Writing Weakpoints

[Myxyzptlk]

I won't say I neglect physical description, exactly, but I rarely set a scene. I don't pay nearly enough attention to physical surroundings.

This, I'll look at a picture of my supposed surroundings but have problems expanding on the area that my character is placed in. Or I'll forget that I'm supposed to be at a hospital but wind up typing out that my character ends up in a large bar. Most of the time I'm lucky and the problem can be fixed but I fear one of these days it's going to lead up to a huge plothole in the midst of the story.

 

[Proletariat]

I know one of my many weak points as a roleplayer is describing expressions or coming up with creative words to use in dialogue scenarios. I have such a limited vocabulary in scenarios where people are talking. I either plow through it with straight dialogue or pathetically try to use descriptors in between dialogue every once in awhile to describe their expression or tone of voice. It's why I like to play robots. They sit still unless they're performing an action and their voice doesn't change at all. They don't have facial expressions and their eyes don't contribute to communicating either (typically). I'm much better at nation building or scene building, big picture stuff. Small details are where my brain gets less traction in the English language for some reason.


I don't meta-game or anything like that so that isn't a weakness so, um, I definitely have more weaknesses. I'm just too hungover to think of the rest.


Edit: As a roleplayer and not a writer, my weakness is patience to wait for the next post. I don't have much patience when it comes to role-playing and I always end up PM'ing people in the group to try to start a conversation or end up posting a ton in OOC.

 

[Daisie]

Hmm.... I tend to have very complicated, and dramatic characters. For example, the main OC I Roleplay:


She's a thirteen year old alien that looks human, but with cat ears, batlike wings, and claws at the ends of her fingers. She came from a planet across the galaxy, and it took two years to get as far as she has now. She's secretly a werewolf-type creature, but instead of turning into a strong anthropomorphic wolf every full moon, she turns into a 7 foot tall, four legged hound with a thirst for blood every month.


I can never have normal characters, lol. Anyway..


I think another flaw I have is using phrases that are too bland. Like "He said", "They looked at her", or "they flew upwards". As oppose to "He exclaimed excitedly", "They glanced at her, curious as to her intentions", or "They rapidly ascended, shooting into the night sky".


Plus, I just think I can be a bit clueless and forgetful at times. I try to fight my natural scatterbrained-ness, and sometimes I just can't do that.

 

[Myxyzptlk]

Hmm.... I tend to have very complicated, and dramatic characters. For example, the main OC I Roleplay:
She's a thirteen year old alien that looks human, but with cat ears, batlike wings, and claws at the ends of her fingers. She came from a planet across the galaxy, and it took two years to get as far as she has now. She's secretly a werewolf-type creature, but instead of turning into a strong anthropomorphic wolf every full moon, she turns into a 7 foot tall, four legged hound with a thirst for blood every month.


I can never have normal characters, lol. Anyway..


I think another flaw I have is using phrases that are too bland. Like "He said", "They looked at her", or "they flew upwards". As oppose to "He exclaimed excitedly", "They glanced at her, curious as to her intentions", or "They rapidly ascended, shooting into the night sky".


Plus, I just think I can be a bit clueless and forgetful at times. I try to fight my natural scatterbrained-ness, and sometimes I just can't do that.

It can be hard to come up with a neat vocabulary to tie up a good sentence, I'll normally just go refer to a thesaurus to see better words to use.

 

[Wingfeld]

I get too interested in my characters' inner world. I am the most introverted kid I've met in my life, so I've gotten used to it, but it means that the best conflict I can make is internal. This generally doesn't work well in roleplays unless everyone's a mindreader.


As an extension of this, I can never describe the world outside in detail. The characters just chat around in a vague hazy void because my ability to multitasking is crap and my chars can't do things while doing other things.


Because of this combat writing is a headache. Maybe a migraine.

 

[cupidcreep]

I'm really REALLY bad at writing long roleplay posts. That's why I tend to stay away from detailed roleplays, since I can only write about a paragraph before I can't think of anything else to write. lol

 

[KayDuckula]

Lately, I think my main weak point would be my inability to maintain focus on writing for long periods of time.


I find my best work has always been done when I've been able to sit down, contemplate a layout for a post, and then write it within my structure.


I haven't been able to do this lately, therefore I find that the quality of my writing just isn't what I'm used to. I'm not saying my writing is horrendous, because I know it's not. I just find it is lacking a certain quality that I used to maintain. I have to be okay with this, though, if I want to continue writing with partners in a RP form. The majority of my time is dedicated to my family and work, so I can't just delegate hours to write and write anymore. Therefore, I'm learning how to freely write and not be so anal and punctual with how I structure things. It's not what I'm used to, but it's a necessity if I wish to continue writing forum-wise.

 

[Snickersnack]

Besides the whole taking-ages-to-write-because-of-ADHD-and-procrastination-and-lack-of-time business, nowadays I feel like I have a tendency to drag anything I write for too long but am still left with a feeling of incompleteness - especially when it involves long action scenes. I'm a mess at describing anything combat-related and it's something I need to improve.