The Writer's Block: Team application thread

[zhill]

After discussing with another person the frustration of either not finding players for works we want to see started, or seeing those works fizzle out shortly after inception rather than coming to a solid climax, I have decided to change how we are going about things.


I am putting forming a team of writers/players and will be accepting applications to this team.

What the team is:
It is a specific group of individuals who have demonstrated their abilities and have a serious interest in seeing writing projects through until their completion. We will work together as a team on ideas that suit the tastes of the group as a whole and will be committed to assisting one another in the projects that we begin above other works, though participation in RPs generated by those outside the team is not forbidden. The result, once the team is formed, will be a guaranteed outlet for our small group that will allow each of us to explore our creative whims without fear of things falling apart or attracting cast members who are too fickle to see a thing through.

What is required:
Demonstrated literacy and skill in writing. Specifically each member of the team should be able to write from the perspective of a decently wide range of characters, and participate in as many if not more genres. Because it is understood that writing is a skill that must be continually grown, no person will be turned away because of a lack of participation outside a single genre (although there will be expectation for each member to stretch themselves in support of the team). Team members also must be generally friendly and able to work well with others, and not of the type that brings in characters that disrupt the flow of a project. While there is room in literary works for characters that are just easy to hate, the writers themselves should not elicit this kind of response from others. All team members are also required to be active, posting on this site no less than twice a week. There will be exceptions for special circumstances. For example, I am currently in Afghanistan and there are times that I can not connect to the internet at all out here. Nonetheless, the desire of each team member should be that of upholding their common responsibility to the team and a willingness to pull their own weight (and the weight of others when circumstances demand it).


How to apply:
A statement of interest will suffice. However, each application should include no less than two links to work on this site that demonstrates literary skill and commitment. In the case of interested individuals new to the site, the second links to work may be from other sites, and may be interchanged with a writing sample. Exceptions will be granted to those who have not yet completed any work on this site on a case by case basis. At this time there are no stated requirements for writing samples for the application other than they should adequately represent the ability of the writer.

Individuals who have been approved to join the team will be contacted by way of PM, and at some point in the near future a thread will be established for the purposes of us communicating with one another.


Thanks for your interest.

[SpiritualOrb]

I'm interested :3 Count me in.


Sample:

“A raw wicked power was delivered by the their faith, to grant those that wielded it immorality and the ability to kill within a heartbeat.”

Blood Priests were originally Holy Priests seeking an alternative way to hear the voices of there deities by offering the blood of the newly dead to there gods, but instead of hearing the voices of there deities a new power was bore before the offering priests. Affected by this new sensation and though it as a gift given by there faith towards there gods, although there unaffected brethren highly disagreed and viewed this new power as a evil magic granted by demons playing fowl tricky. Betrayed by there own many affected priests were caught and placed alive in a cleansing fire to be killed, those that managed to flee with there lives resulted to murder to fuel there abilities to survive. Through this evil act of killing and collecting of blood expanded their powers into an incredible destructive force of immorality and the abilities to kill.

By there Holy brethren they were wanted and named as “Blood Priests”, the church demanded that all Blood Priests to be hunted down and exterminated on sight or to be brought alive to the church to be purified in a cleansing burning fire. For hundreds of years of fighting and merely surviving the Blood Priests were ultimately all killed by the Holy Priests, all written knowledge was brunt alongside them doomed to be forever forgotten and hated as possessed blood lusting murders.



Does this sound good? Anyway, I'm interested - I want to complete a roleplay, a good roleplay at that too. :)

[zhill]

"Just who do you think you are anyway!?"


A fair question.

First off, I am not the leader of this writing group, I am an equal member just like everyone else intending for us to make decisions corporately for the sake of the group first rather than for the sake of personal gain.

Second, I am a guy who loves writing. Almost as great as my love for writing is my love for actually seeing things get finished. Brought to a point of climax where people can safely get up from the table without being afraid that there are still unresolved plot points, or character development that still needs to take place.

Third, I am regular. Excepting an absence in the past months due to my trip out to Afghanistan, I am on the site at least every other day, if not every day. I post as regularly as I can when I am involved in a project without wanting to breach that line where its considered "spamming". I am generally committed to the works I jump into and try not to walk away from anything that still has some semblance of a pulse.

Fourth, the proof is in the pudding. While I will be the first to admit that compared to some on this site, my writing basically is poor, I also have no problem saying that it is decently above others who either just dont try or dont care enough to develop themselves. I am trying to stretch myself as a writer and enjoy projects that challenge me. But dont trust me, check out the links below.

Fifth, I am the guy putting this together. While that does not put me "in charge", I do think it is reasonable that certain liberties are granted. Namely the chance to include myself and a small number of others I know from my work with them to be decent capable and committed writers.


Again, thanks for taking interest, and I look forward to welcoming new members to the team.

http://www.roleplaygateway.com/fiction-dictating-reality-t50014.html
Next to the last post from me on this page, about 3/4 of the way down.

http://www.roleplaygateway.com/roleplay/the-long-weekend/
A "failed" RP, but in my honest opinion it was the first time I had ever scene this kind of RP attempted on this site. A shame that the "game" didn't run its full course.

http://www.roleplaygateway.com/roleplay/altaea-saga-song-of-the-ancients/?start=75#activity
The last post from me on this page (again about 3/4 down) and the first post on the page before it represent the longest fight sequence I have ever put together. Not great work for a fight sequence, but at this time it is my best.

And finally:
http://rpgforumsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7657
This cooperative work turned unpublished novel is what I consider to be my greatest work. It is in fact empty, but that is because I foolishly deleted all my posts off the internet because I was going to pursue publishing, which I never did. It is noteworthy, however to say that at its time, it was the first original work on that site to receive over 1,000 views (over 2,500 now), which can be seen here. http://rpgforumsonline.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=66&topicdays=0&start=320
I also started a "review" thread, which no one ever really took part in, where I explained how and why I wrote certain elements of the story. To date, no review thread (remember this is just me talking about my book) has ever received as many views as mine did. The thread itself is here http://rpgforumsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8113, and the view count can be seen here http://rpgforumsonline.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=69&topicdays=0&start=80.

None of this is stated to brag in any way, Im just using that experience to say I am a writer who is accomplished on some level. I hope this ends all questions of "who I think I am", and if it does not....well those individuals probably should just move on to something else.


Thanks

[zhill]

SpiritualOrb,

Please observe that you provided one writing sample when the application guidlines call for one link to work on this site, and another link or a writing sample. If you have not been on the site long enough to have established yourself in any way then I will be willing to consider a second sample. However, if you could just provide a link to some of your work, that would be easier and appreciated.


Sorry if that was not clear in the original post. Just to reiterate for absolute clarity:
1 link to writing on this site, 1 writing sample (a link preferred, and the two writing samples must obviously be different).


Thanks

[trinadi]

I will say that I am interested, though I must ask exactly how big you intend for this group to become?

The links below represent some of the work I have done. I do not generally feel that my roleplay writing is my 'best,' as I save most of my skill for the novel series I am writing. I also have few samples to link to, as much of my work has been via email, various messengers, and PMs.

Two different posts from the same roleplay:
dream-the-nyxi-closed-t36749-40.html#p1007651
dream-the-nyxi-closed-t36749-20.html#p999267

Others:
secrets-the-shadows-tell-closed-t42234.html#p1112066
closed-hope-hill-t24713.html#p683230

[zhill]

I will say that I am interested, though I must ask exactly how big you intend for this group to become?

Honestly I dont care about size. For all I care, the entire site could join up. The problem is going to be maintaining a commitment to the group. While we will make decisions as a group, I am going to be quick to recommend removal of group members who no longer express a willingness to support the team.

Again, the big thing I am looking for from team members (and I feel this is very reasonable), is give other team member's projects priority over others (meaning you join a team member RP before a non-team member RP, though this is not exclusive), and a demonstrated regular contribution level. If someone joins up and the ghosts out for two weeks without saying anything, to me that basically says they dont really care about the team. Thats less than what this team deserves in my opinion.

Each member of the team, as well as the whole, deserves to be respected for its talents and commitment. People who dont want to take that seriously can show themselves to the door. The obvious benefit of joining is to have a group of people you know you can depend on, though I am not really trying to "sell" membership.

I will go look over your stuff now. In the future, the decision of who joins and doesnt join will be made by several (not 100%) members giving a positive recommendation, after regular application of course. Just fyi.

Thanks

[Starbuck]

I have read over your Heroes suggestion and desperately hope that you are able to start it up and gather a great group of writers. This site doesn't lack good writers, but dedicated writers who can see a story through. Far too often am I the last post, and it's exhausting. The most success I've had in a story was because we were all close friends and encouraged each other to keep going. Lately, it's just been a lot of waiting, which doesn't work very well with flow.

Anyhow, I can't provide you links at the moment since I usually read posts and catch up OOCly from my phone. But I'll try to shoot something your way soon. =)

[Phoenixrisen]

I'm interested. Especially given that I'm usually one of the last ones there clutching onto an RP for dear life. I've also seen a few good ones die because of lack of good characters. Not that mine are always the best I'm sure. Anyway, regardless of if you want me or not, best wishes to your group.

Modern RP
Last post on the page (opening post for this RP)
roleplay/the-road-not-taken/places/colorado-springs-colorado/
Feel free to read them all of course. Sadly this RP died very quickly.

Fantasy RP
Sixth from last post, though the last post on this page is mine as well (About 5/8ths of the way down)
roleplay/blue-lips/places/forests/?start=25#activity

Other things to know about me: There may be times when I can't post as often as I like, I have a child, and I work, but if I'm going to be absent for more than a couple days, and sometimes even then, I let people know. I'm fond of literacy, and very fond of spell check, I have no fear of looking things up if necessary. I like research. My biggest failing, is that I'm not particularly comfortable roleplaying males, I don't feel that I write them particularly well, and I don't like subjecting others to bad writing. It is something I'd be very happy to work on if needed though.

Anyway, thank you for your time,
Phoenix.

[zhill]

ormally I would say here: PerfectlyBroken shouldnt have posted in here, they are not a member. But since they are in the application process, I have no problems with it. I had a model for our first project which may or may not work. But if it did work, i think it would be agrand RP that we would all be involved in, attract other readers/players, and promote the team at the same time. WWhile that might sound too good to be true, I think it will work.

Keep recruiting based on the guidlines set in this forum. In order to be a member at this point there must be a 3man recommendation team. So if I were rercruiting PerfectlyBroken, I would ask Mr D and Phoenix to look over her application and give me their toughts. Whatever the majorit dictates from that decision is policy.

Hope no one minds the name. I just love how it refers to a location as well as a concept.

I will make a serious post soon about how we can begin laying the foundation for our next project tomorrow sometime.

If there are issues ever, just PM me. They get my attention well enough. And I look forward to all of us building this team together to a point where RPGateway is privileged to have such a group, and other writers are eager to be eligible for such a group.

I thinking of lone last restriction for this time, but it is based age. The problem is what age do you curb writers because they havent got the chops to really dig in and challenge themselves and their writing? I will let this team make that decision unanimously. Right now I will make the rule of no-one beneath the age of 12 an now as a team lets come to a unanimous decision about whether that is an appropriate standard or not.


Thanks all. Be on a bit tomorrow.

[zhill]

WoW! Appologies PerfectlyBroken!!!


I confused this with the Official team thread over in RPG Design. So sorry. This thread is in fact OPEN to all applicants. Sorry on the confusion.

To current team members: that post should have been in our communication thread. I will copy it over there soon.


To all others: I want to get at least 5 people signed up on this team before we start considering a future project. However, the more people we have join, the more we can undertake as a group. I think this can lead to some really great RP's and writing growth if we just have the people to support it.


Thanks

[Starbuck]

I was confused there for a second and wasn't sure what to do next! =P I meant to post these links sooner but this thread was lost to me.


Shouldn't be hard to find my posts in this RP, I'm usually one of the last.
roleplay/one-last-summer/#activity

Fantasy/Modern - True Blood-based RP.
true-blood-t24281-80.html#p690146

Another modern, criminal themed story.
welcome-sin-city-t36643-20.html#p997490

If you need anything else, let me know. =)

[zhill]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the response to this idea. I think a "guild" of writers will be capable of making some really decent RPs here and I am looking forward to that.

I can not forsee a time when The Writer's Block will stop accepting applications, but the expectation to live up to the standards of the group will be likewise always present.


So if you are still interested, then apply! If you have a question, jump over to the RPG Design section and check out our (semi) official thread and ask one of the team members by way of pm please.


All of the previous requirements for application are still standing, but now applicants will be accepted after approval by two team members.


Thanks

[NorthernSoul]

I'm definitely interested in this project. I've been a member of this site for 4 years now and I'm still eternally frustrated by the lack of commitment shown by a few other RPers, particularly in the context of failing to give their own lagging RPs a kick up the arse when necessary.

Examples of my writing can be found here:

The Noir series, possibly the longest-running RP on this site:
The Life Noir
Life After Noir
A Life Less Noir

A 1x1 of my own invention with an excellent writer who has since left the site:
The Confidence Man

Another 1x1 currently in progress:
Deus Ex Machina

Give me a shout if you need anything else!

[zhill]

I will give NorthernSoul a thumbs up. Someone want to second it?

[Phoenixrisen]

I second that.

[zhill]

Just wanted to say that we wont be stopping the application process any time in the foreseeable future.

[Jag]

Just a heads up, the Roleplayers Wanted area is for already exiting games only. In other words, if you don't have a link to the Tab or sign-up thread for the game, it doesn't belong here. While this isn't actually an actual RP, I still think this is more appropriate for the Interest Checks area if not just the general OOC. I'll move it to Interest Checks now and if we need to later we can shift it to the general OOC. Thanks.

[zhill]

Ok then. Since we aren't working on a specific project right now that kind of makes sense.

We are getting ready to start up our first team RP, so if you have looked at this thread before then now is a good time to apply.

[Jadeling Hawkins]

Hullo;

Just recently got back from vacation and noticed this project. I think it's a fabulous idea, and I see you've already got some great talent involved. Honestly, I had a vague intention that when my current games ended, I would just kind of fade from the site and dedicate more time to this 'author' thing I'm trying to make happen. But this has my interest piqued.

And...I have to get ready for work, so that's all I have to say for now :)

[Starbuck]

If you could posts links, that would be great. Although, I've read some of your posts before, and I think you're an amazing writer. :)