Important Resource For ALL Members: What is "EFFORT?"

WHAT IS EFFORT AND HOW CAN I SHOW MORE EFFORT?





ef·fort
/ˈefərt/
noun

1. a vigorous or determined attempt.





Effort is going to be a word we see thrown around a lot for the next ten or eleven months as we approach a new era that has never before been seen in XWL. Effort is going to be what is used to judge the promos and storylines going forward more than ever before. Now, what is effort? We understand what the actual definition is but what kind of effort are we looking for? What is going to be XWL’s definition of effort? What do we think of when we think of effort? Let’s go over that…





WHAT IS EFFORT?





Effort is a promo that’s at least 300 WORDS before any coding is implemented.

Effort is a co-promo where EVERYONE pulls their own weight and doesn’t drag a promo down.

Effort is being able to look at a promo and knowing there was THOUGHT put into this.

Effort is knowing someone took their time with a promo and DIDN'T write it in 10 minutes.

Effort is seeing at least some coding used to make a promo LOOK better.





HOW CAN I SHOW MORE EFFORT?
TAKE A LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES BELOW





WORD CHOICE
ASK YOURSELF WHICH SOUNDS BETTER

“John Cena does his You Can’t See Me taunt to his opponent and then punches him”

or

“John Cena gets in the face of his opponent and he raises his hand. His fingers are extended as he waves his hand back and forth in front of his face, telling his opponent ‘You Can’t See Me’ before winding back his fist to clock his opponent in the jaw”





CODING
ASK YOURSELF WHICH LOOKS BETTER

or

John Cena gets in the face of his opponent and he raises his hand. His fingers are extended as he waves his hand back and forth in front of his face, telling his opponent ‘You Can’t See Me’ before winding back his fist to clock his opponent in the jaw

[WADE BARRETT]
John Cena wasn’t holding back with that punch one bit!

[MVP]
I’ve been on the receiving end of a few John Cena punches and they are never pretty.

The crowd erupts in cheers as his opponent staggers backward and John Cena doesn’t even give him the chance to breathe. John Cena goes on the attack with a few more shots to the face of his opponent.





USE THE NUMBERS ADVANTAGE
WHETHER ALONE OR BY YOURSELF

If you are writing a promo as a stable and your stable as four members, use all four members to bounce off of each other rather than having one person every last bit of talking and acting. It’s easy to create conversations when more people are involved. It’s easy to make a promo feel more realistic when you have members of a stable interact with each other throughout a promo.





USE PICTURES AND GIFS
IT HELPS PEOPLE IMAGINE A PROMO

Screencaptures and GIFs can be a great way to spice up your promo. It helps people imagine the scene better than your words might be able to. Don’t use pictures or GIFs that are too big and could take away from your segment. You don’t want people to get distracted. You want the main focus of your promo to be what your character is saying and doing. Some characters have fan sites that you can use to find screen captures. If your character doesn’t have a fansite, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. If you don't have any pictures you can elevate your actions by painting a picture that your picture couldn’t normally tell.