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 Evan says, "Writing Descriptions" Torlon snickers a bit, but stops quickly Evan raises a brow at Torlon, "What's funny?" Chiarra walks up from the Reception Hall. Torlon says, "I just remembered something comical" Darman strides up from the Reception Hall. Evan scowls at Torlon, "Why don't I believe that... Torlon shrugs Evan points to the OOC DragonLantern just so that Chi and Dar know we're in OOCland. :> Evan says, "Well, we'll let Chiarra catch up when she gets here. This class will either be short or extended... depending on the amount of participation we get, and how good I am at pulling this class out of thin air. :> As mentioned earlier, this class is on writing descriptions. it's something that is quite hard to teach, and is more an art form than a science." Evan says, "Nevertheless, I"ll try to give you all some pointers. :>" Evan says, "In essence, writing a description is quite easy. You visualize an object in your mind, and write down what it looks like. Seems simple, doesn't it. But, as you've all probably found it this is actually quite hard to do well, consistantly." Torlon nods in agreement. Evan says, "In fact, I must admit, that the best descriptions I do, I don't even think about as I write... I just type. And the description flows from the tips of my fingers, quite litterally. That is something I can't help you with. It will either happen or it won't. If it does you won't need help. What's hard is to write a description that doesn't come immediately." Evan says, "For the sake of the class, we'll develop the description of a small wooden box. Easy and simple, right? Well it can be, but not necessarialy. :>" Evan says, "I'd like you all to think of that box, and each of you give me three details about it. It doesn't have to be large, it can be small, but it must be something descriptive." Torlon says, "out loud, or actually made?"" Evan says, "As an example, here are three things that I incorporate into every box I desc: The color of the finished box. the way it opens(hinged, sliding top, etc), and somethinga bout the inside. (lined with velvet? plain wood? etc)." Evan says, "Just out loud, like those three I detailed." Chiarra makes a box for each ring (or pair) I sell :) goes over well.. can I steal that? Evan says, "Anything you wnat Chiarra, as long as someone else hasn't mentioned it." Torlon says, "Mines darkly stained oak, edged with a gilt filigree, and squareish brass hinges along the top back edge." Evan frowns at Torlon, "I've already covered hinges and color Torlon. you've got to come up with three unique things. Evan says, "These don't ahve to be specifics, just a type of detail if you want, tho specifics are fine." Chiarra goes for fabric.. velvet? suede? what type and what sort of metal with it.. gold or silver? if there are any inlaid jewels. Torlon hmmms and says"I'd tell the type of wood, how it smells, and the approximate girth. Are those original enough?" Evan nods to Torlon, but frowns at Chiarra, "it's a wooden box, remember? Paric smiles, "Some of the things that I think about would be just that...type of wood...its color...its grain pattern, etc. Chiarra says, "I usually like to do what it feels like, rough or soft, any special pattern or texture. Sorry, I don't do wood. ;) That's why I avoid all of Paric's classes. *smirk*" Torlon says, "What if its buckled with metal, that would help Chiarra." Evan says, "Here is another example, this one a specific, "A small dark line runs across one side of the box, the product of an indentation that collected stein when the box was finished."" Chiarra says, "Well, mine are made of wood, but overlaid with fabric, usually.. makes it prettier, and have metal hinges, but Evan already said that." Evan says, "In any case, I think you get the idea... First you brainstorm about all the details you know of the box. That's the hard part." Torlon says, "What about decsriminating marks like chopsped bits " Evan says, "After that, you need to decide in what order to present those details. Personally, I go from the general to the specific." Evan nods to Torlon, "anything someone might notice when inspeciting the box." Paric nods and agrees. Evan says, "And I also tend to do the outisde before continuing to the inside."" Torlon says, "Good idea"" Evan says, "However, the important part in ordering the details is that they must flow together, one sentance leading into the next." Torlon says, "No choppy paragraphs like she saw it . bob lit a candle , eh?" Evan says, "So something like: "The wood of this box is stained a deep burgandy, the light and dark of the grain flowing as if they were actually moving with the exception of a dark slash that cuts across one side of the box."" Evan says, "... is good, while: "This box is stained to a deep red. The grain shows through." is bad." Torlon agrees and recalls some works of his that sound similar. Evan says, "One of my favorite, although not perfect, descriptions is #3751. If you want to get an idea of what I mean, please go ahead and read through it."" l #3751 Pair of Knives. A Master crafted rosewood box, stained to a deep red, is lined with a deep purple velvet. Nestled into the velvet is a pair of crystal knives. The knives are entirely crafted out of crystal, except for the black satiny suede wrapped around the hilts. The small, subtle differances in the crafting seem to set the knives apart from each other, yet they compliment each other at the same time, as if they were crafted to be used in unison or not at all. The light falling on the blades, each a forearm's length long, doesn't reflect back, but instead makes the blades glow with an inner light. While obviously intended to be decorative, the sharp edges on the blades give evidence that they can be used in other manners as well. One knife bears a tiger's eye set into the pommel, a fitting stone for this knife, with a slightly curved blade, that seems waiting to draw blood from it's assuredly razor sharp point. The other blade seems graceful, more fit to dart back and forth, its curved blade agile, yet deadly. The Blue-green emerald set in the second knife's pommel finishes the immage of this elegant yet graceful knife. There is a small brass plaque affixed to the velvet in the case's lid bearing an elegant inscription that seems to have been formed with the plaque, instead of being etched into it. The inscription reads: "To Paric and Cera on their HandFasting day. To you go the best of all wishes. Like these knives, your differances shall compliment each other, and through your union, you shall be stronger than either of you could have been apart. May you fair well together, and accomplish all that you can." The inscription is not signed. Paric laughs. Evan grins at Paric, "It's still my fav. desc." Paric laughs, "Yea...one of Cera's and mine, too." Evan smiles, "Thanks." Evan says, "There are several things I could expand on, but the desc already boarders on long(something my descs tend to do!) and there are a few roding choices I'd fix, but, all in all, it gives an example of a better than average desc." Torlon liked it. Evan says, "Anyone have any questions?" Chiarra nopes. Torlon shakes his head negatory. Evan says, "Well, it's a short class, but to summarize: "When writing a desc: If you can write w/out thinking about it, it's probably going to be a teriffic desc. If you get stuck, stop. Brainstorm details about the object, then organize them and write about them. That's it. Easy in practice, hard in reality."" Torlon smiles at the las t statement Torlon says, "G-d bless @notedit" Evan says, "ROTFL. true." Torlon says, "For the typing impaired" Chiarra grins.. I love my wordperfect ;) start every desc there :) Evan says, "If anyone wants specific advice on descs, please do ask. That's what we're here for." Paric nods. Torlon says, "What is the generic thing for worn clothes?" Torlon says, "I need to tell a friend." Evan shrugs, "I just set .worn and .worn_msg attribs. Chiarra says, "@classes generics" Torlon says, "Someone is smiling upon me. Everyone's so nice." Chiarra grins. Darman smiles upon Torlon. Torlon smiles warmly to all. Paric smiles, "The things that I do, in addition to what Evan had mentioned, is seeing the object that I'm describing. It makes it much easier for me to describe while I imagine that I'm holding the object in my hands and look at it, turn it from side to side, etc. I then describe its appearance, textures and colors of materials, smells and scents, and the level of experience of the creator, ie am I an apprentice, jman, or master." Evan nods to Paric, "I can't do that... b/c I am very rarely able to actually visualize things. Not that type of thinker." Paric chuckles and nods, "I don't think that even Cera does it the way I do. I think she gets an idea and lets it grow from there." Chiarra likes to visualize things too.. even look at pictures and read the thesaurus to get ideas. Paric chuckles, "After I've got it all written, I try to let it sit a little while and then check for grammar and spelling. But that can be for another day. Sep blinks in from ::between::! Torlon chuckles at this. Torlon says, "That's one of my biggest problems" Chiarra is totally a perfectionist and I cringe if I find errors in my writings. *ack* Torlon oh-nos at an error in Chiarra's writing. Paric smiles and nods, "Same here...though some things do get by. Other things that you can do to add a little life to your object is taking a look at @messages." Evan nods, 'I've found that coming back to a desc a day or two later can work wonders as well. Paric smiles, "For example, with a box... when you open it you can @set/@notedit dbref#.idesc. This is used when you look at an open box, vs a closed box. " Evan says, "Acutally, idesc is what you see when your car is inside the boject." Evan says, "s/car/char" Paric smiles, "Well...maybe I'm thinking of the opacity...haven't done a box in a long while." Torlon says, "I think its .transparency" OOC: Evan says "gotta @bug. laterz." Evan glides silently into the office. Chiarra @baps Torlon.. Paric smiles, "This is an example of something that I did. When you look at the object, it shows one desc..." l gfr generic flamer rack A tall oak cabinet used to house the hold's flamers when they are not in use. The door to the cabinet is provided with a very secure lock. On the front of the cabinet is a large sign with red letters stating: Danger! No Open Flames! The generic flamer rack is closed. Paric smiles, "But when you open it...it tacks on an additional sentence.." open gfr You open generic flamer rack. l gfr generic flamer rack A tall oak cabinet used to house the hold's flamers when they are not in use. The door to the cabinet is provided with a very secure lock. On the front of the cabinet is a large sign with red letters stating: Danger! No Open Flames! Inside the generic flamer rack, you can see that each flamer is held in specially constructed slots that prevent them from being stored in an unsafe condition. Contents: Cera's Flamethrower Torlon is listening and playing at the same time Paric smiles, "But...this is a little more advanced than just writing...this involved writing a couple of verbs to display it." Torlon says, "Do you remember how to accomplighed that effect?" Sep says, "verbs are fun :)" @verbs gfr Verbs
on generic flamer rack (#8012): @list gfr:description #8012:"description"
this none none Darman is still not sure what a verb is Sep says, "a verb is a command you type into the moo.. like when you type 'look' it runs the verb look Paric chuckles, "Well...I added two properties.... this.dopen_msg and this.dclose_msg ...then added a new verb this:description which checked to see if the object was open or closed and passed that to another description()." @list #1:description #1:"description"
this none this Torlon asks "How do you set an object to recognize if it's open or not? Darman says, "Verbs suck" Torlon says, "verbs are fun" Darman pummels Torlon Torlon is missed! Paric chuckles, "Though... I don't think that most people need to go to that extent. I am not sure if there is a generic for it....but there should be if there isn't. If this.open is 1, then the object is open. Otherwise a 0 is closed." Sep has had lots of fun with verbs, i once made a yo-yo and coded it so that it would break and drop from the person's inventory when it breaks :) Paric laughs. "I think that one is pretty good." Torlon agrees with Paric. Sep says, "which one?" Chiarra avoids all verbs on MOOs. Torlon says, "the yo-yo" Paric laughs. "The yo-yo." Paric chuckles, "I think that I'm going to adapt this cabinet to a generic .. that way if you want to have a description that is different when the object it open or closed. Such a simple thing. I'm surprised that they didn't do it earlier." Sep wonders if they didn't do it to save db bloat.. Paric shakes his head. "I don't think that was the reason. The db was much smaller when I wrote the ones for the cabinet." Editor’s Note: I have created a generic container that allows you to include additional descriptions for the container when opened and closed. It’s dbref# is #3365. To use just: @create #3365 named <object name> Then use @dopen and @dclose to set the appended messages when opened or closed. For example:
@describe sb as A small box made from unfinished oak. small box description has been set. @dopen sb is The %t’s lid is open displaying a rough finish interior. You set the "dopen" message of small box (#1354). @dclose sb is The lid on the %t is closed. You set the "dclose" message of small box (#1354). l sb small
box close sb You close small box. l sb small
box Don’t forget to look at the other @messages that can be manipulated! Just type: @message <dbref#> Then have fun! |
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