So while reading about people's struggles in RPing (or writing in general), and talking to other roleplayers, the problem I hear the most is that they can't write enough or be descriptive enough. Sometimes it's hard to put what you're picturing into words, let alone many words. And if you ever want to play on Advanced roleplays, you need to at least be able to write 100 words consistently. So I've decided to help out with that! Basically this little class will help you expand your writing. In the beginning everyone will start with one passage. One small sentence, that I will help you expand into a couple paragraphs by the time we're done.

Here's how it's going to work. There will be a sign-up period for a week, and everyone who has signed up will then officially be part of the "class". And what is a class without assignments? So yes, there will be assignments, but I promise they will be a) fun, b) helpful, and c) won't take more than a few minutes. I'm not going to kick you out if you miss a certain number or anything, since this isn't actual school - I assume if you joined you actually wanted to learn something, and doing the assignments is the only way you can learn it. So yeah, this is going to be pretty casual. New assignments will be posted within 2-3 days depending on my availability and if you do get behind, that's fine too, all the steps will eventually be posted here so you can always catch up later. You'll just miss me the interactivity a little bit but I'll try to critique everyone's work eventually.

Oh yes, this is Part I: Descriptions. Part II will be Emotions aka how to wallow in a puddle of angst in many words. So look out for that xD

I think I've rambled enough. Without further ado, please sign your name below. Sign ups will open for a week, until October 30th, 2015 and we'll start early November. I don't have a set date for when it would end but it won't be more than two weeks-ish.

PRINCESS MOON WANTS TO SIGN UP

XD I'll sign up.

I'll sign up.

I'll sign up.

I would love to sign up. This looks awesome.

I'll join in!

Everyone's been added to the list

Sign ups are closed. If there's someone wanting to join between now and when I start (probably in 1-2 days) I can still add you in.

*cough* I thought I had signed up and failedddd

*puppy dog eyes* please?

Sure XD

Okay, class officially begins! We shall start with the first task!

You have until November 5th, 2015 to complete it before I will move on to the next one.

We will each begin with one sentence. Set up your scene, but don't write more than one sentence for now. Put your chosen character somewhere doing something. Be straightforward about it.

Here is my chosen sentence:

Usagi stood in front of the Hikawa Shrine, on her way to meet up with her friends for today's study session.

Here’s mine. ^^

Ikuko stood in the middle of her kitchen, fists clenched so tightly that her manicured nails cut into her palm.

My sentence:

Minako played the Sailor V game in the Crown Arcade.

My sentence:

Makoto started to prepare her dinner.
So deep Very wow

Eshana stood in front of the body of the fallen soldier.

Usagi stood at the front door, hand poised to knock.

Second Task

Here we will start providing some background. When I was taking journalism class, I was told that every news article needs the 5W+1H (What, Where, Why, Who, When and How). I find that this method is not only applicable to writing non-fiction. You can use it in fiction, as well. Obviously you don't need to use all six, seeing that we're not reporting the news. Sometimes the reader does not need to know all the facts, only ones relevant to the story. In my starting sentence, I had already covered the Who, Where, and Why.

Usagi (who) stood in front of the Hikawa Shrine (where), on her way to meet up with her friends for today's study session (why).

The What isn't really relevant here since there's no object, but if I wanted to add the When and How, it could become this:

Usagi stood in front of the Hikawa Shrine on Saturday afternoon, on her way to meet up with her friends for today's study session. Her feet still hurt after running all the way here thanks to her missing the bus.

Try doing the same thing with your sentence!

You have until November 8th, 2015 to finish before I move on to the next one.

Next assignment will be longer, don't worry xD

I'm sorry - I'm late xD

As always, exactly at 6 PM, Makoto started to prepare her dinner in her beloved, quite comfortable looking, kitchen, looking for ingredients in the fridge and hoping for some nice treats to allay her hunger.

Moonlight dimly shone through the window over the sink as Ikuko stood in the middle of her kitchen, fists clenched so tightly that her manicured nails cut into her palm, eyes glued to the television set showing the most recent sighting of the legendary Sailor Moon.

You're all doing great so far! Pallas, I liked the nice touch of showing that it's night without telling it outright by utilizing the moonlight ^^

Third Task

Another nifty trick to expand your opening sentence and really put your audience in the scene itself is by utilizing the five senses. Show them what your character sees, feels, tastes, hears, and smells. Again, you don’t have to use all of the senses, because once you start trying to tick all the boxes, your writing will become stiff and it’ll feel like writing a report rather than a story.

Here’s an example of how I would expand mine further by utilizing the senses:

Usagi stood in front of the Hikawa Shrine on Saturday afternoon, on her way to meet up with her friends for today’s study session. Her feet still hurt after running all the way here thanks to her missing the bus. The crisp autumn air felt comfortable on her skin; at least the cooling temperature made the little forced exercise more bearable (feel). Overhead, birds were chirping softly in the trees, and she thought she heard the distant caws of Phobos and Deimos, as well (sound).

That afternoon, there were a few people praying in front of the donation box; a family of three, it seemed, judging from their resemblance (sight). Usagi smiled to herself and sent her own prayer, hoping whatever they wished for would come true.

As she walked a bit closer, a delicious aroma wafted into her nostrils (smell). Was that Mako-chan’s cookies? Had she brought Usagi’s favorite treat to today’s session?

---

As you may notice, the scene feels more alive with every detail that you add. This makes it easier for your audience to imagine the setting vividly and put themselves within the scene you’ve created, rather than just providing a generic place with no description. Personally, I like to imagine what I read, so details like these help me immensely, especially in roleplays when you need your partner to be in the same page as you are as much as possible.

Again, try adding some of the five senses into your piece! As I've mentioned, you don't have to use all of them, just what feels right.

You have until November 13th, 2015 before I move on to the next one.

How goes everyone's progress?

Ack I'm late! Sorry! Somehow I didn't get the topic update in my email.

Moonlight dimly shone through the window over the sink as Ikuko stood in the middle of her kitchen, fists clenched so tightly that her manicured nails cut into her palm, eyes glued to the television set showing the most recent sighting of the legendary Sailor Moon. The aromas of the evening's dinner still lingered. The soft subdued smell of salmon and miso soup made the kitchen feel homey usually, but tonight they unsettled her because it was all too normal.

The sound of the news anchor filled her ears as he spoke about the latest Sailor Moon sighting. They kept replaying that scene like a broken record, the one where she gets hurt. Ikuko's eyes were glued to the replay, her body frozen and tense, muscles aching from not moving.