That Weird girl
Reach Out to the Truth
Hey yall, I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to make your writing pop more. I’ve been struggling with writing posts and making it pop. I’m curious to see what yall say.
Advice/Help Any Roleplaying/Writing tips?
- Thread starter That Weird girl
- Start date
Caroline1539
Senior Member
First of all, what do you mean by "pop"? If you want more vocabulary choices, brush up your knowledge by reading more. Using a thesaurus isn't a bad choice either!
If it's down to muse, then work with your characters more- flesh them out until they start wanting to act on their own, that's how you know they've got their own agency.
If it's down to muse, then work with your characters more- flesh them out until they start wanting to act on their own, that's how you know they've got their own agency.
Nu Epiq
Whispering Labyrinth.
Only speaking for myself and what works for me. If it helps, cool. I know when I struggle, I take some time away from writing to do something else. Reading, making characters, research, listening to music, or watching movies. All of which give me inspiration to create worlds, better characters, and so on. Maybe you need a bit of a break to get some inspiration. But works for me with posting is reading. Finding different adjectives to use describe stuff, etc I really get in the mind of my characters. What are they thinking, seeing, feeling, or reacting to what's happening around them.
I guess you really have to find what you feel would work best for you. Good luck.
I guess you really have to find what you feel would work best for you. Good luck.
FrostyDragon
New Member
That's a broad question, and the answer depends on what you're looking to improve on.
If it's the writing itself, then reading other works of fiction can be a big help. Even watching movie and TV shows can really help improve the quality of writing, as you'll still get to see how good plotting and character development works.
Expanding your vocabulary can be a big help when it comes to using descriptions that "pop". I like to use an online tool called Word Hippo for my thesaurus. Recently, I've also been using ChatGPT a bit when I'm trying to figure out the correct usage of a word, or have the perfect word choice stuck just on the tip of my tongue but can't quite recall what it is.
There's also the advise I've heard from many writers that basically says to consider all the senses when you write a post. Include what your character is seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting. Not all senses will be relevant in every post, but they can help to give you a bit of a springboard to launch from if you're struggling. Don't forget the vital detail of what your character is thinking. It can help to add texture and pop to a scene if you think about how their body language might reflect their internal thoughts and include those details in your writing. Are they nervous? How might they physically show nervousness?
For RPing itself, I've always felt that I write my characters best when I know what they want. I guess it sounds simple, but for me, almost every time I find myself struggling to put words down, it's because I've lost touch with what my characters want.
And like
Nu Epiq
stated, sometimes walking away from a post for a time and doing something completely different can be a big help. If I read my partner's post and my character can't seem to decide what they want to do, I find my posts come out much better if I step away and do something else for a while first. Even when I'm not actively thinking about a post or writing, my muse always seems to be actively churning over a future post and figuring out all the details. When I come back to the post later, I find things flow much better.
You can also ask your partner. If you trust their honesty, they might be able to advise you about where you can improve with your writing and give you examples and ideas that you can implement.
If it's the writing itself, then reading other works of fiction can be a big help. Even watching movie and TV shows can really help improve the quality of writing, as you'll still get to see how good plotting and character development works.
Expanding your vocabulary can be a big help when it comes to using descriptions that "pop". I like to use an online tool called Word Hippo for my thesaurus. Recently, I've also been using ChatGPT a bit when I'm trying to figure out the correct usage of a word, or have the perfect word choice stuck just on the tip of my tongue but can't quite recall what it is.
There's also the advise I've heard from many writers that basically says to consider all the senses when you write a post. Include what your character is seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting. Not all senses will be relevant in every post, but they can help to give you a bit of a springboard to launch from if you're struggling. Don't forget the vital detail of what your character is thinking. It can help to add texture and pop to a scene if you think about how their body language might reflect their internal thoughts and include those details in your writing. Are they nervous? How might they physically show nervousness?
For RPing itself, I've always felt that I write my characters best when I know what they want. I guess it sounds simple, but for me, almost every time I find myself struggling to put words down, it's because I've lost touch with what my characters want.
And like
Nu Epiq
stated, sometimes walking away from a post for a time and doing something completely different can be a big help. If I read my partner's post and my character can't seem to decide what they want to do, I find my posts come out much better if I step away and do something else for a while first. Even when I'm not actively thinking about a post or writing, my muse always seems to be actively churning over a future post and figuring out all the details. When I come back to the post later, I find things flow much better.You can also ask your partner. If you trust their honesty, they might be able to advise you about where you can improve with your writing and give you examples and ideas that you can implement.
Jet
Uncultured
I'm not classically trained but there are two different types of prose when writing — exposition and actions, and for the record these terms may be wrong because I never went to school for writing.
Back to the point though.
Exposition = explanations instead of actions. The thought process of characters and their motivations, how they perceived another person's actions, and backstory or world building. Anything that can't be imagined because it's abstract instead of an audio/visual action.
Many over-use exposition and it removes the reader from the scene. They don't have a mental image because you aren't giving them one. You should try balancing exposition with action (not violence mind you, but actions as in movements, expressions and words). That maintains the imagery you're trying to create and immerses the reader in your world. In the spirit of my advice try showing emotions through actions and words. Don't tell us that someone is angry, have them speak like a viper when they respond to someone else. Have them scowl or go silent as they seethe with anger.
The reason show > tell is because showing doesn't remove the reader from the scene. You accomplish the same as you would with exposition, without sacrificing the pace of your scene, because exposition is basically a pause button.
For your actions make them clear and easily imagined, and please please please avoid extreme detail. What gives you a better image?
1. He swung a wide sweeping hook that shattered the man's jaw.
Or
2. He cocked his shoulder and launched a sweeping hook for the man's face. His muscles brimmed with energy and tensed like steel cords on a bridge, imparting their power on the man's lower jaw. The impact echoed through bones sending fractures across them like spiderwebs, until they shattered in a dozen places.
The second one may have more style points... maybe... that's not my style and it was probably shit. But the first one delivered the same content in a much smoother way. The only thing #2 accomplished was a slow-mo button. You got the exact same thing but slowed down on 0.25X speed. What was the point of that? How did that enhance my writing? I may use slow motion if the attack is extremely important, one of those final blows that's filled with emotions, but then I would just focus on the emotions anyway.
I digress
Point is that "pop" comes from clear imagery that easily resonates with the reader. The more time it takes to explain a particular action in a story, the less impact it usually has.
Last thing to mention are words of power, unsure what the real term is but here goes.
There are words that resonate hard with people. Take these two words.
Bashed and Hammered
Which one sounds more powerful?
Most people would say hammered. I fucking love writing stuff like, "His sword hammered shields like a smith upon his anvil."
It has a very powerful sound versus something like, "His sword bashed shields with incredible strength."
There are a bunch of words that have powerful sounds and add pop to your writing, and by powerful I mean they resonate with readers — for example, moist is great for making your reader disgusted/uncomfortable.
I call them words of power because I'm uncultured and a nerd, and have no idea if this concept even exists in academic circles, but it's my 2 cents.
Back to the point though.
Exposition = explanations instead of actions. The thought process of characters and their motivations, how they perceived another person's actions, and backstory or world building. Anything that can't be imagined because it's abstract instead of an audio/visual action.
Many over-use exposition and it removes the reader from the scene. They don't have a mental image because you aren't giving them one. You should try balancing exposition with action (not violence mind you, but actions as in movements, expressions and words). That maintains the imagery you're trying to create and immerses the reader in your world. In the spirit of my advice try showing emotions through actions and words. Don't tell us that someone is angry, have them speak like a viper when they respond to someone else. Have them scowl or go silent as they seethe with anger.
The reason show > tell is because showing doesn't remove the reader from the scene. You accomplish the same as you would with exposition, without sacrificing the pace of your scene, because exposition is basically a pause button.
For your actions make them clear and easily imagined, and please please please avoid extreme detail. What gives you a better image?
1. He swung a wide sweeping hook that shattered the man's jaw.
Or
2. He cocked his shoulder and launched a sweeping hook for the man's face. His muscles brimmed with energy and tensed like steel cords on a bridge, imparting their power on the man's lower jaw. The impact echoed through bones sending fractures across them like spiderwebs, until they shattered in a dozen places.
The second one may have more style points... maybe... that's not my style and it was probably shit. But the first one delivered the same content in a much smoother way. The only thing #2 accomplished was a slow-mo button. You got the exact same thing but slowed down on 0.25X speed. What was the point of that? How did that enhance my writing? I may use slow motion if the attack is extremely important, one of those final blows that's filled with emotions, but then I would just focus on the emotions anyway.
I digress
Point is that "pop" comes from clear imagery that easily resonates with the reader. The more time it takes to explain a particular action in a story, the less impact it usually has.
Last thing to mention are words of power, unsure what the real term is but here goes.
There are words that resonate hard with people. Take these two words.
Bashed and Hammered
Which one sounds more powerful?
Most people would say hammered. I fucking love writing stuff like, "His sword hammered shields like a smith upon his anvil."
It has a very powerful sound versus something like, "His sword bashed shields with incredible strength."
There are a bunch of words that have powerful sounds and add pop to your writing, and by powerful I mean they resonate with readers — for example, moist is great for making your reader disgusted/uncomfortable.
I call them words of power because I'm uncultured and a nerd, and have no idea if this concept even exists in academic circles, but it's my 2 cents.
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GrumpySwallow
Four Thousand Club
When your post is typed up, re-read it as though you are another player. Does your post have enough description and explanation to inform other players of what is going on? Does your post involve the other PCs in the scene or is it entirely focused on your own character? Is there a "hook" that other players can latch onto and use to form a response?
Your post can be as stylish as you want, but always remember that other players have to be able to respond to it otherwise it's just wasted time and effort. You don't want your RP partners to think, "Well it's pretty, but what else is there?"
Your post can be as stylish as you want, but always remember that other players have to be able to respond to it otherwise it's just wasted time and effort. You don't want your RP partners to think, "Well it's pretty, but what else is there?"
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GojiBean
Your resident irradiated Kaiju King
Hoyo!
It's a bit of a broad question since what makes writing "pop" is different for every individual. And there's been a lot of good suggestions provided already.
For me, I find that writing "pops" to me more when there's both a sense of nuance, and a sense that I'm not being given all of the information needed to fully understand a character's current state of mind. I want to figure that out for myself. So, the more nuance and restraint the writing has, and the more it gives me just enough to see the major building blocks but not see the final result as something obvious, the happier I am.
As Alan Sorkin said in his Ted Talk about storytelling, "The audience wants to work for their meal. They just don't want to know that they're doing that."
For me, this rings very true. The more subtext and subtle details that are provided to give me the pieces to a puzzle waiting to be solved, the more the writing pops for me.
For example:
He slumped to his knees, hands burying themselves wrist-deep in the muddy waters as the rain pounded at his back. Shades of red slowly permeated the muck atop his field of view. And as he looked up he met the cold, thousand-yard stare of his oldest friend. His skin was pale. His chest unmoving. The mucky, muddy water surrounding him seemed almost keen on swallowing him whole before his body was suddenly pulled away by the creature responsible for his death. Both disappeared into the trees leaving him alone, trembling in fear, and unable to process what had just happened.
His voice hitched in his throat as his mind ached to call out. His body twitched and his muscles failed to fire. Beneath the mucky waters his fingers dug into the ground as tears streamed down his face, obscured and disguised by the rain. When his voice finally found itself again, all he could manage was a coarse, hushed whisper of his friend's name...
-----
From that example, what's this character thinking?
Well, it's kind of a trick question because they could literally be thinking almost anything. And almost any answer would technically be correct. They just lost their best friend to some kind of undescribed creature which dragged the body away presumably to be consumed. It's raining, they're on their hands and knees in muddy, mucky water. And they've frozen up from the sheer shock of what just happened
There's that little detail about his body twitching and his muscles failing to fire. Is the character trying to get up and run away? Is he trying to get up and follow after in them? Is he just trying to get to his feet? Is he trying to just let himself flop into the muck?
Who can say?
And that, right there, is what makes writing pop to me. That bit of mystery and incomplete information that lets my mind wander and come up with possibilities and guesses as to exactly what the character wants to do and what could be going through their mind.
Eventually, and hopefully, that mystery will be revealed in full during some kind of revelation moment. Perhaps the character sits down a few weeks later by a campfire and reflects on what happened this night. And as they think about how their body wasn't reacting they think about how badly they wanted to chase them down and kill the creature out of vengeance. And in that moment the answer as to "what were they thinking" is finally revealed.
That kind of long-term payoff to a setup with incomplete information is what I live for. Setting up little but important moments like that and seeing others do the same.
But, that's just me.
Cheers!
- GojiBean
It's a bit of a broad question since what makes writing "pop" is different for every individual. And there's been a lot of good suggestions provided already.
For me, I find that writing "pops" to me more when there's both a sense of nuance, and a sense that I'm not being given all of the information needed to fully understand a character's current state of mind. I want to figure that out for myself. So, the more nuance and restraint the writing has, and the more it gives me just enough to see the major building blocks but not see the final result as something obvious, the happier I am.
As Alan Sorkin said in his Ted Talk about storytelling, "The audience wants to work for their meal. They just don't want to know that they're doing that."
For me, this rings very true. The more subtext and subtle details that are provided to give me the pieces to a puzzle waiting to be solved, the more the writing pops for me.
For example:
He slumped to his knees, hands burying themselves wrist-deep in the muddy waters as the rain pounded at his back. Shades of red slowly permeated the muck atop his field of view. And as he looked up he met the cold, thousand-yard stare of his oldest friend. His skin was pale. His chest unmoving. The mucky, muddy water surrounding him seemed almost keen on swallowing him whole before his body was suddenly pulled away by the creature responsible for his death. Both disappeared into the trees leaving him alone, trembling in fear, and unable to process what had just happened.
His voice hitched in his throat as his mind ached to call out. His body twitched and his muscles failed to fire. Beneath the mucky waters his fingers dug into the ground as tears streamed down his face, obscured and disguised by the rain. When his voice finally found itself again, all he could manage was a coarse, hushed whisper of his friend's name...
-----
From that example, what's this character thinking?
Well, it's kind of a trick question because they could literally be thinking almost anything. And almost any answer would technically be correct. They just lost their best friend to some kind of undescribed creature which dragged the body away presumably to be consumed. It's raining, they're on their hands and knees in muddy, mucky water. And they've frozen up from the sheer shock of what just happened
There's that little detail about his body twitching and his muscles failing to fire. Is the character trying to get up and run away? Is he trying to get up and follow after in them? Is he just trying to get to his feet? Is he trying to just let himself flop into the muck?
Who can say?
And that, right there, is what makes writing pop to me. That bit of mystery and incomplete information that lets my mind wander and come up with possibilities and guesses as to exactly what the character wants to do and what could be going through their mind.
Eventually, and hopefully, that mystery will be revealed in full during some kind of revelation moment. Perhaps the character sits down a few weeks later by a campfire and reflects on what happened this night. And as they think about how their body wasn't reacting they think about how badly they wanted to chase them down and kill the creature out of vengeance. And in that moment the answer as to "what were they thinking" is finally revealed.
That kind of long-term payoff to a setup with incomplete information is what I live for. Setting up little but important moments like that and seeing others do the same.
But, that's just me.
Cheers!
- GojiBean
