How do you hold yourself accountable and keep up? (Word Counts)

[Morrigan 1,826]

So this is not a discussion about how you hate word counts and won't join a site with one. Lets not muddle this up with that.
 

I want people that like word counts or participate on sites that have them.

 

SO! My question:

How do you hold yourself accountable for your word count. Is it based on general length like:
 

Quote

I have a few long paragraphs, that should be about right?

 

Do you use a word counter or a program to verify that you have the minimum number?

Do you actually always hit the minimum or do you occasionally just sluff it by some words, no one will notice right?

 

And then my other question is? How do you keep up with your threads and keep them moving along?

 

How do you stay interested in those plots?

 

I mean there really is only so many books I can read where everything is walking.

 

I ask this last question because when I have to wait for posts on some sites I tend to move on beyond that plot because that character is involved in multiple threads. Also, if a thread takes longer than a month or so to complete I may not be interested in that plot anymore regardless or its irrelevant to my current place in that characters story so I'm disintested.

 

So Word count people, educate me.

[DivineRabbit 64]

Me personally I write in cycles and because life is busy at times I do not mind waiting. I am not a big count to count girl- I think that you should give what you get in threads unless your actions are minimal, which yes you can write internals-those can get over much. 

 

I dont use a word counter, I just write what flows. Our forum does not push people to post post post- we prefer everyone to enjoy their stories and we understand life can get hectic. If it takes a month to write we are all okay with it because its usually a good story or arc from a story.

 

 

[Royal_Poet 13]

I am probably on the fringe of this. I am not a big believer in word counts, but I am habitual 400+ poster. 

 

I don't really focus on word count when writing. I sit down and work out what I want to cover in the post I am about to make and in what order. I try to put some time into world building, introspection  and creating character background - but no more so than if I was working on a regular piece of prose for a novel. Maybe because I like roleplaying political/ mystery/ romance plots these tend to work well with long form posts. 

 

When I write in sites with a word count I just write the post in Word and look at the total before copying and pasting in. If I can't make count because whatever came before my post is utterly ... oof... I just PM the driver and ask if we can work something out to get the thread to flow again. 

 

Keeping threads moving is really not a challenge and they conclude just fine usually under a month. 

 

What I will say is: if you have people who are not native to long form joining for the first time it can be very painful as long forms are absolutely unforgiving of meet and greet threads. Or threads you have no idea where they were going before starting. 

 

The second thing is that if you wanna do quickfire conversation in a post its best to track down your RP partner before you make those posts and agree some liberties around god-moding each other and aligning on what each character would say. I tend to avoid coffee shop conversations in long form posts if I can help it. The format isn't meant to do that... but you can get it to play ball with some percussive adjustment. 

 

The other thing is that threads can thrash and that is annoying. By that I mean that if you have a RP partner that goes through their RPs paragraph by paragraph and responds to each paragraph in turn it can start feeling like three conversations are going on at the same time.  Re-railing a thrasher can also be hard on newer long form players. I usually make someone forget what they were gonna say and cut down the number of ongoing conversations that way. Or just pretend I didn't see part of a post to stop it from going into strands. Practise really. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Royal_Poet

[Hysteria 56]

On 3/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, Morrigan said:

Is it based on general length

 

I tend to word vomit it out as a draft first, so yes, technically it all starts as a "generalized" length of paragraphs. I was actually really bad about writing way too much and focusing on a lot of miniscule details, character feelings, thoughts, word play, imagery, setting, clothing, the list goes on. What would be an expected 250 word count would easily become a 1,000+ word post. I knew a few people who liked this, because they enjoyed being able to read into the scene like a novel, but as you might imagine...many roleplayers didn't and often grew to be intimidated.

 

I wound up editing my posts more and more as time goes on. Now I find it hard to even create applications and character bios because I'm so used to editing my writing in a quick, readable way for other roleplayers. Which is fine, I just personally struggled to understand my audience at that time, and now I'm pretty good about only going maybe a couple hundred above and shortening it down.

 

Such as now. I could have given a short answer but...I chose not to, for the sake of sharing perspective.

 

On 3/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, Morrigan said:

Do you use a word counter or a program to verify that you have the minimum number?

 

Yes, actually.

 

Once I have a "fluid" reply that reads in a way I enjoy, and doesn't come off as stale or rushed or otherwise not displaying enough of a character's personality, mannerisms, hints at a future post action, or whatever else....I'll paste it all into a word counter and shorten it down to the actual word count (or maybe 50-100 words more) for the sake of matching that initial fluidity without making it a wall of text.

 

On 3/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, Morrigan said:

Do you actually always hit the minimum or do you occasionally just sluff it by some words, no one will notice right?

 

I very rarely write less than the minimum unless my interest in the setting has outright died.

 

If I do add fluff, it's usually to try and initiate a more active scene for the partner to go off of, but I won't do that for long. If I feel like a thread is dying, or simply too much is happening for the setting, I'll fade to black and/or end the scene entirely and pick up another thread with another setting to further develop the characters that way. It makes things feel a lot more progressive and intentional than just kicking a dead horse with meaningless posts for five pages.

 

On 3/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, Morrigan said:

How do you keep up with your threads and keep them moving along?

 

Ugh god this is the bane of my existence, I swear.

 

I used to be better at it as a teen but the older I get the more I struggle to make and update thread trackers.

 

Eventually I just check it once or three times a day and if I see no responses I wait until the next day. This is likely why I suck at rapid-fire.

I have too many things to focus on - and most of them are usually not important (adhd is a killer), - so it's very rare I'll keep up with something that requires my full attention for hours on end unless I happen to be highly motivated or it's my day off and my RP partner feels like babysitting my horrid attention span. 

 

As for how I keep them moving, that part is mostly answered above.

I intentionally include things that a character can react to, and if the thread is dying I will usually end the scene and create a new one.

 

Example: Mike and Iris are at a picnic --- > [thread is going slow/dying] --- > Iris gets a call from her boss, gives Mike her number, and goes to work --- > [thread ends, new thread option is born!]

 

I despise dead threads that are kept alive due to lack of creativity, but then again, not everyone feels that a slow thread is a dying thread.

Some slow scenes have their purpose and I think that in the end it all depends on whether something is progressing the plot, the relationship, or the setting in a way that is worth sticking around. If absolutely nothing is happening for several responses...why not start something new, right?

 

I love when my rp-partner is willing to add a bit of spice to a thread to keep things rolling; introducing new characters, adding a splash of meta, throwing me for a loop with some wacky hijinks. I can go out for coffee irl. Give me something to really sink my teeth into.

 

On 3/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, Morrigan said:

How do you stay interested in those plots?

 

This one is a bit of a broad question since it really depends on the plot; I find the easiest plots to be interested in are the plots you've invested a lot of time and development in, so keeping interest is easy because you already naturally want to see where it goes without much more effort (not that effort isn't loved). The newer investments become a challenge, and I think that depends on genre, for me.

 

For example certain romance plots can hook me, but usually only if there's something added to the romance that isn't normal for the setting or otherwise just plain isn't normal to begin with (setting or not). Such as a platonic love between a ghost and a fashionista (god they were adorable). Action-based plots are amazing when adding frenemies to the mix, and a lot of things can be done with betrayal and blackmailing that can be oh-so-tantalizing in the right hands. In the end, the best way to hook me is to actually be invested and throw out ideas. If I'm the only one trying to make character A and character B click, or if nothing seems to be going on with them (in any way) I will lose interest so fast.

 

Speaking of characters; I cannot invest myself in a setting without connections. Which is why I will often leave roleplay boards if I don't find a few people to semi-regularly write with. That being said, I do tend to put myself out there often (regularly snatching up plots and taking wanted ads,) so I don't often feel "neglected" for plot per say...but there are times where the effort is clearly one-sided, and I emotionally disconnect from what I'm writing and the board in general (by extension), making everything feel very boring to me.

 

On 3/11/2021 at 2:43 PM, Morrigan said:

I mean there really is only so many books I can read where everything is walking.

 

Exactly.

Hopefully the above helps, even if it is a little wordy.