In Model UN, out-of-character (OOC) writing refers to any text produced by a delegate that speaks as themselves—a student, participant, or author—rather than as the assigned country, historical figure, or cabinet role. It is distinguished from in-character (IC) writing, where the delegate must reflect the policies, voice, and constraints of their portfolio.
OOC writing typically appears in:
- Position papers, particularly in introductory framing or methodology notes, though most chairs expect the bulk of a position paper to be IC.
- Author's notes in crisis arcs, historical committees, or specialized agencies, often appended in brackets (e.g., [OOC: my character would not know this yet]) to flag meta-knowledge limits.
- Backroom communications with the dais, such as clarifying questions about mechanics, requests for medical breaks, or notes about a co-delegate's absence.
- Post-conference reflections, feedback forms, and academic write-ups submitted to advisors or judges.
The OOC/IC distinction matters most in crisis committees and specialized agencies where roleplay immersion is graded. Sending an IC directive that references 21st-century technology while representing a 1815 Congress of Vienna minister, for instance, breaks character; chairs may reject the directive or deduct from awards. Conversely, OOC notes are the appropriate channel for raising genuine procedural or welfare issues that the character could not address.
Some circuits—particularly the North American collegiate circuit (e.g., HNMUN, WorldMUN) and crisis-heavy conferences like ChoMUN or UCBMUN—formalize the convention by requiring OOC content to be bracketed or written on separately colored notepaper. Others, especially THIMUN-style General Assembly simulations, rarely use the term because nearly all writing is expected to remain in the voice of the member state.
Delegates should keep OOC content brief, factual, and clearly marked. Overusing OOC asides to lobby the dais, complain about other delegates, or smuggle in personal arguments is generally penalized as poor decorum and undermines the simulation for others in the room.
Example
At ChoMUN 2023, a delegate in the Napoleonic Wars cabinet appended "[OOC: requesting clarification on troop movement mechanics]" to a directive so the crisis staff could answer without breaking the historical roleplay.