OngoingWorlds blog

News & articles about play-by-post games, for roleplayers & writers

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Writing Improvement Month 2013 Draws to a Close

UFOP Starbase118 Writing Improvement Month 2013The final week of the Starbase 118 Writing Improvement Month was pretty amazing. We got to talk to not just one or two award winning authors, but three! If you missed the hour-long video chats, where we got to ask whatever questions we wanted of these authors, make sure your visit the archives of these events to review them in full!

David R George III
http://www.starbase118.net/writing-improvement-event/david-r-george-iii-wim-spreecast-interview/

Melinda Snodgrass
http://www.starbase118.net/writing-improvement-event/melinda-snodgrass-wim-spreecast-interview/

Peter Watts
http://www.starbase118.net/writing-improvement-event/general-writing-video-chat-with-peter-watts/ Read More

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Week Two, SB118 Writing Improvement Month

UFOP Starbase118 Writing Improvement Month 2013It’s been another amazing week during the UFOP: Starbase 118 Writing Improvement Month. We really enjoyed the Spreecast video chat with award winning author Lev Grossman, who came to speak with us about all things having to do with writing. The best part was getting to ask him questions of our own, and having him answer us candidly with information we can use to improve our own writing skills.

And Mister Grossman was only the first of many such Spreecast events we have planned for the last bit of the month. Join us this weekend, on Saturday the 23rd, at 3pm EST (12pm PST, 8pm GMT), when Starbase 118 welcomes Star Trek author David R George III who will be sharing his insight on characterization! Read More

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Week One, SB118 Writing Improvement Month

Marissa Jeffrey from Starbase 118

Written by Marissa Jeffrey from Starbase 118

The first week for UFOP: Starbase 118’s first ever Writing Improvement month has been wildly successful. Not only was the first event, an IRC Q&A with Star Trek and Sci Fi author Margaret Wander Bonanno, insightful and helpful to writers of all kinds, but it gave everyone involved a taste of what’s yet to come.

Some of our leadership also got together to help create tutorials that could be used by simmers both in the Fleet and in RPG games across the net, to improve their writing. This week’s theme was grammar and research, and how we could use it to write better. Read More

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Kicking Off Writing Improvement Month!

UFOP Starbase118 Writing Improvement Month 2013This weekend kicks off the Starbase 118 Writing Improvement Month with some exciting events. Overall, the entire month is focused on helping creative writers and gamers improve their skills in writing, with each week divided into specific themes. The first week of the event will feature information about using grammar correctly, general writing tips, and using research resources to improve the posts we write.

Be sure to sign up for the mailing list so that you can be kept informed about the many things going on throughout the month!

The schedule for this week will include various email tips and tutorials, helpful links, and some interactive live events that everyone is sure to enjoy.

On February 3rd, join us for our opening ceremonies and meet the people who will be partaking in the event and who are leading the various activities. Read More

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UFOP: Starbase 118 – 2013 Writing Improvement Month!

UFOP Starbase118 Writing Improvement Month 2013 Writing has always been a skilled art form since man scribbled on the walls in the cave. No writer anywhere thinks they are as good as they will ever be. Many of us strive to improve, and end up surprising ourselves with elements in our writing we never thought were possible. In the spirit of this idea, UFOP: StarBase 118 will be hosting month long event to help writers everywhere improve on their writing quality throughout February.

The group will be utilizing the Writing Improvement email list to send out tutorials, examples and schedules upcoming events. They will be hosting many different IRC and Google Hangout events during the month to help many writers with tips to improve their craft. StarBase 118 has lined up many authors to attend and host these chats, and all are welcome to attend. Read More

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It’s been a long road, gettin’ from there to here…

This article is written by David Whale from Starbase 118. David also blogs at whalewriter.com.

Plotting the course. The importance of character arcs

Yeah, I did it. I invoked the much-maligned theme song from Star Trek: Enterprise.

Hopefully you’re still reading, because I used that line for a reason and that reason was not just to annoy you or to get that song running through your head. Which I expect it is. My real reason for using that line is that I would like to have a chat with you about character arcs and how important they are in story-based role-playing.

Some of you may have heard me discuss character development on the UFOP Starbase 118 podcast in November, so you’ll already be familiar with a few of the points I’m going to make here. Read More

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Mary Sue or not Mary Sue

Mary sue characters discussing their eyes change colorMary Sue; the name is immortalized in a song and in literature, but they aren’t the same person. So, my friend, you want to write a book, short story, or merely participate in a play by E-mail online roleplaying game and need a character. This article is going to tell you how to avoid a trap even the best authors can fall into called Mary Sue.

It can be seen by some as a wish fulfilment of the author to live vicariously through the character while having no noticeable flaws or having flaws that don’t make sense, either physically or mentally. Read More

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Life Lessons From the Center Chair

Captain's chair

This article is written by Marissa Jeffrey, an active member of the Starbase 118 Star Trek RPG, where she plays Captain Kalianna Nicholotti, commanding officer of the massive Trojan Class Starbase 118 Operations.

Marissa Jeffrey from Starbase 118

Marissa Jeffrey from Starbase 118

Whether you are a Starfleet Captain like I am, are a leader of a fighter squadron, a GM of a game you created yourself, or a member of a sim, there are life lessons we inherently learn as we play. Much like a time we may barely remember, as children, when our most important lessons were learned through the simple act of play, as adults, we can continue to learn and grow through our roleplaying games. Though our sims are ‘just games’, there are hidden nuggets of wisdom around every corner, and if you’re open enough to catch them, you can often find yourself applying them to the real world in much the same way you do in your game. As for myself, it took three years for me and my character to traverse the path to command in the game I play, but it was only when I looked back from the center chair of my starship, that I realized just all I had learned from the process. Read More

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Roleplaying story summaries from 2011

 

Girl laptop

2011 was a great year for OngoingWorlds, we had over 200 new members join up, and 148 new games were created (almost double the amount of games created the year before!). Also the game Blue Dwarf was moved to OngoingWorlds from aYahoo Group, instantly making it the game with the most posts on the entire site.

2011 was also a great year for many roleplaying games. Here’s some story summaries of other roleplaying games from 2011: Read More

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Interview with Tristan Wolf from Starbase 118

We wrote an article about UFOP: Starbase 118 back in October (you can see it here). I was able to recently ask some questions to the group’s founder Tristan Wolf. Here’s the interview: Read More