Post by Ten on Mar 25, 2010 20:17:58 GMT -5
Note: this is about Neo-style short-term role plays. I would like y'all's input.
List Introductions: Why Not?
In short-term text play-by-post role play, an introduction brings a character into the role play while describing a few things about that character (how much and how varies person to person). A list introduction is nothing more than what it sounds like. It's a list of basic character attributes. The other main option for introductions is the "paragraph" introduction, which can be much longer than a paragraph and uses typical novel-style narration. Of course, any time you have two different options, people will disagree on which is better. Some argue that "paragraphs" are more "literate" (this article will not tackle the issue of "literacy"), and informal observation suggests that lists are more common from beginner and low-skill role players. However, lists are quicker to write and still get the same information across. Or do they? Just what are the merits and demerits of lists? Using one cannot lower your skill level or intelligence quota, after all. So why not use a list, the faster and easier option?
What does a list cover?
Your average, basic list (not including rank/orientation/species/race/etc.) looks a little something like this...
Name: (the character's name here)
Gender: (lady, gentleman, hermaphrodite, robot, undecided, whatever...)
Age: (amount of time between the character's birth and the role play's present time)
Appearance: (this is often hair/pelt color and eye color, but sometimes people include a little more)
Personality: (nope, not going to define this for you)
History: (anything the character has experienced that the role player deems relevant; this can include lineage)
That looks straightforward and simple, doesn't it?
Appearance
There's not much to say about name, gender, or age. So what about the description of appearance? People include it because, in most cases, characters will be able to see each other and role players will want to know each character's appearance from the beginning. So what does appearance cover? Hair/fur color, hair/fur length, eye color, eye shape, nose shape, face shape, skin color, ear size, detached or attached earlobe, lip color, lip size, teeth color, teeth alignment, missing teeth, height, figure/body shape, muscle mass, clothes, jewelry, foot size, toe length, hand size, finger length, fingernail/toenail length, presence and color of nail polish, scars, missing limbs, deformities, wrinkles, piercings, tattoos... It's obvious that no one wants to describe every aspect of appearance in their list (that would eliminate the quick simplicity) and no one wants to read that much information -- in particular if many of those aspects aren't any different from average.
The logical conclusion, then, is to only include those physical characteristics that stand out. Fair enough. Most people narrow it down to hair/fur color, eye color, clothes (in the case of humanoids), and body size/shape. Sound good? Well, maybe things are different for you, dear reader, but Ten finds that in real life, eye color is not near as noticeable as it is in anime. Granted, Ten doesn't make as much eye contact as she should, but unless the person in question is of a race/ethnicity/origin/la-dee-da that only produces a certain eye color, she tends not to notice enough to remember it.
That leaves hair/fur color, clothes, and body/size shape. Think about this a moment, if you would. Imagine a few people you know that all have the same hair color and general size. Imagine them all dressed in the same clothes. Do they all look like the exact same person? Unless you're cheating and imagining identical twins, no. These few attributes do not build a distinctive character. However, if you add more, it's likely going to be more than most people expect in a list. ...ehh, no big deal. That is, no big deal if you don't use any similes or literary devices whatsoever and keep everything plain as can be. Such effort and detail, which you don't care for, takes time and effort, something you don't have. But still. The appearance section doesn't raise any major problems. You can handle this.
Personality
Now this is where your problems arise. The common strategy for describing personality is to slap down a few adjectives. This can be amusing when all a role player puts amounts to "nice but can be mean" or even just "nice". It's no better when it's just "mean" or "evil". Note that the popular "loyal" and "intelligent" are not aspects of personality. Some try (and fail) to add depth to the character by tacking on a "flaw", such as a phobia or clumsiness (neither of which are personality). Other common "flaws" include "nervousness", "awkwardness", and "shyness", which the role player portrays as endearing more often than as actual flaws.
Away from the digression now. If, for a moment, you'll consider the personality of anyone you know, you'll find it impossible to cover every aspect of personality in only a dozen words, unless you don't really know that person (in which case you're only describing the segment of his/her personality of which you are aware). In fact, it's impossible to describe an entire personality at all, much less in the space of a few words for a little list intro. That is, unless your character is flat and underdeveloped -- in which case the personality section is a breeze.
Sometimes, people try to get around these challenges by using "personality: you'll find out", in which case they might as well not include it.
History
You should know by now to beware the tragic past and forbidden lineage. But even if you can write a decent history, why include it? Remember that list intros are not biographies; they give other role players the bare bones of what they need to know. When you see a person on the street, you can tell (in most cases) their gender, general age-range, and appearance. If you talk to a person or if you know the person already, you can get an idea of his/her personality.
By contrast, the only ways for Character X to know the history of Character Y is if (a) someone tells Character X, (b) the characters have a shared past, or (c) Character X makes like a detective and snoops through files or something. For option "b", role players would have to make an arrangement. Options "a" and "c" can happen only in role play (unless, again, the role players have prearranged it).
Even if something of monumental importance to the character is in his or her history, there's no good reason to put that history in your list intro, because if it's that important and you're a writer of any skill, it will come up in the role play, where it matters.
Other
And what of other important aspects of the character? Sometimes the standard categories can't cover everything. Deafness and blindness deserve mention in the introduction, as do illnesses and mental conditions. It's also nice to know if the person in question is carrying a bomb.
Most role play characters don't possess any of these traits. Fair enough. But what of those who do? Where do you put the details that don't fit anywhere else? Stick them at the end, marked as "Other"? "Extra"? Placing such significant traits in superfluous categories makes them sound like unnecessary add-ons instead of vital aspects of the character, trivializing their influence.
Dual Functions
There are two approaches to writing an intro. One perspective is that an intro serves to give a brief, general feel for the character. Can a list intro do that? If you don't include personality (as if you could) or history (why would you?), then your list intro is down to name, gender, age, and appearance (which, as mentioned, is a trickier category than it sounds), as well as whatever other categories the genre may require. Though not much, these may seem enough to put together a basic semblance of a human being (or wolf, or elf, or horse, or alien, or vampire, or what have you).
When reading these components as a list, however, they do not form a total combination the same way they would in narration. Your brain will treat them as separate pieces of information unless you make a conscious effort to put them together (which, as a busy list-writer, is more than you care to do). When seeing someone for the first time, most people do not analyze their attributes and categorize them. They take in information as a combination, a jumble, an unsorted mix. A list intro cannot be unsorted.
The other understanding of what it means to "introduce" is that an intro establishes a character's involvement in the role play. A list intro does that, right? ...No. It can't. Only a "paragraph" intro is capable of this.
Some believe "paragraphs" to be more difficult, and some even think themselves incapable of writing them -- yet if they have role played before, they have already written them.
When a person posts a list, that's introducing the character, you might argue. It establishes the character's presence, yes, but it does not establish the character's location or current undertaking -- in short, the character's involvement. After the role player posts a list, the role play itself does not start until the player writes the first post with the character. This is a "paragraph" introduction.
That's all that a "paragraph" intro is (or should be): the character's first posts in the role play. To writers of any skill, it is no difficulty to mention basic attributes, creating a synthesized picture of who this character is, what they're doing, and where. However, all too often role players think of the "paragraph" as a separate step in the role play's initiation. They use it as an opportunity to stall and describe irrelevant details rather than kick off the action. After all, the term "introduction" can be near as misleading as the descriptor "paragraph", as it insinuates the role player should be making readers acquainted with the character.
That's why this role player supports a different kind of role play tactic: the entrance. The entrance is the beginning post (or posts) of any length, one paragraph or many, that brings the character into the setting and sets him or her up for interaction with other characters. Description of the character is only a necessary secondary-goal, unlike the introduction's implications of description being its sole purpose. The entrance cuts to the chase -- something that list intros cannot do.
But wait--
One last argument in support of list intros states that they are easier to reference when role players forget a fact or two. If, for some strange reason, it is of absolute necessity for you to know what someone's eye color is in order to complete your next post, and you're too unwilling to ask, fearful of eliciting annoyance, then yes, a list intro is just what you need.
