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| RP 101: Spelling, Grammar, Format | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 12 2009, 09:17 PM (238 Views) | |
| ♦ Lead Admin | Apr 12 2009, 09:17 PM Post #1 |
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Spelling is VERY important when it comes to writing ANYTHING; be it a story, an essay, or a rp post. Having a post with accurately spelled words makes it SO much easier to read and follow the storyline. After all, haven't you had an experience where you have tried to read something and have discovered you can't figure out what the writer means because they have botched the spelling of a word? It's inconvenient, but it's easily fixable! Spell Check is a writer's best friend. Found on most writing programs, such as Microsoft Word, all you need to do is either write your post in the program, or copy/paste it there when you are finished typing it up. Misspelled words will show up underlined in red. If you click the spell check button, the program will run through your writing, offering you the options of words it believes you mean to say. This is an easy fix to your spelling problem. When it comes to some names of people and locations, a spell check might not pick up on your mistakes, or might not have a correct spelling for you. In this case, please ask someone on the board for help, or else look up the name using Google or another search engine. Examples might be Japanese words/names and other fictional names or places. It only takes an extra few minutes or so to run a post through a spell checker, but it makes a world of difference when it comes to the quality of your post. So please, do yourself and the rest of us a favor: use your spell check! LESSON TWO: GRAMMAR: Grammar is also important when it comes to writing. The way you use a word or form a sentence can completely change what you are trying to say in it. For example, consider this. I could say, "I am hear!” which makes no sense at all, or I could say, "I am here!" which obviously, does. Making sure that you are using the right (not write!) word in a sentence is ever so important. It can change a sentence completely, and it can throw the reader off. Other words that you should watch out for include to/too/two and there/their. When it comes to writing in a roleplay, writing 'lyke dis' does not cut it. We do not want chat-speak or major abbreviations in a post. Take the time to actually write out what you mean to say. We don't want to see things like 'u should go 2 his house'. We want to see 'you should go to his house'. Occasional abbreviations are all right, but we don't want to see them all the time. Finally, please also keep in mind that depending on where you put an apostrophe, you can change your word completely. Be very careful when using its/it's and you're/your. When you put a post through spell check, you might see a green underline on some of your words. This is your spell check's way of telling you that you have a grammar error! If possible, the program will try to offer you options for the best way to fix your problem, but it does happen where the program does not pick up your problem, because the word you have used incorrectly is still a word, and it doesn't realize it! So please make sure to re-read your post a few times in hopes of catching these errors before posting. LESSON THREE: FORMAT: Last but not least, and perhaps one of the most important of all: formatting. The way you write your post is EXTREMELY important. This can make you or break you. Your post must be neat, tidy, and easy to read, or chances are: people might just skip it! If you have a lumped up post with no spacing or paragraphing, it will simply look like a mush of words and letters. We can fix this problem. When it comes to paragraphing, it is really quite simple: when you are changing topics, or moving onto a new train of thought, it is best to start a new paragraph. For example, here a post from a roleplay where I played Giselle from Disney's Enchanted:
See how I started a new paragraph each time I started on a new thought? It made it a lot easier to read then say, this...
...didn't it? Yeah, I thought so. So, case in point...try paragraphing! It really does help, and it makes posts look SO much neater, and really helps the reader get through them. Sometimes, clumpy posts like the one above just hurt your eyes, and you find them very hard to follow! In addition, capitalization is VERY important! We don't want to see posts like this, for example: 'I Saw You Yesterday In The Field' or 'i saw you yesterday in the field'. How about 'I saw you yesterday in the field.' Or if it were a location with a name, 'I saw you yesterday in Blossom Field.' Please do not capitalize or lower-case excessively. Again, this can be annoying, and oftentimes hard to read. Finally, punctuation! Oooh punctuation. It is needed. Or else your posts just look like major run on sentences! Commas, periods, quotes and parentheses...we like them all. Please use them, and use them correctly. We don't want an unneeded overabundance, of course, but we want them use where they should be. You've all passed English, I'm sure. Use what you've learned there, here. ;) Make it easier for the readers. --- Conclusion: With the knowledge posted here, you should now be able to form a easy-to-read post! Congrats! :) If you have any questions, or have anything at all to add to this lesson, please feel free to do so! We can all help each other out, to learn and improve our writing skills! Lets make this a learning experience as well as a good time. :D |
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7:02 PM Jul 11