|
|
There are no rules about what makes a good flash, but some key guidelines should/can be considered when writing a role play. Keep these in mind and use them as a reference when you need help.
1.
General Roleplaying Tips
2.
Absolutely What Not To Do
3. What You Should Always Do
4. CWC General
Manager Carlos Howard's Personal Roleplaying Guide
1. CHOOSE A GOOD CHARACTER:
The main key in roleplaying is choosing a character that you can
adapt to! If you like being crude, then make a crude character. Just
make sure that you can adapt to that character, and show that you
know what you're going at!
Try to be consistent. Stay within the bounds of your character, or change those bounds once and for all. If your wrestler's a witty smart alek one week, it doesn't make much sense for him to appear as a raging monster the next, unless something major happened to get him mad. Take your wrestler's emotions into consideration when writing. Try to get into his mind after all he's your creation.
Try and keep the angle interesting to all members (or as many as you can) of the CWC and develop your character(s). Remember that many people read the flash packets and cards. The best way to ensure future feuds is by making sure that others know about and are interested in your wrestler(s).
Flash regularly to maintain interest in angles and your wrestler(s). Handlers will be required to submit at least one item, be it a promo, interview or news item, for their wrestler(s) at least once per week. Consistent roleplaying is essential.
2. SCENE AND APPEARANCE:
Be as descriptive as you can. Make sure that you describe what
they're wearing, or what they look like. Who wants to read something
that they can't imagine? Tell us where your wrestler is. Tell us what
he's doing. Describe his actions, expressions, and tone of voice.
Give us as much information as you can to allow the readers to create
a mental image of what's going on in the interview. Handlers that are
descriptive and creative will be the guys who are always at the top
of the rankings.
3. Show, Don't Tell:
This is a fundamental of most kinds of writing, and it certainly
applies to e-wrestling. For example, don't say, "Wrestler X is
happy". Instead, describe the behavior and appearance that would
make us believe that he is happy. "Wrestler X has a smile on his
face, a spring in his step, and a gleam in his eye." ( A little
corny, but it is just an example) Or at the very least say,
"Wrestler X appears happy." The difference between
appearing happy, and being happy is different. Everybody that IS
happy, is actually happy. But, not everybody that APPEARS happy, is
really happy. What this also does, is forces you to work on descriptions.
4. FORMAT:
Write your role plays and flashes in movie
script or play writing format.
5. LENGTH:
Sometimes roleplays can be the best with only a short paragraph ...
but, we're not asking you guys to go out and make a two sentence
roleplay! We don't want a novel either ... make them long, short, and
fun to read. Whatever you like, and whatever catches the eye!
Learn the right size for a roleplay. Try not to make it too small, try not to make it too big. Making flashes too small means you don't get any heat, unless they are truly masterfully crafted. You also coming across to the Booking Committee as if you don't really care very much. On the flipside, don't pad your roleplays with useless stuff just to make them look more impressive. These kinds of flashes are frankly boring, and any heat they may produce dies as the boredom sets in. Say what you gotta say. Get in, get the job done, and get out. If you end up with a really long roleplay because you've got a lot to do, or a lot to say, don't worry about it! Just don't add filler to make it longer!
6. ORIGINALITY:
"And, that's the bottom line because stone cold said so!" I
know that EVERYONE has heard that line! We here at the CWC don't want
all that STONE COLD stuff, we want you guys to be ORIGINAL,
and we want the best that you can throw at us. Give us your best shot!
7. Variety is the spice of life:
It's cliché but true. If you like doing interviews in the ring
every time, change. Do them from your house, from a studio, wherever,
but keep it fresh. If you are a generally serious character, bring in
some elements of humor from time to time. If you have a humorous
character, then try to periodically do a somewhat serious, or at
least focused roleplay once in a while
8. Don't do in ring interviews, unless you
are doing an on-card interview.
This is more of a personal preference. But look at it this way, if
you are doing a flash program, and a person does an in ring
interview, why would that be? Would they set up the ring and bring a
crowd just to hear a person talk? If you want to have an interview
with a crowd, perhaps you can set it at a ticket sale promotion, or
at an autograph session, or even at a press conference. Then, for
interviews that are to take place in the ring, you can have them on
the actual wrestling programs (Sudden Impact and the House show report)
9. CURSING:
Yeah, yeah ... we all like to curse, I know that ... but, sometimes
we get out of hand! So, we don't promote cursing ... therefore if
your character is that type of bad-ass guy, then be sure to mask ALL
curse words!
Keep profanity and swearing to a TV-14 level. Think of the CWC as sports entertainment and bear in mind the limits under which actual wrestlers must operate on television. Stronger language, if needed should be edited out before you send in your flash. [Example of editing profanity are "#(*#@!", "f*CK", "Mother F[bleep]er" "Sh*t
10. SPELLING & GRAMMAR:
No one likes an idiot who can't spell worth his life when
roleplaying! Make it to where you can understand what they're saying!
Use proper paragraphs. This makes your roleplaying easier to read,
and it just plain looks better.
11.Be creative.
Experiment with new settings to add to the personality of your wrestler(s).
12. If you want to "quote" another wrestler's roleplay in your roleplays... find an excuse for doing it. Have your wrestler watching videotapes, and responding to what he sees the other wrestler saying on the tape. Remember... treat the messages and e-mail which contain CWC programs as Television programs. If you want to quote them, you have to find a way to work that in. Either go with the "watching TV/videotape" route, or simply avoid quoting. You can always elude to what the other wrestler had to say. "You might think you're gonna beat me in that ring this Thursday. You might say you're oh-so-much better than me... but boy, do I have news for you!"
13. Use every opportunity to get exposure.
With three RP shows, and one card a week, plus commercials that is
five chances a week to make yourself visible. Opportunities to get
yourself out there, known to people, very important. Because a thing
that will give you more opportunities, is HEAT. Heat can be achieved
through Run-ins, saves, interviews, anything that gets people to talk
about you, and makes them aware of your presence. Winning is a good
way to get heat, but you can still lose and generate a lot of heat.
14. Be aware of what is happening:
This is a simple piece of advice that not everybody follows. It is
simply, try to read all the flashes, all the cards, everything. You
would be surprised at how much potential for information there is out
there, if you just look.
15. Persistence pays off:
Don't become discouraged just because you are on a losing streak, if
you continue to put forth effort, things will pay off in time. In the
WWA the wrestler Logan McKenzie who was new to ewrestling when he
came into the fed, started off with less than a spectacular won/loss
record, because he was facing some top competition, however, his
early losses taught him a lot, and he learned from his mistakes, and
he is a two time International Champion, and now the current World
Champion in only 10 months.
16. Participate in as much as possible:
Come up with angles, and talk to the fedheads about them, they will
be more than happy to try to work them out. Contact other handlers
about developing feuds, alliances, and angles. Just doing it in your
roleplays sometimes isn't enough. And if you communicate with the
person, then sometimes you can both profit from a heated feud no
matter who it is. Even though an angle won't give you a win or loss,
(Unless both parties agree before hand) it will make things more interesting.
Don't refer to "e-wrestling". The CWC is a fantasy league. The fantasy aspect is that we all pretend that this was real wrestling. Don't refer to yourself as "the most dangerous man in e-wrestling", refer to yourself as "the most dangerous man in wrestling" or "the most dangerous man in the CWC." All references to "e-wrestling" or "fantasy wrestling" in roleplays will likely be ignored, or never sent out to the group.
Don't talk like a "smart". Okay. We know you know what "mark" and "jobber" mean. But do you hear wrestlers use these terms in their interviews? No! Neither should you. (In certain circumstances, this may be okay if it's part of an angle. Please take it up with the Booking Committee before doing it.)
Try to make your wrestler sound like an adult. Remember that your character is likely between 20 and 30, and make him sound like he has the intellect and maturity of someone who is in that age range.
Don't lose it,
just because you lose.
It happens to everybody, eventually. Make the most out of everything.
If you lose, vow vengeance, or congratulate him on a hard earned win
and move on. Either way, it is a roleplaying opportunity.
Don't hesitate to contact a member of the Booking Committee to ask what areas you could improve on, or to make any comments or suggestions about your character! We always want to improve the CWC, and the best way to do that is to improve the skills of you, our talent. We will do our utmost to help you advance yourself. Our contact with you, and your roleplaying, are the only two ways we know you're still out there and still participating!
The 8 Major No-no's when writing flashes.
1. Being pointless
Huge interviews/flashes that just goes on and on. Writing long
interviews/flashes is not going to win you a match. If you write a
huge rant with only three or four lines that makes any sense and your
opponent writes a short compact interview with out any dead moments
with the same number of meaningful lines he will probably win. So
remember size has nothing to do with success in e-wrestling. It is
all Quality.
2. Lay the Smack Down!!
Never ever quote a real wrestler. Variations also are unoriginal and
may cause you to lose matches. It isn't smart to talk about being the
People's Champ if your not the Rock. It's a sign of you being
unimaginative and is a poor roleplayer. Using a "real"
wrestlers catchphrase won't help you, it won't develop you as a
roleplayer and it won't win you a title in any federation with self esteem.
3. Excessive use of four letter words.
I'm talking about swearing. The e-wrestling world does not write
interviews/flashes with every second word being used with words that
starts with the letter f and ending with the letters uck, won't make
you sound older. REMEMBER THIS IS A MOCK FEDERATION
WITH TELEVISED EVENTS. A good rule that applies on many areas
is less is more. If you have your wrestler come out time after time
in flashes/interviews only consisting of obscenities the wanted
tough/angry/bad effect wears of very quick. People will read it and
think, ok he knows a lot of four letter words. Your character becomes
tiresome and uninteresting and soon we will stop read the interviews
and you will lose. However, if you wrestler speaks
"normally" most of the time but in a flash/interview when
he is angry he starts swearing it has a bigger impact. But make sure
you bleep it out. That way you make the interview/flash sound
realistic. Just think for a minute, when was the last time you heard
a real wrestler say fuck on a televised program with out it being
bleeped out? Thought so. People will still understand what you meant
and you will have added a touch of realism to the interview/flash.
4. "Smart" Comments
Things wrestler aren't supposed to know about. Pro Wrestling is fake.
You know it, the wrestlers themselves know it, we all know it. But in
real life wrestlers pretend that it's for real. Imagine how boring if
a WWF superstar came out and said "Lenny Lane will job to
me." It would kind of take out the entertainment of watching
huh?. In the world of e-wrestling, roleplays try to simulate the
world of professional wrestling. Never talk about things your
wrestler aren't supposed to know about. In wrestling they call that
breaking kayfabe and doing so in real wrestling would put you in a
very bad position with the President. Look what happened to HHH after
he broke kayfabe to get in the ring a say goodbye to Nash and Hall.
He became jobberboy. Once again show some class, roleplay your
wrestler like he was a real wrestler and don't say things real
wrestlers wouldn't.
Never drag personal issues you have with other handlers into your interviews.
5. Don't be unrealistic.
Ok, wrestling is unrealistic. BUT don't have your wrestler bench
press 2000 pounds, don't have him fly. You get the picture. Those
things will only make your wrestler look pathetic and suggest you
have a limited imagination. It makes your wrestler look like a comic
book character instead of the wrestler he is supposed to be. So try
to be realistic. Before you send out a interview/flash look at it and
see if you think it's believable. Now a days wrestlers do appear on
talk shows like the Tonight Show or Regis and Kathy Lee, and even
movies. But have you ever seen a wrestler on 60 minutes or ESPN. Keep
things real.
6. Don't use other handlers wrestlers.
This is one of the best ways of infuriating other handlers and
fedheads IF YOU DON'T HAVE THEIR PERMISSION.
Writing a flash in which your wrestler beats the crap out of another
wrestler is going to make you lose. Using another handlers wrestler
is both disrespectful against both the wrestler, the handler and the
federation. If you want to set up an angle in which your wrestler
attacks another wrestler in a parking lot or somewhere else not
included on a card, contact the handler and set it up. You never know
he might agree to it as feuds are very good for wrestlers to be in as
they often makes the wrestlers being more showcased in the
federation. Or if you desperately want to taunt an opponent into a
feud by beating him up try this. Have your wrestler beat up a guy
posing as the wrestler you want to beat up. Make it clear that it's
not the real deal, have a wig come of or have him ask you for money
at the end of the interview. A fake Sting if you know what I mean.
Yeah right, you say. Then the real wrestler will only come out and
say it was only a impersonator. Yes, he will probably do that, but
then you can answer that it might only have been a impersonator but
beating the real wrestler will be just as easy. Or come up with your
own approach. Just make sure that you either have the permission from
the handler or make it apparent that it's not the real wrestler but a fake.
7. Don't Over use BOLDFACE
Now a lot of new e-wrestlers think if I write ENTIRELY IN BOLD I
WILL LOOK REALLY COOL. Well, it isn't. Boldface means your
character is screaming. It can be very effective (much like 4 letter
words) in moderation. It can show anger and a lot of other emotions
that words do not effectively describe. However, a interview
conducted entirely in boldface will not win a match no matter how
good the content is, for most people will not read it.
8. What ever you do don't...
Never do any racist comments, show scenes of child or sexual abuse.
That isn't funny, nor is it impressive. It only shows poor taste.
Even if it's only a joke, it can and probably will hurt people. Never
write things you know wouldn't be broadcasted on real T.V. right now.
This is no longer the 80's.
Recap:
Don't write big pointless interviews just to make them long, say what
you have to do to get your message across and cut away the dead
points in your roleplay. If you are bored writing it, others will be
bored reading it.
Don't feel the need to take up space, length never will help you win.
Don't use excessive swearing, if you swear bleep it out.
Don't use "real" wrestlers catch phrases.
Don't use smart comments.
Don't be unrealistic.
Don't use other handlers wrestlers without permission.
1. Write it like a movie clip by being descriptive.
Why, well in e-wrestling we pretend that we see the flashes and the
interviews, don't we? Yes we do. Then use that. Let us know where it
takes place, what the place looks like, what your wrestler looks like
and what he is wearing. That way you bring life to your wrestler and
make it possible for the rest of us to picture it in our minds. Do
you think it just seems like unnecessary work? Try it! I guarantee
that once you get hang of it you will become more successful.
2. Be true to your wrestler.
Be consistent and true to the wrestler you are playing. The object in
the game in e-wrestling is to roleplay a wrestler. Take time to get
to know him. Think yourself into his place so you can start imagine
how he would react in to things that happens. Try to imagine what he
would say, what he would do and how he would say and do it. If you
can put yourself in your wrestlers place then you have all the
makings of becoming a great e-wrestler.
3. Be creative.
Use your imagination. There are millions of places your wrestler can
conduct an interview. Billions of things he can say. Millions of
things that can happen. Only your own mind is the limit. Well I think
that's it. Follow these steps, master them and you will have a great
time e-wrestling.
Return to General Info
Go here for sample Roleplays