Advice/Help How to make longer posts?

[KokichiLove]

One of my roleplay partners on a different site nearly ditched me because I made a short post by accident. I see lots of great plots across the web but most of them want multiple paragraphs, something I have major trouble with unless I’m doubling. A lot of my roleplay partners are fine with one liners but I really want to be able to please the other people and match their 3+ paragraph post lengths. Any tips?

 

[rae2nerdy]

Read more. It helps you get a feel for detailed writing.

Also look at your partners post and mimic their style is another good idea.

Lastly describe the setting. Not just what your characters doing but also go into where they are, what it looks like.

 

[KokichiLove]

Read more. It helps you get a feel for detailed writing.

Also look at your partners post and mimic their style is another good idea.

Lastly describe the setting. Not just what your characters doing but also go into where they are, what it looks like.

This really helps, thank you! I’m not much of a reader, that’s something else I’m working to improve on.

 

[Alvaris]

Everything mentioned above is definitely great advice. I think another important part is to get to know your character. Dig deep into their thoughts, feelings, and how they respond to certain situations. Combined a few of these ideas too, for example, talk about how your character feels about the setting they're in. Good luck!

 

[Winter_Wolf]

Everything mentioned above is definitely great advice. I think another important part is to get to know your character. Dig deep into their thoughts, feelings, and how they respond to certain situations. Combined a few of these ideas too, for example, talk about how your character feels about the setting they're in. Good luck!

Yeah this helps, OP.

For instance in a roleplay I’m in, I’m trying to RP a cheerful friendly extrovert. She wanted to check out a cafe, but got sidetracked meeting new people (classmates) outside. So I wrote a bit about how she briefly lamented not actually checking out the cafe like she intended to, but ultimately enjoyed getting to meet and socialize with new people. I even left it off with some optimism, in that she figured there’d be plenty of opportunities to meet with people in the cafe in the future. Ironically for this thread, it was a short post about the cafe thing, but still, it can help expand posts.

 

[Idea]

The first question you should be asking is, do you even want to? When someone says they want large posts, this is more than just asking for more content- it's a request or filter for compatibility of writing style.

If you're just forcing it out and not actually enjoying the larger and more detailed roleplays, then the point is mute. It's fine of course to try to expand your writing, but it's also fine to stay where you are and focus on your efforts on just quality improvement. Your capacity to enjoy what more size and detail have to offer, however, should be at the center of this decision.

I go into more in-depth detail on the concept here but to uber-summarize, the difference between more detailed and sizeable roleplayers from those that have less of it is not so much a matter of effort or skill or tricks, and is much more about how one views posts and value in posts.

For instance adding a little scene where your character spots a mother and child arguing, a casual roleplayer may tend to think "well, if it doesn't matter for the plot, there's no point in including it, it's just stuffing the post which will more bothersome or boring for readers than anything", whereas a more detailed roleplayer might think "this scene is a good scene to showcase some worldbuilding on the mentality and society of the setting and may even set up some foreshadowing for later", whereas a simple roleplayer would just not think about it in the first place unless said more and child directly interacted with the characters.

Talking specifically about more casual or more detailed mindsets, a more casual mindset is more about the "how" whereas a more detailed one is more about the "why". The casual mindset will explain what happened, how it happened and how it connects to the action. The detailed mindset will take its time showing the building up, the stalling, the causes and effects the whole chain of what happens around and during a given event.

There's a lot of good advice out there regarding adding more detail to your posts- but you won't ever be able to do it consistently or well unless you learn to you yourself value the presence of that detail. If you can't bring yourself to caring about the structure of the writing you won't have passion in being creative with it's use. If you find internal monologue too boring or pointless you're unlikely to give it the necessary exploration to make it indeed worth it. If you don't value the descriptions and atmospheric aspects a post can contain, you'll fill your posts with junk, pointless details, repetition and cacocophonic action, instead of detail your partner can actually appreciate.


So, I repeat: it's important that you choose whether you really want to commit to this or whether you'd rather stay in your usual style. Changes in mindset are some of the hardest one will ever encounter in their lives, at least intentional ones. It's not impossible, but it is hard and required.

 

[KokichiLove]

The first question you should be asking is, do you even want to? When someone says they want large posts, this is more than just asking for more content- it's a request or filter for compatibility of writing style.

If you're just forcing it out and not actually enjoying the larger and more detailed roleplays, then the point is mute. It's fine of course to try to expand your writing, but it's also fine to stay where you are and focus on your efforts on just quality improvement. Your capacity to enjoy what more size and detail have to offer, however, should be at the center of this decision.

I go into more in-depth detail on the concept here but to uber-summarize, the difference between more detailed and sizeable roleplayers from those that have less of it is not so much a matter of effort or skill or tricks, and is much more about how one views posts and value in posts.

For instance adding a little scene where your character spots a mother and child arguing, a casual roleplayer may tend to think "well, if it doesn't matter for the plot, there's no point in including it, it's just stuffing the post which will more bothersome or boring for readers than anything", whereas a more detailed roleplayer might think "this scene is a good scene to showcase some worldbuilding on the mentality and society of the setting and may even set up some foreshadowing for later", whereas a simple roleplayer would just not think about it in the first place unless said more and child directly interacted with the characters.

Talking specifically about more casual or more detailed mindsets, a more casual mindset is more about the "how" whereas a more detailed one is more about the "why". The casual mindset will explain what happened, how it happened and how it connects to the action. The detailed mindset will take its time showing the building up, the stalling, the causes and effects the whole chain of what happens around and during a given event.

There's a lot of good advice out there regarding adding more detail to your posts- but you won't ever be able to do it consistently or well unless you learn to you yourself value the presence of that detail. If you can't bring yourself to caring about the structure of the writing you won't have passion in being creative with it's use. If you find internal monologue too boring or pointless you're unlikely to give it the necessary exploration to make it indeed worth it. If you don't value the descriptions and atmospheric aspects a post can contain, you'll fill your posts with junk, pointless details, repetition and cacocophonic action, instead of detail your partner can actually appreciate.


So, I repeat: it's important that you choose whether you really want to commit to this or whether you'd rather stay in your usual style. Changes in mindset are some of the hardest one will ever encounter in their lives, at least intentional ones. It's not impossible, but it is hard and required.

You make good points, but I want to make my posts longer and more detailed anyways, the near-ditching incident was basically just a wake up call.

 

[Idea]

You make good points, but I want to make my posts longer and more detailed anyways, the near-ditching incident was basically just a wake up call.

Well, then I recommend you read the in-depth explanation on the mindsets and start working on shifting yours. I'll offer what help I can, though as I said, it's probably not going to be easy.

 

[KokichiLove]

Well, then I recommend you read the in-depth explanation on the mindsets and start working on shifting yours. I'll offer what help I can, though as I said, it's probably not going to be easy.

I really appreciate it. As someone who is also working on a novel, the skill of paragraphing is needed for that too

 

[Idea]

I really appreciate it. As someone who is also working on a novel, the skill of paragraphing is needed for that too

You'd be surprised at how many would disagree there

 

[Kylesar1]

I wouldn't even try to make longer posts just to have longer posts. I've looked into many posts that request 4-6 paragraphs PER POST. What I ended up seeing in the RP was 4-6 paragraphs full of either repetition or filler. This is especially noticeable when 2 characters engage in dialog. You'll get 3-5 paragraphs of nothing but describing how a character thinks and then the last is like 3-5 word response then the rest being what they thought about what they just said.

What I just read was 1 paragraph's worth of content stretched terribly into 6 paragraphs. This reminds me of how Youtubers will take 2 minutes of content and stretch it into 10 minutes just so they can put more ads in the video. This is how you get videos of house tours on supposedly a don't do this at 3 am video, people doing things that has nothing else to do with the video. That obligatory 10 minute mark is forcing people to post 6 paragraphs per post. Quality over quantity. I would rather 1-2 high quality paragraphs that I can actually do something with, establishes the character's thoughts and feelings...........than a wall of text that very obviously reeks of reaching a quota instead of passion in their work. That isn't to say I'm against 6 paragraphs or walls of text. However, I'm against this requirement of an essay per post. I post walls of text at the beginning of the RP, usually the very first post, when the world, the scenario, and the tone must be established. Lots of paragraphs again when big things are going down. If those things aren't going down, you can expect 1-3 paragraphs per post, most often falling at 2 hearty paragraphs of 4-10 sentences. The range varies greatly post to post.

 

[Tove]

For me I like to let the story tell itself. It's easy to make paragraph posts when you are not doing it because you feel you have to. Just immerse yourself in your character or characters and the world they are in. You'll find character thoughts and descriptions will come to you if you take the pressure off. Now there's a thing as too much description which you don't need to do 700+ words of how a leaf is blowing in the wind. The LOTR books, although awesome, were overly descriptive.

 

[Kylesar1]

For me I like to let the story tell itself. It's easy to make paragraph posts when you are not doing it because you feel you have to. Just immerse yourself in your character or characters and the world they are in. You'll find character thoughts and descriptions will come to you if you take the pressure off. Now there's a thing as too much description which you don't need to do 700+ words of how a leaf is blowing in the wind. The LOTR books, although awesome, were overly descriptive.

That's why I had to drop the LOTR series. About halfway through Fellowship of the Ring, I realized that I didn't really know what was going on in a world I knew every detail to.

Even the Odyssey wasn't that damn descriptive and, despite the language and writing style of the book, was far less painful to read to me than LOTR

 

[Anarchin]

The pressure not to disappoint your parner is enormous. At least to me.So you force yourself to write as much detail as possible but no matter how hard you try you just can't. Staring at the screen wondering what words to use or is detailed enough.....or will my partner like my post??

This presume is killing me. I'm far from the perfect rp parner but I'm doing as much as I can.


At least there is some helpful tips in this thread. Thanks guys.

 

[Tove]

The pressure not to disappoint your parner is enormous. At least to me.So you force yourself to write as much detail as possible but no matter how hard you try you just can't. Staring at the screen wondering what words to use or is detailed enough.....or will my partner like my post??

This presume is killing me. I'm far from the perfect rp parner but I'm doing as much as I can.


At least there is some helpful tips in this thread. Thanks guys.

I can understand that, it's only natural. We all want to do well with our partners and also improve. I like to say you can be writing/roleplaying for years but there's something always new to learn.
Something else that helps is reading. It inspires me to not only create plots but change up my vocabulary or verbs because authors well some always use different words I might not necessarily know what they mean so I look them up put them in sentences to use instead of other words to at least try something different. None of this is an overnight thing it takes time.

 

[Anarchin]

I can understand that, it's only natural. We all want to do well with our partners and also improve. I like to say you can be writing/roleplaying for years but there's something always new to learn.
Something else that helps is reading. It inspires me to not only create plots but change up my vocabulary or verbs because authors well some always use different words I might not necessarily know what they mean so I look them up put them in sentences to use instead of other words to at least try something different. None of this is an overnight thing it takes time.

Yes reading helps a lot especially reading other people's roleplays. I try to fallow the writings of people I think have talent in roleplaying. It really helps to learn from them.

 

[Owl Knight]

I like to use imagery to really help my partners picture the scene. It also helps to give your partners insight into what is going on with your character internally. You'd be surprised how much detail you can inject into a brief moment once you practice. For example:


I nodded my head, "okay." I drew my sword and set my jaw for the fight.

VS.

My foe was not going to back down, I could see it in his eyes. "okay," I muttered through clenched teeth. If he wanted a fight, I would surely give him one. The air around us seemed to crackle with a quiet energy as I reached up slowly, my fingers closing around the handle of my sword.

The oiled blade sung as it slid from the scabbard. I could feel the hum of the blade running up my arm as it caught the light. All the while I sized up my enemy, watching for any twitch or sign of how they might attack.

One is clearly more interesting to read than the other.

 

[Demonic cupcake]

A formula to make okay posts
1 action
1 dialogue
1 thought
More the better
Make it detailed!
That should give you at least 3 sentances

 

[Idea]

A formula to make okay posts
1 action
1 dialogue
1 thought
More the better
Make it detailed!
That should give you at least 3 sentances

Before I switched to size requirements due to matters of simplicity, I used to have a content requirement. Including this plus transitions of time and space, as well as reaction and emotions.

 

[MechanicalSnake]

I'm sure this has all been said, but a few points:

- Action: This is the core of your post, but rather than just stating plainly what your character does, you add their expression, body movement, description of whatever they interacted with.
- Speech: Don't just provide a simple reply to what the other person said; give them something new they could respond to. Include the tone of your character's voice etc. if needed.
- Thoughts and feelings. It's great to know what's going inside your character's mind, especially if their actions and words don't really show it.
- Memories: sometimes your character will get reminded of a past experience, it's perfectly valid to add a stream of thoughts every now and then, revealing something from their background.
- Descriptions: Paint a picture of what your character can see, hear, smell, touch (yup, sight is not the only sense).
- World building: Every now and then, you should also include a piece of information related to the universe you're writing in. When you meet a ruler, you might write something about the dynasty. When you find an interesting mechanism, you might add how it is used and why it was developed, etc. If you discover an unusual species, you might reveal something about the race etc.
- Random stuff: Sometimes you can even add an interesting quote, pose a philosophical question...

If you think about all these and incorporate a bit of each, your post won't be bare.

 

[Bullet]

Any general writing tips you find online that applies to authors will help you in your RP, and just in your writing in general as far as cohesiveness, avoiding filler for the sake of filler, etc.

Establishing the setting is important and a great way to add meaningfully to posts. The environment can set the tone, add depth to characters, etc. But you always want your descriptions to have a purpose. For example, entering a specific characters residence, you might remark about the wide variety colors used in its architecture. This in and of itself may not be important info and could be simply distracting to the reader if you take the time to describe it. However, if it serves a purpose, for example, as a way to indirectly remark about the colorful, flamboyant personality of the character that lives there, then it serves a purpose, and has the side effect of naturally making your post longer.

Also, as was mentioned before, character thoughts paired with their actions helps. Simply describing what your character is doing can be okay for unimportant things, but if they are engaged in a battle fighting for their life, their thoughts won’t be a blank slate. They may be filled with fear, or overconfident, or more focused on protecting someone than the battle itself. All these things can be conveyed to help better describe your character, and gives insight into their personality, motivations, etc. without being introduced through boring exposition.

There are many things you can do to increase the length of your replies, but that will naturally occur as you become a better writer, and I think learning how to be a better writer by using the tools available to you online is the first thing you should do.

 

[Idea]

Any general writing tips you find online that applies to authors will help you in your RP, and just in your writing in general as far as cohesiveness, avoiding filler for the sake of filler, etc.

I just want to add a small disclaimer here: A book and an RP are different at a fundamental level. An RP happens in posts and has to at the very least be coordinated with a partner, but often not even that much control is given as to what will happen in your partner's posts.

So while a lot of book-relevant writing advise is really pertinent to RP, it is also important to keep those differences in mind as you learn.

 

[Shotagonist]

I think 2-3 paragraphs is doable even in a short dialogue, but that style of writing isn't suitable for when you want to play out dialogues of the like:
"Hi." says A. "How are you?"
"Good" says B. "And you?"
A replies: "Pretty okay. Wanna go eat lunch together?" etc. etc.
In cases where short exchanges happen with not so meaningful content, it can be really beneficial to talk about this OOC with your partner to just summarize this in one post. Nobody doing longform posts wants to make a full post just discussing lunchtime, so skipping over your partners responses and just assuming they'd go along (discussed OOCly as mentioned) can help make things go more smoothly in directions you want.

Also, you have more to write if you include "NPCs" or just generally multiple characters into your posts.

 

[Ganryu]

First thing I do, is go for the 5 senses. Helps you be immersive, add to a scene, AND adds to length.

People go for sight, and sometimes sound, but never really elaborate. Pretty much, ask yourself what the character is going through, what do they care about.

If they are a romantic, they'll smile at the forestry around them, the gentle breeze, the sounds of nature.

If they are angry, they cause alot of the noise, stomping a foot, screaming, etc.

If they are interested in a conversation, they will pay close attention to the partner's body language, and detail it.

Those things all help. Just go for the 5 senses, and what your character cares about.