Writing RP Posts

[Clockwise]

Hullo, folks!

I'm a roleplayer who's done plenty of playing over a pretty hefty number of years, and I've seen a very large sample of the different types of posts people like to write. I've experimented with all sorts, and after lots of trying, changing and fiddling, I've finally achieved a variety that I fully enjoy and feel contributes to a story as best as possible. Here's the trouble: it goes against almost everything that's written on Canterlot's official guide to quality roleplaying posts, which is here.

When I post, I prefer to indicate only what other people in the roleplay would actually see in order to encourage interaction and maintain some mystery about my character so that there are things to learn over the course of even a short encounter. I personally think that fluff and padding both, unless pertinent to the emotion or power of a particular scene, are boring to write and even worse to read. As a result, my posts are often relatively short, though still, I like to think, reasonably detailed. Some might think that this means that my characters are very flat, but nothing could be further from the truth--I simply don't reveal all of the inner workings of their minds any more than I must, and even then I try to do it through words and body language.

My main question, then, is this: by what criteria do you judge the strength of a post? Is it by length, or by fluff? How well a character or scene is conveyed, or something else entirely? Because of my nervousness, I find myself unsure of joining the action of the roleplay forums even after having a character application accepted for an entire year! I finally decided to suck it up and come to the Q&A forum to try to get my footing, and maybe some feedback, so any you have would be absolutely appreciated. Would my style fly in the Mane RP, or would it just confuse everyone and make me feel like a meanie snowflake? :C

Thanks a lot!

[lordbrony]

inb4 link spam

to answer your question; it really depends on you since forcing you to conform to a particular writing style will just make it seem more like work.

IMO a RP post should have the following:

Point 1

-Some introspection, internal dialogue or revealed past backstory of your character (not really required but helps to fluff posts)

Point 2

-Acknowledgment of what has gone on before, such as responding when addressed or rehashing information (such as the setting or scene information).

A good example of these 2 could be your character walking into a messy place, he/she can note that the place looks like a disaster (point 2) followed by musing on how it looks like his/her room when he/she was a colt/filly and how his/her parents usually gave him/her grief (Point 1)

Point 3

The last step is to do something that other character(s) can use for their Point 2s, examples can be:

-your character addressing someone or the crowd in general

-your character performing some action

-some game world occurrence or new plot development that other characters can use to advance the plot

how you present these 3 points is up to you.

hope that helps

(ps since you are participating in ROTL it's a good starting ground since the RPs are short)

[RarityDash]

I can see where some of the phrasing in that guide might be slightly misleading. Adding "fluff" I personally don't think makes posts better. Superfluous detail, purple prose, its not what I like to see. If you can convey more with less it will always be better. The focus should be on the writing, and keeping it strong and emotive. Padding out a post with so many unnecessary words is not a sure fire way to make it better; its exceedingly easy to explain too much in a post.

Of course, presenting too little is no good either. It does help if you give us some emotional hook into your character's thoughts. Presenting nothing but dialog and actions is just boring to read and will almost invariably ensure that a reader will fail to become interested in your character. RP is a purely written medium, there's no acting or visuals to engage people and keep them interested in a character on mystique alone. Explaining to some extent your characters thoughts and reasons for doing what they do is very important in keeping them interesting and allowing the other players get to know them.

As for event judging, whether its an official forum even or an unofficial event, it all depends entirely on the judge taste, I'm afraid. There's no consistent answer I can give. On the occasion I've judged posts myself, my personal criteria was to look at how the character was portrayed, writing quality, ease of readability and how the story progressed and weigh them equally. Different things will be important to different judges, however.

Remember that RP is for fun. I wouldn't worry too much about it and jump in. If you enjoy yourself and try to give good posts, I'm confident it will show.

[Clockwise]

Goodness, that was fast. Thank you both for the speedy responses! I'll definitely take your advice into consideration.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

My main question, then, is this: by what criteria do you judge the strength of a post? Is it by length, or by fluff? How well a character or scene is conveyed, or something else entirely?

It's really all up to the individual user. Some users think one or two lines of text is a perfectly acceptable RP post. Some think that any less than a paragraph or two is inadequate. It just depends on that person's particular strengths, talent, experience, knowledge, vocabulary, etc. Only YOU can decide how strong a post is.

This is why the OP (Original Poster) of a topic can decide the 'rules' for the Roleplay they created. Location, for one, but that's standard. But you can OOC determine the length posts should be, what kind of character's you would like to join, whether the RP is Open, Closed, or Invite Only, what the setting is, etc. If you want people to Roleplay the way they do best, then just leave a topic Open and see what happens.

Would my style fly in the Mane RP, or would it just confuse everyone and make me feel like a meanie snowflake? :C

"Writing A Quality Roleplay Post" is just what you said, a guide. It is not a set of rules of how you SHOULD or MUST Roleplay. It's a guide, to help people beef up their posts. We recommend that people write about 5-7 lines of new content. But it's by no means required. We know some people are not very good writers. That guide is for them, to help those who WANT help figuring out what they can do to improve. It's labeled as a guide and not a set of rules because that's exactly what it is. It offers guidance to those who want it, and may even help seasoned Roleplayers.

Personally, I like to explore the inner thoughts and feelings of my characters. Sure, I'll describe the scene a bit, but my RP posts many times probably just consist of internal conflict and such. Stuff that matters to me, but that most people could probably skip unless they were interested in learning more about the character. I do like forcing myself to write more, most of the time. I try to do at least seven lines of content, which isn't difficult when everyone else in the RP around you is doing the same amount.

Roleplaying here can be summed up pretty basically. React to what the person before you has done, and give them something to react to. Make that as long or short as you want, personal dialogue or thoughts totally optional. Just work with people and have fun. Roleplaying is about fun, not rules and guides. The guides and tutorials are there for those who want/need them. If you don't need them, good for you!

[Rosewind]

I think you should do whatever makes you comfortable. The fact you're giving so much meta-thought to your posting detail and style tells me that I can expect an above-average roleplay with you. As others have said, less is more, and more is less -- with fun being the primary goal! Balance is the key.