WIPs with huge lists of character details

[EwanG]

Just to add a .02 worth to this...

A WIP thread for a game, IMHO, has different purposes as the work proceeds. It might start out as a recruitment thread or a pre-announcement. It might then become a place to talk with other folks who are helping with the game for lack of another meeting "space", or it might become a place to let folks know how the game is progressing. It also becomes (or can become) a bit of a development diary to help the author(s) remember how he/they decided to do something and why. Heck, I suspect that when I get through the current game, take my detour into a tile based game, and then come back to finish Camp Handiba come heck or high water, that having that old thread there will help me avoid making some of the same mistakes I made the first iteration.

Occasionally (as with my current WIP thread), it can become a place to share tips and hints for the rest of the community as well.

Personally I've never understood the eroge convention of weight/height/blood type since I generally just want to see a picture of the character, and a short sentence or two about what their personality is. I know that in the "home" market that blood type is considered to be something that adds to the personality - much as a Zodiac sign is in some US venues.

In any event, at the end of the day it comes down to the game itself. If the thread is distracting from the game, then perhaps it's time to let it go for a while and concentrate on the game itself

[jack_norton]

I never posted a detailed character listing for any of my games, because I think is the game itself (the writing/story) that should present the characters to the players. Beside, everyone knows that only 0,001% of players read those "character sheets" on the website, the rest just download the game and start play immediately

[monele]

In reality, the whole point of putting that extra stuff is to make the character as realistic as possible. At least, that's what I learned in creative writing.

I have learned that too, but I don't think you're supposed to dump all that info on the future reader/player as a lure... or even ever. Instead, use it, as a writer, to shape your characters. It might seem strange, but even though such details might not ever appear in the content of a story or related elements, a reader will *feel* that these details exist. It's the same when authors write whole historic backgrounds, describe the politics of locations which only server as a background in the story... They rarely take time to actually show you all the detail they've put into it... but there *will* be something coming out naturally when the characters interact with these locations. I believe that is how story elements come alive.

I see now (that I'm reading comments) that Deji is saying pretty much the same but I'll leave it

Maybe, as a writer, I'm biased. It's always been drilled into my head "You need this. You need to put it!"

Writing is not mathematics . I'm not saying no rules should be followed, but if a rule doesn't work in a particular case, throw it out. I would go as far as saying that even all the above is just an opinion and that you should throw it away if it does not serve your writing.

I'm also with Kikered's suggestion. Don't get stuck in any academical presentation type... Be free and creative. You could write short passages "in vitae" to show how each character is... it will also show readers and possible collaborators how your writing is. Try to put forth what you think makes your story unique. If you think it's the characters, put them forth and in a way that makes them shine. If they shine with stats, go ahead... but if they should shine through their actions, then we need to be told of these actions. And if you don't want to spoil your story (which I think is even more important for a mystery), why not write something that takes place outside of the scope of the story you'll be doing? It could be a few days before...

Also think of how it will force you to write and include these characters in a narration. Going from a stats sheet to actually writing a narrative is often revelatory. Characters tend to take a life on their own and you realize you don't write them how you thought they'd be. And you will immediately notice details you missed to imagine for them (how do they speak? what's their tone? how do they behave?). If anything, it'll be a good exercise ^_^

[Adorya]

Too much footnotes before or within the story kill the story, Masamune Shirow's works are classic examples. On the other side, if you can master them it will enhance it, like humorous Pratchett ones.

[Jake]

Try to put forth what you think makes your story unique.

This seems to me to be the most fundamental point.

You show it - they complain.
You don't show it - they still complain.

The problem is that you have to be careful what you show, and who you listen to.

Lists of characters with names and heights and weights are, frankly, dead easy to reel off, and don't constitute a story in themselves. Maybe you have put a lot of thought into them and maybe they are well-planned, but there's no way of telling that from the outside. Plot is generally harder to write than character descriptions, so a well-planned list of characters also isn't a demonstration that you'll be able to finish the story.

When I'm looking at a WiP thread and thinking to myself "do I want to sacrifice many hours of my valuable free time to help this individual with their game?", if all I see is a list of characters/traits, I'll naturally assume that this is literally all the planning the creator has done and write the project off on the spot.

If you want help, you have to do something in your pitch to demonstrate that your project is likely to get completed, at least. If you follow Kikered's suggestion and do a bit of writing in your character's voices, it demonstrates that you're capable of character writing, which is a good start. If you provide a plot outline, it demonstrates that you're capable of rounding off a good story, which is an essential skill. If you post a list of character traits it shows that you can... assemble a list of character traits, which any ten-year-old kid can do in fifteen minutes.





People who aren't considering helping and are just random passing potential-players may want to see different things, and may be interested in lists of characters. But if you're looking for help, these people aren't the ones you care about.

[monele]

Just to push it further in, one way to think about it is this : imagine your project is a book, a movie or a video game, and it's in stores. What's the tag line on the cover and what's the descriptive blurb on the back?

[sake-bento]

I tend to use my WIP thread as a "keep me accountable" thread. I have a terrible habit of dropping or forgetting things, so I need other people who at least pretend to be interested so I'll be motivated to finish it. Therefore, I try to post stuff that will make my project look interesting enough that there are enough people who will be interested in it to keep me accountable. Character stats don't seem necessary to anyone but me (and the artist, I guess). A little blurb on who the character is is enough. I think images are the most powerful part of generating the initial interest.

[dizzcity]

I guess that might work for artists, since images are always attention-grabbing and generate interest, but what about pure writers? It seems that choices are either:
1) Character sheets/profiles (which, I agree, are pretty boring to read)
2) Premise/blurb (which works well for an opening post, but what about after?)
3) Status updates (which are okay as an accountability tool, but don't generate much interest)
4) Snippets of the actual in-game text/script.

I guess the last one is the most interesting (and it's the one that popular publisher portals like Baen's Bar uses)... but every moment spent posting about updates is another moment lost for actual writing. So for me, at least, I don't really bother with updates anymore, until the project is done. Publicity comes after production.

Still, snippetting is usually a good idea. And it works for some people. Just the first few lines or paragraph of a new chapter, would be sufficient, I think. Or maybe lore pieces. I know that, as an author, I spend ridiculously large amounts of time building and describing my world before even creating a plot within it. I've got pages and pages of lore material (with maps and everything) that will never enter the game, but is always there in the back of my head. But would anyone really be interested in reading up about a world before they experience it through plot and characters?

-Dizzy-