Any tips on SoL or Romance?

[Vulcan 3,254]

It's my weakness, I always fall flat at these two specific genres...

so I want to get better at them! ... 

 

So any tips on this? o-o

What are common SoL or Romance mistakes that folks generally make? 

 

[Randimaxis 8,633]

SoL:

Be careful not to fall into the "single plot hole"; that's where the SoL is going FINE... but then ONE character's story takes precedence over ALL the others.  The best way to avoid this is to make certain that every character IMPORTANT to the story has a bit to play in any one character's story arc.  Try for a more 'mosaic' feel to a story, where everyone's plot is unknowingly pushing everyone else's plot along.

EXAMPLE:

Toby the hero, Maysie the love interest and Joe the best buddy all go to the same coffee shop every morning.  

However, this particular morning, Maysie has a breakfast date with Eddward, her potential boyfriend.

Instead of focusing SOLELY on Maysie, you could add in where Eddward is actually an old middle school chum of Joe... and Eddward also just HAPPENS to be the guy who took the last parking space, forcing Toby to have to go to the back lot to park - which could make for some interesting conflict, as Joe might help defend Eddward, while hapless Maysie JUST WANTS TO HAVE HER MORNING COFFEE WITH HER FRIENDS.

This way, it puts ALL the characters of note into the fracas.

 

Romance:

Sweet Luna's Crown, the biggest complaint I have ever had is that romances tend to go one of two ways:

Either the romance seems to just happen INSTANTLY (Love At First Sight Syndrome), or once it happens, the romance is PERFECT.

Love is FAR from perfect - and I'm about sick of "awwwwww" cutesy stories.  Give me a story where the love interest is plagued with self-doubt about how they appear to their lovey-dovey... or one where they start out HATING each other, and slowly build to friendship before the possibility of romance even begins to bud... heck, as long as there's conflict that isn't "oh, do they LUUUUUUUUV MEH?" or "you looked at another person!  YUH BROWK MUH HARRRRT" stuff.

Seriously, not a single relationship is without flaws; remember it's HOW they work through it that makes the character believable, and a story interesting.

 

[Vulcan 3,254]

@Randimaxis

That was very insightful! ^ ^ Thanks Randi! owo

 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

I'd also add this. In both types of roleplay, don't let two people take the RP and run with it for pages, leaving everyone else fighting to get back in. Sadly, this has happened to me many times, to the point where I am hesitant to join any new RPs. Players have different time zones, availability and maximum time to spend online, and it's not fair to allow two players to effectively take the RP over to the point where everyone else is left hanging in space.

Example:

Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, Trixie and Starlight Glimmer are the characters in a SOL roleplay. The players taking the parts of Twilight and Sunset Shimmer are on a different time zone to the other two, and have offline responsibilities; Twilight has a full time job, and Sunset is at college. They come to the end of the time they can spend on forums, excuse themselves in the OOC, and go offline. Fast forward to the next say, when Twilight and Sunset come back... only to find that in their absence, Trixie and Starlight have taken over the RP and gone on for five pages with their own personal story. They have subsequentally left the cafe the four were in and gone off on a cruise... leaving Twilight and Sunset in limbo, as there is no way for them to break into Trixie and Starlight's new story cuz they are not with them, and the conflict that the four were discussing has effectively been left hanging, or resolved in their absence.

As a GM, you should be ready to step in and curb the two players who have done this, gently reminding them that there are other people participating and that if they want to go off on their own, they're welcome to start a 1x1 between them, rather than hijacking your roleplay for their own story. Yes, if there is an absence that is not explained in the OOC and the player does not respond to PMs, then the roleplay can move forward without the player, but to just take the roleplay and run when the player(s) are just offline due to work/college/etc, it's just plain rude.