Inquiry

Syrixia

The one, the true, the great.
-
TNP Nation
Syrixia
Discord
TrialByDance#0419
I've been told by multiple people that my roleplay writing skills are sub-par, and one said it was the worst they've ever seen. This has occurred suddenly and unexpectedly, and one person even refused to consider roleplaying with me due to this.

As I have not received messages of concern about this since the Republic of Syrixia was born from the People's Republic of Syrixia, I find this odd. Did I do something wrong? Is it because of my new posting style that I have adapted from Bootsie's? What??

I would like to ask you all, my friends, the good people of TNP, for answers and assistance in getting to the bottom of this odd event and telling me what I've done in my posting style that would warrant doing this.

I feel the sudden refusal of others to roleplay with me and the insistence of some to review my posts before they are posted as odd due to the whole suddenness of it and my not knowing what those people see as wrong, and I also feel the refusal and regulation of me is unjust due to the conditions of it. I am confused.

I feel like I've been alienated by my friends! Where did I mess up?!
 
As CGP Grey said once, "It's not whether a country thinks they are a country, it's whether other countries think that country is a country."

Apparently right now my roleplay posting style is a country and other people don't think that country is a country. I want to know why they don't think that country is a country and fix it so that they can think that country is a country.
 
What do you mean by pre-writing? Do you mean the posting of posts that I want to post in the roleplay thread in the OOC thread first because the OP said so?

I'm already doing that and while it's helping I find it not that good for me; as it makes the process slower and is sort of a silent insult, regardless of whether it was intended to help or not.
 
No, by pre-writing I mean using any of a number of well known tools to organize your thoughts and your writing so that it is suitable. Going fast is not a good idea for writing well. Be more intentional.
 
As one of the people who indicated their dislike of your RPs, I'd like to say the following:

You are most certainly more creative than me. You have created far more content than I have. Your Factbook, for example, contains far more information than mine, and it will continue to contain more information even after I finish my Factbook. It even looks better. Your Uthvaq Shanar RP contains 170 posts. Even if some of those were OOC, and each post was short, that's still a lot of content. Despite its lack of detail and events which caused me to lose interest, was certainly both fun and interesting while it lasted, due to the sheer amount of content available. You created an amazing country, Syrixia, and it shows.

You simply have a bit of difficulty putting that creativity as words. This is very common in younger and newer writers. For example, it wasn't very many years ago that I wrote at the same level as you, though with less content. It took a lot of writing at much higher levels than I was used to to get to where I am now. When I first started RPing, it was with some of the most experienced RPers I have ever met. It was because I RPed with those people that I gained such an understanding of writing, simply by imitating their different styles as well as I could, learning the strengths of those writers while gaining my own voice as a writer.

For example, two RPers who stood out were my older sister and one of her friends. My sister would create the most evil characters you will ever meet; yet, these characters were believable. They could kill thousands of people in incredibly painful ways with the snap of a finger (one of them ruled an empire, even), yet they were still the protagonists, the "good" guys, of their own stories, having their own problems, struggling through them, and prevailing. Until the end, at least, when all those horrible things caught up to them. Even then, though, they'd still fight to the end like your standard protagonist would.

The other one (we'll call him "Will", even though that's not his real name) was the most detailed, prolific writer I have ever met. At one point, he talked to me privately because he, with reason, was worried that he had too much detail in his posts. He could write a novella about making instant ramen. His posts would regularly be 2,000-3,000 words long, sometimes even longer. That was because he could go into intimate detail about absolutely everything, and then go into detail about those details.

While I never matched my sister's abilities to make fantastic characters (though a couple of characters I created were partially or even completely inspired by her), I was, at one point, able to imitate Will. During that private conversation, I told him the reason his posts were so long is because he went into so much detail, and, to prove my point, I wrote a 2,000-word post about making hot chocolate. That's it. It took me a very long time, but, by pushing myself to create and write down as many details as possible, my writing improved dramatically.

Since one of the main complaints about your writing is the lack of detail, I encourage you to do the same: Write about something simple you do every day, but remember as many details as you can about that activity, and pad that activity with those details. Keep padding it, even if you have to make some things up, until you have an insanely long post about something normally considered boring or unnoticeable, like making hot chocolate. It doesn't have to be 2,000 words (I never actually counted the words in my hot chocolate thing, so I'm likely exaggerating), but the longer it is, the better.

As well, perhaps you can flesh out that Emperor you mentioned. Even if the details of that Emperor are never used, the practice of going through and creating a believable character, despite any unbelievable atrocities, would doubtlessly improve your writing. Even Adolf Hitler was human, despite his inhuman acts. While I'm not nearly good enough at fleshing out characters as my sister, and thus can't give you any specific tips for that, the attempt, at least, would improve your characters.

Finally, I'd like to apologize for how I acted in the OOC thread you mentioned. Forcing you to jump through hoops to participate in a thread was uncalled for. Unfortunately, I am taking that RP way too seriously, and, unless I shape up, any others, especially you, who participate in that thread will suffer for it.
 
Welp, wasn't trying to name names or demand apologies but it happened anyway...meh.

It's fine; I forgive you. While I hope you refrain from doing so in the future, your first critique will really help me tomorrow when I make my first post, a revised version of the one I posted in the OOC thread.

As I said before, I will definitely try those exercises and tools to better my writing. TBH, I never was one for writing, I am more of the history and geography guy. That's why I fell in love with NationStates. And don't worry, I will definitely flesh out the Emperor in my revised post.

And especially, thank you SO MUCH for your comments on my nation. I worked very hard on it and after the map rebooted and the cartography team accepted new rules, due to the absence of my islands I had to wipe my whole factbook and start again; and in some cases I like it more now! As for the lack of detail, don't worry...

Holidays happen annually! Here's to a more detailed Uthvaq Shanar 2016! :D

Your Friend,
Syrixia
 
I have to admit. The post I made about the quality of RP in TNP was directed in subtext at a few people, and one of them was you. I cannot remember the specifics of what I outlined there but if you go back and read that post, that's what I was talking about. I think Myroria also lent some pointers in that thread as well.
 
Democratic Donkeys:
You adapted Bootsie's posting style? How does that work? :lol:

Don't listen to gossip, and be yourself.
:agree:

What others think of you is their problem.

I also take the opportunity to apologize for not being able to participate to "Return to Ixelonia", i had been so far behind by not understand what was going on.

Your friendly plesiosaurus,
Nessuno
 
I'll be honest, the attitude of some of the RP'ers in this region sucks balls, and it reeks of barely closeted elitism.

I've got a few points for you Syrixia:

1. Don't let a few people pressure you into doing something different. You should do what you enjoy as long as it is a safe event and doesn't harm other people.

2. If you feel that you need to change, or improve a certain skill, do it to benefit you - not for the benefit of anyone else, and not because someone on this forum is saying you should.

3. As DD has said: don't listen to gossip. Some people really need to get a better hobby, or find something else to do with their time if all they're going to do is moan about the "quality" of roleplay.
 
Writing is like any other skill; it is a hell of a lot more fun when one knows how to do it well, and just like bowling, or painting, or any activity there are things that work and things that don't. I don't see anyone here just trying to be mean to Syrixia or make him quit, they (myself included) are trying to help him learn how to do it better. Because he's got a lot to offer, his imagination and enthusiasm especially.
 
Piscivore:
Writing is like any other skill; it is a hell of a lot more fun when one knows how to do it well, and just like bowling, or painting, or any activity there are things that work and things that don't. I don't see anyone here just trying to be mean to Syrixia or make him quit, they (myself included) are trying to help him learn how to do it better. Because he's got a lot to offer, his imagination and enthusiasm especially.
This needs repeating. We should be driving each other to be better and get better and become better writers and RPers.
 
I have to say when I first saw your posts and threads, as well as posting style, I was almost appalled and annoyed. Today, you are one of the most active RPers we have, in pretty much every part of gov. You have come a very, very long way in a short amount of time. You cannot even compare your creativity and posting style now to what it once was.

Like everyone else said, writing just gets better with time and more practice, and I believe that is very relevant here. Keep your head up and remember that all criticism is good. It helps on your way to becoming better and better :)
 
It wasn't a matter of your posting, but the manner you did it in. The thread jacking, unrealisms, OOCs, etc. But looking at you now, it's like a completely different person. I'm proud of you Syrixia.
 
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