The Long, Medium and Short of Post Length

This is not about which post length is better. I'm not a Nazi about post length. Some people prefer longer posts from RP partners because they need it to get into a character to which they play. Some people--my husband is one--don't do description well, or are in three or more plays. While I'm basically a short poster RPer, if I'm in a specific play with certain characters and I have more time, my posts might be medium to long. Some characters talk a lot, or some role plays between characters need longer posts to show how the character goes from one state of mind to another. A good example of this is the love story of Akiharu Okara and Tsukasa Meiou, which I will talk about at more length in the section on Long posts.

The difference between lengthy and short posts and the reasons for using them are not difficult, once you think about it. Finding your initial style, then adjusting for your RP needs is pretty simple.

But what is the measure of a post?

Short: This can range from one short sentence (Example: "Me.") to a short paragraph of about five sentences. In word length, the short post is no longer short if you pass 200 words. Why do I say that? Because a double-spaced manuscript page of 250 words in MS Word is a single page in a printed book. Short posting is good for fast paced storytelling. Usually the short post consists of dialog with little or no description or inner-dialog.

Pros: This can be good for time saving, short plays of a light nature, or exchanges that are intense.

Cons: They usually reveal very little of the character's interior, though there are techniques to bring out details. However, that's another blog post.

Medium: A wider range, this is anywhere from two paragraphs (about 200 to 250 words) all the way to 500 words (one-half single spaced page in MS Word.) This usually has the works in it: dialog, action, inner thoughts.

Pros: This gives you the maximum scope without bogging down your partner. Great for opening posts and introspective ones alike.

Cons: Is time consuming and not good for fast paced/intense RP scenes.

Long: This is over 500 words and is closer to a solo post than anything else. However, this length is excellent to tell everyone why a character is having a change of heart, or seeing a different point of view than they did before. For an example, see this post that is 771 words long. The set up is: Akiharu and Tsukasa have met on a seaside cliff. He is the enemy of her family, a very great evil. She is a princess of her clan, and a healer, and has never confronted that which makes her daemon kind violent. The two find a common ground--loneliness. And here she has tried to remind Tsukasa he once had glory. The post is here.

See how that post gave you the reason to believe she might be sympathetic to the murderous enemy of her family? That post is long because the character's journey demanded it.

Another time I've posted very long posts was at the beginning of a role play, when I needed to establish time, place, inner world, and possibly years of back story to fill in. This is rare, but it's useful when establishing setting.

Pros: Gives you loads of details, time to expand on back story, point of view and how it changes, and do huge character development.

Cons: Really takes a long time to write, making a partner wait, slows the pace of an RP to near standstill if done regularly during a play, if one or more of the players prefers shorter posts, or has a time limit.

Many times, people post long posts that have little to do with setting up the scene or an internal journey such as Akiharu had to make. While I'm not you and you have to play how you like, I have to say if the content is a lot of words with no meaning to the play in progress itself, it's better to not make someone read it. Short post, medium post, but don't long post if there is no reason to do so during a play. It only makes your partner wait, then have to read something self-indulgent. What's self-indulgent? Five long paragraphs about all the bad times your character has gone through, then responding to a simple question about whether or not the character wants to be served some tea. That's not the give and take of role play. It's self-indulgence.

Whether it's a short, medium or long post role play, now you can determine what length is best. Time, the characters and the storyline all need to be put into consideration when choosing how long your posts will be. Your own style can be to one taste of post length, or change with a particular role play's constraints. What matters is the comfort of you and your fellow players.

Next article will be about Solo Posts vs. A Novel

Continue Playing

It's back. Sanquinem Draconis lives again. We now return you to your regularly scheduled role play.

Sandra

We Interrupt Your Role Play . . .

Hi all,

Sanguinem Draconis is down. This is the host that went down, not the site itself. The webhost is working like a dog to get SD back up--because his own webpage is there as well. Soon as it is up, I'll make an announcement here.

See you on IMs till then,
Sandra

Good writing for online role play (Hint: It's not writing a novel)

I started my novel writing career by role playing every night with about eleven people. They are the ones who pointed me at my computer with orders to write novels. I found there's a vast difference in storytelling in novel writing when compared with online role play. There are also similarities. Both are organic--they evolve as they go, most of the time ending up in places you'd never thought they would. Both involve using the language in similar manner. Both novels and role play need characters drawn vividly with goals or plots to lead the story in a focused direction. That's about where the similarities end.

A character in role play is more like a person than a character in a novel. I'm not saying the character in a novel isn't as vivid or realistic when you read their story. What I mean is the character in your role play has the opportunity to live out the small details and dull/lull periods that a novelist would cut out of a manuscript. That makes role play a very different thing to writing a novel. There's more potential downtime for your character.

Role playing is about acting like another person or persons and making a story with other people. This means some of what you write is going to have to be something the other person can react to, either with dialog or action. I won't go into styles, because there are loads of ways to get your point across. But the actual job of me as a role player is to write a set up for the next post to come from the person I am role playing with. Now, how do you do that?

Start with why you are playing that particular RP. Decide what is the purpose of the scene. Does the C just want out? Which is perfectly acceptable if the character just needs to be out and about. People are guilty of doing that in real life. Is there a specific purpose to which the characters are playing? Why the characters are out really doesn't matter as long as you remember which purpose goes with the scene-in-play and emphasize that in your posts. Don't do descriptions that are so detailed they'd make Anne Rice barf. Give us the details of where the scene is quickly, and only dwell on what is important to your character.

Also, please note that your reason for the scene does not have to be the other character's or player's reason for being in the scene. Like people, each character and role player should have a different point of view--that creates melodrama and melodrama makes for excellent role play.

But Sandra! How do I know what's important when I don't even know why the C want's out?

Yeah, I know, this is a problem, and where one more similarity to novel writing appears: you are writing a first draft, warts, bad grammar, spelling, plotting and characterization and all. Remember the real golden rule here is this: you're not telling the story, this is your characters' story. Let them tell it. If they give you a weird detail, run with it, make it part of the scene, don't forget it or move it aside. Trust your character to know what needs to be done for their story. That's what I've always done and it has always served me well.

The bottom line is write to the purpose of the scene, even if it's just an everyday conversation about nothing in particular. Remember your characters can and will tell their own story--and may do it better than you--so trust them to tell it. Most of all, remember that role play writing is a give and take, the opportunity to make a story that is held in joint custody with other people, a living organism that should spell fun.

Next subject will be about long, medium and short posts and how most effectively to use them.

Good RP,
Sandra

Writing, Post Length, and Role Play

About two years back, some jerk asshole came into Tales From The Daily Prophet and began to twit people about their spelling, grammar and how long their posts were. This man claimed to be a published author, declining to state his name, and happily took the conversation private so we did not disturb the room. He then suggested that I basically turn Tales From The Daily Prophet into an English class by making a rule that everyone had to do a spelling and grammar check on their posts, they should all be of a certain length--I believe he recommended at least two good solid paragraphs of five or more sentences a piece--and this would help keep the "state of online role play" up to a certain standard.

Horseshit.

Over the next few posts I will be discussing things that involve role play:

• Good writing for online role play (Hint: It's not writing a novel)


• The difference between a long post, medium post and short post, and when to use which


• Solo posts and how that differs from a novel


• Why short posts are not bad if that's all you do-Economy of words works!


• Why long posts are not always better no matter what the RP Nazi's say


• Keeping the scene short or making it long


• Recognizing the next step in the plot

If there are any other writing and plotting subjects you want me to mouth off about, just leave a comment here and I'll add it to the list.

Good RP,
Sandra

Characters That Make You Go Huh?

I know a few of us have this problem: A character will come up and say they are ours. They will even give us their avatar selection and *gasp* that avatar will be available on the Reserve. They tell us their name.

Then nothing else.

It's really hard to get stuff from some characters. Children are always a problem, the younger they are, the worse their language skills can be. Sometimes this is an issue with magical beings or non-English speaking characters, as well. They don't think in our language.

Sometimes you know a character, such as Ashe's Lokin Wilder. He also knew he had an older brother Ashe would play, named Echo. But, beyond that, there were loads of younger brothers and sisters, some of them so young no one wants to go there. The family needs filling out. And some of this also happens when people have specific jobs, like in the MLE (a need for a partner), or a musician (bandmates are needed). Anyway, you get the idea.

One of the things that role play is really about is establishing connections. If you don't connect with other players and their characters, then you're doing what I do--writing a novel. And that's just fine, if that's what you intended when you "walked" into Tales From The Daily Prophet. But what do you do with disconnected characters?

Find out if they know who has their counterparts. There is a forum you can post things on. You're allowed to show the link twice a day in the room. If you have an idea in specific of who has characters related to yours, IM or PM the player and discuss it.

In the case of those errant Cs, the ones who tell you nothing, my advice is to either use the forums, or do what Ashe and I do: You don't get play until you tell me more about you.

Good RP,
Sandra