And to that I would say I don't think they are thinking that far. Maybe it was like that at first, I wouldn't know, but at this point I think people just do it because they see others do it and assume that's the way to do it.
As a man who struggles with a learning disability, I find it amusing that they're appointing literacy a scale that could be seen as "How many words can you put in to pad out your school essay?"
Let me just start in by saying this, as I read it a couple different times in the previous comments: LITERACY DOES NOT EQUAL WORD COUNT
(and this comes from someone who was RPing long, long before these silly labels ever popped up and became the meta)
I have seen multi-paragraph responses of utter garbage. I have read short stories of that have taken time to read that would have been better spent scrubbing the toilet with a toothbrush. Juxtaposed to that, I have read and received posts that were short, but beautiful and eloquent descriptions that lit the imagination afire.
When relating to RT's, this is why you outline what kind of literacy you are looking for AS WELL as what kind of post length you expect.
Now that I got that out of the way, "literacy" is relative. What one person might consider mediocre writing might be absolutely wonderful to another. This is because the quality of writing is appraise by the reader. And as we should all be fully aware, everyone has different standards. Now, that's not to say that I don't think everyone should be able to appreciate a good story/writer. But sometimes a subject matter can be "too advanced" and it loses the reader. The writing might seem overdone or confusing to them because they can't keep up with it. Is it a failure on literacy? No. It's just not to their cup of tea, so to speak. I think everyone should agree that a three-liner post rife with grammar and punctuation mistakes is definitely NOT literate. But for those starting out (or comfortable with this style), someone who is very literate in their posting style might come off as snobbish, "trying too hard", or that they are "writing a novel". But as I said, you do not have to go on for 12,000 words to be considered literate. You can have literate writing in as little as a paragraph if need be.
A lone, blinking light was all that served to cast a dim glow across the cramped cockpit of a vagrant starship. The nearly inaudible buzz of the green diode permeated the otherwise cold silence in a slow rhythm: On... off... on... off...
Condensation spread itself in a layer of fine droplets that clung to the inside of the ferro-glass portal of the ship. The singular, electronic flicker reflected and refracted off of each individual globule of moisture. It cast a vision not unlike a microcosm to the infinite spread of stars glinting in the perpetual, black abyss that surrounded the spacecraft. In the deep outreach of space, time lost meaning. Life lost meaning. The birth and death of entire worlds were concurrent in the same blinding moment, and the softest breath was exhaled to the dying pulse of a supernova. One could find solace in that their existence meant nothing in the grand scope of creation and destruction.
Nocturna Fabula
docs.google.com
So what IS literacy, then? Simply put: Literacy is being able to write not only technically well (grammar, punctuation, etc.), but also being able to encapsulate a scene and successfully envelope your audience in the imagery of what you are trying to describe. They should be painted a picture of the sights, the smells, the sounds, the emotion of what is going on. They should have a clear idea of the details of a scene. If the reader is left wanting on the notions of your setting and its subsequent actions, you are not doing a good job of achieving literate writing.
As I said, an RT should outline both Length and Lit requisites. So as to avoid confusion. The more information you communicate, the less confusion there is to what you are expecting.
This.
yes, which is why I'm confused at this statement in the first place. Because that's what I was answering.
Grey
put it pretty aptly right off the bat. This topic comes up like clockwork. It is neither new, nor even obscure knowledge anymore that RPers use the word "literate" as a figurative expression. This to the means of post-style as per the nature of it's proficiency.
Writers are taught to speak profoundly in little words. Reason being that they may lose the attention of their audience if they drag on for too long on minor details with little variation to the actual thought.
M8, wait until you read his scripts for his comic books. They're long but I like them since he has a talent for making them feel shorter than what they really are but I understand it's not for everyone.
I fucking love Sandman. but if you want his script then I suggest google searching "Neil Gaiman Sandman Script"
Well, not everyone's Neil Gaiman so it's generally advised to be brief but eloquent.
lol. Ah, but you can't become a Neil if you never strive to be better, yeah?
Baby steps also it's better to be yourself rather than somebody else.
you know what I mean. Greatness was never had by an underachiever. lol
