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Jefferies Tubes: Writing Tips for Written Gaming

These are documents to aid in the writing of written simming from the viewpoint of the MFI Sim Division,everything from how to make a character to writing with others. We hope you find this useful, these are suggestions only if you have a better system that works for you feel free to work things out with the MFI Sim Division Member running your particular game.

Jefferies Tube One: How to write a Character

Jeffries Tube #1, the Basics

Developing your character, writing a biography

Copyright/authors: All Jefferies Tube’s have been edited by Christina R. Doane, Originally written by Ralf (Ben) White AKA Gareth Moehr of the PBEM USS Endeavor and of MFI Vessel MFS Liberty. Permission is granted to use in relation to the MFI RP Simming Program. Noted February 29, 2011.

Character writing is the first step taken on the road to Role Playing Gaming. It is an important step. Your character is a "fantasy" person, representing you inside the RPG/SIM universe. You'll find your simming much more rewarding if you invest time and genuine effort into developing and defining your biography, as you would for a real person. Your imagination must be set free to not only picture this character, but also to give it enough depth, detail and background to let your fellow players picture the character also. The better you establish the 'flavor and texture" of your Player Character, the easier it will be for other to envision not only how he/she looks, but how the PC acts, responds, speaks, etc,. You may want to start with a blank piece of paper, or fire up the word processor. Access some Star Trek reference materials whenever you need to. Much of it is available instantly on the Internet, or you could visit your local library or bookstore to find relevant data. At the bottom of this page is a bibliography (list of common resources) for your use, ranked pretty much by ease of accessibility:

There are generally two ways to approach creating a Player Character (a PC). You can:

• a.) Select the job you want first, then build up your character's talents/attributes around that assignment.
• b.) You can select a position that the character seems suited for.

Generally speaking, the first method works out better, but if you wish to start with a job position, skip down to "Trying on a Job", and then return to this portion later.

This is the Bio general format used for MFI RP Sim biography writing, Note: Not all fields are required however as much detail as possible is helpful.

Name: Rank: (given by Captain) Status: Active Current Post: Nickname: (if any) Age: Place of Birth: Race: Gender: Height: Weight: Hair: Eye Color: Languages: Marital Status:

Physical Description:

Personality/Psych profile:

Family History:

Personal History:

Academic record:

Official Starfleet record:

Commendations: (if any)

Hobbies:

To begin outlining your character, you should start with choosing your characters race and gender. If you happen to be a beginner at RPG, it would be a good idea to select a human of your own gender. It will be easier for you to empathize naturally with the way the character behaves and acts in a given environment. Even more experienced players have difficulty at times with portraying correctly the activities of certain races, such as Vulcans and Klingons.

If you have RPG experience, you may find more imaginative to play a character from another race, or even another gender. Some races commonly used within our sim are: Human, Vulcan, Bajoran, Klingon, Bolian, Trill, Betazoid, and Orion. We normally do not use races that are usually considered enemies of the Maquis, such as the Borg, the Founders, Species #8472 or Q. And there are difficult to be races like Romulans who while not an active enemy is not exactly on friendly terms with the Maquis. Even mixes of these races are normally considered a security risk aboard a Maquis vessel, so being a crewman is somewhat unlikely though can be considered on a case by case basis, but boy your backstory better be good! *grin*.

Some mixed race characters do occur (such as LT Saavik in the Star Trek movies as a half-Romulan), but such a choice needs to be talked over with the Captain before making your bio. If you desire a mixed heritage character, ensure the combination is of races is both compatible and reasonable. Races that are historical enemies, or physically incompatible are unlikely mates. Usually race will narrow the choices of where the PC was born.

The next step in the process should be outlining your character's physical attributes. You will decide how old your PC is, his/her height, his/her weight. Select both Hair and eye color. A complete description will even include style of hair. Physical stature: follows after this. Describe your characters general build. Usually a few descriptive words like tall, lanky, short, well muscled, overweight, is enough to start with. Does the character have any other unique physical attributes that define them, such as a tattoo, large hands, or previous injuries? These will further help you make your character come alive to both yourself and the other players.

After you've figured out the physical attributes, choose a few basic personality traits that dominate your characters personality. This will be put under Personality/Psych profile. Think of a few basic adjectives that describe the qualities your character possesses. What are the PC's strengths and weaknesses? As you make these decisions, a mental picture of your character will begin to form in your mind.

Now is the time to hash out your characters past history. This is broken up into two sections. Personal and Family history covers the time span from birth until your character attended the Academy/military school. In this section of your bio, describe the PC's parents and other family. Provide details such as: Where was your character born? What was childhood like for the character? Were there any significant events in their life that affected them? What vocations (jobs) did the parents have? A character with a detailed history/background is fun to work with, and interesting to read about The second time frame will deal with the characters Academy/military school, and past assignments. This information will fall into Academic records and Official Starfleet records. Major courses of study at the Academy and any other service experience should be listed here. If you get really struck by writers block, pick one of the crew biographies in the Crew Roster of the site and use it as a model. Fill it in for your character with as much detail as you can! Some players submit JPG or GIF format pictures of their characters to include with their bios on the ship website, this helps other players visualize their fellow crewmen.

Once you're finished, e-mail your bio in to the Ship's Captain, Executive Officer or SIM Manager at the address given on our web site. You will be assigned a rank based on past experience and position. The manager will get you onto the e-mail List-server, and you will start to receive postings from others automatically. Read these for a while until you are comfortable with what is going on in the current story. Normally, new player-characters are introduced into the game by the ship stopping at a Starbase, getting them transferred from other ships directly, or rescuing them in some fashion (Voyager picked up a large portion of her crew this way).

Trying on a job

Once you've built a history around your character, it's time to pick a role aboard ship. After you submit your character's bio to the Captain/SIM Manager, you may get an E-mail advising you that the position you want is already filled. Don't worry. The manager will help you find a role close to the one you want, or ask the other player if the would like a change. Most inexperienced crewmen start as Assistant "Some-thing-or-others". Once assigned a position or department and position, do your best to work at the responsibilities of your position during simming. Research what the characters normally do in that position. Unless specifically called on by the **action** plot or other postings to perform another function... actively pursue your PC's normal job. For example; if you happen to be in Security, do routine safety inspections of weapons storage lockers. Hang out in the Central Security Office by the brig. Walk a shipboard security patrol "beat". Attend a weapons practice range in the holodeck. Check the Security protocols of access ports and limited-access facilities such as the ships computer core. If you are unsure what the work routine should be, contact the CO or XO, or the section supervisor if you have one. They will be glad to fill you in.

You want to write your first "post"

Set yourself up for success by first doing these things; read the other characters biographies on the central web site, and get familiar with them, their personalities, and especially their races. Watch the postings for a while, and what other characters are doing and saying. By all means, keep an archive of the postings for a while, and piece them together as they came/come in. Concentrate on their actions and words from the perspective of the character. Paying attention to what everyone else is doing and saying is critically important. If you're not up to date on what's happening, anything you say or actions you do will not make sense. Let the manager know you are ready to begin, and he/she will get you into the story line. When you make your first "postings", they will probably be a simple paragraph or two. Shortly, other players will begin to interact more with you. If you find you must write a post that portrays a long dialog, and significant interaction with another player, e-mail them directly (not through the List-server address!) and explain your intentions, so they understand and are in agreement. This courtesy is very important.

During an RPG, the SIM manager, Captain or XO, will write "Action" posts. There are two types: actions that affect only certain persons/locations on the ship, and a broader action that affects the entire ship and crew. Be attentive to ALL "Action" postings, as they guide the general plot/story line, but your character may only act on those "Actions" that affect him/her.

Sometimes we need NPC's (non-player characters), phantom officers and crew to implement things required by the plot. You can also create these NPC's as needed. If the NPC will be needed frequently, write a brief bio and send it to the SIM manager. He will put the NPC on the ships roster so all can see it. The starship has hundreds of people aboard, but only a handful of them will be played by people in the RPG. If you're unusually creative and organized, consult the manager or Captain, and you can make up a whole Junior Officer/Enlisted staff.

From time to time, you may find yourself with little to do in a scenario. These periods are usually brief. An RPG might center around you one week, and give you virtually nothing to work with the next. Don't loaf! Take the opportunity to submit postings that build you character, do something with your character that doesn't impact the main story, or interact with another character with little to do. The best method to do this is by entering a "personal log". You can even start an on-ship animosity or romance if you like...

Routine Postings

A couple of hints here: RELIGIOUSLY use "spell check" before you send out a post. If your e-mail provider doesn't have one, write with a text editor that does. Bad spelling and poor grammar can ruin an otherwise brilliant piece of work. Also, thoroughly read the last postings from other players before you begin. Try to intertwine your story with one of theirs, or at least make it synchronize with them. Postings that consistently conflict/does not work with others are bad news. Taken in the entire theme, it breaks down the continuity of everyone's plots, and the flow of the main story line. When in doubt, just attach yourself to one or two other player characters, and "live in their shadow" for a while, until you can confidently edge away from them. Try to interact with at least one other player character per posting, but don't write an involving part for them without arranging it with the player by direct e-mail to the player (NOT the list-serv address!). A good trick I learned quickly, is that if you don't know where to start, read the last posting from anyone, key on one event in that posting, and begin there, with your characters perspective or impact on the event.

Personal logs

Personal Logs are an important part of the RPG. Your personal log entries are usually a few paragraphs (normally written in first-person perspective) describing what has recently happened, from your character's point of view, during the sim. They also serve several other important functions. Personal logs are a flexible tool that allows a player to cultivate your character, add depth to his/her personality, add provide small but meaningful details that are usually misplaced in a general post... A crafty writer can cover/correct mistakes or "fix" some unusual things that pop up in other postings with a cleverly written personal log.

For instance, if you had an activity with another character during the *Action* post, you might e-mail the player, and mutually decide on details, and further develop what happened. You can both post these as "personal logs" from your own perspectives. Personal logs allow the other players to get to know your character better, and make your character more real in their eyes. The character of a player that consistently enters personal logs will be broader based, and more interesting than the character of a player who does not.

Consistency and Behavior

I know of some who constantly keep a list handy of the basic things my character(s) should be doing over the next 30 days or so. So it can be pulled out and looked at it from time to time, to make sure the character is still "on track" in development. And ask yourself "when was the last time THIS was mentioned in my posts?" A list of such items might be things like:

• Ensign Smith studies Vulcan Theology
• Ensign Smith develops close relationship to Ensign Jones
• Ensign Smith practices meditation
• Ensign Smith develops a bad relationship with Sergeant Major Miller
• Ensign Smith trains to become the very best in-flight missile

repairman in the Federation.

If a Real Life Event interferes with your gaming We all have issues and emergencies. Even routine things can build up and require more time. If you are compelled to stop posting temporarily or permanently, let the Captain know, so the crew can work around it, or even put it in the plot. You can ask to "go on leave", have your character recovering from combat injuries at a Starbase, or be temporarily assigned to a non-existent ship. You may even ask another player to "ghost write" for your character temporarily. These are all Viable options for temporary absences. For those permanent problems, you can ask for your character to be permanently reassigned, court-martialed, retire with honor, join the Maquis, or even "die" We discourage killing off characters... although it's a exciting thing to read, it is rather permanent (unless your character is Spock) and the character cannot be recovered.

Final note

An RPG is a social event. It has all of it's blessings, and of course ALL of it's curses. Be patient, and above all courteous, with other players. The golden rule rules here! We are all human (even the Manager and Captain). If someone does upset you, you have two options, Contact the player directly (NOT by the list-serv address!), and explain what has upset you and why. Or you can contact the Captain (NOT by the list-serv address!) and explain what has upset you and why. Listen to the advice that they give you. You'll be surprised to find what a little direct explanation of your feelings will do to let folks work out an uncomfortable situation. If the situation is intolerable, let the Captain know. Try these things before you throw in the towel. And remember if you must stop an RPG with one group, there are many, many more available. There is a veritable galaxy of undermanned RPG ships out there. Don't deprive yourself of fun, just seek out another group.

Useful resources of internet website information:

General purpose: http://www.stwww.com http://treksites.com Trek Weapons: http://www.adeadend.demon.co.uk/index2.htm Star Trek Races: General Races Bajoran Borg Breen Cardassians Ferengi Klingon Krenim Romulan Vulcan Languages: http://www.pinette.net/chris/startrek Star Trek Ships: http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~djc/startre ... anded.html http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek Starfleet Intelligence (Know your enemy): http://antle.simplenet.com/starfleet Marine Suggestions: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/32 ... _hist.html

Aerospace Terminology: http://roland.lerc.nasa.gov/~dglover/di ... /menu.html

Others sources:

1. Star Trek TV episodes and movies 2. Star Trek involved friends (Trekkies!!!!) 3. Star Trek fan websites - especially with tech data 4. Star Trek Encyclopedia, 1998, Michael Okuda 5. Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual, 1991, Rick Sternbach 6. Star Trek: TNG Interactive Technical Manual, 1998, Herman Zimmerman 7. Star Trek Omnipedia CDROM 8. Star Trek novels, published periodically by Pocket books 9. Star Trek comic books, DC Comics 10. Experienced sim players

If you want to read a few ideas on better post writing, please read "Jeffries’s Tube #2, General Post-Writing Hints" If you didn't get too much pain from this, and you really want to tax your thirst for knowledge, please read "Jeffery’s Tube #3, Painful Details (a list of writings rules of thumb)

Jefferies Tube Two: Some Standard Bio Writing Formats

Jefferies Tube #2: Standard Formats for Bios and Posting

Copyright/authors: All Jefferies Tube’s have been edited by Christina R. Doane, Originally written by Ralf (Ben) White AKA Gareth Moehr of the PBEM USS Endeavour also of the MFI Vessel MFS Liberty. Permission is granted to use in relation to the MFI RP Simming Program. Noted February 29, 2011.

Biographies

A bio can be storylike or character sheet format.

For reference this is a character sheet with details, this can be written into a storylike format if desired.

Name: Very important! Your name shows up again and again during a sim, it's part of your identity. That doesn't mean a brave but foolish character is called Rek Les, but take pride in your nick. =) Human characters usually have a first or last name, most alien races have traits that would identify them as that race, so pay attention to race for name as well. If you need help deciding on an alien name, ask the CO. Note: If your name is John Hudson, it might be best to use the last name as it is less likely that someone else will have it but crew should be aware of first name.

Age: Usually specific to rank and position, ask the CO to be sure.

Race: Gives your character general appearance, abilities and possibly personality. If the character has chosen a new alien race, then they should offer some information about them, such as planet, history, mental and physical attributes, customs and rituals, society type and culture.

Birthplace: Place of birth of character, can affect early development of character.

Sex: Male, female or other Note: If other specify and have info about race and gender specific.

Height, Weight, Eyes, Hair: All make up part of character's description.

Description: More detailed info of appearance of character. Build, facial attributes, skin tone, hair type or length, countenance, body language, shade and shape or eyes, physical traits and if alien, detail specific attributes ex: skin tone, appendages, physical and mental skills, relative strength and speed etc.

Personality: Strong or weak personality. Natural disposition, nature, qualities. This is simmer derived info, they can develop any character type they wish.

Personal History: Born where to who? In what type of atmosphere, schools, Academy/subjects, ships or stations served on. Chronicle events leading up to the present time that has shaped character's development.

Family History: Description of parents and sibling and other close relatives, their contribution to character, where they are now and what they do.

Interests: Professional interests, other than main field of expertise or position, specific fields of interest. Ex: Sub-Atomic Particle Disruption, Oceanic Geography, Mayan civilizations, Vulcan hand to hand Combat.

Hobbies: Recreational activities, music, sports, arts, etc...

Intangibles/Summary: What does this character offer Starfleet or the organization he is joining? Strengths and Weaknesses, flaws, psychological analysis, desires, goals.

Posting

A main one is all subjects must have the name/rank/position of the main character posting. If done as a joint post must list all main characters posting. Name of overarching storyline. Then name of that series of posts. Should also have star date in the following format: two digit month-two digit day-dot-two digit year. Example: Ensign Bob Roberts, Medical Officer, "Home again.""chasing XO with a needle, part 2". 0523.07(May 23rd, 2007).

If you have a question, comment or something unrelated to the plot, the subject line should look like this:

Nick, OOC, Brief Description of Remarks (i.e.: Smith, OOC, Welcome to the MFI RP Sim!)

In the body of the post, the first thing you should have is a basic setting which includes where you are, the time if possible and anything else of significance:

Sector Y-100 En Route to Planet Y-3 Onboard the MFS Serendipity Bridge During the attack or 0900 Hours

Final Note:

try to use paragraph form when writing. Try to keep dialogue and descriptions within the paragraphs unless it is particularly dramatic. You can use +taps+ and +com+ when using comm badges or communication consoles between ships and planets. Try to write at least 2-3 paragraphs in each post, even if it's a short reply to someone else who included you in their post. If you have an extremely long post, it is ok to break it up into parts. At the end of the post, within parentheses, you can ask the CO or anyone you wanted specifically to respond to the post to reply or post with your information. i.e.: < >

Jefferies Tube Three: General Post Writing Hints

Jeffries Tube #3, General Post-Writing Hints.

Copyright/authors: All Jefferies Tube’s have been edited by Christina R. Doane, Originally written by Ralf (Ben) White AKA Gareth Moehr of the PBEM USS Endeavor and of MFI Vessel MFS Liberty. Permission is granted to use in relation to the MFI RP Simming Program. Noted February 29, 2011.

"Are you confused by this? You look confused, amused, or maybe a little repulsed." Author J.V. Fleming

What so hard about writing? Not a thing. However, really good writing can be difficult. The late novelist Gene Fowler once said "Writing is easy, all you have to do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." This edition of the Jeffries Tubes is for those who want to write a little better. If you are satisfied with your posts, that's terrific. You may leave the room now. If you want to brush up your text a little read on. In this short brief, we can't cover the boring depths of grammar or literary prose. We don't want to. We don't want to turn anyone into Hemmingway. We'll just want to throw out a few things to help the average Simmer write a little better posts.

Developing your style

Persons record their ideas and inspirations differently. Whether they use a word processor or pencil and paper, expression of thought is a very individual thing. We have several different writers that use vastly different means to convey their point. One player uses "first person active" while another uses "third person passive". Knowing specifically what these terms are is not important. The point is, that it's all part of their writing style. You need to use what makes you comfortable. Some writers use a terse, sparing style of writing that is quite powerful. Some use adjectives and adverbs as a painter uses colors to "paint" a more developed background. You should write the manner you are comfortable with. Just make your best effort no matter what the "flavor" of your text is. Oh, and remember that Personal Logs are always written in first person case (Use: I, me, my, our).

Outlines

Some Game Master use outlines for major story lines and complex stories over 10 pages. Most folks don't take the time or trouble to make an outline for a mere post. It's a lot of trouble for very small returns. I use a micro-outline when I write a post. It goes something like this: I start with a blank paper, then type in the header (You know, the character name, job position, ship name, location, etc.) Then I drop down a few spaces and write several "bullet comments". Bullets are a simple statement of what you want to be in a paragraph. They will look like this:

• Talk to captain about warp drive
• Visit the doctor in sickbay
• Fix the ships computer

The micro-outline helps you remember not to leave something out, and help you get the topics in a logical order. The thoughts of what you want to do will rarely come to you in the order they need to be in. I routinely look for my shoes in the morning before I grab my socks that kind of thing. Put the bullets in the order that the actions are best done by the character.

Next I just set and type out a couple of sentences or paragraph as it comes to me about the actions. The first bullet may develop into:

"Seeing the commanding officer across the bridge, Ensign Smith approached cautiously and informed his superior that the Warp Drive would be off-line for at least six hours. "Why?" asked the Captain. "Because there are fluctuations in the plasma conduits Sir." Nodding his understanding, the Captain turned away.

Since I obviously thought it would be best if saw the ships doctor next, I would write a similar paragraph of the meeting. Followed by the other paragraph made from the Fix the Computer. Write the paragraphs fully until the topics are complete. Say everything that needs said.

Now you have separate paragraphs, which must be linked. Look at the first and second paragraph and ask yourself what goes in between. How did the character go to the sickbay? When? This "linkage ends up being an extra sentence (or sixteen:) on the end of the first paragraph. It may look something like this:

"Seeing the commanding officer across the bridge, Ensign Smith approached cautiously and informed his superior that the Warp Drive would be off-line for at least six hours. "Why?" asked the Captain. "Because there are fluctuations in the plasma conduits Sir" Nodding his understanding, the Captain turned away. Having made his status report, Ensign Smith remembered his 09:00 appointment to the Doctor Jones in Sickbay. He hurried to the turbolift, and soon had walked the long corridor to the medical facility."

I go through, and join all of the remaining paragraphs together next. After they are joined together in a short post, I add any additional information or descriptions I want (or need) to the paragraphs. At this point, gamers will usually send the text out. If you want to go one better, read on.

Next I do the real work. I go through this checklist as religiously as time allows. The steps are in order of what I think is important. Your list (if you use one) may look different.

A basic list of checks....

Did you run a spell check? Did you check capitalization and punctuation? Did you proofread it completely at least once? Did you touch all of the points you wanted to? Did you say what you intended to? Did you rewrite a paragraph or add ANYTHING? Go back to step one

Remember the extra effort it takes to run through these checks once will improve your posts greatly. Really and truly, the last thing I do before sending a post will surprise you. It has nothing to do with writing at all. I check my e-mail for any last-minute posts from other players, that may directly affect or conflict with the actions I had written into my waiting post. This helps to prevent the inconsistencies which spawns "Oopsy" embarrassments and apologies.

In closing let me say that no matter how many times I go through this checklist, mistakes, typos and glaring inconsistencies still creep in. You can bet on it. Don't worry about it unless you're a professional writer and have a staff of well-paid proof readers.

Final Note

If you want to read a few hints on general RPG playing mechanics, please read "Jeffries Tube #1, The Basics" If you didn't get too much pain from this, and you really want to tax your thirst for knowledge, please read "Jefferies Tube #3, Painful Details (a list of writings rules of thumb)

A reporter for the Paris Review asked Hemingway about rewriting: Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do? Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied. Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that stumped you? Hemingway: Getting the words right.

The "Jefferies Tube" of Star Trek is an engineering/maintenance access crawlspace into the deep internal workings of the ship. These pages are of the same nature. They were written to help crewmen get into their inner workings of the simming side of MFI and offer a little tongue-in-cheek advice on posting and writing. It was not meant in any fashion to assimilate you into writing any certain way or style. Everything here should be read with the outlook of "this is freely-offered, friendly advice", and from only one person’s perspective at that. The Jeffries Tube series is written in a "familiar" style, as no one likes to read yet another dry text book. If you disagree with something offered, simply ignore it and go on. No hard feelings.

Jefferies Tube Four: Painful Details (Grammar)

Jefferies Tube #4: Painful Details (a list of rules of thumb)

(More for the writers among us, than the gamers)

Copyright/authors: All Jefferies Tube’s have been edited by Christina R. Doane, Originally written by Ralf (Ben) White AKA Gareth Moehr of the PBEM USS Endeavor and of MFI Vessel MFS Liberty. Permission is granted to use in relation to the MFI RP Simming Program. Noted February 29, 2011.

"Writing must be a labor of love, or it is not writing" author Ernest Hemingway

1. Avoid beginning sentences with and or but.

2. Unless making a self-contained, very dramatic statement, don't make a paragraph with one sentence. Same rule applies to a one-word sentence.

3. If you can break a long complex sentence in half to make two simple sentences do it. A good guide is if you have written three long sentences, make the forth short to break up the pace.

4. When you get to the end of the story, don't just stop writing. Close the post with an idea to ponder, or a hint at what might come next. If you can, offer the reader some small climax at the end of your text. It's like the kiss "goodnight" after a good date.

5. Don't use three adjectives or adverbs in a row, and don't use two adjectives or adverbs twice in a row. For example: "The long, dark, cloudy night was violently, dangerously storm filled." Using too many descriptive words is like wearing a garish suit or dress to a formal party.

6. Never put in a word if you're not sure what it means. Hedge your bets, and use a pronoun or research the word.

7. Whenever possible, place your sentence's subject up in front, and your verbs in second place. It builds more powerful sentences. Sample: An alien was shot by Worf. Changed to: Worf shot an alien. (For real grammar buffs, this is the old Active vs. Passive case argument.)

8. Keep your reader in a small state of surprise by mixing the context. Alternate short and long sentences, try not to overuse phrases, occasionally toss in a well-placed simile, analogy or metaphor.

9. Don't just feed the reader the facts of what happened. The story comes to life in how the event(s) was experienced. What did they hear, feel, smell, see, taste, IMAGINE?

10. A subject, verb, and predicate create the facts adjectives and adverbs color the picture and convey the emotion.

11. Use contractions and use them sparingly. If used too often, they will paint you as lax. If not used at all, they portray you as a prudish grammarist (Ask Data on TNG).

12. Punctuation is the road signs that guide the flow and speed of the reader's adventure; it is more art than science, and has few unbreakable rules.

13. Comma rule of thumb: Read the sentence aloud. Put a comma wherever there is a natural pause, or a place where you must pause to make sense of the sentence.

14. A colon joins two related thoughts, the first portion introduces the second. A semi-colon acts as a coupling to join two (usually independent) smaller sentences to express a complex thought.

15. If you are writing numbers, a good rule of thumb is to write out any number less than ten, and use digits for higher numbers, to maintain readability.

16. Occasionally give in to your sense of humor. Serious writing doesn't have to be solemn writing.

17. Avoid exclamation points when you can.

18. The parenthesis is a way of muscling in a piece of information, which you can't or don't want to insert grammatically (or you want to de-emphasize). Use them sparingly. They are like hearing people whisper behind you at the theater.

19. Writer's block isn't fatal, but it sure feels like it.

20. When you have a writing momentum run with it.

21. Never underestimate the power of the simple, declarative sentence.

22. Good grammar doesn't always save poor writing; and really bad grammar will pretty much guarantee it.

23. Don't be afraid of using commas and semi-colons. A well placed dash (-) in place of a comma is an often overlooked tool to add variety.

24. Finish writing and any rewrites, then take a ten minute break. THEN proofread it again before e-mailing it. I find most of my mistakes during this last-minute last check.

25. NEVER take yourself too seriously.

A few words about finding the correct word

Mark Twain once observed "the difference between the right word and the "almost right word" was the difference between the lightning, and the lightning bug." Search for a better word if you have the time. Replacing a weak adjective/adverb can create a more memorable statement.

Sample: "She was very upset when she heard the news." Changed to: "She was shattered when confronted with the news."

A Final Note

If you want to read a few ideas on general RPG playing mechanics, please read "Jeffries Tube #1, "The Basics" If you want to read a few ideas on better post writing, please read "Jeffries Tube #2, General Post-Writing Hints"

The "Jefferies Tube" of Star Trek is an engineering/maintenance access crawlspace into the deep internal workings of the ship. These pages are of the same nature. They were written to help crewmen get into their inner workings of the simming side of MFI, and offer a little tongue-in-cheek advice on posting and writing. It was not meant in any fashion to assimilate you into writing any certain way or style. Everything here should be read with the outlook of "this is freely-offered, friendly advice", and from only one person's perspective at that. The Jeffries Tube series is written in a "familiar" style, as no one likes to read yet another dry text book. If you disagree with something offered, simply ignore it and go on. No hard feelings.

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