Lack Of Imaginetion

Natalija

Queen of LaLa Land, state of Capital Bulshit :P
I like to think I'm a decent writer and all, but one thing has alvays been my flaw. I can not step outsyde my comfort zone, vhen it comes to writing chars/plots that I dont have a irl basis to draw on, to make them belivable. In short, I can only write things that are in-line vith my irl tastes/expiriences. Once, I entered a RP vhere I played a noble woman, entering a romantic relationship vith a prince. I suspekted at the start it wuld end in disaster, but I tryed it aniway, after some convincing from my partners that "you just need to use your imaginetion". Sure.... if I had any. That, vas probably the most miserable excuse of a character I ever maked. Nothing she sayed/did vas convincing, not even to my-self, it vas all... wrong... or build on cliches that wuld make a third-rate medieval movie script-writer blush. Eventualy I abandoned that RP, because I vas too embarassed at my half-assed atempts to make her work.

Second part of this "lack of imaginetion" thing, is that I absolutly suck at writing emotional states I have no expirience irl. Romance, for example. I'm not a romantic woman, I'm too hardened and desenzitized for that. Very few things, from very few ppl irl can stir those kinds of feelings in me. Passion - sure. In fact, passion is probably the emotional state I'm best at conveying, and I just like to substitute it in place of romance vhere I can, you know, "slip by" on that. Thats vhat I did alot in the afore-mentioned RP, and it just looked out of place, on a medieval noble woman character, who wuld obviusly act alot more reserved/shy/subtle then that. So then I rezorted to cliche reactions, that just maked her look even more fake and predictable.

So basicly, this in-ability to step out of the box, has limited me to playing a very niche type of characters vhich I can in some way identify vith. Any ideas on how to mitigate that flaw?
 
The same thing happened to me when I tried to write a character that wasn't human for the first time. I got through it by ignoring my embarrassment. I tried my best to write with confidence, because as long as you act like you know what you're doing, your readers will sense the confidence and it won't come off as cliche.

Also I made sure I wrote with people I trusted. I wrote with people whom I felt comfortable with, who I knew wouldn't actually think negative things about me. And I communicated with them. I said, "Hey, this is my first time with writing a nonhuman and I'm not sure if I'm portraying this right so... let me know if anything seems off, okay?" And they did. I checked in with them (this is so helpful!) I took everything they said and I worked with it.

Another thing is I often opted for writing in private with a friend. I got the hang of writing males inside google docs. And gawd, if those rps ever got out... it was some pretty cringy shit. Much like you're experiencing with personality types you're not use to. Just keep writing it out. Be confident about it and, with time, these subjects won't feel so foreign to write anymore. You got this.
 
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Yes thats the problem; "act like you know what your doing". I'm not a good actress, and if I dont - know - what I'm doing, I cant realy act it out. I can try, and it wil look fake and predictable, or out-right cringe-y. Heres a example, one of the lines I stil remember writing out for her, even after all these months; the scene is in the castle hall, the prince courting my character:

PRINCE: *kneels on 1 knee in front of my character, and prezents her vith a bouquet of crysantemums* (not the exact deskription, and simplifyed, fancy talk vas used, but something along those lines, it vas a long time ago, I dont remember vhat exactly my partner written here, I just remember it vas about giving her crysantemums, in a courtly manner)

ARIELA(my char's name): She frozed in place, her hands over her heart, her soft tone trembling vith emotion, "Oh, my lord, you make my poor heart fluter! What did I, a fair lady of House Delion, do to earn the favor of a handsome prince, such as yorself?"

Now, tell me you culd read that w/o fucking cringing. That vas literaly my best attempt at acting "noble-sque". I culd just have her say, "Thank you, prince, I'm flattered", but that just seemed to... simple. And like I sayed, the RP vas very heavy on fancy-talk and courtly dialog. First and last time I ever tryed playing someone like that, in that kind of setting.
 
I didn't cringe, sweetie. I see some awkward phrasing, sure, but nothing to cringe over. Honestly, you could have just said, "O-. O. Thank you, my prince, I am... flattered. But... but why? I'm just a lady of House Delion. Surely, you mean these for someone else."

I said the same thing as you, in fact, I even used your line. It worked, yeah? Try less, put yourself in their shoes. Think to yourself, how would you respond if that were you. It'll come out a lot more naturally.

If you have to for a while, write yourself through your characters. It's a pretty common thing people do while they are trying to build that character creativity.

The first technic I learned from my Uni acting course was to channel an emotion from a a past experience. So I channeled my sadness, I channeled my excitement, I channeled all these universal experiences and I use them in my scenes. I breathed quickly when I had good news to share, I gritted my jaw when angry, etc. Try that with your characters, I think it'll help.
 
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Think to yourself, how would you respond if that were you.

Ammmm ok... how wuld I respond if that wer me? Simple: "Thanx, prince. Want to grab a drink?" :p Thats how I wuld respond. So that dont work too wel, does it?

"O-. O. Thank you, my prince, I am... flattered. But... but why? I'm just a lady of House Delion. Surely, you mean these for someone else."

But that... thats nice, actualy! Too bad I didnt think of that, 8 months ago. I guess I over-phrazed it, huh? Like I sayed, I'm not a good actress, my talents are a bit more straigt-forward then that.
 
I think that would work just fine, you'd just have to make it sound a little more formal. Maybe a,"Thank you, my prince. ...Would you care to join me for afternoon tea?"

Maybe focus on getting better at writing different characters with your same speech patterns, no need too do both at once.
You're doing just fine. xo
 
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Wel, thats exacly what I mean - I can not step outsyde the box. Give me a straigtforward, hands-on character, I can do it. Have her use normal speech, not swoon all over the place, and act casual, I can do that. Give me a military character, or a fighter of some kind, I'm ALL OVER that, literaly. Give me someone who is practical and direct, not in-to abstraktions, I got it. A traveler, a commoner, I dont know, anyone who is just... I dont know, casual.

So yes, sweety, I'm very good at writing vhat I know. ;) Trust me. But this is about writing vhat I dont know. :p But thanx for the advice.
 
I think you misunderstand me, speech patterns and unfamiliar emotional states are two different beasts. My suggestion was to use your own experiences when writing unfamiliar things, aka that romance issue you mentioned, before adding on the extra layer of an unfamiliar speech pattern.

Good luck. :)
 
And its the unfamiliar emotional states that are a problem. Like I sayed, I'm not romantic. So I have no expiriences of my own to write it out, I can only try to act it out, replace it vith passion, or apply vhat I seen in movies or other media. And that turns out akward or cliched, as you have seen in my example.

Speech paterns... thats not so hard. I can see vhat you did, you just picked a middle-ground betwen over-phrazed and under-phrazed. So I can just do that too. Maybe one wil lead to the other, and make me act out unfamiliar emotional states beter, too?
 
Hey! I know what you mean about having a lack of imagination - there are times when I absolutely cannot step out of my comfort zone when it comes to role-playing. I like having characters I know back to front and kind of freak out when I need to role-play someone new. I do get bouts of random inspiration where I feel like I can role-play anything and everything, but that doesn't happen too often and doesn't really last long either.

Honestly, what helped me was reading more and writing more. I have a role-play partner who is just so creative and imaginative in a way I could never be, and writing with her and taking her stories and ideas into consideration really did help me. It does help to have a person to turn to. We usually ask each other if what we wrote was okay in terms of a character's personality and all. I'm like you, I'm not very romantic IRL because of a lack of experience, but she has that experience. So, if we are writing a romantic scene, I'd write my piece as best as I could before showing it to her, and then asking her if there was anything I could do to make it more realistic. Getting that feedback usually helps, and it really has helped me a lot too. I hope you can find what works for you. Good luck!​
 
Good idea! Now I just need to find someone who wil proof-read me if I ever start another RP like that, and give me that feedback. Wish I had that back then...
 
Oh, huh. I'm actually pretty good at this, as I typically have to play a wide range of characters--from the romantic to the cold, from men to women, straight or gay, liberal or conservative, so on.

"Wait, what?"

Okay, this might help you specifically, but this advice could apply to anyone. The first thing you need to do is identify your own characteristics. Second thing you need to do is identify the characteristics of the character you want to write--what is similar about them to you, and what is different. The less like you a character is, the harder they will be to write. This is an important distinction because it isn't wrong to struggle to write characters who are very different from yourself. It takes practice. It took practice for me to learn how to write feminine characters for example, or conservative characters, or nonhumans, or so on.

The best advice I can give for a rudimentary understanding of a character different from yourself is to ask yourself how they would feel about modern issues. Who would they vote for? Would they vote or would they abolish democracy? What do they think of gender equality? What would their opinion be of modern society, or foreigners, or so on. When you encounter a position you and your character think differently on, ask yourself what compels your character to think that way. What values or beliefs do they hold, and how do they express them? You don't have to believe that they are right, just think from their point of view about how and why they think they are right!

This is where short story role plays really help. They let you rapid fire through a bunch of characters and set up specific scenes to practice without a long term commitment.
 
Try reading books. This gives you large vocabulary. :)
My biggest problem isn't the lack of imagination, it's lack of vocabulary. This makes my RPs boring. So I feel ya. Now I don't know you, your vocabulary might be super large, just giving you an advice I should also follow myself. ^^
Also watch more movies and see how people interact. For me I have a problem understanding social interactions for some reason, I'm pretty desensitized too (are you an Aquarius too by any chance? lol) I never really watch movies or series so I should do it.
Also chatting out of character helps a lot.
And don't roleplay things you don't enjoy, find your little niches. For me, I could never play a romantic woman. But I could play kawaii stuff easily. Anyway, my style is kinda blunt and I wish people would understand this instead of thinking I'm depressing or mood ruining. You need to find your people that's all. :)
Good luck!
(Also wanna RP with me? you seem nice and interesting ^^)
 
Yes, thats one of the problems. I dont read much (no time for it). And even in my own langage my vocabulary sucks, in English... take a guess. I'm not exactly a talker. But I do write stuff good, long as its in the areas I'm familiar with.

And don't roleplay things you don't enjoy, find your little niches.

I know my niches. This thread is about how to RP things that are NOT in my niche. :p

Anyway, my style is kinda blunt

Join the club! :) Also the club of self-avi users, I see, we are precius few around here, thats alredy +1 in my book, sweety! Always nice to see who I'm talking to.

(I'm in 3 RPs right now, 1 on the forum 2 in PMs, not interested in taking on more, check out Masquerade RP area if you want to join up there, and we can RP together there. The other 2 are in PM, so those are harder to join, talk to Enki for the 1st one and SedentaryCobra for the second. Fair warning, dont join those if you got a problem vith XXX content, both of them are very juicy in that regard.)
 
Oh I'm sorry..
Well yeah you can RP things out of your niche, of course you can, I just thought you didn't like doing it that's why I said you shouldn't. :p
I'm fine with XXX. But I'm very beginner and don't want to ruin the RP.
Also are you saying there are other "blunt" people, and that I should consider myself rare?
 
Well yeah you can RP things out of your niche, of course you can

LOL, no I sayed, I can RP thing IN my niche, but not OUT of it. So this thread is about how to RP things OUT of my niche, not IN it. I think we got a comunication problem hehe.

I'm fine with XXX. But I'm very beginner and don't want to ruin the RP.

Dont wory about it. If your interested, contact Enki for 1st one or SedentaryCobra for the other. I'd love to include you in a multi-way PM thread, but I have no clue how, they do. Or you can make a char for Masquerade RP and we can play there. Ur call.

Y, there are other blunt ppl. Your looking at one! :D
 
Nono, I got what you meant
You're saying you have difficulties RPing things out of your niche. And first I thought you said that you don't like it. Then I said sorry because now I understand that you like roleplaying anything, just find it difficult out of your niche. Don't worry I got ya.

You don't seem blunt idk. xD You seem nice. But then again, I don't know you. ^^
 
Wel, your the first person who says I dont seem blunt. Aniway, like I sayed, if you want to RP vith me, join one of those 3 RPs. Not taking any new ones.

Btw I see your new, so welcome to the site! :)
 
when I hit a wall I usually research the type or person the character is. Yeah, i overdo things sometimes and actually google up a list of media on the type of person my character should be so I can study their behavior, things they say and do etc... I know once I wanted to make a character that was in the mob and had a calm but cold personality (which for me wasn't easy back then) and off I went looking up movies and tv series about different organized crime and even asked people in a chat for writers if they could help and send me examples of what a character like that would say and do. :)

But most of the time I only create characters I think I can RP well enough to pass, well then again that's something others have to 'judge' :)
 
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