First "How to reach the main event" advice thread of '19
Jan 6, 2019 23:47:42 GMT -5
Gravedigger, Roy Speede, and 10 more like this
Post by Jordan on Jan 6, 2019 23:47:42 GMT -5
So, once in awhile this topic comes up, either by hearing about others trying to get over the hump or just feeling the urge to try to give people advice in general. I think it's time for the fullest breakdown I can give on how to help people get to that next level in AW.
Now, if we look at the landscape of AW, there are a lot of great writers. In fact, I think there's something good you can say about everybody and their contributions to the fed. However, I'm greedy in the sense that I want AW to be even bigger and better. I think we've all seen a lot of growth from the roster, but that there's definitely room for more. If you are a "midcarder", someone who has yet to get to that point, understand this: it's not a personal reason that it hasn't happened yet. As someone who has regular discussions on "efed theory" with Gravedigger and Torture and as someone who has a good amount of experience fedheading and judging myself, it's usually not due to a lack of push or lack of talent/ability with the roster.
Simply put, when it comes down to judging, there's a reason WHY Wade Moor, Ryan Lockhart, Roy Speede, D Day, and SJW have held the world title. Sure, a HUGE part of it is due to them having good characters, but a lot of it is the understanding of what separates the good and the great when it comes to roleplay structuring and storytelling. These writers all "get it" and all have a strong understanding on great writing. That doesn't mean that these are the only great writers, but that they have a strong sense of writing prowess and competitive strategy. When I made similar posts to this one in the past, I feel that I struggled to find the words to accurately tell people how exactly to get to the main event level.
As we always say in this hobby, a mix of shoot and character development is advised, but it's more than just that. This SHOULD be a laid back and enjoyable hobby, but should also be one where you strive challenge yourself on a regular basis. While length isn't a true killer, it can make the difference between you and those names I just listed. Quality of content is the most important thing in judging, but there's often an increase in quality with length. It allows you to flesh out ideas more and forces you to craft an even better roleplay. Aim high. Even if you don't think you can, you CAN.
Now, to get specific with the content portion of roleplaying. Writing just shoot will limit you as will a lack of it. If you pop on for a one scene shoot roleplay, you will struggle against the top names. The biggest way to combat this is to force yourself to craft stories that take place in your roleplays that are either ongoing or a one off. Both can be effective and have their place, that part is very much up to you to decide. Below I will list to generic templates as examples of 2 roleplay approaches, one being a standard shoot and one being more flowing and episodic.
Now, if we look at the landscape of AW, there are a lot of great writers. In fact, I think there's something good you can say about everybody and their contributions to the fed. However, I'm greedy in the sense that I want AW to be even bigger and better. I think we've all seen a lot of growth from the roster, but that there's definitely room for more. If you are a "midcarder", someone who has yet to get to that point, understand this: it's not a personal reason that it hasn't happened yet. As someone who has regular discussions on "efed theory" with Gravedigger and Torture and as someone who has a good amount of experience fedheading and judging myself, it's usually not due to a lack of push or lack of talent/ability with the roster.
Simply put, when it comes down to judging, there's a reason WHY Wade Moor, Ryan Lockhart, Roy Speede, D Day, and SJW have held the world title. Sure, a HUGE part of it is due to them having good characters, but a lot of it is the understanding of what separates the good and the great when it comes to roleplay structuring and storytelling. These writers all "get it" and all have a strong understanding on great writing. That doesn't mean that these are the only great writers, but that they have a strong sense of writing prowess and competitive strategy. When I made similar posts to this one in the past, I feel that I struggled to find the words to accurately tell people how exactly to get to the main event level.
As we always say in this hobby, a mix of shoot and character development is advised, but it's more than just that. This SHOULD be a laid back and enjoyable hobby, but should also be one where you strive challenge yourself on a regular basis. While length isn't a true killer, it can make the difference between you and those names I just listed. Quality of content is the most important thing in judging, but there's often an increase in quality with length. It allows you to flesh out ideas more and forces you to craft an even better roleplay. Aim high. Even if you don't think you can, you CAN.
Now, to get specific with the content portion of roleplaying. Writing just shoot will limit you as will a lack of it. If you pop on for a one scene shoot roleplay, you will struggle against the top names. The biggest way to combat this is to force yourself to craft stories that take place in your roleplays that are either ongoing or a one off. Both can be effective and have their place, that part is very much up to you to decide. Below I will list to generic templates as examples of 2 roleplay approaches, one being a standard shoot and one being more flowing and episodic.
Example 1:
Joe Joe JohnSmith is walking through the locker room. He is pissed about something.
Joe Joe: (Insert one paragraph of general shoot with anger in Joe Joe's voice being conveyed)
Joe Joe JohnSmith paces around and gets even more angry.
(Another paragraph of two of shoot)
(End roleplay)
Example 2:
-A first scene that has JoeJoe JohnSmith reviewing recent events
-A second scene that has Joe Joe shifting focus to his life away from the ring that still finds a way to relate his life away from the ring to his life in it
-A third scene that comes back to address more of his career with wrestling, talks about current events that might include his next match
-A fourth scene where we get major character development related to his life away from the ring
-A fifth and final scene where JoeJoe directly addresses his next match and opponent in depth. The goal for this scene should be at least 5-8 paragraphs with decent length (A minimum of 5 or 6 lines on the word document per paragraph)
How you format/code your roleplays is all in personal taste and preference, but there is often a huge difference in quality between Example 1 and Example 2. As you can imagine, JoeJoe JohnSmith #1 got a point across, but JoeJoe JohnSmith #2 really made an effort to pull you into his world and into his mind for the duration of your experience as a reader. Wrestling is the biggest part of efedding, but the way a writer organizes and crafts their roleplays is very close in terms of importance.
The best written roleplays play out like a TV show and separate themselves big time from your standard shoot only approach. Yes, promos are huge and that's how it is in real wrestling promotions as well, but as efedders, we don't have the visual aids that tangible professional wrestling does. It is up to us as writers to convey what we picture when we play these wrestlers that we've created.
If you're someone who writes 500, 1000, 1500 words of quality shoot and feels they're struggling to become the next big thing in Action Wrestling, PLEASE follow example #2. One way to do this and to develop an increased ability to write longer more competitive roleplays is to set word count goals for each scene in a roleplay. With a well rounded roleplay with fleshed out ideas that passes a 3k word mark overall, you should have no problem competing with the likes of a Ryan Lockhart or Wade Moor. This isn't expected of you every week, but this should be your goal every week to get you to where you want to be (if that is the world title and main event picture).
Naturally, your main shoot/current match based scene should be the longest in your roleplay. A typical word count goal structure might be something like:
Joe Joe JohnSmith is walking through the locker room. He is pissed about something.
Joe Joe: (Insert one paragraph of general shoot with anger in Joe Joe's voice being conveyed)
Joe Joe JohnSmith paces around and gets even more angry.
(Another paragraph of two of shoot)
(End roleplay)
Example 2:
-A first scene that has JoeJoe JohnSmith reviewing recent events
-A second scene that has Joe Joe shifting focus to his life away from the ring that still finds a way to relate his life away from the ring to his life in it
-A third scene that comes back to address more of his career with wrestling, talks about current events that might include his next match
-A fourth scene where we get major character development related to his life away from the ring
-A fifth and final scene where JoeJoe directly addresses his next match and opponent in depth. The goal for this scene should be at least 5-8 paragraphs with decent length (A minimum of 5 or 6 lines on the word document per paragraph)
How you format/code your roleplays is all in personal taste and preference, but there is often a huge difference in quality between Example 1 and Example 2. As you can imagine, JoeJoe JohnSmith #1 got a point across, but JoeJoe JohnSmith #2 really made an effort to pull you into his world and into his mind for the duration of your experience as a reader. Wrestling is the biggest part of efedding, but the way a writer organizes and crafts their roleplays is very close in terms of importance.
The best written roleplays play out like a TV show and separate themselves big time from your standard shoot only approach. Yes, promos are huge and that's how it is in real wrestling promotions as well, but as efedders, we don't have the visual aids that tangible professional wrestling does. It is up to us as writers to convey what we picture when we play these wrestlers that we've created.
If you're someone who writes 500, 1000, 1500 words of quality shoot and feels they're struggling to become the next big thing in Action Wrestling, PLEASE follow example #2. One way to do this and to develop an increased ability to write longer more competitive roleplays is to set word count goals for each scene in a roleplay. With a well rounded roleplay with fleshed out ideas that passes a 3k word mark overall, you should have no problem competing with the likes of a Ryan Lockhart or Wade Moor. This isn't expected of you every week, but this should be your goal every week to get you to where you want to be (if that is the world title and main event picture).
Naturally, your main shoot/current match based scene should be the longest in your roleplay. A typical word count goal structure might be something like:
Scene 1 (wrestling recap...500-750 words)
Scene 2 (Character development...500-750 words)
Scene 3 (more wrestling focus...500-750 words)
Scene 4 (more character development...500-1k words, depending on importance of the details to your characters story)
Scene 5: (Shoot and current match focus...750-1250 words)
Scene 2 (Character development...500-750 words)
Scene 3 (more wrestling focus...500-750 words)
Scene 4 (more character development...500-1k words, depending on importance of the details to your characters story)
Scene 5: (Shoot and current match focus...750-1250 words)
Again, the aesthetic of the format is about your personal taste. Personally, I'm a basic bitch and do a straight forward layout, but I know others like to get fancy with the final product. As far as what scene comes where, that's up to you, but I think if you're someone trying to be the next big thing, it should look something in the real of what I'm talking about above. Add a scene or two, remove one...it's up to you.
I guess my big thing overall is I want everyone to be a main eventer. I root for everyone from the bottom of the card to the big dogs in this place. If you don't feel comfortable doing that much with your roleplay, do it anyway. Push yourself. Talking from personal experience, I dropped some hot garbage when I started in this hobby, but I really do love it and was always trying to do longer and longer roleplays until I reached the typical length top dogs were doing as well as trying to be more descriptive in my scenes and to always try to get a better wrap on my character. Please, if you have questions on trying to take this advice or if you're someone striving to be the next Wade or Ryan please do message me on here or on facebook. I'm all positivity with AW and want to help make 2019 even bigger than 2018 was for us! Prior to AW, I spent a good chunk of time "touring" different feds and not one of them was close to as fun as this place is. Trust me, we have the best fedheads on the net. I feel the gap between AW and everywhere else is solid and the competitive side in me wants it to grow even more. I <3 everyone. Let's get fired up and put our nose to the grindstone this year!
I guess my big thing overall is I want everyone to be a main eventer. I root for everyone from the bottom of the card to the big dogs in this place. If you don't feel comfortable doing that much with your roleplay, do it anyway. Push yourself. Talking from personal experience, I dropped some hot garbage when I started in this hobby, but I really do love it and was always trying to do longer and longer roleplays until I reached the typical length top dogs were doing as well as trying to be more descriptive in my scenes and to always try to get a better wrap on my character. Please, if you have questions on trying to take this advice or if you're someone striving to be the next Wade or Ryan please do message me on here or on facebook. I'm all positivity with AW and want to help make 2019 even bigger than 2018 was for us! Prior to AW, I spent a good chunk of time "touring" different feds and not one of them was close to as fun as this place is. Trust me, we have the best fedheads on the net. I feel the gap between AW and everywhere else is solid and the competitive side in me wants it to grow even more. I <3 everyone. Let's get fired up and put our nose to the grindstone this year!