Roleplay Tips: "Actionable Responses"
We have all experienced, or will at some point in the future, a thread that feels like it is going nowhere. It's that feeling of reluctance to pull up the draft, of realizing it's the third or so time of experiencing dread when you see that other person respond.
You're bored with the thread. That, or you want to continue and just can't seem to think of what to do next!
There are a number of reasons why this can happen, but one of the most common ones is a lack of an actionable response from your partner. In most cases, deciding to wrap up the thread is the best thing to suggest...but most of us are just too "polite" to do that, huh? 😉But that's a post for another time.
So, what is an actionable response? Simply put, it's a reply to a thread that manages to give direction to your partner. This has NOTHING to do with matching length of post! It's just a matter of being aware that this is a collaborative effort.
Character A: "I think we should invite our friends out to a party."
Character B: "That's a great idea!"
Character A: "It'll be a formal party. I'm going to work on the invitations tonight. I'll really go all out and make it fancy!"
Character B: "Oh, I can't wait to see what you come up with! I'll be sure to wear the red dress I got over the weekend."
Character A: "I'm sure it looks stunning on you. I don't know what I'm going to wear yet. I think I need to figure out the venue and the details first."
Character B: "You are going to knock it out of the park! You're always so good at organizing everything!"
So, what happened? The conversation above isn't bad! However, there was "burden" placed on the writer of Character A each time. The writer of B has responded each time in similar length, but gives A little to no idea how to continue the conversation. Each reply made it the responsibility of the writer of A to come up with the direction for the conversation. Here's the breakdown:
A: Starts with the opening prompt (the party)
B: Enthuses about prompt, brings up new subject (dress)
A: Compliments B, brings up new subject (uncertainty)
Sometimes your character requires noncommittal responses, and this is OK to do once in awhile! But think about this in real life: If you met someone who was only this reactive to your comments and never really asked about you or your actions... Wouldn't it get a bit exhausting to talk with them? At the very least, they would appear polite but uninterested, and interactions would tend to be short.
Here's a better example for the above, one with actionable responses from B.
Character A: "I think we should invite our friends out to a party."
Character B: "That's a great idea! Which friends, though? The ones from work or school?"
Character A: "Why not both? I think it'd be cool to combine our social groups. Unless you think they wouldn't get along…?"
Character B: "Well, you know how wild I get around Stacy on the dance floor. I wouldn't want it to reflect bad on my performance review …"
Character A: "That's true, you two can get pretty unhinged. But I was thinking of theming it up to be more of a formal party. Like, make fancy invitations and everything!"
Character B: "Oh, that sounds amazing! And less likely I'll start twerking, although the possibility isn't zero. Do you need any help with the invitations? Or anything else?"
Character A: "I should have the invitations under control, but I'd love it if you could brainstorm the decorations. I want to go for a vintage 1950's vibe."
Character B: "I am already making a Pinterest. This is going to be great! Oh, and I just bought the cutest red dress that'll work perfectly for the theme! Do you know what you want to wear? We can go window shopping later if you want!"
Character A: "That would be great! Do you have pics of the dress?"
The above interaction isn't just more equal in engagement, its flow and dialogue is far more natural and prompts more detailed responses! Here's the breakdown for this one:
A: Starts with the opening prompt (the party)
B: Responds asking for more details, prompting a new subject (guest list)
A: Answers, asks for B's opinion
B: Answers, brings up a third party that A can comment on
A: Makes a comment, but chooses not to pursue subject at length; brings up new point of discussion (formal party)
B: Gives opinion, offers help
A: Accepts help, provides further prompt details (party theme)
B: Gives opinion, offers up another subject of clothing, offers up potential next direction/goal of thread (shopping)
There is a lot more "work" involved on both sides in the above example. And this is just with dialogue alone -- using descriptors and physical actions (i.e B could pull up their phone and show A the photos of their dress, or A could have started to playfully mock imitate B's dancing) also gives the other character something to respond to. This works great for Muses who canonically don't say much or are generally quiet in certain scenarios!
The ultimate goal of writing Actionable Responses is to share the responsibility of the scene, so that one writer doesn't feel burdened with directing everything and eventually associate your threads with fatigue, even subconsciously. Communication also plays a big part, too! Your responses may be actionable, but if the other writer isn't picking up any of them, it's time to pause the thread and communicate ooc and see what's up!
"Oh no! I realized I don't write a lot of Actionable Responses! Does that mean I'm a bad writer/horrible person? Do all my partners secretly hate me? Is this why I don't get any responses?"
NO. Realizing the above only means you're learning something new right now, and it is up to you if you want to employ the above suggestions or not. This thread is not meant to shame people -- it is meant to educate, and maybe even put into words what other writers feel, so that they can share and point to it when they feel responsibility is unbalanced in a thread.
