Quality of posts

[Asemir]

Read. Lots and lots of reading.

You won't believe what you pick up from the authors you read. Sentence structure, flow, etc. You can't write well without reading a large amount.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

As someone whose only RP experience outside of RPG videogames, comes from play-by-post sites similar to this(barring that which took place on FB many eons...er years, ago), one of the most important things I learned is something many others pointed out here. There is a definite skill level to writing in such an environment. When I started I was almost 22 years old, now all of 9 days from 30. I have to say that my ability to write has grown exponentially in those years of practice.

For example, I'm not a great fighter, I understand how things work and can figure out counters plenty of times, but translating that into words is far more difficult. In my mind I can see the movement and what would be vulnerable, but I can't get it to sound right hardly ever. I understand how blasters and slugthrowers work well enough, but again describing everything in detail is a challenge for me. I find it easier to get into Kurayami's head and give insight into his mental and emotional state at the time, leading to longer posts that many have considered overly long. The thing is, I am also introspective, so it is natural for me to overthink things to a ridiculous degree. I try to give people some insight into the character and his motivations while leaving the combat a bit more vague. It's just how my style developed and why you don't see me in invasions or other PvP threads. Doesn't mean I haven't tried before, but last time i did, well the outcome was not a good one to say the least.

Now back to the main point(sorry for rambling, I do that sometimes but the above does tie in, please be patient). I learned early on to pay close attention to the details in every post during a thread. This leads to a slower post rate for me as I will go and read the latest replies to the thread and see how I can work with what is going on. So even posts that are very short, if they contain at least a bit of detail or response to the overall situation, I can usually figure out a reply to them of decent length by reading between the lines. It certainly isn't easy and doesn't always work. There are writers though who need a bit of a guiding hand for setup to react to, I am terrible at setting up situations, but I can react just fine to most given ones that I may find myself in. So try and give them a bit of a push or ask a question that makes them consider why they are there, what is their vested interest, or take an action that they have to think on to respond. I have noticed that I get longer, and usually better quality posts if I can work out a way to make that happen. Just my thoughts on the whole thing.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Tl;dr everyone's replies.

Post quality and post length are too totallydifferent things.

A post can be three lines and still have the same impact, sometimes more so, then the same thing written in amongst a lot of blurb meant to simply fill the gap. For example, if your in a PvP fight, the last thing I wanna see is your attack lost in three paragraphs about what your character is thinking and feeling. That being said, I have fought with people like [member="Ajira Cardei"] who took three paragraphs to describe something as simple as a shifting stance, and that was a damn good fight, even if the writer did make me work damn hard.

Another time when short posts are OK is during a conversation. It's not always nessecary to bulk it out with a description of your surroundings. But some people, like [member="Seydon of Arda"] are more or less incapable of writing a short post because it's not in their nature and they're damn good at describing the world they see in their mind without it getting in the way of the point of the post.

Some people like [member="sabrina"], and I really hope she doesn't mind me pulling her up in this, suffer from dyslexia. Sabrina however is incredible to write with, she takes hits and she's game for pretty much anything and her commend her for keeping at it no matter what. Someone I would highly reccomend writing with if you ever have the oppurtunity.

I think the essential thing I'm trying to get at is this. Shot posts don't mean poor quality. Don't look down your nose at poor grammar and give those with less experience more of a chance. We've all got to start somewhere and experience plays a HUGE part in your ability to write, and I'm not just talking about years, I'm talking about something as little as a month can make a difference from one thread to the next. Even now if I go back, while I enjoy re reading old threads I can always see ways to improve.

I noticed someone mentioned workshops while I skimmed. In my opinion, they don't work for a very simple reason - no one likes being told how to write. There are some things you have to learn through trial and error and I strongly believe writing is one of them.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Creative writing takes guts. Even more guts to show people your work, no matter what the format, even more guts to creative write with others and have others view your writing. So regardless of experience or not, simply having a go at it, has my applause.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

I've read a billion crappy ten-paragraph posts, and I've been thrilled and terrified by 50-word posts.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

[member="Anaya Fen"]

I don't think that most here are trying to say that post quality=post length. And many understand that experience is a major contributing factor, as well as other issues that may be present. Also a workshop isn't designed to say that they must write exactly like that or they are bad and should be ignored. A workshop would be meant to point out, in a constructive manner, how to improve. Which does allow for trial and error in an environment where others are actively trying to help you improve. Whether or not they choose to take that experience to heart is still up to them. If the content of the post can be distilled into a single sentence and it makes sense in context, is clear as to what is happening, and is able to be understood reasonably well, then I would consider that a quality post. Problem is managing that in a single line is hard. Far more difficult in my opinion than even a couple sentences.

The only reason I mentioned the length of time I have been on forums like this is to point out that where I am now took a long time to get to. So I have had more than my share of good and bad experiences and plenty of criticisms. But I looked at what was said to me and tried to see where everyone else was coming from. I understand the frustration that comes when trying to decipher a single line that is unclear, I used to be that writer myself, but over time as I kept writing I started to see where I could add description that was relevant to what was happening. If you think that everyone's post is damning those who don't write the same way, then you should take the time to read through the responses. I never once said that I am better than they are, or that they have to change, I simply stated that there are frustrations that one feels when reading a post that doesn't provide all relevant information, and I gave my personal approach to the "problem."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

You'll notice the beginning of my post says Tl;dr.

I didn't read everyone else's two cents, just gave my own based on the first post. Not looking to debate, or shoot down anyone else's opinion. Just giving my own.

 

[Marius]

First of all - my bad for putting the word length up in the foremost post. I guess it has gotten people confused. I will repeat again as I did in one of my previous posts - Quality. That's the key word, it is also in the name of the topic. It is my mistake for putting a bit of emphasis on length, I apologize for that.

Tempers, statements like "well your not one to judge," inferiority complexes, personal insults, and lists of reasons as to why they are right and I am wrong tend to crop up in armfulls when this happens, no matter how gracious I be.

Indeed, people tend to be quite aggressive when you're simply trying to lend a hand.

I check people's prior RP threads before I agree to post with them. Maybe that's snobby of me, but I don't want to do 90% of the work driving a thread when the other person writes 1 sentence every post. Not my cup of tea.

It all comes to personal preference in the end, I guess. As James Justice said earlier: " Different strokes for different folks as my old man used to say. "

Some don't mind, some do. I guess I am somewhere in between, if thats possible.

If you want to figure out how to get people to learn and improve, you're gonna have to figure out how to make it worth their while. I would love to see some sort of concerted effort to help people improve their posting. It's just not practical to penalize people for their shortcomings, but until you find a way to incentivize improvement, the status quo will remain.

Yeah it's always about value-in-exchange, I assume. As I said earlier, I am against any sort of penalization for lower quality of a post or anything like that. Simply, I propose the community to collaborate the most with each other. That is, hopefully, supposed to help people improve.

There are writers though who need a bit of a guiding hand for setup to react to, I am terrible at setting up situations, but I can react just fine to most given ones that I may find myself in.

It is this whole pro-active and reactive function that some people lack in their posting. DO NOT get me wrong, I do not say it in any way to put someone down, I simply state how it is and it is certainly an area everyone would love to improve.

Post quality and post length are too totallydifferent things.

True! I've confused the masses a bit with my first post I presume, despite the topic's name. I apologize for that and I concur with your statement.

Shot posts don't mean poor quality. Don't look down your nose at poor grammar and give those with less experience more of a chance.

Not always are such posts of poor quality, but most are. Of course, I do not have the quantitative data to back this arguement but let's say I've noticed that. Additionally, I am all up for giving the less experienced more of a chance, and that is what I am suggesting all the time. I feel like most people have misunderstood my intentions. Again, I state I do not aim to put others down but the opposite - pull them up. I apologize again if in some of my replies I have been confusing.

Creative writing takes guts. Even more guts to show people your work, no matter what the format, even more guts to creative write with others and have others view your writing. So regardless of experience or not, simply having a go at it, has my applause.

That is correct. I guess it is a trait of mine to always aim for progress as much as it is possible in all aspects of life.


Additionally, I am going to state again and concur with the opinions that post quality is not post length. I might have confused you with my first post, my apologies.

BUT!

In some occassions, generally more descriptive posts do require more than one or two sentences. It is really situational and I would like to repeat the whole pro-active and reactive issue brought up earlier. I think that is something very important for writers to generally look to improve. Of course, that is my opinion.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

[member="Marius"]

I understand that it is difficult to do well. I find myself second guessing most of what I post after I do, probably part of why I have issue being the one to initially start anything major. I certainly try to push myself and improve, but doing so takes time. Being as I can get rather impatient, I often end up getting frustrated with my attempts to figure out a start to a thread and end up letting someone else take the reins. Sometimes I will have gone through multiple hours of writing and re-writing a description just to have it feel wrong in the end, and have found that if I can focus on my reaction, rather than trying to give the other person a reason to react, that my writing is better. I try to give them something to work off of, but try not to limit or direct their reaction to any major extent, if that makes any sense I have no idea.

 

[sabrina]

Some people like [member="sabrina"], and I really hope she doesn't mind me pulling her up in this, suffer from dyslexia. Sabrina however is incredible to write with, she takes hits and she's game for pretty much anything and her commend her for keeping at it no matter what. Someone I would highly reccomend writing with if you ever have the oppurtunity.

Thank you and never an issue for me to be used as example