How this blog came to be… and how you can start one too!

A number of people have approached me in game about my blog. For some reason they seem to think that doing a blog like this is somehow very difficult and that they can’t do the same.  I’m writing this to encourage those who are interested to dive right in and give it a go. 

I always have to laugh to myself when someone who’s looked through my blog thinks that I’m some experienced role player, a writer or both.  While I’m flattered, neither is true.  I flunked every essay test in HS and avoided taking a single English class in college.  I don’t even read fiction… which I’m pretty sure is a prerequisite for any good writer.

Just two years ago I didn’t know what ‘role play’ was.  Upon returning to SWG a couple of years after I quit at NGE, I was approached by a guild leader who carried the ‘roleplay’ tag above his name.  I’d never paid much attention to those. 

I’d often talked or responded to people in game ‘in character’ but I never really identified it as roleplaying.  My ideas about who Bahama was, how she thought, what happened to her in that world… well, I kept all that to myself.  After all, only crazy people would actually get that into a silly avatar, right?

It was a dangerous thing, indeed, for me to join a guild full of roleplayers and learn that I’d already been casually roleplaying for a long time.  I was a bit surprised to realize that somewhere along the way, Bahama had taken on a distinct personality in my mind. More dangerous still was the thought put into my head that perhaps it wasn’t such a crazy thing to enjoy spending time exploring the life of that silly avatar. 

I began writing as a way of sorting through events in Bahama’s life, recording her history and further defining who she was. I already had a couple of blogs going for real life things and so I knew it was a cheap, easy way to record things. 

It’s important to note here that I write for my own benefit.  It’s been a happy coincidence that I choose a blog on which to record it all and occasionally someone will happen by who finds it enjoyable to read.

So.  What benefit is there for the roleplayer in starting a blog for your character? 

  • Record of history.  With a blog you can easily recall when this or that happened, remember exactly what happened and how your character felt about it.  Like a real life journal, you’re recording those thoughts and feelings while they’re still fresh in your mind.
  • Depth of character. Writing in first person forces you to really consider how your character feels about what you’re writing about.  When you write you refine your character’s ‘voice’ which carries over into your in game roleplay. 
  • Fun.  And this should really be the first reason.  Not only is it fun to write from your character’s point of view, but I’ve found that my enjoyment in game is often enhanced by thinking about how I’ll write about a particular event or circumstance when it’s all over.

Interested?  Great.  So go get started!  It’s way easier than you might think.  And it’s free!  There’s no commitment, just give it a try.  There are many sites you can get a free blog, but I recommend www.wordpress.com - go ahead, fire it up and click on ’sign up now’.  They’ll have you up and running with a blog in 10 minutes or less.  From there you can customize it and begin writing.

Got your blog all set and ready to go?  Here’s some tips to get you started:

  • A post is your journal entry. 
  • A page is kinda like a sticky on a forum - it’s info you want available easily all the time.  The most obvious page you’ll want is an ‘About Me’ page about you, your character or both.
  • A comment is where other people can respond to what you wrote. You can also turn comments off so that no one can respond.
  • Yes, it’s supposed to be upside down!  The newest posts go at the top.  I know this seems messed up at first.  But as the number of posts you have increases it will make more sense.  If a person who’s read all your other adventures comes back to read your latest, they don’t want to scroll through several pages to get to it! 
  • Get approval before you post about other people’s characters by name.  Their character belongs to them and they should agree that what you wrote represents that character the way they imagine him or her.
  • Have fun with it!  I don’t recommend doing the blog as a chore.  Write when you feel like it, when the inspiration strikes.
  • Don’t know where to begin?  Try posting an in character interview like the one found here.  Or use an old screen shot as inspiration to write about something that happened long ago.  Record your latest adventure, write about a defining moment in your character’s life or just post your bio from in game.
  • Use the enter button -  a lot.  It’s much easier for people to read what you’ve written if it’s broken up into paragraphs instead of all in one huge chunk.  In general, you don’t want to have more than 5 or 6 sentences in a single paragraph. 
  • Use the spell check and read it through a couple of times before you hit ‘publish’.  No, the writing doesn’t need to be perfect.  But taking these simple steps before putting your work up can make it much easier for others to read.

If the thought of having a journal for your character even remotely interests you I hope you’ll give it a try.  I wish you lots of luck.

And don’t forget to send me the link!  I’d love to read about your adventures. :)