the “yes, and-” approach & why it’s important in rp.
i think most people are at least somewhat aware of the yes, and- approach, but for those who aren’t, here’s a quick rundown of it. the yes, and approach basically started out as a concept for improv comedy (but it is extremely useful for rp as well and we will get to that). the approach is basically that no matter what your fellow actor presents to you, you shall not negate it, but instead roll with it. now why is this important in the rp community? well, i’m sure we’ve all been there at some point, on one end or another. two people are rping together, but the thread doesn’t seem to go anywhere, and might even get dropped due to it. and it might look a little something like this:
muse one reply: “hey, you don’t look so good. are you okay?”
muse two reply: “yeah, i’m fine.”
muse one reply: “are you sure?”
muse two reply: “yeah. thanks though.”
muse one reply: “okay, if you say so. i’m carla, by the way. what’s your name?”
muse two reply: “kate.”
you probably get the gist, that muse two does not really engage in anything. they never ask questions, they don’t build on anything, they just reply to what has already been said. this way, all the focus is put on muse two, and none of the focus is put on muse one. this will get very difficult for muse one to work with after a few replies. a better way for muse two to write replies here, might be “yeah, i’m fine. i just got off of work, so i’m just a little tired. thank you, though. how are you?” or when muse one asks if they’re sure “no, actually, i got into a struggle” or something like that. this way, you have your muse build on the story and drive things forward and give muse one something to reply to.
you don’t necessarily have to have your muse say anything either, if they for various reasons don’t usually talk much. have them do something. think something. react to something. show something. anything that the other muse can then respond to.
but the yes, and- approach isn’t only useful in character, but out of character too!
when you want to interact with someone or just get to know them, it’s a good idea to use the yes, and- approach here, too. an example below of what happens if you don’t, which i’ve personally encountered a lot is this:
mun one: hello! wanna plot?
mun two: sure, i’d love to!
mun one: cool!
here, mun one is asking to plot, but when the other agrees, they don’t come with any ideas themselves, nor asks if the other mun has any ideas. i’ve seen this kind of interaction keep going for quite a bit, with mun two trying to make some effort, and mun one continuing to give one-word responses. this will make mun two feel like all the plotting responsibility is put on them. instead of simply writing short 1-5 word responses like ‘cool’ and ‘sounds great’ and ‘i’m down’, try to engage by following up with some questions, like: 1) what would you be interested in? 2) do you have a wishlist? 3) what verse and/or au should we have our muses interact in? 4) should we do something pre-established or do a first interaction? 5) how do you think your muse would react to xyz?
this way, you’re actively driving the conversation forwards. this is important that both muns do. after all, roleplaying, talking, as well as plotting is a two-way street. you kind of need both to put in some effort to get anywhere.