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Thoughts on word count


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Word count is one of those things where it's largely personal preference. And whatever word count you decide on for your site will attract the kinds of players you'd like to see. I've been on multiple sites with different word count requirements... 700, 400, 200, 100, 0. From my experience, there were positives and negatives to all of them.

 

In general setting a word count can be a good idea if you're looking to ensure that all players are putting a specific amount of effort/energy/thought into their posts. And that's not to say that 200 or even 100 words is easy for anyone to get out, but there are some players who have an easier time with meeting word count requirements than others.

 

I have found that anything less than 400 gives people an excuse to write pure fluff that doesn't progress the narrative in any way. Anything more than 400 is difficult to achieve unless you are a very dedicated writer or have a lot of time on your hands -- the site asking for 700 words, for example was more of a challenge because it offered me an opportunity to explore the surroundings and my character's headspace in addition to moving the narrative forward -- the negative side of that is sometimes I didn't feel I needed a full 700 words to respond to my partner adequately.

 

Ultimately, I've figured out over the years that my preference is for no word count. While it's nice to try to match, sometimes you just don't have inspiration for what's happening or any ideas on how to move things forward and you just need to post something to keep the thread going. It is OK for that to happen every now and then and let your partner carry the thread for a post or two. When there is no word count, the pressure is taken off and everything put into the post happens a little more organically imo. Yes, you end up with variances in post length, but if a player would like their partner to write more or provide them with something additional to respond to, it's my opinion that the players need to communicate with one another at that point.

 

But as far as policing word count on a site? Nah. No word count and a relaxed environment seem to inspire better roleplay and more creativity in my experience.

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There is a misconception among a lot of RPers that more = better when it comes to the length of a post, that they are somehow flexing their writerly muscles by every post being a really long digression into the nuances of their character's deep inner thoughts at that moment. And there's nothing wrong with really long digressions into the nuances of a character's deep inner thoughts if that's what you're into — It can definitely be a useful exercise — but that's absolutely not what they teach in any creative writing class for an end product. Most will encourage you to say more with less.

 

That said, RP exists in a unique writing space, because all the characters involved are protagonists, most of whom are being developed by the player on the fly, and I think it's the natural inclination to expand the narrative for purposes of clarity — For yourself as much as your writing partner. But as was said, sometimes the most impactful and appropriate reply can be one that's well-crafted and short. I have seen replies that were a brief sentence that blew me away.

 

So no, I don't think word counts are helpful at all, and are by and large based on a fallacy that more is better, or that something brief can't have the same narrative value as something long. Sometimes more is just more, some people just aren't into long digressions, and yeah, I do think there are probably plenty of folks who would be disinclined to join a site that placed that sort of restriction on them. I think the whole trend of folks bolding their dialogue so you can quickly skim or outright skip the narrative portion of a post probably says a lot about this particular topic, you know?

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  • 1 month later...

I've come to realize that word counts really hinder my muse. I do love getting a lot to work with and the feeling of accomplishment when I see how much I've written but hate it because it turns roleplaying into a chore for me and it feels like I'm pulling teeth to come up with more unnecessary detail and wordier descriptions that can dull the narrative with purple prose.  

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  • 1 month later...

I mostly do one on one roleplays. In the context of that, I don't care to set maximum or minimum word counts, but I also don't think I could write with someone who felt like a single line was ever enough to go off of. Even with dialogue, there's always more in the world to react to -- more to add. And it isn't necessarily fluff.

 

Now if you write 300 words, great. 600, great. 2k+ great. I don't care. But I would feel like I was on a fundamentally different level than someone who could never write 600. Never write 1k. Because some scenes require it. And it's deliciously fun to read. Give me that dopamine.

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I’m going to be that basic bitch here, but quality over quantity. I would rather have a fantastic piece at 200 words, rather than an over explained post with unnecessarily boring dialogue. At the same time, don’t douse your posts in excessive purple prose and all the synonyms you can find on Google… please…

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I am iffy on this. I like reading longer posts so long as they have substance. But when I am given short posts, with little substance, it's disappointing. But perhaps that is a question regarding quality over quantity, and some of the people I've posted with lack the quality for short posts. I used to be able to write 1000 word posts on the regular, and I loved it. I do miss being given something big to respond too, so long as it is well written.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For me, it really depends on what the word count is and how strictly it is enforced. If a site has a word count that's somewhere between 100-200 words, that's pretty doable for me, but if it's more like 400+ words, then I'd definitely struggle to find muse. I also prefer when word counts are more of a soft guideline rather than a rule to be constantly followed. Sometimes there's just not that much to say in a single post, and it's real hard to expand simple things like "she fell asleep" or "she turned her head" into multiple paragraphs, y'know? But I do definitely think it's good for avoiding one-liners and helping people hone their writing skills.

Been roleplaying for about 8-9 years.

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I absolutely loathe word counts. I'm also not big on unnecessarily long posts although I can work with them pretty well if there's actually stuff to react to. It's also a flow thing to me as I've found most threads flow much better when posts are on the shorter end, but I don't shy away from longer posts if it's what works best for a particular thread. I also tend to be more succinct with my posts too which probably has an effect on my feelings regarding word counts.

 

I am also not a fan on them in applications. At most, my sites just has a paragraph minimum for the freestyle. It allows for a lot more wiggle room, especially as one might not know everything about their character right at creation.

 

tl;dr: Just write whatever is needed to progress a thread

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I waffle on this. I like to ask for word counts, but I don't mind it tooooo much. I just know that when we have anything resembling activity requirements, seeing someone post 2-sentence posts on threads on the last day of a month can be fairly frustrating to witness.

But as long as it's not an issue of abuse, I'm usually pretty fine with any length so long as it delivers adequate story and passion.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have recently discovered I just flat out don't like knowing how long or short my posts are. I don't really see the point--either the post has enough to work with, or it doesn't. It can be 1000 words long and still be difficult to respond to, or a few well-targeted sentences and easy to bounce off of. On a site I used to be on, it seemed to be used mostly as a bludgeon--either against other players, or people using it against themselves to beat themselves up for not posting a long enough reply or something. It made the whole atmosphere feel really competitive. Which is just NOT a vibe I want in my hobby I do to unwind/have fun. It's a hobby, not a job!

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I can do without them, honestly. I feel like pushing myself to meet a certain minimum just squashes my muse and creative flow. It doesn't mean I'm not a good writer or that I can't write long posts with substance. It just means I would rather not have the added strain of meeting a certain minimum word count.

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I firmly believe word counts only end up hindering the creative experience. I feel like the count becomes the priority and the actual content of the narrative is hindered all for the sake of quantity. As someone who holds a general dislike for post splicing, I would rather have a short reply that moves a thread along than a lengthy reply full of rehashing and repetition just to get to a particular number.

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When it comes to the question of how helpful word counts are, I feel like it really depends on the staff. It depends on what their own preferences are for their own site. If they are someone who enjoys freedom in their writing styles ranging from 1 line replies to multiple paragraphs, then I imagine implementing a word count would not be helpful for them. After all, you want to be able to enjoy roleplaying on the site you are staffing.

 

Likewise, if you enjoy large paragraph replies and that's what you would enjoy the most in your RP partners then it would be helpful to implement a word count reasonable to your expectations. Essentially, as a rp creator you're trying to create a site of like-minded individuals who enjoy the types of rp activity you do.

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  • 2 months later...

The decision to include a word count on my site was a difficult one to make and honestly, it's something that I'm still questioning as we're wrapping up our soft opening. I know that people do not like them and I'm not interested in policing posts -- but the main reason for including it is that it helps set up the kind of community and writing experience that I enjoy. 

 

I write long posts. It's just a part of my writing style and I highly doubt it's ever gonna change at this point. When I decided to make a site, I knew that I would be more comfortable around folks that could write multiple paragraphs in their replies or at the very least accept that the posts they  might get back could be a wall of words. However, I didn't want to make it completely inaccessible to those that struggle to crack 300 or 400 words per post, but care about the genre. After all, that's way more important to me than any wc. 

 

So, that's why we have a 250 wc. It's low enough that it shouldn't stifle creativity, but high enough to make clear the basic standard of the site. That way people know what they're getting into and we're not hiding behind the claims of having no wc, but still expecting post matching or whatnot. I'm also not in the mood to enforce this WC beyond the point systems we have on the site as it will only reward posts that reach our minimum. It's all about transparency about the expectations as well as recognizing that folks are adults here, fully capable of determining their own comfort levels. 

 

The wc is there to tell you what kind of community this is -- but its up to you to figure out if you wanna sink or swim. .

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I am someone who generally posts 500+ words a post without trying (unless I've been given very little to work with). Since I have the data, I can say that I typically average out to somewhere between 600 and 900 words/post depending on the site (which often plays into that 'depending on what I have been given' but is also a factor of the characters that I am playing and the pace of their plots). For this reason, I am very comfortable with word counts on sites and, honestly, I usually have word counts ranging from 300-500 on sites that I've run before.

 

That being said, the main site I currently run doesn't have one. We have many people who post 200-300 words but I don't think I've seen anyone go below 150 (so we could comfortably add one if we wanted to). Largely, this was so that people could rapid fire if they wanted to or post longer if they wanted to, and everyone could feel comfortable playing plots their own way as long as they were being active. Word counts do factor into certain awards on site (but it is transparently listed for those who care about those things, so they are aware) but that's about it.

 

I think word counts and whether or not to have them is a choice you need to make based on: what kind of community you want, what level of accessibility you want, and what you feel comfortable with. There is no right or wrong answer, there is just an answer and it depends on the person. There are people out there on both sides of the fence, and they will come if the community fits.

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