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 Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:07 pm
LITERACY LEVEL - What the heck?!
So, on Gaia, there's this thing called a literacy level. Some of you may be confused as to what it is, or what your level is, and how to figure it out. Well, ponder no more, as I'm about to explain it to you.
In my world, there are five levels to the literacy food chain. Noob, Novice, Semi-Lit, Lit, and Adv.Lit. There are distinct and definite differences to each, and if you read on, you can find out what they are. Read the descriptions carefully; by matching them carefully, you can figure out what level you're at.
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:11 pm
NOOB
Not to put you guys down, but you're not exactly everybody's favorite people. You are characterized by;
-Text talk
-Mary Sues and Gary Stues
-Bad Grammar
-Bad Spelling
-Being irritating
-A tendancy to go into tangents unrelated to the actual plot.
-Using ** for actions, or some other form of formatting.
You can probably tell that none of these are really great. Actually, they're all just plain bad. Nobody likes a noob.
Don't be a Noob. Be a Novice!
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:17 pm
NOVICE
Now, there are a few key differences between a Novice and a Noob. Both, however, hold similarities. Novices share a Noobs bad grammar, bad spelling, and their penchant for mary-sues; BUT, Novices also hold something more than a Noob does. A sincere effort to try harder.
Novices:
-One line occasionally
-Don't text talk in the roleplay itself
-Have bad grammar
-have bad spelling
-Type out their actions in book format, despite their bad grammar and spelling
-Can generally type three lines to a whole paragraph, depending on how hard they're trying.
-Will eventually attempt to copy those they roleplay with, whether by formatting their posts, or picking up on better spelling and grammar habits.
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:22 pm
Semi-Lit
Eventually a Novice will turn from a caterpillar into a cocoon, which is known as Semi-Lit, or Semi literate. This is the baby version of literate, and the generally accepted level on Gaia. They have shed most of their bad phonics habits, grown their mary sues into actual people, and learned how to color their posts. Semi Literates also:
-One line rarely
-Occasionally misspell or misuse a word
-Can generally type a paragraph to two paragraphs
-Type in book format, in third person
-Strive for literacy
-Never text talk within the roleplay
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:27 pm
Literate
Soon enough the semi-literate cocoon fades away and the Literate butterfly emerges, bringing with it pretty posts and long paragraphs, well developed characters, and PLOT. Everybody likes plot. Literates will:
-RARELY misspell or misuse a word
-Type upwards of 4-8 paragraphs, per character,
-Format their posts with pictures, icons, fancy letters and quotes
-Keep to their character point of view, as opposed to skipping from, say, third person to first person.
-Have well developed characters, with problems and good points and a well rounded personality.
-Tend to turn up their nose at even Semi-literates. This is not true with everyone, however it is fairly common.
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Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:08 pm
Advanced Literate
This is the last in the line of literacy levels, unless I notice some other super-level of literacy that surpasses this. Until then, this is the ultimate literacy level. Advanced Literates are exactly that; advanced versions of the literate roleplayer. Authors are a good example of this, though they generally write on their own. Consider an advanced literate roleplay a book, written by multiple people. These fellas:
-Never misspell or misuse a word
-Type upwards of 10 paragraphs, per character, per post.
-Format their posts with pictures, icons, fancy letters and quotes, but somehow keep it from being cluttered.
-Go all out on everything, from plot, to character relationships, to profiles, and more.
-Use symbols, foreshadowing, and other literary devices
-Have wonderful characters
-Tend to turn up their noses at people beneath them (everyone), but as with literates, this is not always the case.
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Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:11 pm
Now, you can probably guess that Adv.Lit is the ultimate goal for every roleplayer; but if you get to literate and stay there, that's great too.
Semi lit, as I said, is the generally accepted level on Gaia. It's also one of the most common. Sadly, the other most common level is Novice/Noob.
The good news is that everyone is steadily improving as time goes on. In my four years here, I have rose from Noob to Literate, and I see the change in others' roleplaying skills and styles. It just takes a little effort, and a few tips.
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:39 am
TIPS
oo1. Your characters are not perfect.
-Your characters should neither be perfect nor perfectly tragic, and DEFINITELY not both. Having someone who always hits what they aim for, is in complete control of everything, and looks like a supermodel to boot is irritating, because you're trying to gravitate the roleplay around them and making them the central and highest pinnacle of perfection. Having someone who dresses all in black and cries at the top of the hat because they were raped and beaten by their mothers' brothers' uncle seven times removed every day of their life in which they were subject to racism and poverty and they also have a papercut?
I figure that the irritating part of THAT is self explanatory.
Having both is akin to My Immortal. All we need is horrible spelling and grammar and we have Ebony -Raven-Way-Dimentia-Darkness-Whatever all over again.
oo2. Spellcheck is your friend.
-Whether its' in your web browser, as it is with Firefox, or its' on your computer, in Microsoft Word or something of the like; a spellcheck system is your best friend. It saves you a lot of effort in going back and re-reading what you've written, fixing the mistakes, and missing them as well. A lot of spell checks also have a grammar check, which is also great. Sometimes it's kind of a**l about it, so if you or your character speak in a relaxed tone, it will tell you its' wrong. But oftentimes, it is entirely right, and you should listen to it.
oo3. Phonics is also your friend.
-They don't teach this anymore, but when I was in grade one, we had an hour devoted to spelling and grammar every day. This is closely linked to the above, but hey, it's worth repeating so I'll repeat it. SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ARE GOOD.
oo4. Quality AND Quantity. Note that Quality comes first.
-Everybody likes a post with substance, and lots of people like lengthly posts. But if you post nine paragraphs about your character looking at their finger, when their finger has no significance with the plot whatsoever, it's mindless drivel that nobody wants to read. Make your posts count. Keep them relevant to the storyline and what is happening in the roleplay.
If you're going for length, look at your character. What are they doing? What are they saying? How do they feel? Who is with them? Where are they? What does everything look like? Your five senses and the five Ws' are always helpful.
oo5. There is always room for improvement.
-You can always get better. No matter what you're doing, whether it be art or writing, you can always find something to improve and work on. Learn new words to describe things. Find a style that suits you. Find errors you make and work to fix them, or stop making them. It's a constant thing, and often you will do it unconsciously.
oo6. To be Continued.
-(More tips added as they are thought of/suggested. Have a tip that's not on here? PM me and let me know. I'll get it up ASAP.)
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