[OOC] Wardens of the Glade: A Light Fantasy RP

[ERode]

The secret for me is that I don't draft, proofread, cross-reference, or revise.

For this particular case, these posts are bolstered by the fact that they are introductory posts, and thus have a lot more narrative 'time' to cover. We can freely yap about the entirety of the journey, our character's internal monologues with regards to the city and/or festival, and don't have to involve any other PCs in the yapper-y. So yeah, there's an acceptance that most of the post that is written wouldn't be addressed ICly by others.

Ultimately though, long posts are more a consequence of someone vibing rather than an objective, especially if you're not in an RP that has strict minimum words per post hijinks.

[Yankee]

@shallow grave At risk of potentially cluttering up the OOC...

My answers

Like ERode said, since these are the opening posts its way easier to freely write without worrying that you're going to mess someone else up. Exposition, character thoughts and feelings, etc. added to their actions just kind of naturally build the post out too.

I'm actually the same as you. It takes me hours to write a paragraph sometimes. I was looking up the history of sugar for my own post, making notes on travel, culture, etc. in our real world to sort of apply them to this fantasy one. I do a lot of research too and still get tons of shit goofed up, and I write slow. And I get easily distracted. So it sometimes takes me days to write even short posts, just working on it in chunks. Either that or a whole day. The one I just posted took me a few days for sure (that I then had to slightly adjust as other people posted ahead of me. I even got sniped by ERode writing this lmao).

Do you just trust each other to read everything multiple times and look for stepping stones to your next posts?

Yes! I do that, at least. I love reading everyone's writing, I've reread all of the opening posts in this RP quite a few times already. It's half "I want to read this again" and half "I want to make sure I didn't miss something." Which leads me to...

Do you send your responses accepting that large parts of your post simply won't be addressed as other players perform their characters in incongruent ways?

Also yes! If everyone always responded to every single other action it probably wouldn't flow as nicely. Well, I'm sure a lot of people could make it work. I can't without my writing become stilted I feel, even if I want to. Depending on the character I'm playing, I'll just focus on what I feel I have to respond to then pick a few other things that I think might jump out to my chara.

Anyway, if you feel there's a learning curve then just lean into it. I'm sure you'll do fine! There are also some decent guides in the Articles section of the forum you could look into, or just jumping in and finding a group or partner will prob work the best at judging what's too much and what's too little. It definitely depends on who you are writing with, too.

[mickilennial]

Really enjoying reading this, but like... How long does it take you to write each response? It takes me over an hour to hit 300 words, including my drafting, proofreading, cross-referencing, revising...

These are long, long posts. How do you manage to do so much without manipulating other characters, or stifling their players? Whenever I write more than 4 paragraphs I feel like I'm doing too much in one post and I need to cut it back to let others respond.

@shallow grave

It depends, but generally a 300-600 word post from me is drafted anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours depending on inspiration and time management. If I am depressed it could be me staring at a blank page for days at a time, however...

I need to cut it back to let others respond.

@shallow grave

When I am a player sometimes this is exactly what you need to do, but sometimes quick snappy small paragraphs is all you need. Sometimes you want to get more introspective and give others more material to digest.

Do you send your responses accepting that large parts of your post simply won't be addressed as other players perform their characters in incongruent ways? Do you just trust each other to read everything multiple times and look for stepping stones to your next posts?

@shallow grave

I expect at minimum other players to grasp the dialogue and principal actions done in a post whether I am player or GM.

[AlteredTundra]

Really enjoying reading this, but like... How long does it take you to write each response? It takes me over an hour to hit 300 words, including my drafting, proofreading, cross-referencing, revising...

These are long, long posts. How do you manage to do so much without manipulating other characters, or stifling their players? Whenever I write more than 4 paragraphs I feel like I'm doing too much in one post and I need to cut it back to let others respond.

Do you send your responses accepting that large parts of your post simply won't be addressed as other players perform their characters in incongruent ways? Do you just trust each other to read everything multiple times and look for stepping stones to your next posts?

Sorry for all the questions (especially as I'm not even playing) but I'm just getting back into RP and these longer posts have always fascinated me, and I'd like to do it myself, but I want to do it in a way that's considerate, where I've always found myself becoming domineering.

Anyway, again, I'm enjoying the read. Great work, really.

@shallow grave

Intro posts are always a special case because they're the thing you want to really sell your character, but even past that, I do like to yap when I'm writing. Part of it is just writing until I find a flow and then making the decision to end it on a sweet note. Another part is plotting with others and getting a scene together, but the other parts of it? Just going with the flow. At the end of it, having that organic element of bouncing off of each other is what really allows me to write lengthy posts.

300 words per post isn't bad honestly. I remember when I couldn't even do that much. I think as long as you're having fun with it, length is secondary.

[Carlyle]

@shallow grave

Any post I write depends on my motivation to write. Sometimes I hyper-fixate and bang it out in mere minutes, but then I have moments where I keep distracting myself (*cough* video games and youtube *cough*) and it takes me hours if not days to post any material. Typically, though, it takes me an hour on average/most to write a post for the roleplays I participate in.

Lengthy posts can be established by being descriptive with your writing. It can be information in regards to the scenery, or perhaps even your character's thoughts about the current scene. If you do this, you in turn pad out your writing without the need to step on someone else's toes. It causes your post to appear as if you're doing more when you're not doing much at all.

Just be careful not to delve into purple prose territory, however.

As for your other question, I fully expect everyone to read each other's posts regardless if certain parts of it are applicable or not. Your character doesn't have to react to everything, but you still have to pay attention to everything. Roleplay is a collaborative exercise, you're not here to jerk yourself off because you want to solo-write a novel instead like some people I know on this site. The point of roleplay is to build off each other to make something interesting; not become the new GRRM.