So...Journals

[Morningstar1337]

I'm considering using a Journal format for at least 1 of my continuities. And I want to know how do they work? I assume that they are closed RP in which the character writes down their thoughts. But I want to know how do you use your journals if any. And what are the "rules" of these posts regarding IC/OOC posts?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

There are no rules. People write however they like to in them.

 

The common convention on the RPC is to post them in the Town Square section and affix a [Journal] to the thread title.

[Maril]

I keep journals for my characters, albeit I do not post them here. There isn't really any rules, and the style can variate. I've done one where it was simply me writing down what my character would have said when they were talking to themselves, because the character either didn't know how to write or wasn't the type to sit down and write a journal. With other characters a more traditional "Dear Journal" type style have been the best one suited. 

Journals can be very useful to keep for your characters, as it's like saving a statement report of their progress and what they've been up to - which you can then go back and read later on, and you can then see how much they've changed since you started. 

 

I think the most important thing when you read others journals is not to use what they write icly without permission - Journals, as I see it at least, do not tend to be publicly available.

[Morningstar1337]

I have one more question, are Journals entirely IC or cna there be some OOC parts? (I ask becuase the journal in question is meant to keep track of my character progress as a Warrior of Light which would be in a separate continuity form any other RP here for reasons concerning well, approachability, which would ensure it wind up a closed RP even if it wasn't a journal)

 

On a related note, can a RP have more than 1 Journal? (probably not, but it couldn't hurt to ask, the other one is for chronicling the character's "public" continuity via the open RPs she partakes in)

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Generally, the Town Center area is for IC only posting. There can be a little OOC posting, like to offer a summary, disclaimer, add in dates or context, etc, but it isn't quite the place to say "I have completed my fifth run of the Void Ark. It feels as if I will never receive my weekly loot."

 

If it's something that can be encompassed into a story, like say, an encounter with Ifrit similar to the main scenario quests, go for it. People can and do have multiple journal threads. It's up to preference. Some people like a mega thread where they put all their journal entries. Others make a new thread for each new story/arc.

[Morningstar1337]

Generally, the Town Center area is for IC only posting. There can be a little OOC posting, like to offer a summary, disclaimer, add in dates or context, etc, but it isn't quite the place to say "I have completed my fifth run of the Void Ark. It feels as if I will never receive my weekly loot."

 

That's good since a disclaimer is the reason I asked (Mainly that the journal in question shouldn't be used as a reference for my group RPs and is in a separate continuity).

[John Spiegel]

Journals, at least on my company's forums, are regarded as unobtainable unless consent is given as they're regarded as physical items. There was one instance where a particular character found and partially read (her reading was basic) and subsequently made a flip-book of various pages of his journal, which is still somewhere in Alex's first journal on my forums. After this, Alex started writing in old Ala Mhigan rather than common tongue and still does to this day, in the journals at least.

 

They are an invaluable tool to the writer to get into the intricacies of a new or even long-standing character. I extensively journal'd when I was fleshing out Alex and still do time to time but haven't publicly posted in a long time. For awhile, I was even doing an entry a day, which was crucial in getting Alex's style in my head... which is vastly different than John's.

 

Really the only rules I'd say for you to establish is:

 

Who could possibly access the item?

Is it on your person or at your residence?

 

 

 

I am, of course, referring on making the journal an obtainable item to others. I am always cautious of what I write, even if it hasn't been posted, but if someone took the journal they would get a lore dump of posts. Anything Alex has written would not give vital information, at least that's how he meticulously worked it he hopes.