I have largely been thinking about what I should next do for the Cynical View of E-fedding and I noticed one thing that I have never done for some reason. I have always let people know things that I read in roleplays that pisses me off, but I’ve never given an in-depth look at how I judge roleplays. I have let people know that I look for certain criteria and that’s even published on the rules page. But I’ve never let anyone actually see the exact method I use when going over roleplays or what goes through my head. What questions do I ask? I hope to share some of that insight here in this column.
Therefore, welcome to the first part of what will likely be many of the Cynical View of E-fedding – Inside the Mind of a Fed Owner.
Please also note as I usually have to make this disclaimer for every column I write. If you follow any suggestions I make, it does not mean you’ll succeed every match. Roleplaying is relative….relative to your opponents. You may have a good roleplay, but if your opponent has a better one, then it’s just the way it goes.
Therefore, here we go.
Deadline has passed and you’ve posted your work. Now, what is going through my head while I read it?
The first thing I do, always, is read it. I rarely try and determine how good anything is until after the entire body of work for you and your opponents has been read and it’s registered. However, that’s quite obvious. But what goes through my head when I’m actually judging and trying to determine how well you did in those lovely categories I look at.
Creativity
How creative is your work?
Well the first thing that always goes through my head is have I seen what you’ve done before. If the answer is yes, that can be problematic. However, there are ways to counteract that immediate, apparently, shot to the heart. If you take a clichéd idea and say change it or make it your own, or at least add a nice twist that thoroughly allows your character to come out, along with a solid promo, I’m going to be far more forgiving. However, if you have a random SCW interviewer give you an interview and it’s pretty much the same as last week or if I simply replaced names and I could attribute it to anyone else, chances are, you’re going to lose.
Creativity is not as hard as people make it out to be and a lot of people fumble greatly. Remember, creativity isn’t just simply how new an idea is. I’ve seen some people take a very simple (and some would argue clichéd idea) and make it very compelling and bring out a lot about their character and the match. They manage to take a simple idea and effectively make it their own.
Now, moving on from the clichés, what else do I look at?
One of the other areas that often affects my thoughts on someone’s roleplay is does it seem like I’ve read it before. Status quo roleplays are alright if you may want to hold off on some great idea for the pay per view or what not. However, I have noticed that some people fall into a trap where they don’t just use the same format for their roleplays, but often the same ideas. The same events happen, with minor alterations for the city they are in, or similar conversations happen and some people do this for week after week after week and after several weeks, unless their promo is particularly creative in hyping the match, it puts them at a disadvantage simply because it’s no longer creative, nor really entertaining. It’s the same thing I’ve seen. Imagine if you were watching your favourite program and the same beginning and same ending always happened, without fail and without much change. You’d be bored too.
Finally, after all of this, I move to the actual events or situations depicted in your roleplay. Is the actual event something different? Have I seen it before recently? Have you changed it to fit your storyline better or have you taken a predictable path without any real alteration to at least give your progressing the character. Sometimes, the situation depicted can be quite simple, but because it’s something used effectively and not something I’ve seen recently, it tends to spark my interest more and helps in this area.
Character Development
Character development is another one of those things that a lot of people simply blow it on without realizing it. It’s something a lot of people could do so well, but just don’t take the time to do it well, or, they overthink (much like with creativity) and blow it.
Character development is just simply that your character actually is shown and it develops in some way. It’s no mystery.
So why do people blow it?
Quite frankly, the same reason as above. They give me something completely inspired and something I’ve seen before. I learn nothing new about the character. I get no window into what is going on that matters and I often get meaningless dialogue that makes me fall asleep reading it.
I’m going to give you a tip on dialogue:
Get your pens out and write it down or print this page.
DIALOGUE IS BEST WHEN IT IS NATURAL.
It’s not hard. Think about what you’d say when you’re out with your friends. I’ve had some people take a good concept and blow it because they try to get either too fancy and pretentious with their dialogue or they just write REALLY boring dialogue. It’s usually something I’ve read from them before and they just do little to change it. Or, it gets cheesy and not because the character is trying to be cheesy, but because people write the dialogue poorly.
From this, do I learn anything new about the character? Usually if I do and if it’s done effectively, it helps. This doesn’t mean it has to be a life changing event. Someone’s mother doesn’t have to die. They don’t have to meet a new girl. Sometimes it can just be quite simple and the character runs into someone and is just on edge. It makes me ask why, or it reveals something new about the character.
Or, some people choose to do a status quo roleplay where nothing new is particularly revealed. This is just a matter of continuing a backstory or revealing how someone reacts to something on the show. It doesn’t have to be again something crazy. It can just be the natural progression of the story.
Most people blow this part of the roleplay by either trying to impress me when they don’t have to. They just need to continue what they are doing and generally, they’ll at the very least, have a good roleplay. To win, it takes a bit more, but that’s where people have to be clever. Again, this column is not to reveal how to win, but more what goes through my head.
But quite simply, your character comes through in some way and it’s written well.
Furthermore, another tip….some people like to be subtle with their characters. They like to let the reader figure out what is going on or what they are finding out about the character. There is only one problem here. If you NEED to have the audience to acknowledge something specific about the character, then be clear about it. Don’t hide it. The worst thing that can happen is for someone to have some great idea for their character and then blow it because they have their character come off pissed off instead of depressed or something like that. I have had people tell me when I ask them about a certain event in their roleplay respond by saying “Well that’s a natural response. I was clear about him being this and thus he did that.” I respond with no, he wasn’t. He was this, not that. In the end, the reader is the one who is right. Because while you may have a great idea, it’s your responsibility to convey exactly what you want the reader to realize in order for that idea to work brilliantly. Think of WCW in 2000. They used a lot of insider terminology and stories as bases for storylines. They forgot that the majority of people didn’t scour the internet for all of the insider news. Most people hadn’t a clue what was going on.
Match relevance
First off, read this column. It is on how to write a promo.
Secondly….remember what you are. Are you face? Are you heel? For the love of God, I have had people forget what they are during the promo. And usually it’s not because they are angry. It’s because they stop thinking about what they are writing.
That’s something I notice. It’s something that makes me ask questions. Questions in promos are bad. Getting information wrong can be a pain, but usually I let it go because forgetting a specific date isn’t too bad. Forgetting a huge match that was heavily promoted on shows is a bit less forgiveable. But also, some people can also intentionally fudge facts to make their character look better. This doesn’t mean to stop worrying about facts. It just means that you should be creative with delivery and know how your character should be responding.
Moving from this is another thing that makes me bang my head off the wall. Some people honestly write their roleplays using the latest show and their opponent’s bio and NOTHING else. I always notice it. Remember, I write every show and I read every bio every time I write a match for the character. All writing a promo shows is that you don’t give a damn about actually being accurate and wanted a quick promo. And generally speaking, the roleplays that show they hardly know the character are the one’s that rarely win. That’s mainly because they often haven’t a clue what the character is doing currently and hardly say anything that is accurate for the time of the roleplay.
After these factors, generally, is the promo even that good? It sounds like a blunt way of putting it, but the better promos tend to be more specific and avoid, again, the clichés of promo-writing. I don’t need to hear about how great your finisher is unless it’s something that there is a storyline around. I don’t need to hear you say how much of a better highflyer you are. Talk about the match. Why do I care about the match? What is gained if you win? What will you think if you lose? What would happen to the opponent if you lose? Realize one thing, if you bash your opponent into oblivion and make them look like a nobody, you gain nothing. So if you’re going to bash someone into oblivion and claim it will help you get a title shot, you’re either a massively conceited heel or just plain stupid.
In promos, it’s possible to be creative. Use visuals if you want. Plus, most people think this as well. They don’t need to have a promo to talk about the match. I’ll mention this a bit more later. But quite simply, the promo promotes the match. After I read your promo, do I want to see the match? Does it tell me anything about your gameplan? Does it tell me what’s at stake for you? A number of people can do this brilliantly. But at the same time, a lot of people tend to be very general. Speaking generally is great at the start as it can frame one’s mindset…but if you only remain in generalities, nothing is really said.
Effectiveness
This is where everything comes together and really, a lot of my judging is determined. People can have creative ideas. People can develop their character brilliantly. People can write a huge promo with strong attacks and even better rebuttals. But it doesn’t matter if it’s written poorly or ineffectively.
I’ve always said, it doesn’t matter if you have good ideas. It just matters if you write them well.
This is where that usually comes out and I’m again going to try and give you an idea of what I ask.
The first question I ALWAYS ask is how clear things are? Am I asking a lot of questions? Am I completely lost? Do I know at least what the character was doing? Do I know who all of the people are in the roleplay? Do I understand what is said? And then, finally, how many of these questions are intended for me to ask? Sometimes people like to leave mystery in their roleplays and I realize that….usually if that’s the case, most people give me enough to avoid the basic questions and have deeper questions that actually would matter if it was a mystery.
Next is whether the intended message comes through. Is the intention of the roleplay coming through or are they trying too hard (or not enough) to get the point across and failing?
Is there a lot of pointless information?
That question is an interesting one. It’s not one that is particularly damning, but it is one that ruins flow. A lot of people have lost matches because of flow. Things seem out of place or they include things that avoid the roleplay from really moving. Do I need to know what size and brand of blue jeans you are wearing? Do you need to have a break between each piece of dialogue (again, sometimes this is effective as well)? Also, note paragraph length. I often read things like they are written. A long paragraph of dialogue comes off as rambling. However, if you’re writing a promo and you have a lot of short sentences, it can become belabouring to read. After you write your roleplay, read it. Do you tend to find that your promo sounds goofy to read. I often read things aloud as I write so that way I get the character delivery in my head. Remember, the one thing about writing that can be a pain when we’re used to visualizing things is that my visualization may be different from yours. Therefore, you need to be clear.
Also, when I say clear, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to describe the entire room. Describe enough to let me get the basic picture. If it isn’t important for me to know the floral pattern on the bed sheets, don’t include it.
Flow is very important, in my opinion. It affects how I read the roleplay and how I perceive events. With your promo, specifically, it can affect delivery greatly. And when things are affected adversely, it ruins effectiveness of your work.
Spelling and grammar are rarely a significant issue unless I can’t understand what is being said or words are too jumbled up.
Another thing a lot of people don’t realize goes into the effectiveness of your roleplay is the length of it. Now, length doesn’t matter. HOWEVER, if your promo goes on forever, it can. Because often, you throw so much at me as a judge that at the end, I hardly remember what you said each step of the way. Don’t bother throwing out everything you have to say against your opponent. If you have a lot, split it into two roleplays. It allows you to have more material and furthermore, it allows for the points you do make have more weight. They aren’t watered down. They become the focus of the promo and I actually can take something from it instead of trying to pick out a couple of points out of several of them.
Furthermore, another question I ask is if you even NEED the promo. Some people have what happens on screen on the shows cross over into their non-promo parts. They talk to friends and family members about what happens in SCW. Sometimes people go into a promo in their dialogue without realizing it…and then write another promo repeating all of the same things, often with the same words. I simply ask…what’s the point? The promo is then largely pointless or then because just repetitive and loses its strength.
And before people ask…well doesn’t this bring up the on-camera/off-camera aspect when people counter what is said in roleplays. Generally speaking, I don’t care for character development stuff being used. However, if it is, please don’t point out in your promo “Well I’d like to know how you knew I said that” or “Good to know you’ve been spying on me in my home.” Often, these lines are added in the roleplay that it just takes away from your actual point and just hamper things.
All of these things are matters I look into before determining who wins. All of these things come together to determine what I think of your roleplay as a whole. All of the questions I have posed in this column are questions that I’ll ask while reading each roleplay.
Hopefully this has helped many of you. I hope it does. It’s not meant to teach you how to write a perfect roleplay. It is, however, a way of letting you know exactly what I ask in roleplays and what I tend to look out for. Avoiding these things do not mean that you’ll be winning every match. You still need to beat your opponent. It however may prevent you from making stupid mistakes that prevent you from winning a close match.
That’s all from this column. Part two of Inside the Mind of a Fed Owner will be coming shortly and in that column, I will discuss how I personally go about writing a show. I feel this is important as it may shed some light why certain things do or don’t happen on shows, even with great planning on even a great pitch to get them to happen.