Advice/Help How do you Tell Someone you don't like their writing?

[nerdy tangents]

Millfall you captured what I was trying to say better then I ever could have. I have a lot of international partners (and a few that had learning disabilities) so there were a lot of punctuations that seemed random or just hard to read.

I would just ask follow up questions (especially as people are usually pretty upfront about not writing in their native tongue or if they have a learning disability)

 

[Millfall]

Millfall you captured what I was trying to say better then I ever could have. I have a lot of international partners (and a few that had learning disabilities) so there were a lot of punctuations that seemed random or just hard to read.

I would just ask follow up questions (especially as people are usually pretty upfront about not writing in their native tongue or if they have a learning disability)

Another thing that I would like to mention is that common advice:

"Read out loud what you wrote!" or "Put a comma where you would pause to take a break/breath in!"

....is almost completely useless for people who aren't native English speakers.

Why is that? Because even when speaking English, they...or dare I say, we?.....put emphasis on different words in the sentence, and on different syllables in a word. Thus we naturally pause at different points than natives.

 

[Coward]

Unless, you know, you can't read it. While I'm still paranoid of being an asshole I feel there are situations in which you absolutely should critique someone's writing whether they ask or not (looking at you person who didn't put spaces after periods. Pretty sure that's what killed that roleplay).

I don't want to argue but this seriously could have been solved with a sample. Your problem here is an minor but annoying typographical error, and if they do it consistently (like for every sentence) it would be in the sample. If they don't do it consistently then I doubt you would be bothered by it.

Yeah, no. Samples are the worst. Especially when they ask me to write a paragraph about firing a gun. Like, why? Just write "He fired the gun."

You don't have to ask them to write a fresh sample for you, just ask them to grab a snippet of previous writing or RP.

EDIT: The reason I'm being so firm on this is that people like me who do creative work for a living will often get unsolicited critique, and we know that it both feels bad and is usually useless. Seeking critique is part of improving, but we seek it from specific people who we respect, and we brace ourselves for impact. If you care about your creative work then critique will always sting, even when you're asking for it. This is not something to blindside people with in their private escapist hobby. You do not know what else is going on in their life, and what impact you're going to have. It's easy to say they should suck it up and Git Good, but I honestly don't see why they should have to feel bad about their work displeasing you, an online stranger. Especially when samples exist and you could just sidestep this entire "problem".

 

[nerdy tangents]

BackSet Yeah to be fair roleplay samples are usually just samples from previous roleplays (or in rare examples a paragraph written from the perspective of the character your going to play).

It’s not a writing prompt. If someone asks you for that they are not requesting a sample. Or at least they have vastly misunderstood what a sample means in a roleplay setting.

I used to do mod work for groups (and also provide samples currently in my 1x1s).

I have always asked for a sample of a previous roleplay. In other sites people would make entire threads filled with samples that ranged from intros, replies, etc. to showcase the full range of their writing capabilities.

In the event an applicant did not have a writing sample from a previous roleplay I would request they write the minimum post requirement in the perspective of their character.

So if they were applying for say Harry Potter in a roleplay where they minimum post requirement was 1 paragraph. They had to submit one paragraph written from Harry’s perspective.

It’s a little awkward to make a sample from scratch sure but I found it helped me at bare minimum screen for glaring grammatical issues and more importantly how well the understood the character they wanted to play.

Now the above was specifically for groups where I was either the GM or in charge of handling character applications.

In 1x1 I provide a sample to all my partners and usually they will let me know if my writing style matches theirs or not.

It goes back to the “I statements”. By providing my own samples (a link to an old roleplay in its entirety) I let people know what level I am at writing wise without pressuring them in any way. If they don’t feel like they can keep up and match then it’s not biggie, as it’s the fist thing I share with people.

So if grammar and writing is important I would actually provide your own sample of an old roleplay (or maybe a series of posts going over a typical opener and a few different replies). This way you can sort of give out your standards without having to critique other people. Since they will self- critique and deduce if they want to roleplay with you.

 

[Emeraude]

Usually, I say we aren't the best match. I'm more lax with casual writing, but every mistake does distract me from what you wrote. It's a consequence of being in a number of composition courses, for me, since we were basically trained to always be aware of potential grammatical errors.

 

[CecilDMMasters]

How do you tell someone you don't like their writing or think it's bad without sounding like a jerk? Not in a case of style clash but in a case of poor grammar and punctuation or just being unreadable for different reasons.

I'm sorry but I don't think we are compatible as RP/writing partners.

 

[counterfeitcowboy]

I'm sorry but I don't think we are compatible as RP/writing partners.

This is the answer, IMO. There is really never a nice or "good" way to tell someone you dislike their writing, and if it's practically illegible because of their grammar, it's going to take more than a few messages to help this person. I'd put it this way, because this sounds like incompatibility too severe to get around; at least until this person practice-makes-perfects their way to a better grasp of the language.

If they ask why you don't feel compatible, that's your window to give constructive critique. Constructive being ways they can work toward improving (even if it's, "research comma usage") vs "I think your writing is terrible and I hate it," which isn't helpful.

 

[Wandering Fae]

Typically I just bring it up nicely and pose or as they must have made an honest mistake or as a question to ask if they meant X instead of Y as to try not to embarrass them.

 

[myosotis]

i tend not to critique someone's work unless they ask for it, but if it's so bad it's unreadable OR just doesn't vibe with you (sometimes it's just like that), i find a graceful way to say that is "sorry, i don't think our writing styles are compatible! wish you the best of luck in finding new partners." (sorry if this is a repeat answer, i think it might be! i'm just trying to get some posts in so i can answer a rp in dms without this site thinking i'm spamming.)