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Thoughts on word count


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I used to be on a lot of sites where word counts were important and I always felt like it hindered my creativity. I do my best to strive to mirror the approximate length of the other writer’s posts (not always possible but I try), however I’ve never had any positive experiences with word counts myself. 🤔

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Word counts are absolutely not helpful for me or for the type of people I write with. They only make sense if you have a memberbase that you consistently can't trust to give their partners enough to work with. I used to write with word counts, very small ones even, but I absolutely  hate them now and want nothing to do with them. My posts are not always short, not always long, usually middle a paragraph or two or three, and I don't want to waste time counting anything or worry about it. If I can give sufficient reply in a conversational situation in a sentence or two, I don't want to give OR receive more than that. Word counts create conversation stacking, and conversation stacking is detrimental to progress.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Honestly I ignore word counts. I tend to write as much as I feel is needed to get my post across. When it comes to replies I try to give back equal to what I got or at least give them enough to reply from. I feel like word counts just add extra stress to things and tend to avoid them.

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If I don't know someone well, I will run their post through a wordcounter so I know just how many unflattering memories to stuff my post with.

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I've always disliked them, even though I've got no problems reaching most. For me they just add another layer of unnecessary pressure - not all posts are created equal, and some lend themselves better to shorter paragraphs whilst others can easily reach multiple long paragraphs. I write however much I feel is right and tell all those I write with that they do not have to post match unless they want to; I certainly don't expect it, and won't do it. 

 

Fortunately, I see far fewer sites with word counts now than when I first started roleplaying, but over the years there were many an interesting site that I did not join because I did not want to be locked into writing novellas with paragraphs upon paragraphs of purple prose just to reach a minimum of 800 words. Quantity =/= quality =/= fun.

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I personally do not believe in word counts. Sometimes, one word can be powerful and fit more than trying to surround that one word you want your character to say with a lot of description and thought exposition, just to make the word count. I think players are most creative and most happy to post when they don't have to worry about making that 1000 words (or whatever), but can just post what they envision for their character in that scene.

 

But hey, its not my site. It is your site. Maybe you think there needs to be more in a post than a character saying No. That's all on you. Just be aware, like the others before me have said, that some people will not go to a site with a word count. Then again, some people will not join if there isn't a word count. 

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  • 2 months later...

I have mixed feelings about word counts.

 

Right now I want to put as little stress as I can on members of my rp community. I'm in the process of changing things to a more relaxed atmosphere. It's slow work. Every year I ask the community if they want to change the word count. I put up a poll and let the site decide. With things being how they are, I am tempted to simply remove the word count, but as usual I'll do a vote and go from there... IT does go down every year though. Anyway, rambling...

 

So, no word count. I've read the opinions here and they are quite helpful. I had not thought about anxiety issues before or having a goal of how many words you have crushing creativity.

 

My most negative experience with a no word count site was a long time ago. I tend to have a preference for around two to three paragraphs of information. It's all about reaction and making sure to offer new information so my poor partner isn't tripping over themselves to react.  I joined a site that looked active and interesting, but only managed two threads despite approaching several plotters. One of my partners was honest and told me that people were afraid of me. Seeing all those words after writing short bursts of information had made my template-less paragraphs look like hulking novels. I realized that this community wasn't for me. That isn't to say I hated it or the people. Simply put, different tastes. 

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My attitude toward word counts has changed greatly over the years. I used to be a big supporter of word-counts cause I often had partners who would give me a one-sentence reply in a conversation or encounter that clearly needed more than that. It made it really difficult to interact, so when I made my own site, I implemented a word count - albeit, not a very high one. I do see a lot of occasions when one sentence (or less) replies can work, but the experiences I was getting wasn't that. It wasn't a 'good' one sentence reply. 

 

But that said, with time things change. Over the years, I ended up avoiding them, especially when I noticed myself wanting to write less flowery prose and more 'get to the point of what's happening' in my roleplays. Ended up ditching it altogether. When I opened my most recent site, I decided to try that out without a word-count and it goes surprisingly well. I actually have to remind people that they can write less if they want, cause most of my members come from places that have word-counts and they sometimes make comments about "oh I have to make this longer but I'm not sure how". A gentle reminder that we don't have to have a minimum length ends up relieving all that.  

 

It's a big relief in my book too. I dont feel pressured to add in a lot of stuff I dont want to anymore. 

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I don't mind word counts on sites, generally. I think I started avoiding sites that required 1000+ word count, because I had to go and find stuff for my character to wax on about, either out loud or internally. All this for one post. Not worth it.

 

That said, I don't need word counts, and prefer sites without them. If someone's a boring writer, or doesn't know what to do in-thread, requiring a minimum word count won't make their post more impactful or interesting.

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On 6/19/2020 at 7:10 PM, ThriftStoreTeeth said:

Lastly, I also have to wonder why you're considering implementing a word count. If its to mitigate situations where there's nothing to respond to, this isn't going to fix it. Its not hard to crank out even a thousand words of fluff with nothing to actually respond to, but hey! 

This brings me horror flashbacks of reading through 700 words of a post, of which, there were maybe 50 at the very end I could even use to reply to.

 

For me, word counts do nothing. It's not a goal I'm excited about reaching, it's a pain in the ass I have to worry about while trying to write good things. I do not join sites with word count requirements. I have never run sites with word count requirements. I don't use them in my apps either. I think on WL we had some arbitrary, 2 paragraph personality requirement for apps until I wrote a very succinct 1 paragraph personality and we realized that was a dumb rule. I mean really, there is only so much to say about a thieving otter, lets be honest.

 

You are going to get varying lengths and varying content depending on the person and the situation. Making something that is supposed to be a pretendy fun time hobby *work* seems very silly and counter productive to me.

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Word count on any site is usually a turn off for me. It's not that I can't manage the 250-300 word replies that are usually required. Ballpark, my posts generally hit around 500 words at the lowest (exclusing comm threads, etc). Personally, I find word counts to come off as overtly expectant and micromanage-y. Not to mention exclusionary. I have a friend and a frequent partner who cannot always hit that word count. This isn't to say he's a bad writer. He isn't. He just doesn't take a lot of time on minute detail. It's a stylistic thing, or even an inspiration thing sometimes that I think sites with word counts seem insensitive to.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

This was def pretty interesting to read, and I'm curious if the whole idea about word counts, and what they actually are, are ringing different to some people.

 

Personally I think that a certain amount of text in an rp should be expected if it's a forum post. If I get a 1 sentence reply....tbh I dont really know how one sentence can accomplish very much lol. Back in the day when everything was done in chats 1 sentence was great because you are literally doing things in real time. but on a forum? i can't really see that working. 

 

now, word counts and flowery flash million word posts imo are absolutely completely different. i've seen lots of sites where it's like a 7 sentence minimum. to me, that is a pretty accomplishable number. it's not asking too much, and personally i'd like to see at least some effort being put into an rp that i'm a part of. i'd be super interested to see a real world example of 1 sentence responses working in a forum setting cause i literally can't imagine it. 

 

i remember the days of sites where it was a 500 word count minimum, or a 2 paragraph minimum, and i feel like that's kinda crazy go nuts. but something like 7 sentences? i mean....i mean... 😐 

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I'm not really a fan of word counts, I find them intimidating. Not because I can't write a lot but rather I don't like being told how much I should write. I write however much I feel is necessary to set the tone and move the thread along. If I have to start counting my words, I think the quality of my writing suffers instead.


                                                                                          

 

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Despite tending to be on the lengthy side of posting, I don't bother with word counts outside of bragging rights. I'd rather let people reply as much or as little as they desire, as long as it's at least a paragraph or two.

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I'm not a huge fan of word count, just because like others have said, it can put too much pressure on players and sometimes a thread can warrant a fast paced environment. That said, I like good grammar and good spelling in posts, and like to get a feel for the character I'm roleplaying with. It's all down to situation, personal preference and player chemistry. I find some writing styles just match, while others are a bit hit and miss. 

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