we are now open!
Have you ever stared at someone's 1000 word post and gone "Dang. Wish I could do that..."? Do you have trouble making your replies more than a couple of sentences? Do you find your rps with other people tends to hit a lot of dead ends? Then this is the place for you! Welcome to the Role Play School!
It is VERY important that you read through all the information we have posted!
Our Goals for You (in a nutshell)
Among other things, The RP School has been made to help you improve the quality of your posts and characters, as well as steer you away from the Don'ts of role playing and towards the Dos. By the end of the programme, you should be able to make long posts, improve your writing skills, and successfully forward the plot so you meet fewer of those annoying dead ends.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction, Propaganda and proctor stuff (•thou art here)
2. About the Programme
3. About the Process
4. Getting in to the RP School
5. Dos and Don'ts of Role Playing
6. Creating Your Character
7. Novice vs. Advanced Posts
8. Graduates
9. Certificates
10. Current Classes
11. Proctor auditions
proctor stuff
What Does a Proctor Do?
All right! So we are now assuming that you are, in fact, a proctor; or at least seriously thinking about auditioning. Now thinking: I have a nifty title! Yay! But what in blazes do I do with it?!
A proctor's job is to basically guide his or her students through the course at the RP school, which means that you will be checking up on grammar, post length, fluidity, and so on (this will be described in more detail as we delve into each level).
You are required to examine each student's post LINE FOR LINE, so that they may better understand what it is you're trying to teach them. If there is nothing wrong with a line though, don't examine it. We don't want to go around making problems where they don't belong, as that would stress everyone out. We don't want that to happen, now, do we? You can see what I mean by this later on, as there is a sample posted on this thread of what to do and what not to do when examining a post.
Another very important thing for a proctor to do is make sure that there are no fights, and that OOC (Out of Character, though hopefully you know that) talk is kept TO A MINIMUM. The RP school does not just prepare it's students for RPing on CS (which is mostly very amateur stuff), but rather for actual RP sites. If you have ever RPed on one of these sites, (and I hope you have. If you haven't you should. It's loads of fun!) you will understand what I mean when I say there is practically NO OOC talk within an RP thread. In fact, it is very rare to see any at all, as people will usually communicate via pms or chat.
Something else to look out for is the ORDER. As was said above, the RP school prepares its students for RPing outside CS. In set RP sites, order is extremely important (see how I emphasized 'extremely' so much? Yesh. It's THAT important), and if you post out of turn you will not only tick loads of people off, but there's a high probability you will get yelled at. Trust me, I've seen it happen. So, stick to student 1, student 2, student 3, proctor. Student 1, student 2, student 3, proctor.
If your students stop posting, you should prompt them, asking if they would like to continue. If only two students want to continue, proceed the rp with only them. If only ONE student wants to continue, the proctor will do a ONE ON ONE class with them through PM. If a student doesn't answer within 2 days, he/she is assumed to have quit, and the class will continue without him/her.
Critiquing a Post
Possibly the most important part about a proctor is your ability to critique your students' posts. In this post, we will go through and see both the proper and improper ways to critique a post, and what a proctor should and shouldn't do.
Student's Post
His hand hurt, It was annoying. "Its really annoying" He said before standing up and picking up his bag. He got mad when the rain startd to fall "Im going somewhere dry" He said and walked away.
All right. First off, this is a made up sample with several of the mistakes you're likely to see. How does one handle a critique like this? Here we go.
The Wrong Way
This is absolutely the wrong way to critique someone's post:
That was really bad. You have a lot of spelling mistakes and your post doesn't flow well. You also made grammar mistakes.
This leaves the student going "wth?!?!" and wondering how the heck she/he is supposed to do this. DO NOT critique your student's posts like this!!!!!! If we see you doing so, you will receive a warning. If you do so TWICE, you will be stripped of your title as proctor. Critiquing like this does not help anyone.
The Right Way
First off, quote the student's post in your critique, like so:
His hand hurt, It was annoying. "Its really annoying" He said before standing up and picking up his bag. He got mad when the rain startd to fall "Im going somewhere dry" He said and walked away.
This way, you don't have to keep flipping back and forth between your critique and the actual post while you edit (which can get very annoying).
Second, be VERY clear what you mean, and single out each sentence, either by requoting it or by numbering the lines...or any other fun way you can think of. Also, the proctor should always speak in a colour other than black. In this case, we will use green, though you may use any colour you like (as long as you keep consistent. If you start out with green, stay with green). So you should now have something that looks like this:
WAY ONE: REQUOTE
His hand hurt, It was annoying. "Its really annoying" He said before standing up and picking up his bag. He got mad when the rain startd to fall "Im going somewhere dry" He said and walked away.
His hand hurt, It was annoying.
Who is he? Please make this clear, because though we know who your character technically is, if there are numerous people participating in the rp or you have more than one character, the reader is completely lost. Also, the punctuation is off, and either way the sentence is fragmented. Structure-wise, if this is how you were to do it, you should change the comma into a period, because a capital letter in the centre of a sentence is not grammatically correct. However, this would result in fragmented sentences, which makes the post rocky and amateur-ish. A better way to do this is by changing the comma into a semicollen (;). This way, the sentence would look like this "Cory's hand hurt; it was annoying." But this still doesn't sound like a good sentence. Instead, try merging the two into one sentence, so it would look something along these lines: "Cory growled in annoyance at his aching hand." By doing this, you give us dirrect insight to the character's feelings THROUGH the character himself. Instead of the narrator telling us he is annoyed, we see it through the character's actions.
WAY TWO: NUMBERED
1. His hand hurt, It was annoying. 2."Its really annoying" He said before standing up and picking up his bag. He got mad when the rain startd to fall "Im going somewhere dry" He said and walked away.
1. Who is he? Please make this clear, because though we know who your character technically is, if there are numerous people participating in the rp or you have more than one character, the reader is completely lost. Also, the punctuation is off, and either way the sentence is fragmented. Structure-wise, if this is how you were to do it, you should change the comma into a period, because a capital letter in the centre of a sentence is not grammatically correct. However, this would result in fragmented sentences, which makes the post rocky and amateur-ish. A better way to do this is by changing the comma into a semicollen (;). This way, the sentence would look like this "Cory's hand hurt; it was annoying." But this still doesn't sound like a good sentence. Instead, try merging the two into one sentence, so it would look something along these lines: "Cory growled in annoyance at his aching hand." By doing this, you give us dirrect insight to the character's feelings THROUGH the character himself. Instead of the narrator telling us he is annoyed, we see it through the character's actions.
2. INSERT CRITIQUE HERE
I only critiqued one sentence, and you would be doing all, but this gives you an idea of how to do it. Lastly, for both posts, you would put your general critique, which would look like this:
GENERAL CRITIQUE ADDED
His hand hurt, It was annoying. "Its really annoying" He said before standing up and picking up his bag. He got mad when the rain startd to fall "Im going somewhere dry" He said and walked away.
His hand hurt, It was annoying.
Who is he? Please make this clear, because though we know who your character technically is, if there are numerous people participating in the rp or you have more than one character, the reader is completely lost. Also, the punctuation is off, and either way the sentence is fragmented. Structure-wise, if this is how you were to do it, you should change the comma into a period, because a capital letter in the centre of a sentence is not grammatically correct. However, this would result in fragmented sentences, which makes the post rocky and amateur-ish. A better way to do this is by changing the comma into a semicolon (;). This way, the sentence would look like this "Cory's hand hurt; it was annoying." But this still doesn't sound like a good sentence. Instead, try merging the two into one sentence, so it would look something along these lines: "Cory growled in annoyance at his aching hand." By doing this, you give us direct insight to the character's feelings THROUGH the character himself. Instead of the narrator telling us he is annoyed, we see it through the character's actions.
GENERAL: Remember to keep in mind your spelling and grammar, and to always go back and edit your posts. You might find it helpful to try typing it out on a word processor too. The post needs to be lengthened considerably, as you need around 12 lines per post to be moved up.
It would be nice to add in some sort of compliment as well, but I really don't feel like complementing myself, as I find it kinda creepy XD But you get my drift.
Novice Level Explained
In the Novice Level (otherwise known as Level 1...why yes, I am creative XD ), we mainly focus on the technical stuff. This is where your student will learn the most. Not that they won't learn in other levels, they just won't learn as much, because we've already pounded the ground rules into their skulls.
In this level, we will focus on character development, post length, grammar, smoothness, and spelling, to name a few. For each level, a student has to average a certain length for each post they make before they can be considered to graduate. The specifics will be explored under their topics.
Character Depth
This means that you are looking for your student's insight into his or her character. In this level, you want to prompt them to get into their character's minds. Have them explore their character's thoughts and feelings in a post instead of just talking about the character's actions, though that is definitely important as well. We need to know why this character does what he does in a certain situation, and why he thinks X way instead of Y way. Was he influenced by a certain person or event in his life? So on and so forth. The student also needs to STICK to the information they have given us in their character bios. For example, if a character was written as being poor as a church mouse as a child in your student's bio, the student cannot later say (in the rp) that the character came from a wealthy family.
Post Length
Most RP sites out there require at least 150 words per post, and so will we. This means 8-9 LINES (not sentences) per post must be met before your student can qualify for graduation. No matter how good a student is, if he/she cannot meet this quota, he/she cannot move on to the next level.
Grammar
Grammar is very important in this level, as this is the level where the posts are shortest, and trust me: you want to weed out as many complications as you can from the start. This will make your job as proctor in the later levels (where posts ARE longer) much, much easier. Grammar consists of period use, commas, semicolons, capital letters and all that good stuff. Most important of all is that you make sure your students properly utilize quotation marks (" "), as this will make it much easier to distinguish between talk and text. If you'd like to go a step further (which I suggest, but is not required), you should have your students bold everything their character speaks in addition to the quotation marks, which will make it even easier to find what they are saying.
Smoothness
Oh yes. Smoothness. I have no other word to describe this. Flow-idity? Never mind. In any case, this means that your student's post is easy to read and fits well with the rest of the rp. In some cases, this goes hand in hand with grammar, in that periods in the wrong places and run-on sentences will slow down and complicate a post, making it seem sluggish and confusing.
Another way to enforce this would be to make sure that there are no completely random and uncalled for events in your post. What do I mean? If Timmy and Julia are lost in the middle of the sahara desert, they cannot suddenly find the ocean and ride on a dolphin's back. That would be odd and disruptive.
Yet another is when someone doesn't pay attention to previous posts, and does things that make you go "What? When did that happen?"
The most horrible way of all is the dreaded dead ender. Dun dun duuuuuuun. This happens when a student puts up a post that gives no obvious way for someone to answer (refer to the page about dead enders in the RP school for more information).
Spelling
This is pretty straight forward. We don't wanna harp on minor mistakes (like one that's obviously a slip of the finger on the keyboard once ever few posts), but if a student's post is riddled with them, you should have them correct it by suggesting they use a word processor/spell check or something. This really isn't the most important thing on the list, but enough to mention. Someone's spelling shouldn't hold them back from graduating.
Power Playing / G-d-Modding
Don't get mad if a student does this, but explain to him or her why people will murder them if they do it in an actual rp. Power playing is awful and if they DO do it, make the class stop and have the person correct their post. If YOU don't know what power playing is (but I hope you do!!!), please look it up online. There are many good references you can use.
Mary/Gary Sues
These should be avoided at all cost! If you see any Mary/Gary sues, then please bring it to light and explain why the student's character is one. The character form is made to try to avoid having any of these characters, but sometimes it will happen.
When students graduate, their posts should look something like this:
Eva picked up her guitar and stood up, stretching her back out. What was she going to do on this stunningly dull Saturday morning? She had called Luis; he was busy at the pet store. Apparently today was adoption day. She hated adoption day. Not that she didn't love the little animals, or want them to get homes...which she did...but they dragged Luis away on a Saturday. Saturday! Saturday was their fun day! They went to the cinema, played bad music in the park for fun, and good music in the tube for cash on Saturday.
But her Saturday was ruined. She hadn't any other friend, and she'd rather die than hang out with her half-witted sister. All Colette cared about was her hair, her make up, and what Zac Efron looked like with his shirt off.
She rolled her eyes and leaned against the side of the bridge, wondering what it would be like to fly. She shut her eyes tight, dreaming of birds and angels...and jerked back with a surprised yelp of pain when something hard smashed into her back. "Hey!" she howled angrily. "Watch where you're going, you idiot!"
It's a about 9 lines, and has few to no grammar errors, no god modding or power playing, and most important of all, leaves a spot for someone else to enter in to the rp. Students must consistently make posts like this before they can move on.
Intermediate Level Explained
The Intermediate Level (Level 2) leans less toward the technical aspect of RPing and more towards the content in your student's post. This level focuses on several different things such as a student's ability to interact with his/her surroundings, appeal to the senses, use description correctly and further the plot. It also will continue looking at grammar and spelling (though by now there shouldn't be too much trouble with this), as well as expanding post length
Interacting with and Hinting to the Character's Surroundings
This means a student must use what he she is given, and interpret the surroundings into his/her post. The reader must be shown the surroundings (not all at once) through the student's post. The student must not present the background bluntly, for bluntness is our enemy (such as saying "Her room was pink with butterfly stickers on the wall and heart-shaped windows. In the back there was a pink telly and on the ground striped carpet"), but rather hide it in his/her post. You can also hint to a certain place through your text, such as saying "The stone cavern was damp and beaded with sweat as Luke dragged his hand across it, trying to find a way out. In the distance, he could hear the steady roar of water." This hints to the fact that Luke is in an underground cave...with an underground river in it.
This topic will go hand in hand with the next topic...
Appealing to the Senses
Ah yes. The senses. Don't we just love them? Appealing to the senses brings a reader into the character's world, and lets him see/hear/smell/feel/taste what the character sees/hears/smells/feels/tastes. This adds interest to the student's post and keeps the reader's attention much better than if it didn't have any. As mentioned, this will go hand in hand with the first item, as you will see in the example post at the end of this section. Make sure the student uses this wisely and discretely. As with the previous, bluntness in our enemy.
Using Description Correctly
Say it with me now: bluntness is our enemy! Yep. I think we should have that be the school's motto.... Right then. To properly use description, the student must not say "He was tall and thin, wearing a black suit with a polka-dotted red and green tie." Rather, the student should disperse description into little bits and pieces among the actions in his/her post, so that the post remains about the character's actions and not about what the character is wearing.
Post Length
In order to graduate from this level into the Advanced level, posts must be consistently around twelve lines each, which is equivalent to 250 words per post.
When students graduate, their posts should look something like this:
Brett wound his long fingers through the dappled mare's wispy mane, feeling the wind beating at his face as they ran. It was wonderful, all of it. The only way he would enjoy it more than he was now...was if the mare was his, and not Farmer Jenkins'. Maybe she will be, he though, pressing himself against her damp neck, listening to the thump-tha-thump of her heart pounding in time with her hooves. Maybe we'll never go back.
He pulled the mare gently to a halt under a sprawling Boabab tree, and turned to look back at the village. He couldn't see it: it had been consumed by the acres of wild land and dried grass they had just eaten up under their hooves. Their hooves. She was his now, and they would not be going back. Neither of them was appreciated at home.
Brett swung his leg over the mare's broad size and slithered onto the dry ground, testing it beneath his heavy feet. It was harsh and cracked, the grass yellow and brown. The dry season had definitely come. It would be hard for them to find water now, but they'd survive. He'd make sure of it.
He slunk down against the ancient tree's rough bark and pulled a drawstring purse out of his bag. He peered inside...twelve silver coins would get them food and a place to stay. He would get work in the next village, as soon as he got there...
The mare shrieked and reared up, clawing the air frantically. Brett leapt to his feet and grabbed her purple halter, whispering soothing words to her in Swahili, the only language she knew. He looked around, wide eyed, looking for anything that could spook so sound a mare as she.
The senses are explored and played with through the text, and the character interacts with the background as he "slunk down against the ancient tree's rough bark". It is also hinted at through the fact that the only language the mare knows is Swahili, and the tree is native to Africa, as well as the "acres of wild land" they've just run over. The description of people, places and things are incorporated with the actions, such as "Brett wound his long fingers through the dappled mare's wispy mane". When your students can make posts utilizing all these aspects, they can move on to the next level.
Advanced Level Explained
The Advanced level is the simplest in terms of content, and is always done ONE ON ONE with the student. This level consists of the proctor building a character for the student, and the student role playing with the character that the proctor has created. The proctor will then set up an RP in which the student is unfamiliar and somewhat uncomfortable, and we will see if the student handles him/herself with grace and remembers to use what he/she has previously learned.
For students, this is possibly the hardest level, which is why not much is required to pass. What is required is that the student shows he/she is well versed in what she has learned previously and utilizes all her knowledge in this unfamiliar RP, and that his/her posts reach a length of AT LEAST 350-400 words (or anywhere from 18-21 lines) as a bare minimum.
No sample post will be included for this level
Tests Explained
The tests will be on each of the subjects specific to their levels. No more than this shall be said. *Sticks tongue out at students* lol
When your first student has graduated, pm me for an explanation on tests XD I'm so sneaky
Graduating Your Students
When you feel your student has met all the standards of a particular level, she/he may graduate. HOWEVER, before you tell him/her that she can graduate, please let me know so I can review the student in question's post to confirm she/he is ready to go on to the next level. You CAN also ask another of the RP School proctors, but you'd both have to PM me saying yes, this student has passed. So it doesn't have to be me, but you do need a second opinion.
Please note that the whole class does NOT have to graduate at the same time!!!!!! A student CAN graduate before his or her classmate(s) do(es)!
When a student graduates, please tell him/her so on the class thread itself, just to leave a paper trail. A student cannot receive the certificate until after he/she passes the TEST though.
If your student has passed the exam, please pm me the following form:
- Code: Select all
[b]Student Name:[/b]
[b]Level Graduated:[/b]
[b]Proctor Name:[/b]
[b]Who Gave the Second Opinion:[/b]
[b]Thread Link:[/b]
Once I receive this form, I will make the certificate and the student can pick it up on the main thread.
Graphics!
- Code: Select all
[url=http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1542429][IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad123/GroundStreet/button.png[/IMG][/url]
In any case, by the end of the course you should be able to write something more like the following, which is the same situation of Jake being scared and hiding under the stairs...only less blunt.
