Help if youre in a slump

[Maniac]

And I found this in the XHF thread and it sounded cool so I brought it over here.

Click the link.

roughkut.com/slump.php

[Lord Dominicus]

Hey! At least link to the post that the link is in.....y'know, so I can get some more hits

[Maniac]

Ok Spike, I'll get right on that.

[Lord Dominicus]

Ouch, you hurt me in my pride-spot

[Cyrus Daniels]

I needed that bit of confirmation just to confirm its not Ace who needs to retire, I'm just having a run of bad luck at the moment so thanks...

[Maniac]

I'm hoping we can all take something away from that.

[Maniac]

eWrestling Slump?Written by 'Barx' owner of 3W Wrestling. 5/2004

We all know what it’s like, because we’ve all been there at one stage or another.

Everything has its ups and downs, the seasons, the world financial markets, hell, life itself is a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, and when you hit a low… it can be hard to get yourself out of it.

Yes, I mean the dreaded creative slump. The staring blankly at the white Microsoft Word document, the little cursor seemingly mocking you with every blink. The frustration as you get through 4 sentences, only to say “Bah!” and delete the lot and start again. Like an insurmountable challenge in front of you, it makes you sit, unproductively, and shake your head in frustration until you either shut down the computer in disgust or go and search the web for more leisurely pastimes.

The first thing I wanna say is that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. ****, have a look at professional sportspeople. They get paid millions to go out and shoot hoops, run yards, toss pitches in front of millions of people every week. You, as an active efedder, have possibly 50 people who check your stuff out. And they don’t know your name or where you live, which is a bonus. If the sportspeople hit a rut, they have to deal with boos and “YOU SUCK”s and people spitting on them and the like. If you’re unlucky, at worst, you might have an angry fedhead emailing you, and the guy you were supposed to work the angle with giving you angry AIM conversations, so it could always be worse.

That being said, that can help you while you’re IN the slump, up to your elbows in quicksand with nowhere to go, and no saving in sight…

But what you really want to know is how to get OUT of it.

So here are a few tips, hints, ideas and suggestions that may stir you into thinking. After all, the creative wall is just that - a wall. There is always a way around it or over it, you just need to hear some different suggestions or to look at it differently.

1) Changing your character will probably not help.

Being a fedhead myself, I know how frustrating it can be when a handler doesn’t roleplay for a couple of weeks. They hit you up on AIM, and straight away you know what they’re going to say.

“Oh, Gee… I’m kind of stuck with Killer Kraig Henderson… Do you mind if I pull him out? I got a new character I’m working on, and he’d be great for” -

Blah Blah Blah. It kills storylines. It disrupts the whole fed, and, if they are a key player, it will bugger up other people’s workings as well.

No. The problem isn’t your character. He doesn’t exist. The problem is you and your lack of ideas. If that sounds harsh then I’m sorry, but I have survived 4 years in this game with two characters, and I only ever created the second because I didn’t want anyone in the fed I was going to, to know it was me (a practical joke on my friends that backfired, cos they found out eventually, and we all had a good laugh cos I’d tricked them for about 6 weeks. No it wasn’t because they threw me out because I was an asshole and I tried to sneak back in where I wasn’t wanted, but, anyways, I digress.)

The point is, that I never had any problems with my character because characters continually evolve. They grow and change. They get deeper, more intense, more meaningful and more insightful. You cannot start a new character every 3 months and expect to become a great roleplayer, that’s like raising a kid to the age of puberty, then killing him and starting again with a baby. You have to allow your character to grow and mature, and the best way to do this is to work through the rough patches with them.

In short, don’t can your character just because you are having a blank spot.

2) Try to roleplay in a different style.

Are you a trash talker? Are your roleplays full of insults, bad humour and catchy metaphors? Or are you someone who sits, talking to the irrepressible “camera” which seems to be an integral part of so many roleplays? Are you a thinker? Are your roleplays deep and insightful, showing us how your character feels? Or are your roleplays more “action based” almost like a script, where your characters are in situation, performing actions, talking with one another and basically just living life?

Whatever your style is, I’ve seen hundreds. From sagas that carry over 3 months worth of roleplays, like a story, to roleplays that make no sense whatsoever, and in the end are found to be a drug trip, each roleplay is different. Being stuck in a rut means that maybe you’ve worn yourself into a groove using one style too much, too often.

If you trashtalk, why don’t you do some roleplays giving us more of an insight to your character? Diary entries? Silent thoughts? A drunken conversation with the bathroom mirror?

If you’re heavily insightful, why not try to use actions or situations in a roleplay? Thow something out completely different to your normal style. If you use a camera (for God knows what reason) then CAN IT. There is no magical wrestling channel on cable, that films 24/7 what you do, and what you say. This is not Big Brother. We, as wrestlers, are not reality TV stars. Lose the camera and you’ll be surprised how much freedom it gives you when you are not being “televised.”

Who knows, it might give your character a completely new twist, if you are able to roleplay about their private moments. At worst, give it a go for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may have a complete turnaround.

3) Roleplay through someone else’s eyes

Does your wrestler have a manager? A girlfriend? A bodyguard? A best friend? If you’re really stuck with your character, why not develop some of the others surrounding your wrestler? I’ve offered this to many people, and it has amazing results.

All too often the manager is a leggy blonde with big jugs and a great can. That’s about as far as the depth goes. Try a roleplay through her eyes, and you will be forced to think about her a bit more. Her past. Where she grew up. How she met the wrestler. What their relationship is like. Some private moments that none of the rest of the world knows about. You’ll be surprised just how much depth it will give to your character, seeing them from another person’s point of view.

It will open up a whole new chapter for you to explore, and should enable you to pull out of your slump.

4) Try a trilogy or a saga:

Try an ongoing storyline with your wrestler. As a fedhead, when stories are done well, I hang on with baited breath for the next installment, particularly if left hanging at the end of each part. This will add to your skills, and it should see you rise up the ranks.

It can be about whatever you like, your character’s past, future or present. A time in their life that was a major turning point for them. I know a lot of people nut out their character history without actually going through each stage, and seeing them properly. A roleplay series about these major events could shed new light on your character, and give you material to write about for weeks. Once you actually ‘Live” through them they become much clearer, and you can see how they impact your character and made them the way they are today.

However don’t make it too long or boring, because a storyline that goes around in circles and goes nowhere makes for a dead read, and I usually skim them before having them pinned on the results. I personally feel that a roleplay all about an old fed doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me, because it was with a fed that doesn’t matter, with wrestlers nobody knows, and a major event that happened there will probably not interest anyone unless they were there, and know what you were talking about.

However a major event in someone’s personal life could make for some great reading. It’s all about how you approach it.

5) Base your character on yourself.

I think it is a lot easier to roleplay because my character is based heavily on me. I can see things the way he’d see them, simply because HE is, on some level, ME. It becomes easier to see how your character will react to situations and events if they are like you, because well, you know what you’d do.

Much like when WWF turned to the Attitude era, it allowed the wrestlers to let more of their personalities shine through in their characters. It did wonders for the ratings, and lifted wrestling to a whole new level (Before it nosedived into the ****.)

Try and bring a bit of yourself into your character. You’ll see the impact it will have.

6) If all else fails…

Then you may need to break rule 1, and bring someone else in.

I know it will suck, but it you have exhausted all options, and been down every road only to find a dead end, then maybe bringing a fresh face in is best. I do not recommend it, but it may be that you feel you have no option.

However if you do bring in a new character, try to feel them out as thoroughly as possible.

Because there’s nothing worse than someone who can’t sit still in a solid angle because they are “hitting the wall.”

These are just my thoughts, but I’m sure everyone has a remedy to break a roleplay drought. Talk with some people. See what they say. Above all else, I hope these tips give you the spark of imagination you need.

Happy roleplaying… now get back to work.

Barx