Thoughts on word count

[Drew 18]

I just flat out won't join a site with a word count of any kind. It's not for me. I often write long posts, but I've knocked out a heck of a one liner, too. I feel like a word count is a level of trust you aren't granting to your community to write with respect and thoughtfulness toward one another. A long post does not equal a good post.

[Everglow 30]

I don't have a hard and fast rule... personally I write 300+ words, just depends on the thread.  As long as you are keeping the plot moving and giving someone something to work with, that's fine.  But I find anything worth responding to tends to be around 300+ words. 

[Platonic 1]

I have never had issue in the past meeting most word counts, but i do feel like they sometimes can make sites feel more intermediating for members. i personally prefer a low pressure setting, so word counts have never been a big seller for me in a community. I like the freedom to blitz/rapid-fire short posts where i want to. to me, writing can be just as fun in a few sentences as multiple paragraphs. 

[rogue_kiss 3]

Word count requirements are a huge turn off for me. I tend to write whatever the muse offers up -- and I do try to keep my posts over 200 words -- but the pressure of having to meet X number of words makes posting feel like work. Ugh. No thanks!

 

My sites have no required word count -- but folks are expected to write enough for their partners to work with when crafting their replies. Sometimes, short posts happen -- especially when there's rapidfire posting going on between writing partners -- and sometimes, long posts happen. As long as any given thread can keep moving forward, I really don't mind how much (or little) people write.

 

And if someone does happen to post something without enough substance for their partner to craft a reply, I've found that it's relatively simple to just reach out to them and ask for a bit more. I've never had anyone get upset with me for asking for a few more sentences. Sometimes, they may need a little help with what to add to their short post, but RP is a collaboration -- communication is key -- and I certainly don't mind brainstorming with someone, if need be.

[Royal_Poet 13]

I find word counts is a really complex topic and one that causes a lot of unnecessary contention. There's not right answer as to what's a good word count and how high or low it should be. 

 

I can see people being bummed out with getting a one word or one line reply after  putting a 6 paragraph carefully crafted thread starter. Or likewise getting a weird introspective novel back to a one liner when all that was needed was a simple sentence of dialogue. 

 

I am less sure that implementing a word count fixes that. It's kinda a tech solution to a social problem.  Normally, like-minded people seem to thread together and set the de facto standard for the community. 

 

I think the key is to just honestly communicate what kind of environment you have/ want to create so people can make up their mind if they want to join. Giving a rough word count as a guide can be a good idea to give people a ballpark to aim for. Enforcing it to the level of checking posts or fixing it in the software seems ridiculous to me. Surely, the way to help a member that doesn't gel with the rest of the group is to talk to them about how to develop their char not to hit them with a bar to clear. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Royal_Poet

[katherineespair 36]

Every year I hold a poll to see what my members want for a word count. I've given the option to get rid of it and to change it (currently at 150 for the past two years) and they prefer it.  It really depends on the community. 

[Tetris 7]

I am for but not for if that makes sense? I like them to a certain point; I use them when it comes to collecting points through the jcink system. So if you don't post 200 words then you don't get the points. I only do that because I have dealt with threads were I have given a good amount of words and gotten back literally like two or three sentences. While I won't pressure someone into actually following the word count, I will award those who post a good amount.

 

I think that may seem kind of wrong but at the same time I just want to make sure everyone is able to get what they give in. If the person they rp with has lines just has short as them then that is good; if not at least the ones who give a lot get some kind of award.

 

At least that is my take on everything.

[Sammiie 40]

I personally avoid any site that uses a word count requirement. It gives me a lot of anxiety and saps my willingness to write because I'm too worried about meeting word requirements that I'm not properly getting into the scene / able to write out the scene / etc.

 

On all the forums that I run / have run, we use a loose "5 sentences minimum" requirement -- this just ensures that all players give their partners at least something to respond to, while not putting too much pressure on meeting a word requirement. If you write a solid paragraph with 3 sentences that's got quality, we won't bother you.  

 

And with that in place, we don't really have to do much monitoring. We only ever warned one member because they wrote a two-liner once. This is in the span of 3 years. I think it's fair to say that most roleplay responses are at least a paragraph long without even trying to push out a longer post. 

[Detrimentum 2]

I'm a strong believer in quality over quantity, I feel like word count can really restrict a writer even if it's something as minimal as 100 words (I like to consider myself an intermediate to advanced writer so this is typically standard for that range). I really do also try to stay clear of sites with word counts because in my experience, people that nit picky tend to nit pick over other things too.

[gimmemo 3]

Word counts scare me quite a bit! The only time I like word counts is when events are involved where I try to push myself to write just a little bit more.

 

Overall though, I feel like word counts mostly just push me to write more... fluff and less overall quality posts? I want to write and enjoy myself rather than worry about how many words I typed out. Longer posts don't necessarily mean they're better. 

 

My site once had an application word count, and taking it off was so incredibly liberating. It caused me to feel less stressed as an admin, and gave me more time to focus on the information that the writer chose to share with me.

[MegHanSolo 13]

I've been rping for well over a decade, and to me, word counts have always felt like, or implied the following:

1. Homework (I've been out of college for 7 years and it still hits this way)    2. A lack of trust in members (this is a BIG one)   3. Micromanagement

 

Quality, to me, will always supersede quantity. A character application that's 500 words can say infinitely more than one that is 10,000 - some individuals and situations just lend themselves well to brevity in illustrating circumstances and emotion. Roleplay at its core is about art, collaboration, and giving your partner enough to work with - all of which is extremely subjective. I understand that some of the motivation behind word counts is to assure that players give each other enough to respond to. However, if two partners feel that they are not giving enough to each other, shouldn't they be trusted to communicate on their own to determine each others needs (is that not also what we do as writers/roleplayers?).

An important part of building a community is sometimes about setting hard line rules, but a lot of it is fostering expectations - not about writing, but about communication, respect, and trust - things that make people invest in and feel safe in communities. I feel like word counts are kind of a short cut for trying to achieve quality, but in the worst of cases it can come off as elitist, stifling, cold and inflexible   ) : 

That said, some individuals just really gravitate towards it, and prefer quantity - as mod though, I would prefer not risk a WC tag to my site, and keep it as accessible as I can to play in.

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by MegHanSolo

[Silhouette 2]

Word counts in some shape or form are important for me personally, as I tend to write on average 500+ words in a single post and therefore don't want to be on a site where I'll be writing with people that will post only a couple sentences per post. It's a preference for me, and I can understand both the pros and the cons.

 

On my current site, I didn't want to give a concrete word count, because that to me is odd. Like, are the admins going to go around and check every single post? Instead I simply have it that we suggest at least a paragraph per post, and to try and mirror your writing partner as much as possible. I find this "no concrete word count, but still a suggested one" works good for implying the site is geared more towards people that like writing a lot, vs beginners or one-sentence posters. Neither is wrong, it's just what kind of a community you want to foster.

[NyxDarklore 92]

1 hour ago, Silhouette said:

Word counts in some shape or form are important for me personally, as I tend to write on average 500+ words in a single post and therefore don't want to be on a site where I'll be writing with people that will post only a couple sentences per post. It's a preference for me, and I can understand both the pros and the cons.

 

On my current site, I didn't want to give a concrete word count, because that to me is odd. Like, are the admins going to go around and check every single post? Instead I simply have it that we suggest at least a paragraph per post, and to try and mirror your writing partner as much as possible. I find this "no concrete word count, but still a suggested one" works good for implying the site is geared more towards people that like writing a lot, vs beginners or one-sentence posters. Neither is wrong, it's just what kind of a community you want to foster.

 

I'm rather in agreement with most of what was said here.

 

Most of the posts that I make are 500+ words, all of them are 300+ words. Posts where I am below 500 words come in a couple of types: fight threads (where a quick back and forth is necessary unless it's pre-planned) or threads with very specific character pairings (one of which is a pair who constantly interrupt each other and can derail a thread, so keeping the posts short is necessary). These threads are typically with the same roleplay partner, however; someone who I've roleplayed with so long that we can adjust our length and post style to suit whatever we both need.

 

Despite that, we don't have a word count on our site.

 

I've found over the years that if people aren't forced to write a word count, they tend to not only write longer posts but subconsciously mirror. However, we want to foster an environment where "if you don't feel you need that much, it's okay". That being said, writing one liners just wouldn't gel with the people we write with and that is evident from looking around at posts; they vary in length but they all have bulk to them. In fact, every non-word count site I've had could have easily had a 2-300 word count without any members being even slightly inconvenienced.

 

I've joined sites where word counts are as high as 600 before and while that would be my ceiling, I don't care if a site has one or not but I'm going to post as long as I need to and as long as I need to is between 300 and 4000 words as evidenced by my roleplaying history (I have never written a post shorter than 300 words).

[Hades101 10]

On 6/18/2020 at 9:03 PM, Ice said:

Are word counts helpful? Do you think they push some members away? How do you go about making sure that they are followed without it taking up a ton of time(since setting it in mybb counts the table code as well)?

Thinking of my own experience; meh. I don't see word count requirements as something that is an issue. It doesn't push me away, not unless it's something I definitely can't handle. If it's something similar to 100 to 200 as a requirement? Sure, I can take it. However, if it goes to 400+ and beyond, it's gonna get a hard no from me. I'm a slow writer, and this definitely means that my quicker responses aren't going to be the longest responses either. I believe in the quality of a response over the quantity of number, but I'm also not as interested in roleplays that dip below 50 words. It just starts to lose its flare, or inspiration for me. I'm also heavy into monologues and psychological development, which involves a good bit of dialogue sometimes. 

 

 

Coming from this as an admin on a forum, this is not something we require. We don't require a word count in order to write in our forums, but in order to earn points for the reward system(which we have very specific rewards that aren't going to hinder members from creating a character or enjoying any particular part of the forum. The rewards are basic "custom color discord name" or some super specialized and rare race in the original fantasy world, or a super rare hair color for a specific original race. And just the same, you only need to reach 100 words to get points in the first place. So, we don't require a word count to enjoy our forums. I don't think it's a deterrent, personally. 

[Arceus 1,082]

Gonna chime in for a second, for those of you that do "no required number but write at least x paras"

You still have a word count. The only difference between you and that site over there with a required 200 words is that they're at least upfront and committed to what they want. THIS makes my anxiety go even further through the roof than solid word counts do because at least I know what they want. The waffly indecisiveness does not instill me with confidence that I won't get blindsided by something else that was never outright stated later. And then I'm going, "does this count? Is it enough? What exactly is 'enough to respond to'? What if my paragraphs aren't beefy enough for them?" Because you know what, a sentence can be a paragraph. A word can be a sentence. So this "write at least a paragraph," "write enough to respond to" stuff is so horrendously nebulous and subjective it is unbelievable.

 

Nope.

 

More on topic. I've actually never seen a required word count do more than make a bunch of posts full of fluff that doesn't matter. I mean, even in thinking of it, my posts, and I consistently post over 200 words, I have to admit are mostly internal monologue and stuff that doesn't make a difference to the post or moving the plot forward?

 

But, having a solid number, if you do actually want more than x words, is helpful for establishing a culture and attracting the players you want. Like if you're gonna ask for more than a word, fine, but be committed and honest about that. I've never had a word count on my site, and I probably never will because our writing styles consistently attract people with similar styles and similar lengths. But if we did get a player that continually made everyone else feel like they didn't care to try, we'd just approach them and talk about it rather than implementing a word count anyway.

 

I'm pretty consistently word counts are a deal-breaker, but if a site had a low enough one, and I liked it enough, I might join anyway. 100-200 isn't a horrible range for me, I can hit it pretty consistently. 500+ I'd have to hard-pass on, because only certain characters and certain posts get that high. I had a character post once 3,300 words. No way in hell can I do that consistently.