Advice/Help I get burnt out quite easily - Advice?

[Quinnigan]

I get really into building roleplays; the world, the characters, a main plot, all planned out to the finest details before my partner and I even make the first post. It goes great at first. We're both replying quickly and I love playing my character. Thing is, after a week or two, I lose interest. I put so much work into planning it all out, building a complex world and general plot, but I get overwhelmed (or maybe overworked?) and can't seem to keep it all up.

Do a lot of people have this problem? Has anyone had this problem in the past and found something that helps? I'd love some feedback or advice! I'm desperate T^T

 

[Idea]

Hmmm... what exactly overwhelms you? As in what sort of thing do you have trouble keeping up with?

 

[Quinnigan]

Hmmm... what exactly overwhelms you? As in what sort of thing do you have trouble keeping up with?

I suppose it's the pressure of driving the plot by myself. I plan the world/plot with my partner so we both know the direction the RP is going, but I seldom get someone who drives those plot ideas with me. It might be that I'm not getting the level of participation I'm expecting of my partners. Not quite sure how to fix this problem though... :C

 

[something tookish]

keeping up with worldbuilding and plotting is taxing, especially when a lot of the work is one-sided. i think what you need is to find people who are as enthusiastic and story-driven as yourself who will put in as much work into the roleplay as you seem to.

i'm someone who adores world-building myself and by now, i can tell within the first ten minutes of a conversation with a new partner whether or not i'll get burned out simply from the enthusiasm and the willingness to trade ideas they express.

it's okay to get burned out. this is a hobby. if a roleplay ever gets taxing to the point where its a chore, then it's time to let that go even if it was short lived.

nothing is wrong with requiring a lot of participation in your roleplays. these are collaborative efforts after all. what i see here is that you may need to put your foot down and change some of your rp requirements.

'a willingness to engage in active plotting and communication' isn't that unusual of a requirement.
hell, it's been on my rules list for years now.

 

[Idea]

I suppose it's the pressure of driving the plot by myself. I plan the world/plot with my partner so we both know the direction the RP is going, but I seldom get someone who drives those plot ideas with me. It might be that I'm not getting the level of participation I'm expecting of my partners. Not quite sure how to fix this problem though... :C

Well, first things first: Are you acessing your partners properly? Are you making double sure that the direction and type of worldbuilding you like corresponds to what they are looking for? One thing to keep in mind is the rather obvious (but obvious things are also the most easily forgotten ones) fact that a person will be more committed to what they like and what they want to do as opposed to what they didn't want to or are just dragged along for. I'm not talking just being ok with doing things in this or that way, but showing interest and innitiative.

If they didn't it's rather possible that the way you were doing things was more imposing on them than a full collaboration. The vast majority of RPers on RPN operates from a more ad-lib style/go with the flow style of writing, rather than a properly planned and structured one, they just prefer/have more fun that way. For many the surrounding elements may be seen as a hurdle or as something to come up with on the fly, rather than a central aspect of the hobby as well.

If they did show innitiative, then check for whether you are giving them due credit for their effort. It's kind of human nature to assign ourselves credit for what isn't of our own, but take it from others, and this sort of mindset makes it harder to appreciate the ideas of others and feel like we're being given a bigger burden than we actually are.

With that check you can try to overcome matters of mindset and compatibility. If it doesn't help the problem enough, then you may want to revise your world building. This is far too big a topic for me to tackle here, but one specially important rule of thumb is that the most important aspect of worldbuilding is consistency, this is, that everything in the worldbuilt world follows without fail that world's internal logic and that every consequence is derived from a cause within said internal logic. If in your world everyone can make light magically, the idea of using candles is ludicrous, so there wouldn't be candles or even the concept of candles in that world, for example. There is a lot more to know, but with this rule of thumb alone you already get a strategy to figure what's gonna happen next: Just take the rules of the world, take what exists in it, and try to realistically play what happens next or what else might come from those rules.



Of course, while these solutions may help, you have to keep one thing in mind: writing is a productive activity. Like it or not, writing takes effort and making a story means going through the lows points and boring parts to make the great parts work. You simply can't avoid downtime and burning out. So instead of focusing just on avoiding it, you should focus on what to do to overcome it and to continue to push even during a burnout. What I personally do is plan ahead and have spare material that I can use whenever I am lacking inspiration or need some filler. I also use having in-depth knowledge of my characters, world and everything around them to be sure to always have somewhere to draw from.

Each person will have methods that suit them better or worse, but you should never let being down be a reason to give up. If you feel you are doing all the work, and you are sure that your partner is just as interested but not doing as much work (oddly), then you can always talk to them and try to distribute tasks as such better.


Anyway, hope you find this post useful, good luck and ahppy RPing!

 

[Quinnigan]

keeping up with worldbuilding and plotting is taxing, especially when a lot of the work is one-sided. i think what you need is to find people who are as enthusiastic and story-driven as yourself who will put in as much work into the roleplay as you seem to... 'a willingness to engage in active plotting and communication' isn't that unusual of a requirement.
hell, it's been on my rules list for years now.

You seem like my kind of roleplayer, in the way that you like to storybuild as much as I do ^^

I do tend to be a little lenient about letting people be passive in roleplays (hence me being unsatisfied and getting me burned out), so I might do what you suggest and be up front about expecting some help. Better than wasting both of our time with something that won't go anywhere. Thank you so much for the advice friend!

 

[Quinnigan]

Well, first things first: Are you acessing your partners... hope you find this post useful, good luck and ahppy RPing!

Thank you for taking the time to offer me such in-depth advice! I really appreciate it.

I've read through all of your points and I think you had some good ones. I think I'm just not compatible with my partners and not working together on enough to keep us both satisfied. I'm trying to push a plot and not getting what I hoped for from them, which makes me push more to make sure they're as involved as I am. Bad cycle. It's a tricky problem to solve but at least I can work on it. Thank you again for your help!

 

[something tookish]

You seem like my kind of roleplayer, in the way that you like to storybuild as much as I do ^^

I do tend to be a little lenient about letting people be passive in roleplays (hence me being unsatisfied and getting me burned out), so I might do what you suggest and be up front about expecting some help. Better than wasting both of our time with something that won't go anywhere. Thank you so much for the advice friend!

and you my friend, seem like my kind of roleplayer as well. *:･ﾟ✧

no problem at all! its something i forced myself to learn. besides, when i read your problem i was like, "holy crap, what a blast from the past, i have to give 'em some advice now!" it's not a bad thing to have standards, no matter what people say. this is something you do for your enjoyment. the point is that you get to enjoy it.

 

[Idea]

Thank you for taking the time to offer me such in-depth advice! I really appreciate it.

I've read through all of your points and I think you had some good ones. I think I'm just not compatible with my partners and not working together on enough to keep us both satisfied. I'm trying to push a plot and not getting what I hoped for from them, which makes me push more to make sure they're as involved as I am. Bad cycle. It's a tricky problem to solve but at least I can work on it. Thank you again for your help!

You're welcome Knowing the problem is half the path to solving it!

 

[Quinnigan]

and you my friend, seem like my kind of roleplayer as well. *:･ﾟ✧

no problem at all! its something i forced myself to learn. besides, when i read your problem i was like, "holy crap, what a blast from the past, i have to give 'em some advice now!" it's not a bad thing to have standards, no matter what people say. this is something you do for your enjoyment. the point is that you get to enjoy it.

Good to know I'm not the only one who's had this problem. Guess I just buckle down and not be a pushover XD