-gay-SEE-lah-aws).  Translated, it means 'Not A Leader Of Men'.  Thus the connection to the song embedded as a link in the phrase.  

Yet, despite what this phrase may mean personally to me, there is an importance to being a person, in particular, a man.  There is certainly an importance to womanhood, but this is not the focus here.  There are plenty of blogs, journals, and the like out there that speak on the matters of womanhood, or at least the concepts and perceptions in this modern age.  But, I'm more interested in what it means to be a man.  Even what it means to be a leader of men, not to mention leadership in general, and the burden that it bears.

In connection to this particular pondering, I consider what Dan Simmons portrays as the wisdom of Odysseus in his science fiction rendering of Homer's Iliad.  As in the Homeric tale of several millennia ago, the gods and heroes in Simmons' retelling and revision in a future and strand of parallel universes held together by quantum physics theories and the fantastic fictional concept of what if indeed the gods could be resurrected by science and a linked egomania of 'perfection' and utopia mixed in with escapism.  In another way, it is as simple to explain, as Simmons notes in his Author's Notes to his book as an exploration of John Keats' concept of Negative Capability.   

While physicians of our time study the concept of multiverse theories down to the very quarks and quanta in a variety of mathematical and mental leaps of perception beyond most people's want or care to understand, others take on similar concepts in what some coin the metaverse of virtual realities online.  Granted, these realities are fantasies, but, like many concepts of the mind, they only remain so until someone makes it come into being.  Some things remain fantasy and fiction, but other things inspired by the unreal, especially in science fiction, certain things that hold plausibility become explored in the 'real world' and become actuality.  It's from this fantasy to reality that we have cell phones and other gadgets that only some thirty to forty years ago were still in their beginning stages or being used experimentally in places, such as the military. Now, the concept of wireless communication is a day to day lifestyle found in the mainstream for much of the industrial world.

However, as much as the modern  world turns to these gadgets, there are some basic fundamentals to society that remain essential.  I'm not going into the whole 'attack on the family' stuff that many fundamentalist folks churn out.  That is not desirable to what interests me here, nor is it something I find of great importance.  Family, yes, it is important.  Sensationalizing any supposed attack on family is not.  Understanding basic concepts of what indeed is a patriarch (or matriarch) is far more constructive to consider.  If we look back at different cultures and civilizations throughout time, we are certainly going to perceive some of their ideals as barbaric, as they would ours, possibly.  Yet, this is where we get into fiction, because we cannot actually perceive these things without having some knowledge of these cultures and civilizations and what they believed and held as truths.  We can, at best, put up an educated guess, and then run with it in a plausible realism of what we perceive would be their actions and reactions - overall interactions if they were somehow brought into our modern world.  The opposite effect is similarly true on trying to form a concept of us moderns flung into the ancient world, or some parallel universe with a mixture of both.

Inspiration holds sway on much of our imagination and creativity, and what possibilities come from it, both in reality and fantasy, as well as the mixture of it and what may come of it.  At mass today, the local priest spoke on it from the aspect of 'breath'.  Inspiration comes from the Latin for 'breath' and can mean essentially the 'pouring in of breath' upon someone.  The importance of this is how 'breath' has meaning towards 'life'.  That is, while a person has breath, they have life in them.  Yet inspiration, and spirit itself has a metaphysical concept as well.  Life in that spirit goes beyond just the physical breath.  Creativity through inspiration is often the compounding, or otherwise 'toying' with ideas that have been passed on in some way and given a new 'vision' or perception.  


In like way, the concept that Simmons in the Ilium is portraying through Odysseus's concept of knowing one's father in order to know one's self is much in line with knowing one's lineage of inspiration.  Even in Christ's knowing his Father, it is knowing who guides him, and knowing Him who guides Christ is to know the Father, the Creator.  Trying to find the path of inspiration is a challenging one for all.  But, it is a worthy path to travel.  


So why would I say that I am not a leader of men?  Well, in some ways, it's true as to the lyrics of the song, that I prefer to follow.  If I were to be anything of a 'leader' it would be more an attempt to guide, than to try and push people to do something.  I don't want to be demanding to anyone.  Nor would I want people to demand my attention.  But I do have my expectations of people.  Unrealistic?  I'm sure some of them may be.  And sometimes those expectations are compromised.  Other times, I can't compromise.  I'm sorry.  I'm human, despite my characters being something of slightly different nature.  They're still humanoid, though. And there's only so far I wish to explore with them.  There's places I can't go, and things I can't do.  Yet, despite my failings to be more malleable, I hope I can still find people that are interested in trying to travel through similar sorts of things I am interested in exploring as well.  Whether I follow them, or they follow me depends. But, I am retiring from trying to herd cats.  If people wish to follow (or not), then so be it.  


But for now, I'm just going to relearn to breath.

Moving On - Refresh In Writing

As mentioned in SL, I'm stepping back from being in-world.  I'm not really needed and, if the group is going to survive at all, it needs some breathing room.  I may talk to some of the officers in the group to see where they're at, and, if they're up for the task, to start working on shaping things up.  At this moment, I can't.  It's been observed that I can't motivate anyone, and I'm just too frustrated to continue to sit there and wait in world for a small chance that anyone will listen to me or do anything at this point.  So, stepping back makes the most sense.  And, depending on how things look, I may or may not disband the group by the end of this month or May.  But it's going to take some convincing that it's worthwhile to continue anything.  I have to know that people are interested in making the Project work - and not just for me, but for themselves as well.  And that means for people in the Project to actually DO something.  Not because I told them to, but because they WANT to do it.  They need to communicate with one another, not just have me give notices to try to get them to talk and be active, they have to actually work TOGETHER and BE active by taking the initiative.  I can't do that for them.  And my nudging gets totally ignored.  Thus, time to step back and let them either on their own stand or else disband.

What will I do?  Well, I'm thinking it's time to focus on writing and editing.  Get away from trying to organize persons and work about organizing words again.  I already wasted so much time trying to push certain elements in world that I never got back to focusing on editing up one story I had thought of publishing, and maybe could have had it in the process if I had been working on the manuscript, rather than get myself in RP and group organization drama.  On the other hand, all wasn't completely wasted, as some of the RP could be re-worked and edited into something. Maybe.  But, for now, I just need to start doing.  After all, if I'm asking others to start doing something, then so should I.  Much like I read in a recent article about the late Pope John Paul II. It was noted that people sensed his authenticity and as someone who could demand something of others by the fact that he also demanded something of himself as well.  And I think it certainly a form of arete to have that certain authenticity.  An excellence that may never be achieved, but well worth the effort to strive for.  Which is thus why I'm not going to fret over the future of the Project.  It will work itself out one way or the other, and in neither way do I have full control of it, nor do ask for such.  But what I can put discipline to is refocusing myself on writing.

One point of focus is on making a short fiction.  There's a short story contest I saw in Writer's Journal in this past March/April (Vol. 32, No. 2) installment.  The entry fee is US $15.00 for a 5000 word or less fiction. The top prizes are US $500 for first, $200 for second, and $100 for third.  Each would be published in the July/Aug edition of the journal. I'm thinking of maybe drawing off the recent steampunk RP story and putting together a basic overview of some ideas I had for it.  At least that way, maybe it won't go to waste.  Other than that, I have an old lycan story I'd like to revise and work into a novel maybe.  The Custos Noctis had a decent story I could revise as well.  We'll see what happens.  Hell, maybe I'll return to the Latin story I was working on that is on my old LiveJournal account.  Skies the limit. Just have to consider what to focus on.  And maybe if I get something produced, story entry, manuscript, or otherwise, I'll feel like I've actually accomplished something finally.

Anyways, that's my acta for now.  Until next time.

Evolving Roleplay Beyond Time

I've been thinking on this for a while, and through various talks I've had with friends, as well as considering my own experiences in RP, it seems that roleplay, the concept as we know it so far on SL, has to change.  Or, at least, a new way of RPing is essential to accommodate for people's busy schedules, and doesn't get burdened by false expectations and flimsy excuses.  But, also, remembering that this is SL, where we come to enjoy ourselves, and relax, we don't put too much pressure on people.  Afterall, the reason we RP with one another is, or should be because we enjoy the company of each other, and what each of us brings to the table in our participation in the RP.  So why should we make it seem like an undue burden to be a part of RP?  Shouldn't RP be fun?  And shouldn't we be able to work together to make sure that we do indeed have fun?

And that's exactly what I'd like to do - make a group wherein RPers can come together, work towards a common goal in a story, and have fun in the process. There's a few things that I feel need to be addressed with this different perspective on RP.  Not necessarily 'rules', but certainly guidelines and things I'd like to see become norms in the collective group of RPers I'm trying to form.

For starters, let's all remember that we're friends, and, regardless of conflicts, we all have the same end goal when it comes to the RP in general.  We may not be on the same 'team', and our roles may indeed conflict.  But, in the end, it is part of the Chess match being played.  And when one round is over, we put aside the trivial of that round and ready to play the next round.

Secondarily, and considering that when in Forgotten City, which is a PG sim, we need to remember to try and manage our actions accordingly to the guidelines of the particular sim we are RPing in.  The community rating to me is more a challenge with Forgotten City.  How so?  Well, for one, it's actually attempting to put together a quality story that doesn't involve sex and a lot of gore.  Much of SL RP has pretty much centered around 'dark' RP, to which has always devolved into scenes of sex and gore.  I'm not saying that such should not be in RP, or a story.  I read plenty of books that are adventure novels with plenty of it and manage to also hold higher level thoughts on philosophies, religion, and science.  But, to me, the challenge is to actually make a quality RP and story without such things, which is compelling in its own right.  Amazingly, many top Hollywood movies, such as Avatar, Batman Returns and The Dark Night, as the space operas of Star Trek and Star Wars have been able to make such stories, so why not RP storytellers as well?

But regardless of rating on a sim, also consider what the period is, what they allow, and all the other aspects before starting to RP there.  If they don't allow your type of character, and you don't want to morph from the character you have, then move on.  If it's not in you to want to participate where your particular form is not allowed, then it's not worth the time and half-hearted passion that may be put into it.  Find a place you can feel that passion, and go for it.  We are both authors and actors in our RPs and stories, so why waste time with places that want to edit you to the point that you may feel you don't have the character you would want to play and develop?  There's plenty of places out there, and plenty of opportunities to work out a way to craft your character and story to how you see fit.

Of course, in participation, it may be necessary to consider how you can fit your character into the RP once you find the place you want to RP.  For me, particularly with Forgotten City, the opportunities are vast at the moment.  Sure, the genre is steampunk, and the sim rating is PG, but, the story is open to be developed in so many ways right now.  Of course, with more people coming into the story and RPing, it will bring different ideas on what to do, but I welcome that.  I want the ideas, so I have something to play with and develop into my RP and story.  It will help me in considering the road map of my own story and what direction I want to take it.  It is still in a mutable stage, and open for a variety of drafts and redrafts - which is what happens in storytelling, regardless the medium.  And my question is for now, "how will this new chapter take place?"  And that is largely up to the interactions, as well as some planning that also takes place, both individually and as a group with those participating.

Interaction itself is important.  How you interact with people can both be a creative and destructive force.  In many ways, people's actions in RP have made for a pretty volatile environment that has taken the fun out of RP and attempts toward storytelling in RP.  It may have to do with losing sight in a particular vision of the story.  It may have to do with interrupting or otherwise disturbing a particular flow in a story.  It really can be anything to which either changes, for better or worse, the field upon which the RP is taking place.  There is no exact, pin-point answer or reason to why or how RP evolves or devolves, but there are ways to try to keep certain things from happening.  That is, if the option is to safeguard a certain storyline or direction of RP.  To me, one main way to do that is work on levels of participation - particularly open or close, and working on the RP etiquette on how to join in, and being discerning on if one should join in.  There is also the self-governing of considering what exactly are you willing to participate in, as well as considering whether it would be worth any cost or consequence to be involved in that particular scene or storyline.  To always keep in mind that you are the author and actor of your own RP. If participating in certain scenes or storylines would somehow ruin what direction or other reason would consider you to not do something, then don't do it.  You do have control over your character, regardless of what anyone else may say.  You have the final cut in your story, and you can and ought to make the decisions you feel or know you ought to make.  That doesn't mean people can't persuade you to do something, but it does mean that you have the power to choose whether to accept or decline the proposition of that persuasion.

Beyond the logic and common sense of what most ought to know already about how to go about RP, the other important aspect comes with time and ability to RP.  Many of us enjoy RP and don't have the time, nor ability to remain online and in world 24/7, 7 days a week.  We can't be totally immersed in SL, and online time in general is limited.  We have to work in order to be able to do anything online, and so, we know we have a limited amount of time to do what we'd like.  Therefore, our choices have to be more structured than those who can be on all the time.  We have to have a sense of time frame to do things.  And this is where communication comes in.  Learning about what schedules we may have irl, and figuring out when we can set time aside to be able to put a story into action.  Many in this position think it not fair to try and do this, but the reality is, we have to.  So, not only is our time limited, but also is our participation.  And thus is where it is important to have RPers that are understanding on limits of time, and are willing to work within time frames and work around schedules to meet up to do what we like to do.  There should be no shame in saying, "Hey, I have a business meeting and will be gone for a few days.  Would you have time to continue this when I get back?"  And it should be something reasonable to be able to do this.  But let's not make it a matter of snobbery, or get too demanding.  We all need time to do things in our offline life and away from SL.  But we also need to be clear and decisive about how we go about scheduling in RP time.  And that takes communication -being open to talk to those you want to RP with, and working around each others real life needs.

Anyways, these are just a few concepts to consider.  Beyond that, will save for another blog when it comes to mind.

Second Chapter of Forgotten RP

The second chapter begins where the first one, 'Brothers' ends.  Luke says his final farewell and gives Ioh a few items that are to help him through his mission to save his friends.

Of the items I'm considering for Luke to give Ioh, they are three:

1. A map of Forgotten City.
2. A silver pocket watch.
3. A golden compass.

What each of these do, I'm still trying to work out the details.  The basic idea, though, is that Ioh has become an explorer in the city.  His purpose is to find and free his friends from whatever has happened to them.  So, in considering the objects needed for this journey, each one has to have something to do with direction and purpose.  The basic ideas are:

The map gives the broad overview of the landscape - what lies ahead and what surrounds.

The watch keeps track of time, and, in fitting with the scene of steampunk, the inner 'heart' of the watch is made with cogs and keeps pace with the concept of time and the alloted machination of fate.

The compass helps keep one's bearings straight and on course.

Now, this is the general purpose of the objects, the 'surface' of their use and abilities.  Each object helps the holder in other ways as well, such as to help them keep their memories and purpose.  They are an object to help them focus so that they don't lose track of what they are trying to do in the mission, and so that whatever mystery within the workings of the city doesn't make them forget.  That is, not only to lose track of their purpose on the mission, but also these objects keep the holder from forgetting who they are.  If they forget who they are, then they too become trapped in the city and, effectively, become a 'cog in the wheel' of the city, in a sense.

These are just concepts, for now.  How they will develop depends on the RP and storytelling in general.

Outline and Summary for Project Ziggurat

Since I am the originator of this project, and gave a 9 - point guide for making an outline and summary of making stories, I figure I should 'lead by example' and show one way to make a summary and outline.  You don't have to do both, though it can help to better solidify your general idea for the storyline.  After that, you can get more specific and can work on better forming the specifics of the events.  That is, unless you want to keep it to being by chance within the RP.  However, having pinnacle moments that must happen can be a good way to keeping the course of the story flowing as you would like it to.  But, we'll save the more detailed structuring for later.  For now, keep with forming the outline and summary of stories you would like to tell in the RP in Project Ziggurat.

Outline

1. The opening (the beginning/origins).

Ioh and others from Chamber escape some terrible catastrophe that leaves them wandering and seeking refuge.

2. Inciting incident (what calls your character to act in the story's setting)

Because the refugees need shelter, and a place to start anew, Ioh seeks out a place to stay, to which he finds the bunker.

3. First turning point (what first invites your character into the story/brings about the call to action).

After moving into the bunker, Ioh and others notice strange things going on, and so, to find out what is the cause of these things, Ioh decides to investigate the origins of the mysterious happenings.

4. Mid-point (the arc of the story, where the pieces of the story seem to come together and you think your character has it all wrapped up)

After looking around the bunker, Ioh shrugs off the mysterious happenings as being rats in the sewer, and possibly natural gas, or something else that causes the sensation of a 'rift' or 'portal effect' that causes dizziness and slight unease to certain people feeling the effects of the mysteries.

5. Second turning point (what pulls your character further into the story, what new elements of the story come to play and need to be payed attention to)

People start to begin missing from the bunker.

6. Crisis (where the pieces seem to fall apart, or mix and match up differently than perceived, or something pulls the original ideas and theories apart, or prevent them from being put together as previously thought possible)

After certain people wind up missing, Ioh finds that he cannot continue on with his original conclusions pertaining to the mysteries of the bunker and, more so, when exiting the bunker, finding that the doors open up to a completely new setting compared to where they were before they entered.

7.  Climax (the pivotal moment, the beginning of the end, and high point of the story)

Ioh and some of the remaining go out in search of the missing refugees to which, what they find amazes them.

8. Resolution (how to put the pieces together, what starts to bring closure to the story)

Ioh and his cohorts find out what happened to their missing refugees and learn the mystery behind the 'bunker'.

9. Final page (The ending, what closes the adventure, and may set up the events for a new one)

In learning that the bunker is not really a bunker, but an inter-dimensional transporter that can travel through space, time, and among parallel universes, Ioh, and the rest of the refugees seek out a way to harness the abilities of the bunker, or Ziggurat to travel into many worlds, and many time periods.

Summary

After the tragedy of Chamber's destruction, Ioh and others set out to find a new place to call home. The refugees sought shelter in a bunker that was found on their wanderings of the land. However, strange things began to happen in the bunker, and Ioh decides to investigate what could be going on. On first look around, Ioh decides that much of the bumps in the night had to do with rats scurrying around, and the strange, uneasy, queasy feelings possibly were from a leak in a gas pipe, or some other natural air born influence. However, these theories lose weight when people began to wind up missing. Therefore, Ioh decides to investigate further what the mysterious disappearances may mean. In deciding to go outside the bunker, Ioh and a select few who volunteered to help in the search for the missing persons found that they were in a strange land which itself held many puzzles. Eventually, Ioh and his cohorts find out what happened to the missing refugees and, at the same time, the mystery behind the bunker. Apparently, the bunker is an inter-dimensional transporter that can be used to travel through space, time, and to parallel universes. After learning of the mysteries of what they now call the Ziggurat, Ioh and his cohort of refugees decide to pilot the monolithic transporter into many worlds, periods of times, and dimensions in order to go on more adventures.

Character Oriented - Character Run RP

I've been thinking about this for a while, probably since I first began RPing in SL. The concept of character oriented - character run RP (CO-CRRP).  People likely already have a concept of it, and probably already do this in some form.  But, I'll go ahead and give a form of definition to what I mean.

For the most part, RP is primarily associated with a particular sim, and the particulars of what that sim tells you is approved as far as types of characters you can play.  Sure, they may add on to that the reasons for why certain types of characters are allowed or not allowed within their sim - such as the setting, period, genre, 'realism', etc.  That may be valid and logical to the sim and it's owners and hierarchy, but not necessarily so for the individual character.  After all, who says that a samurai can't be found a urban setting, or a street thug in the countryside of  China or Japan?  Why couldn't someone of today be transported back in time to the Dark Ages, or some neanderthal/cro-magnon man be found in today's world, or some future distopia?  And why would it be considered 'not real' for there to be genetic hybrid species of humanoids in a suburb?  In SL, they can be there, and often they are! These sorts of things, among others that may seem like bizzare mixes and meshes of characters, they make up the diversity of what SL is, and who we are on SL, whether as an expression of a persona that is unable to be fully actualized irl, or as creative expressions meant for the purposes of exploring variety of ways to present one's self and interact with others in the SL metaverse.  The focus here, though is on the diversity of character and expression within the realm of characters made for the purpose of RP.

But why is this expression limited in RP?  The real answer is because sim owners and their crew make the rules about what they will and will not approve/allow to participate in a given sim.  There may be good reason for that, but often it rejects the ability of individual characters to reason for themselves.  While it is valid that some stories do not call for certain types of charcters, races, etc.  The problematic of this is that where there could be stories made by characters in these sims, they are denied the ability to do so.  And this is because RP is run by and large on a owned sim - cohort run RP (OS-CRRP) system.  Basically, it's a difference of group v. individual conflict.  In OS-CRRP, the whole purpose is to serve the whims and will of the sim owner and group that runs the sim.  In CO-CRRP, individuals each have autonomy to run their characters as they see fit, and agree on whether to interact in certain stories or not.

I am not saying that either system of running RP is right or wrong.  Both have their pros and cons.  For OS-CRRP, a major pro is in the building of a community which works towards its own self preservation.  A con, though is that, with the growth of community standards, conformity arises and can make things stagnant and the community less adaptable to change, or otherwise close in on itself and implode.  For CO-CRRP, each individual having the freedom to choose their reality and have that greater amount of control over how their story develops can be refreshing for some.  However, a con comes into play in that, while each person has freedom of choice, conflicts can arise when there is not a consensus among individuals about a clear vision on what should happen in a story, and what direction to move it in.  Thus, there needs to be a balance between order in hierarchy and individual freedom of choice.  But how to come to such balance?

For me, I understand the need for hierarchy.  I also understand the need for individual freedom as well.  And what I want to try for is to give a certain amount of order and guidance to help keep an RP environment stable for all who decide to participate in it.  I also want each individual RPer to know and feel that their individual ability and freedom to choose who and what their character is, as well as what it does, is not trampled on by a tyrannical governing body that tries to press too far into an individual's right to the creation of their character.  For this reason do I find specific group counsels, or rules about character creation a horrible plan.  In my opinion, the expression of an individual character and its creation by its creator is something that should not be controlled by exterior force.  Should a person decide to ask for advice on how to form a particular character among peers of similar said character, then that is the choice of the character to ask for that.  It is a completely different thing than said peers dictating to the said individual that this, and only this is how this sort of character/species should look.  It is for the individual to decide what sort of character they want, and how it should look, or who to go to in order to get advice on how to make such a character. It is not the place of a governing body to do that.  If anything, what a governing body should do in any RP is make sure that those in the environment are holding to set rules about the particular game.  They can also remind people that the particular environment is set in a certain setting, theme, period, genre, etc., but they ought not be the judge of what sort of type of character expression is allowed.  Primarily, making sure that interactions are consented to, and that in the interactions, people are not being godmodded, metagamed, and griefed are the things that a hierarchy should be most focused.

For instance, say a dragon lands in the middle of the street in a modern city, the alarm shouldn't be at the dragon's presence, but if the dragon, as well as all other characters are conducting their RP in a way that keeps any conflicts within the IC story, and whether it is made clear that all parties involved are thusly involved in a consenting manner.  If one cat has the head of a lioness and calls herself Bast, and another that has more human distinctions calls himself Sekhmet, the differences in interpretation of the feline is to be disregarded as a surface issue.  If they keep any conflicts about the differences in IC and don't make drama OOC about it, then it's fine.  The diversity is a good thing and should not be destroyed just because the two particular felines interpret their expressions of their characters in a different way.  If one particular character wants to be considered an Inu (dog), and the other a Garu (werewolf/lycan), they can make those distinctions if they like, and have conflict about differences in IC.  They may not let it cross over into OOC drama and metagaming tactics to ruin one or the other individual in personal grudge matches that have nothing to do with RP and ruin the experience for themselves and others.

These all seem to be common sense things.  But, as my real life work experience has taught me thus far, common sense is somewhat of an oxymoron among all who call themselves a 'common' person.  However, I do believe that CO-CRRP is possible with a limited amount of OS-CRRP interference, and is desirable.  It takes trust among those involved in the RP, and, if anything, lack of trust and communication are among the top reasons that most RP fails eventually.  But to gain the trust of fellow RPers, and to be able to communicate with them well brings about amazing results and leads to less hierarchical dictatorship.  If done well, OS-CRRP would have so limited an involvement in the RP to the point that it seems nearly non-existent.  And that is what should happen - let the CO-CRRP be in the forefront and be the majority of an RPers experience, and the OS-CRRP be in the background, primarily managing the basic rules and potentially being a part of the core group that helps in the guidance of character development and both personal and general storylines in the RP as needed.  An RP that can hold that sort of balance is potentially the utopia of RP.  Even so, it's worth striving for.

Brainstorming: Rewriting of the Dream

Some of you may remember the pyramid diagram I sent out the past week.  If not, or had not, and for the sake of those just joining in on the discourse, you can see the diagram here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iohannesii/5546966977/

This diagram is part of the beginning phase for the making of this new RP, or even in general the 'rewriting of the dream'.  How this works?  We'll get to that as we go through the concept for the building of the story we come up with for the RP.

We have already started the process in the build itself, which is a part of building the initial concepts for forming the physical setting(s) that may be a part of the RP we are looking to create.  We have started with the major chunks of what is needed for RP to begin with - particularly a place, a setting -, and we are working on developing that more.  The setting is where the story takes place, wich is the base level and foundation that must be put forward before the rest can be put in place.  Along side that, there is needed the key players, individuals and groups, that interact within and breath life into the story.  As the characters interact within the setting, they eventually will pose situations that need to be responded to - that bring a call to action.  And with that, comes the action of the story, the actual doing of what sets things into motion and brings the excitement to its climax, and resulting conclusion.

Thus have been made mention the four main aspects of the process of story - the story/setting, the characters, the situation(s), and the action(s).  Once the basic concepts and vision is put in place to address these four, then the dialogue and words flow out as they come into play.  But first, we need to make sure the story works.

To begin with, to make sure the story works, there are some basic aspects of a story that we need to have answered and summarized in our minds.  These aspects are as follows:

1. The opening (the beginning/origins)
2. Inciting incident (what calls your character to act in the story's setting)
3. First turning point (what first invites your character into the story/brings about the call to action)
4. Mid-point (the arc of the story, where the pieces of the story seem to come together and you think your character has it all wrapped up)
5. Second turning point (what pulls your character further into the story, what new elements of the story come to play and need to be payed attention to)
6. Crisis (where the pieces seem to fall apart, or mix and match up differently than percieved, or something pulls the original ideas and theories apart, or prevent them from being put together as previously thought possible)
7.  Climax (the pivotal moment, the beginning of the end, and high point of the story)
8. Resolution (how to put the pieces together, what starts to bring closure to the story)
9. Final page (The ending, what closes the adventure, and may set up the events for a new one)

It is suggested that one should be able to summarize each of these aspects in one sentence apiece.  As it is, in RP, these can be made into the qualifications for story specifications and approval. That is, if a person wants to propose a story arc that will cover more than a personal drama and want to comprise more of the whole of the RP community, they ought to be able to lay out each of these nine aspects in a summary of what they propose to do for this particular story.  Not all these things necessaryily have to be put together in personal and freeform RP in genderal.  Natural process likely will bring out these aspects, or at least later reasoned by a person as they try to tell the story of what happened. But, when working in a group to make a particular story in the whole, these aspects should have a basic draft to which the key players can follow and impose as need be to push the story along.

A key element for aspiring RP storytellers to consider is conflict.  For stories we read in a book, or watch in a movie or TV drama (even radio dramas, for any that still listen to them) or even in theatre, we look for something unforgetable that captures our attention.  Conflict is an important aspect of this.  It's what drives all stories in some way or another.  The key is that the conflict has to be clear.  Unfocused or ambiguous conflicts generally are what a good RP story fall apart the easiest and often cause the particular unwanted dramas and OOC conflicts because we don't know what the other RPers are doing, nor why they are doing it.  And that is a problem, especially if you are trying to build trust between these RPers in order to make stories that all involved can enjoy.  This is not to say that we can't make mystery and surprise conflicts, but we have to be careful and earn the trust of fellow RPers before we involve ourselves in such things.  Otherwise, going into such things without knowing you can trust the RPer to do what is best for the story is going to leave those nasty burn marks that many of us know already from previous bad experiences in RP.  So, start with the basics and work through stories together is a good policy when either first starting out, or when beginning an RP with new or unfamiliar RPers.  That way, what emotional dilemma may come from the conflict is primarily IC, and very little, if any, OOC in its basis, and thus a lot more manageable, because you trust that the conflict will come to resolution later.

Something important among writers, and what could improve the development of RPers, is the drafting and redrafting of ideas.  It is suggested that a one page summary of a story ought to be made in two versions.  You could do it as a 'book report' style, and/or outline the vision of what the story can become.  You could even make a short story, or 'picture book' of these things.  However best suits your way to better visualize the concept(s) you have in mind. The more you have the story mapped out in your mind, and even having multiple concepts of how to go about things the better prepared you will be when it comes to impliment such things in the actual time of the RP.  Aspiring RP storytellers should have the original concept, as well as work on a Plan B, and even a Plan C and beyond so as to help them be ready for when a story they start takes a turn that wasn't initially considered in the original formation of the RP in their mind.  Think of it like a Chess match, or any other game where you need to be two steps ahead and keeping on your toes.  It is the twists and turns of RP that makes for the entertainment and addictiveness of the stories, and wanting to go further into them.  So be ready, be prepared.

Considering the outline, and especially when an aspiring RP storyteller, you want to give the best expression of the vision.  Why?  Because, especially when there is a need for group approval to implement it out into the RP setting as a whole, you want to make sure that you put your best foot forward when presenting the story idea to those involved in giving the ok on such things.  It's not just about them 'buying in', but also you want them to trust your vision, and be certain that you are up for the task of putting together a story arc that, hopefully, won't go into a lot of OOC drama and chaos.  Everybody wants a good story, very few people want that story to turn into a OOC drama fest.  And if you can present the story as something compelling, and show that you have ideas on how to keep things on track and limiting OOC crapola to a minimum, then you have gone a long way into gaining people's trust, as well as bringing them into buying in on your concept for a story arc to be implimented into the RP's general story as a whole.

Probably the most important thing after having the concept developed and polished is to step back and look at the story.  Take yourself away from the immersion that we all share in making and being in a story, and give it a critical review from outside of it.  Do you see any problems (both in the IC aspects of the story, and in any OOC elements that could be percieved to creep in) that need to be solved?  In screenwriting terminoligy, this is where you would see if the 'spine is straight'.  In other words, do things fit together?  Can you see any areas that might bring unnecessary confusion or ambiguity about what is going on?  Are there things that could be better improved upon, or may need a few extra options in case Plan A and/or B prove to fall short.  The crux:  is this RP story arc something manageable, and if not, then what can be done to make it so?  And that would be something that an RP storyteller will need to be able to also convince those involved in the maintenance and development of a RP story about.

To summarize, and put it into context for us Zigs, first and foremost, our focus needs to be on the four main aspects:

1. the base story, the origins of the setting (what is it, and what would we like it to develop into),
2. who we as the characters are (character background, and some concept of what we would like our characters to become),
3. what situations we would like for our characters to get themselves into, and
4. how to put it all into action.

I would like to also propose that we make a 'Story Summary Board' and have in place two notecards to be used by this Board.  One would be a basic outline for aspiring RP storytellers to use in order to make their summary to the Board.  The other notecard would be a sort of key card for making the assessments on whether the proposed RP story arc has the essentials and could be implimented into the main RP story.

Along these lines, I'd like to test out these notecards among ourselves, and have each of us summarise our visions of what we would like to see happen within the RP that we are trying to develop.  We really haven't come together on these things, and I think the sooner we can do this, the sooner we will be able to focus and be able to produce a general RP background, and initial set of story arcs that would make this project take form and become something compelling to RP.

Once we've shaped out our own summaries and outlines, I'd like for each of us to then take our steps back, and both review our own ideas, as well as those of our peers, which is each of us Zigs in the group.  I think, knowing each of us is looking to get out of this project in the form of stories we'd like to participate in will better help us focus and regroup our efforts to move things along and get into what we all want to do, and that is RP.

Above all, this project is for fun, and I propose these things to challenge us, and to help further develop our prowess in becoming better RPers and storytellers.  When we can show the quality of our abilities, we attract others to that quality, and thus help refuel the story with new ideas and people that want to be involved with the best stories that we can possibly make together.  And that's what I hope to provide to all of you, and our future Zigs, in whatever form we eventually take.