Story Building Basics
The player behind LdyBelial has put together a very good posting on the basics building a story, along with some tips on fleshing out a character. A couple of the points are noted below, see the link for the complete write up.
1:
The most interesting characters tend to have a firm concept behind them.We don’t need to know everything about our character/s to play them; but some basics won’t hurt. (See “Flushing Out Character/s” below for details.)
Characters with some kind of motivation are easier to play; without it they have no direction, no drive, no ambitions. Hence the player has left themselves little to nothing to play off of.
2:
Characters should grow and evolve just like real people.Storyline/s can offer growth for the character/s involved. Conflict and resolution are key ingredients in creating venues for character/s growth.
Playing off character weaknesses or flaws allows them a chance towards resolution of the same or, if a player wishes otherwise, creation of new ones. Adding such nuances to the stories also adds depth, not only for the character(s) but to the stories as well.
In free form role-play there are no points assigned, no levels to move up, the only way our character/s advance is if we create it for them. Challenging storylines are great for accomplishing character growth and advancement. The meat of the story confronts the character/s in ways that allow them to overcome their own fears, opening the character/s to change and/or evolve. So, when designing stories, don’t forget to create opportunities for growth.
3:
Be careful not to over structure the stories. If a sl is so rigorously structured down to what scenes are required to advance the story, then one may find their sl stalling quite frequently. And any IC interactions may derail the original concepts. Leave sls open for random encounters, let others help and inspire in the telling of character/s stories.
Building a Story [Dragon’s Mark]
