Biography styles

[Gimfalisette]

Well, since there's some discussion in the "what are you going to do while Ginka's down" thread about writing out biography entries, I thought I'd post a question / some thoughts about the style of bio entries.

In the past when I've done biography entries (I did a fair quantity of them on one character), I've always done them in the strict third-person, narrative style just like I do for initial backgrounds. But I'm thinking of maybe changing things up for my current character, and making them more "memory-like." So, for example, I might put in snippets of an actual log from in game. Or maybe I won't write out the entries in strict chronological order. Or maybe I will write some of the entries in a hazy, stream-of-consciousness style.

The point is, I know the biography is for the imms and for me and for other purposes, but I'm considering being more writer-ly with it.

I think my own motivation here is...well, if I change it up stylistically, I can write whatever the hell I feel like writing, in whatever order I feel like writing it, and not feel like the strict third-person traditional style is actually going to constrict me and prevent me from DOING the writing at all. (Which is how I feel at the moment.)

Thoughts?

[Fnord]

I write mine like a story for others to read, with my PC in the third person.

<3 bios. They help me keep track of all the shit that goes on.

[Only He Stands There]

I write mine in third person, and I use specific titles for each entry.

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Biography entries [11]:
1 : [Date] Initial Background
2 : [Date] Extended Background
3 : [Date] Amos's Personality
4 : [Date] Amos's Friends: Malik
5 : [Date] Amos's Friends: Jebodiah
6 : [Date] The Weirdest Thing...
7 : [Date] Arrested!
8 : [Date] Can't Touch This
9 : [Date] Year One Recap
10 : [Date] Amos's Friends: Boopsie
11 : [Date] Amos's Friends: Malik, Updated


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Entry 11: [Date] Amos's Friends: Malik, Updated

Brief synopsis: Amos is direly in love with Malik, since Malik
saved his life.

Even though Malik and Amos got off on the wrong foot, Malik recently
proved his worth to Amos. Things got hairy, as has been mentioned in the previous entry 'Arrested!' (q.v.). Since Malik helped Amos escape from Yggdrasil DESPITE the fact that they were feuding at the time, Amos dwelled and dwelled and dwelled upon his and eventually figured out that he's in love with Malik.


[Fathi]

Mine are third person and tend to get ridiculously clinical, though I've been trying to curb this habit so they read more like bio entires and less like final essays for Psych 101.

I have a format with a few basic title headers, so I have a bit better time classifying them:

Personality, pretty self explanatory.
Clans/Groups for detailing my character's interactions with organisations and opinions of them.
People, for interactions and feelings about individuals, as well as my character's obligations or vendettas or whatnot.
History, for detailing my character's life before I started playing them.
On ___, which details my character's actions and motivations behind doing certain things and why they react the way they did.

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Biography entries [12]:
1 : [Date] Initial Background
2 : [Date] Personality: Booblie's goals
3 : [Date] Clans: Booblie's employers
4 : [Date] Clans: Booblie's rivals
5 : [Date] People: Booblie's bodyguard
6 : [Date] On Sex
7 : [Date] History: The early years
8 : [Date] History: Apprenticeship
9 : [Date] History: The troubled first marriage
10: [Date] People: Booblie's aide
11: [Date] On Elves
12: [Date] Personality: Booblie is depressed

[Dalmeth]

I've never done much work on my characters' bibliographies so far, but it occurred to me that the third person would be best for my current character.  That led into the thought that if I had a character who was more inclined to tell his or her own story, then that might be more appropriate.  A simple bullet list of events might not even scratch the surface of what your character's experience was like.  Detailing an event in your own character's words, even if skewed or outright fabricated, might just give a reader more insight than would normally be expected.   Even when just fleshing out your character, you have to put it in a format that fits the story.

[LauraMars]

I'm pretty varied regarding how I go about writing bio entries.  Sometimes they're just one or two lines, stating a random fact about my character ('Amosette likes to cook').  Sometimes they're in first person, sometimes they're in third person.  Sometimes they're almost like a short story.  Sometimes they're from the point of view of some person in my character's life (a father talking about his child, just as an example). Once I wrote a poem about what my character had been up to, and used it as a biography entry.

I hope no one notices and puts a stop to my wildly inconsistent, yet awesome, methods of writing down character information and history.  I hate it when something cramps my style, and that includes biography entries.

So yeah. I pretty much use biography entries as an excuse to write more.  I'm terrible at maintaining the consistent, clinical, third person report method of Fathi, Only He Stands There, and apparently most of the game.  It would be cool if I could do it, but whatever, this is fun too.

[FightClub]

Well, since there's some discussion in the "what are you going to do while Ginka's down" thread about writing out biography entries, I thought I'd post a question / some thoughts about the style of bio entries.

In the past when I've done biography entries (I did a fair quantity of them on one character), I've always done them in the strict third-person, narrative style just like I do for initial backgrounds. But I'm thinking of maybe changing things up for my current character, and making them more "memory-like." So, for example, I might put in snippets of an actual log from in game. Or maybe I won't write out the entries in strict chronological order. Or maybe I will write some of the entries in a hazy, stream-of-consciousness style.

The point is, I know the biography is for the imms and for me and for other purposes, but I'm considering being more writer-ly with it.

I think my own motivation here is...well, if I change it up stylistically, I can write whatever the hell I feel like writing, in whatever order I feel like writing it, and not feel like the strict third-person traditional style is actually going to constrict me and prevent me from DOING the writing at all. (Which is how I feel at the moment.)

Thoughts?

Although there might be some Canon for biographies, and there are none that I'm aware of.  I believe writing in such a way that you're interested enough to actually do biographies, and it appeals to you is ideal.  Imms might use biographies as reference material if you have them, but you have to realize the majority of players don't have anything past an initial background entry.  So hell, if it makes you want to write more, is accurate to what you're doing in game, or your characters perspective of such, then why shouldn't you be doing it however you like?

EDIT: Edited to add that I really dig Fathi's representation, I might adopt a style like that.  Sort of how I operated when I did write then (and I haven't in the past 20 characters) but I think that's a large improvement.  Good way to keep track of recruitment dates, birthdays, silly crap and I never realized it until then. =P

[Yokunama]

Mine are third person and tend to get ridiculously clinical, though I've been trying to curb this habit so they read more like bio entires and less like final essays for Psych 101.

I have a format with a few basic title headers, so I have a bit better time classifying them:

Personality, pretty self explanatory.
Clans/Groups for detailing my character's interactions with organisations and opinions of them.
People, for interactions and feelings about individuals, as well as my character's obligations or vendettas or whatnot.
History, for detailing my character's life before I started playing them.
On ___, which details my character's actions and motivations behind doing certain things and why they react the way they did.

Code Select Expand

Biography entries [12]:
1 : [Date] Initial Background
2 : [Date] Personality: Booblie's goals
3 : [Date] Clans: Booblie's employers
4 : [Date] Clans: Booblie's rivals
5 : [Date] People: Booblie's bodyguard
6 : [Date] On Sex
7 : [Date] History: The early years
8 : [Date] History: Apprenticeship
9 : [Date] History: The troubled first marriage
10: [Date] People: Booblie's aide
11: [Date] On Elves
12: [Date] Personality: Booblie is depressed

Basically, the same thing I do here.

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Biography entries [14]:
1 : [Date] Initial Background
2 : [Date] Red Storm: My Observation
3 : [Date] Intro to Merchant House
4 : [Date] Festival!!!
5 : [Date] Allanak: My Observation
6 : [Date] Merchant House: Jobs
7 : [Date] Merchant House: Promotion
8 : [Date] Foes: Fathi and OnlyHeStandsHere
9 : [Date] Merchant House: Jobs [2]
10 : [Date] Merchant House: Promotion [2]
11 : [Date] Tuluk: My Observation
12 : [Date] Merchant House: Jobs [3]
13 : [Date] Cenyr: My observation
14 : [Date] Bullied: Lady Templar


I never been a fan of updating individual bio entries for particular reasons. If theres an update of a topic I already have listed, I simply make another bio entry with a number beside it.

[mansa]

Those are very cool ideas.  I might use some.

Basically, I just update my history in either 1st or 3rd person, based on what happens.

I like what was mentioned, though.

Mines like:

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Biography entries [12]:
1 : [Date] Initial Background
2 : [Date] Initial Background 2
3 : [Date] Initial Background 3
4 : [Date] Initial Background 4
5 : [Date] Initial Background 5
6 : [Date] Joining up with a Clan
7 : [Date] Killing this person
8 : [Date] New skills
9 : [Date] Doing Spice yesterday
10: [Date] Oh how I hate you
11: [Date] Doing more spice.
12: [Date] Getting drunk and spiced again

I wish we could have a website page documenting this.  This is great stuff.

[Larrath]

I too write my biographies in third person, and basically write them like a book, with each entry being a chapter.

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1: Initial Background
2: Getting Established
3: Amos' Encounters
4: A Twist!  Malik is a Psionicist!
5: Another Twist!  Amosa is also a Psionicist?!
6: Yet Another Twist: Turgen, a psionicist!
7: Getting Ridiculous.
8: Not another one...
9: The Grand Escape!
10: On the Futility of Mundanes


I favor longer biography entries, and I try to document everything of significance, so I can basically recall any particular point in my character's past.

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This week, Amos went to the Barrel.  He sat there for a while and met Joette...
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
Then Amos left, and ran into Lord Templar Malik.  They talked and blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah.
Deciding he'd had enough, Amos decided he'll go to Lord Templar Malik and inform him about all those psionicists...what will happen next?

[flurry]

I've been using biography a lot more with my current character than with any before, and I think it's a great thing.

Primarily, I've been using it to describe ongoing happenings, and my PC's reason for doing certain things.  This is mostly stuff I would have included in reports before, if they were important enough to report.

I haven't experimented too much in terms of style.  I understand the desire to play around and be creative this way, but I'm also mindful of the fact that the bio is going to be (potentially) read by immortals trying to understand my character.  So however I write the entries, I feel like they have to get the point across with some clarity.

As for perspective, I have only used third person, and that probably won't change.  Even in reports, I use third person.  That's just my preference.  When I play, I'm in the mind of my character, but when I'm writing about them, it's someone else.  I always have found it a little funny when an Imm would respond to a report, and refer to my character as "you", but I suppose that's just out of convenience.

[spawnloser]

I dunno... it seems like some of you are saying that you're taking notes, basically, in your biography entries.  Didn't the staff say that that was not appropriate?

[ale six]

Let's let the staff, who can actually read bio entries, be the ones to tell people if their entries are inappropriate.  :roll:

[Xio]

I'm not gonna lie, when it comes to Arm I'm still a newbie at heart. Still don't know how to write a bio *coughs innocently* At any rate, I've always had little bios on computer for myself that I've written in a mix of third and first person. I tend to write my bios in sort of sequence, first background on the situation, then what actually happened, and what my char was thinking at the time and afterwards.

[FightClub]

I dunno... it seems like some of you are saying that you're taking notes, basically, in your biography entries.  Didn't the staff say that that was not appropriate?

Obviously they don't care that much if all of these people are doing it, and a staff announcement hasn't been made.

[spawnloser]

ale six, please, go away and don't bother me.  I know that I can't see bio entries, but many of the bio entries as presented above I can.  That's why I asked a question instead of making a declarative statement.  See, questions marks are your friends.  I was asking if people were using their bios in a way that was declared inappropriate.

FightClub, see, they DID make a statement that bio entries being done to take notes for your character is inappropriate.  I've just got too many other things going on to take the time to look for it.

[FightClub]

FightClub, see, they DID make a statement that bio entries being done to take notes for your character is inappropriate.  I've just got too many other things going on to take the time to look for it.

But you've surely got enough time to post.

But this is some discussion I've found on the topic.

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23018&highlight=biographies

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16739&highlight=biographies

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=190384#190384

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=173170#173170

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=173433#173433

That's all I could fetch about biographies.  But I've seen no, don't fucking do this or heads will roll post, as what spawnlosers post leads me to believe.  Oh and I can't pull up the help file for biography, for obvious reasons, as I was hoping to find.  Until staff comes in and says otherwise, I'd say "Write how you please."  And the majority of these posts only lead me to believe that more, as long as you stick to the rules of what you should be writing, I see no reason to worry about what format works best for you.

[Medena]

Here is a thread from January 2006 when Bios were introduced.  It discusses format and style questions.  There was some discussion about whether it could be first person instead of third and the conclusion seemed to be as long as it was kept consistent.

And here is a good quote:

There's something that just seems to work better about writing a character's biography in first person. You think anyone would kill me if my background/biography were inconsistant?

Keep in mind, though, that most people on Zalanthas are not literate, so don't take this as an ACTUAL biography.  It's not a diary, but rather a story about the character.  Look at it as an extended, appendable background.  There may even be stuff in there your character doesn't know.

The main points (but not necessarily exclusive) of this are to:

1.  make an ongoing story available for the Staff so we can better understand your character
2.  make an ongoing story available to you, so you can go back and read it and enjoy the memories

[ale six]

Spawnloser, I was just commenting how often you seem to like to interject yourself and referee, when really you have no more knowledge about the issues and no more standing to be an authority on them than any of the other people posting. It seems like from everything available, the examples listed are fine.

[spawnloser]

Actually...

According to the documentation, these should be written in the same style as backgrounds.   So third person.

Do you make 'notes' for yourself in your biography?  Like, "I like this person?"  They should be written like your initial background is written... as background, so that people understand your character, not a glorified version of notepad in game.

So, I guess my rebuttal can be summed up by saying, "Yes, I believe I do know what I'm talking about.  When I believe in such fashion, I speak up.  You do the same as evidenced by your responses, so stop calling names and debate like a grownup."

[mansa]

I am going to use BIO as a glorified notepad.

Why?

Because I MUD on multiple computers.  I don't keep a database of everything in one text file or database file, which I know many other players do.  I keep everything inside the game.

So, this helps me out greatly, because I mud on various computers.  Simply because I can't afford a laptop.

[Belenos]

For the record, I've yet to see a biography that is inappropriate.   First person, third person, or a strange narrator telling your life, it really doesn't matter to me.    Armageddon is a game about crafting an engaging story as much as anything else.  What better place to practice refining the craft than with the story of your character's life. The biography is more open to exploring literary styles than most other features of the game.   I see no viable reason to arbitraily limit the tools available in crafting your character's story.

The only problem I have is remembering to look at biographies.  I'm going to suggest on the staff board  a way to make them more visible to us.  

I also have plans in the works to create a web based system of creating and editing thing like IC boards, books, notes, and biographies on line.

Oh, minor bit of trivia.. The most biography entries I've seen for one character numbers in the sixties.   I wouldn't doubt he has more by now.

[mansa]

I also have plans in the works to create a web based system of creating and editing thing like IC boards, books, notes, and biographies on line.

Can we keep our old character descriptions on file, and our current descriptions, in order to preview them after they have died, too?

I'd rather have everything be saved on the armageddon server, and have it accessible.

[Belenos]

I also have plans in the works to create a web based system of creating and editing thing like IC boards, books, notes, and biographies on line.

Can we keep our old character descriptions on file, and our current descriptions, in order to preview them after they have died, too?

I'd rather have everything be saved on the armageddon server, and have it accessible.

I think that would be something we would be looking at doing, or at least something along those lines.   Although I won't give any timeframes on it.

[Gimfalisette]

For the record, I've yet to see a biography that is inappropriate.   First person, third person, or a strange narrator telling your life, it really doesn't matter to me.    Armageddon is a game about crafting an engaging story as much as anything else.  What better place to practice refining the craft than with the story of your character's life. The biography is more open to exploring literary styles than most other features of the game.   I see no viable reason to arbitraily limit the tools available in crafting your character's story.

The only problem I have is remembering to look at biographies.  I'm going to suggest on the staff board  a way to make them more visible to us.  

I also have plans in the works to create a web based system of creating and editing thing like IC boards, books, notes, and biographies on line.

Oh, minor bit of trivia.. The most biography entries I've seen for one character numbers in the sixties.   I wouldn't doubt he has more by now.

Yay Belenos! I love you. Having a web-based system would be so awesomely sweet and so much more flexible and usable.

I haven't fully decided what to do about my current character's biography yet, but I think I'm going to mix it up. Parts of it will be straightforward third-person narrative, parts of it will be snippets of logs, maybe I'll do some stream of consciousness dream-type things...And I may not try to keep it all strictly chronological either. I just want it to be interesting, for me and others.

Lots of cool ideas here, thanks for the insights, everyone.