writing Roleplay Academy: becoming better writers

1 Introduction

Hello and welcome to our community. So you're interested in RP? That's great! Whether you are completely new to writing or already have years of experience, this Academy is where everyone starts. Its purpose is to help all newcomers become better writers and get acquainted with Eurth's unique style and community. We can't wait to see what you have in store! Be sure to put your best foot forward.

Before you go any further, we would like to make sure that you fully understand what you're getting into. Newcomers should be aware that Eurth is a slow-paced community that tries to aim for quality and realism and that encourages integration (transplant/pre-made nations are discouraged) into the existing canon. The short list below will link you to 3 documents that we highly encourage you to check—we'll expect every member to at least be familiar with them.

1. The Eurth Introduction
2. The Community Rules
3.  The Roleplay Rules

Remember! Criticism and feedback that you might hear from staff members are meant to help, not hinder. Throughout your journey, you may encounter staff members who may give input you do not want to hear. These staff members will work together with you towards a common goal.

• Introduce new candidates to the background knowledge needed to write as part of the community.
• Integrate all new players into the Eurth community and lore.
• Set expectations on how Eurth operates
• Safeguard the rules that everyone else plays by.

Together, these goals establish the foundation of knowledge, skills, and abilities all students need to be successful in Eurth. Take their advice in good faith. This community thrives on members who respond well to feedback. Manage your expectations wisely! Just as this community only accepts individuals above the age of 16, it also expects applicants to be emotionally above the age of 16.

**Kindly refrain from creating duplicate accounts or attempting the academy with more than 1 nation. Please also avoid re-attempting the academy with different nations or names without first consulting the staff. The staff has every right to suspend dupe accounts and/or permanently ban users that attempt this. The staff puts in work for every candidate and creating dupes increases our workload needlessly.

2 Writing

Q. What if I already have a writing sample?

A. That's great! Be sure to share it. An example of your talents will make it far easier to estimate your skills.

Q. What if I don't have a writing example?

Not a problem. Our dedicated staff is here to help. With easy writing prompts and relevant feedback, you will be guided towards completing your candidacy.

Q. What should you write?

A. You will be expected to write your first RP on your own. This should serve as an introduction to your nation and/ or main characters. Staff and mentors will also share guidance to help you improve. Here are some easy-to-understand writing prompts:

• A change in leadership. This can come in many forms: a peaceful election including debates; the death of one and coronation of another monarch; a revolution and overthrow of the government; etc.
• A tourist visits your nation and describes the sights and experiences. What is there to see? What are the people like? Which cuisine do they enjoy?
• A snapshot into a citizen's life. What a person in the country does. Y'know, what do they usually eat? Where do they work? When do they sleep? How are their relationships handled? etc. For a place like Dolchland, he could write about the peasants, the slaves, the nobility, and the lack of technology and attitudes towards family would be obvious very early on. For a place like Iverica that's more normal this prompt can kinda suck but people watch reality television so obviously there are people into more mundane situations.
• A cultural event is happening. People are invited. What is happening? Where is it taking place? How are people behaving? Is there any media reporting on the event?
• Shopping. Your character goes to buy something. How does this work? Who do they talk to? How is money exchanged?

Q. How will my writing be evaluated 

A. Your writing will be evaluated on multiple criteria.

Quote

 

Does the writing include many spelling mistakes?

Does the writing includethere more than 1 character? Are these characters believable?

Do the characters interact with each other via have a dialogue?

Does the story/action establish a meaningful change in the plot?

How much depth does the writing reveal about the country and lore?

Does the writing it fit with the Eurth canon?

Is there more than a tweet’s worth of text?

Q. What should I be aiming for? 

A. Good writing includes a combination of quality and quantity.

About quality: it’s important to give a strong sense of the place and offer a landscape of the imagination that sweeps the reader into the wurld (you'll have to get used to this spelling). A focus on wurldbuilding adds depth and meaning to your writing, helps you forge deeper connections to the wurld on the page, and gives other members a common frame of reference they can relate to in-canon—remember, other members are your readers.

About quantity: I can already guess that you might be thinking, "how long does my text need to be?" Too short will be, well, too short. This is not Twitter. But we also don't intend for you to write a novel or dissertation. For a good first impression, aim for something between 500-1000 words. To show you how long this might be, here are some examples:

Q. Are there any other rules for graduating?

A. The bare minimum requirements for passing the academy are:

1. General Outline/Vision of your country. This submission should answer the questions: "Where did my country come from?", "How did it end up the way it is now?", "What are its goals in the present?", and "What kind of nation does it aim to be in the near future?" Using the tag: [Vision Statement] write a 2-3 paragraph overview of what you want to achieve with your nation. If your idea is a progressive one, outline how you plan to take your nation through each phase of its development. OR you could make a factbook. See no. 3 on this list. You can do both the factbook and the vision statement before you pass the academy, this is up to you.
2. A Roleplay story of your choice. You choose! Stay in-character and use the tag: [Academy RP] when making a new post! (e.g. slice of life, political drama, action story, historical RP, etc.). It should give everyone an idea of what life or events in your nation are like. Refer to the above sections for guidance.
3. Basic factbook (Optional, can be requested by staff if more clarity is needed) that contains a general overview of your nation and the statistics you are choosing. There are two ways you can create this factbook: you can either create one in our in-forum list, or (if you're feeling adventurous) you can have a go at using IIWiki which is used by many RP communities.

Once you've posted all of these on the Academy please contact a staff member by message on this forum, or by pinging @staff on the Eurth Discord. There might be some delays as all staff are volunteers!

3 Step-by-Step

STOP! Did you really read our introduction and the linked document? Many new candidates have just gone ahead and skipped all the words. I know the document is long and reading can be a drag but if you lack the patience to go over the important bits and hate reading - what are you even doing here? In this community, we read each others' work. We can't force you to read everything here but consider yourself warned. If you complain about the expectations and culture, you'll only have yourself to blame. We tried to tell you who we are and what we expect.

1. Introductions: Say Hi!, check the first post in the thread for a copy of the introduction form. You should also fill in the Front Desk Form.
2. Read: The Introduction document. RP in Eurth is a lot of reading. If this document is too much reading already, it may be time to reconsider. Reading it and not skimming it is recommended, it contains information on errors newbies often make in the Academy. Reading and understanding it will save you time from potential rewrites and confusion.
3. Vision Statement: See the linked examples above, they're under "What should I be aiming for? ". Note that you may also start a factbook/iiwiki. The link to the factbook platform we use, "IIWiki" is linked in Step 5.
4. Sample Academy RP: See above; Item #1 of bare minimum requirements, "General Outline/Vision of your country"
5. Editing/Using Feedback: Staff will read what you've posted and may give some comments.
6. Starting your iiWiki: If you have chosen to write this in addition to your vision statement or if staff requested you to make one; start a simple page with the foundations of a culture, some politics, and some economics.
7. Include your Stats: have these approved by staff. ping @ rp mentor on Discord and list your desired stat values. Then, include the stat values in your Vision Statement and Wiki/Factbook (if required, or voluntarily completed).
8. Communicate with Staff: await some final comments before jumping right in! There might be something important.
9. Apply for a Map Spot (after graduation)

4 Graduating

Q. How does graduation work?

A. Each RP in the Academy can be rated using the stars system. If a minimum of 2 staff members support your writing, then your candidacy will be approved. This means you graduate to become a full member and can join our larger community.

Q. How long does someone remain in the Academy?

A. Depending on the quality and feedback they can graduate to become a full member. An already experienced player will have no problem writing their way through this trial. Graduating will grant access to the main RP areas, where more interaction is possible.

Q. What happens to my RP stories in the Academy?

A. These RP's are not automatically part of our canon. But they can be promoted if you request this and if the community agrees—your academy writings will then be moved into the main RP forums and become part of our shared stories. Just ask any staff member to do this for you.

Q. Before you go, the staff would like to bring up the faint possibility of your becoming inactive.

A. In the faint possibility of you becoming inactive, the staff would like to point out that:

1. If you become inactive or show little interaction with other players ("ghosting"), there is a possibility that staff may choose to place you elsewhere on the map or edit your lore. In some cases, if you are completely inactive, you may be removed from the canon entirely. If you do not wish for your nation to be edited by the staff upon being classified as inactive, you may notify the staff (ahead of time preferably) and request for your nation's deletion.
2. Inactivity can also take the form of simply releasing posts that do not in any way engage with the community ("purging").
3. The absence of one member might prevent the community from moving forward ("blocking"). You own your intellectual property as an active member. However, becoming inactive means that staff may need to take control of your stories, posts and content.
4. Inactivity for 60 days without notice will be enough to have your nation earmarked for the next round of reductions/removals.

P.S: Don't forget to set your final statistics!

Still need more help? Try this next article!